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May 8, 2007
History Can Repeat Itself
Fred Thompson does well to remind us that the phrase "to the Shores of Tripoli" in the Marine Corps Hymn refers to America's first foreign war, which was fought against Muslim thugs who rejected civilized conventions to prey upon innocent civilians.
The Barbary pirates were not freelance buccaneers but agents of the North African provinces of the Islamic Ottoman Empire. In its infancy, America had no navy, so our ships were easy prey for these goons, who not only looted cargo, but kidnapped whomever they found on the ships, enslaving them or holding them for ransom.
Muslim rulers agreed to curtail these activities, but only if we paid them tribute, which 18th-century moonbats were only too willing to do — even as the absurd Barack Obama suggests doing now.
Thomas Jefferson himself, along with John Adams, attempted to negotiate with an envoy from Tripoli. Here's a description of his report, from an 1872 issue of The Atlantic Monthly:
Disguising their feelings as best they could, they 'took the liberty to make some inquiries concerning the ground of the pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury.' The ambassador replied that it was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave." He claimed every one of their guys who was "slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise."
Sound familiar? Soon afterward, the US Navy was created, and not long after that, Jefferson sent in the Marines. The Barbary Wars lasted 14 years, but fortunately the MSM wasn't around to call it a quagmire, and Harry Reid wasn't here to declare that we had lost.
America prevailed, and so civilization prevailed. The seas were made navigable. Trade was allowed to flourish.
Until the form of gangrene known as moonbattery eats away our legs beneath us, America will continue to prevail. When we fall, darkness will close in over us — and over the rest of the world.
On a tip from Byron.
Posted by Van Helsing at May 8, 2007 2:18 PM
Comments
Well said. The fall of America will make the fall of Rome seem like a casual walk in the park. Every other nation will suffer grievously---and many will simply vanish. The international system will revert to tribalism. Mercenary tyrants will roam the globe seeking entire peoples to enslave. No one will be around to stop them.
Posted by: Mike Austin at May 8, 2007 3:07 PM
VH, it is a shame that more Americans do not realize that we were battling Islamotards >200 years ago. As you succinctly address, we were not a world power at the time, so what caused them to hate us? Liberals want to know, or say that they do.
Posted by: skh.pcola at May 8, 2007 6:46 PM
Not to pick fly sh*t out of pepper but it's the MARINE's Hymn, NOT the Marine Corps' Hymn!
Posted by: Conan at May 9, 2007 7:46 AM
