We can rejoice that Easter Sunday closes with a satisfactory resolution to the most recent piracy incident as the Navy SEALs demonstrated the most effective method of dealing with lawlessness.

The resurgence of Muslim piracy by the Somalis has an historical precedent. Robert Davis, author of Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters reminds us that from the dawn of our country, the United States has demonstrated that firm resolve and overwhelming force is the only way to confront evil. The story began during the era of the first English settlements in the new world:

In the first half of the 1600s, Barbary corsairs – pirates from the Barbary Coast of North Africa, authorised [sic] by their governments to attack the shipping of Christian countries – ranged all around Britain’s shores. In their lanteen-rigged xebecs (a type of ship) and oared galleys, they grabbed ships and sailors, and sold the sailors into slavery. Admiralty records show that during this time the corsairs plundered British shipping pretty much at will, taking no fewer than 466 vessels between 1609 and 1616, and 27 more vessels from near Plymouth in 1625.”

As the descendent of thirteen Mayflower passengers, I have a newfound respect for the danger they faced in their historic odyssey. I encourage you to read the above linked article for a sobering account of the wretched fate of those enslaved between the years 1530 and 1780.

So the above is not dismissed as an attempt to unduly Christianize the historical record, refer to the prominent atheist Christopher Hitchens, who, in his book, Thomas Jefferson: Author of America, affirms professor Davis’ calculation that as many as 1,250,000 Europeans had been enslaved by the Barbary Muslims (also known as Ottoman Corsairs), who had operated out of Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco since the time of the Crusades. In addition to terrorizing ships at sea, they ruthlessly raided European coastal areas to capture Christian slaves. Hitchens offers an example (as does Davis) of a particularly devastating raid in which, “…practically every inhabitant of the Irish village of Baltimore was carried off in 1631.”

Captured seamen and coastal citizens alike were sold at auction with the cry of the Muslim slave auctioneer advertising, “Christians are cheap today!”

This is not to ignore or justify the shameful slave trade carried on by powerful business interests in the predominantly white Western nations. But I would offer that they were motivated by profits and acted inhumanely in violation of the tenants of their Christian milieu. In fact, William Wilberforce, a Christian politician was the most effective voice to defiantly oppose them, single-handedly ending their insidious stranglehold on commerce in the British Empire.

From the earliest days of independence, merchant vessels sailing under the flag of the United States were equally victimized by Muslim piracy. While Thomas Jefferson and John Adams served as ministers to France and England, respectively, they accosted the ambassador of Tripoli who unabashedly demanded an enormous tribute in exchange for ceasing hostilities. Jefferson demanded that he give an accounting for attacking American merchantmen in the Mediterranean. In his report to Congress, Jefferson wrote:

The Ambassador answered us that [the justification] was founded on the Laws of the Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman [Muslim] who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise.”

Note: The Qur’anic verses endorsing the ambassador’s position are provided at the end of this article.

It is well known that Jefferson owned a copy of the Qur’an (which was recently the focus of the swearing-in of congressman Keith Ellison). Given Jefferson’s above memoir about his encounter with the ambassador, one has to wonder about his purpose in procuring a copy of their holy book.

Jefferson’s opinion was that the administration should refuse to pay tribute and begin preparation for an assault on the Barbary Coast, noting that, “Justice and Honor favor this course.”

John Adams – as he often did – disagreed with Jefferson, and advocated that the U.S. pay the ransom being demanded by the Ambassador and not engage the enemy. “We ought not to fight them at all unless we determine to fight them forever.” Prophetic words.

During the centuries of marauding Muslim piracy, most European nations had paid tribute. Even America capitulated under both Washington and Adams because we lacked a navy that could protect our interests.

In 1790, then-Secretary of State Jefferson drafted a message to Congress, “Proposal to Use Force Against the Barbary States.”

In a message to Congress in 1793, President Washington spoke of the Muslim threat: “If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace… it must be known that we are at all times ready for war.” The U.S. Navy was created the next year with the express purpose of preparing for our first war – ironically against Muslim terrorists and the rogue states that sponsored them.

By the time Thomas Jefferson came into office, the U.S. had already paid out $2 million in protection money – 1/5 of the annual federal income.

For twenty years, Jefferson had resolved that we should engage in military action against the barbarians (Hitchens notes the “handy euphony with “Barbary”), and now was in a position to do something about it. Three months after taking office, while Congress was in recess, he dispatched our Navy and newly-formed Marine Corps with the mission objective: “subdue, seize and make prizes of all vessels, goods and effects belonging to the Dey of Tripoli” and take whatever measures “the state of war will justify.” Interestingly, he waited until the ships had sailed beyond reach before he condescended to notify the Congress.

In one of the most stunning military exploits in history, the U.S. Marines marched five hundred miles across the Libyan desert and destroyed the Barbary threat in a combined assault with the Navy against the port of Tripoli, giving birth to the famous lyric in the Marine Corps Hymn, “…to the shores of Tripoli.” Marines still wear the Mameluke sword – reminiscent of a Muslim scimitar.

Eventually, America resorted to appeasement and paid $60,000 ransom for captured seamen in the peace treaty that ended the First Barbary War. Within a few short years, we learned the bitter lesson that appeasement can never contain evil – a lesson that is often shrouded in the annals of history and must be re-taught with terrible consequences.

Had Jefferson consulted his copy of the Qur’an, he would have discovered a thousand year-old precept: Allah endorses treacherously breaking of treaties when dealing with infidels; the only purpose of a treaty is to distract the enemy while re-arming for a perfidious assault. As a character in The Y Factor notes, “When it comes to Muslim jihadists, the meek will surely not inherit the earth. Turning the other cheek only makes it easier for them to behead you.”

Bolstered by Qur’anic justification for jihad, the Barbary pirates soon resumed their attacks on our merchant fleet, which ultimately led to the Second Barbary War.

Two hundred and five years after their first naval victory against Muslim piracy, the United States Navy wrote another chapter today. May they continue to deliver decisive blows.

Sources:

Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters by Robert Davis
To the Shores of Tipoli: The Birth of the U.S. Navy and Marines by A.B.C. Whipple
America, The Last Best Hope, by William J. Bennett
Thomas Jefferson: Author of America, by Christopher Hitchens
U.S.[has] Been Fighting Islamic Fundamentalism Since Colonial Era by Bryan Fischer
First Barbary War, Wikipedia

The following Qur’an references are found at the University of Southern California website.

The Qur’an instructs Muslims to:
Kill the disbelievers wherever they find them (2:191),
Murder them and treat them harshly (9:123),
Slay them (9:5),
Fight with them (8:65),
Strive against them with great endeavor (25:52),
Be stern with them because they belong to hell (66:9)
Strike off their heads; then after making a “wide slaughter among them, carefully tie up the remaining captives” for ransom (47:4),
Form treaties with infidels only when Islam is in a weakened state; to buy time to re-arm for ultimate conquest (9:1).

End Note

Supporters of Islam often argue that these verses are insignificant and are offset by numerous passages that promote peace. This is disingenuous, for they know the verses promoting peace were overruled specifically by Muhammad. Abdication is a revered Muslim doctrine that gives Allah the prerogative to directly contradict previous divine revelation – even revelations that purportedly came from him. To Muslims, Allah cannot be subjected to the rules of logic, hence the Islamic propensity for circular logic.

Other blog entries you may find interesting:

The New Dark Ages: A Long Eurabian Night
Hand-Wringing Diplomacy: Mideast Peace is an Impossible Goal
Islam: What the West Needs to Know
A Woman’s Place in Islam
Islamic Law Requires Breast Feeding of Male Co-workers
What is the Qur’an? Archaeological Find Invalidates Islam’s Holy Book
Love Your Enemies and Pray For Those Who Persecute You
Madrassah Schools: Why They Pose a Threat to Western Civilization
Violence in the Bible: 1st Response to a Muslim
Validity of Scripture: 2nd Response Presents The Bible as Superior to the Qur’an
The Historic Alliance of Christianity and Science
DNA and the Flood: The Biblical Account is Written in Our Genetic Code
Jihad.com: Islamofascists Are Recruiting Via the Internet
A Brief History of Islam
Submission: The Movie That Led a Muslim to Assassinate Theo Van Gogh
Honoring America’s Fallen Warriors
Profile of A Reluctant Hero: Why Christians Should Defend Themselves
The Enlightenment of Atheism