Terrorists Are New-Age Pirates
The threat of piracy, armed robbery and terrorism on the high seas ─ especially off the coast of Somalia and in the Malacca Straits ─ are real 21st-century realities. Today, 30 percent of liquefied petroleum gas, 40 percent of commodities and 50 percent of the world’s oil production are shipped through these vital waterways.
The 21st-century war on terrorism is very similar to the 19th-century war against piracy that resulted in colonialism. Again, it was America that initiated the first campaign against pirates in the 19th century.
In the 18th century, most civilized states accepted the Roman law definition of pirates as “enemies of the human race.” By the end of the century, the rulers of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli had become notorious for harboring pirates, and engaging in piracy and the slave trade in whites, chiefly captured seamen. European countries found it easier to ransom these unfortunates rather than go to war. Admiral Horatio Nelson, commanding the British Mediterranean fleet, was forbidden to carry out reprisals. “My blood boils,” he wrote, “that I cannot chastise these pirates.”
By contrast, America was determined to do so. Pirates were the main reason Congress established a navy in 1794. In 1805, U.S. Marines marched across the desert from Egypt, forcing the Pasha of Tripoli to sue for peace and surrender all American captives – an exploit recalled by lyrics from the U.S. Marine Corps Hymn: “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.” America followed up on its bold initiatives in Tripoli in 1815 when Commodores Stephen Decatur and William Bainbridge led successful operations against all three of the Barbary states, as they were called. This shamed the British into taking action themselves, and the following year Admiral Lord Exmouth subjected Algiers to what was then the fiercest naval bombardment in history. However, these victories were ephemeral. The beys repudiated the treaties they were obliged to sign as soon as American and British ships disappeared over the horizon. Something America and Britain forgot when they forced Saddam Hussein to surrender after the first Gulf War.
It was the French who took the logical step, in 1830, of not only storming Algiers but of conquering the whole country. France eventually annexed Algeria and settled 1 million colonists there. It solved the Tunis piracy problem by turning Tunisia into a protectorate, a model it later followed in Morocco. Spain also digested bits of the Barbary Coast, followed by Italy, which overthrew the Pasha of Tripoli and created Libya. Tangiers, another nuisance, was ruled by a four-power European commission.
In the 19th century, as today, civilized countries tried to put down piracy by organizing coalitions of local rulers who had been victimized. Arabia and the Persian Gulf were a patchwork of small states, some of which were controlled by criminal tribes that practiced caravan robbing on land and piracy at sea. Pirate sheiks were protected by the Wahhabis, forebearers of the present rulers of Saudi Arabia. Sound familiar?
The 21st-century war on terrorism is very similar to the 19th-century war against piracy that resulted in colonialism. Again, it was America that initiated the first campaign against pirates in the 19th century.
In the 18th century, most civilized states accepted the Roman law definition of pirates as “enemies of the human race.” By the end of the century, the rulers of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli had become notorious for harboring pirates, and engaging in piracy and the slave trade in whites, chiefly captured seamen. European countries found it easier to ransom these unfortunates rather than go to war. Admiral Horatio Nelson, commanding the British Mediterranean fleet, was forbidden to carry out reprisals. “My blood boils,” he wrote, “that I cannot chastise these pirates.”
By contrast, America was determined to do so. Pirates were the main reason Congress established a navy in 1794. In 1805, U.S. Marines marched across the desert from Egypt, forcing the Pasha of Tripoli to sue for peace and surrender all American captives – an exploit recalled by lyrics from the U.S. Marine Corps Hymn: “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.” America followed up on its bold initiatives in Tripoli in 1815 when Commodores Stephen Decatur and William Bainbridge led successful operations against all three of the Barbary states, as they were called. This shamed the British into taking action themselves, and the following year Admiral Lord Exmouth subjected Algiers to what was then the fiercest naval bombardment in history. However, these victories were ephemeral. The beys repudiated the treaties they were obliged to sign as soon as American and British ships disappeared over the horizon. Something America and Britain forgot when they forced Saddam Hussein to surrender after the first Gulf War.
It was the French who took the logical step, in 1830, of not only storming Algiers but of conquering the whole country. France eventually annexed Algeria and settled 1 million colonists there. It solved the Tunis piracy problem by turning Tunisia into a protectorate, a model it later followed in Morocco. Spain also digested bits of the Barbary Coast, followed by Italy, which overthrew the Pasha of Tripoli and created Libya. Tangiers, another nuisance, was ruled by a four-power European commission.
In the 19th century, as today, civilized countries tried to put down piracy by organizing coalitions of local rulers who had been victimized. Arabia and the Persian Gulf were a patchwork of small states, some of which were controlled by criminal tribes that practiced caravan robbing on land and piracy at sea. Pirate sheiks were protected by the Wahhabis, forebearers of the present rulers of Saudi Arabia. Sound familiar?
posted by Peter de Krassel's Custom Maid Politics at 8:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home