Terrorism today

[tuck789]

Why is it that everybody seems worried about our security now? Why is it that in the last few years homeland security is a common word and we need to give up rights to be protected? Banks are required to gather info to give to the feds for profiling, locally here they came in and fired the vice president for not complying with acquiring enough info about people who come in to get loans and then not reporting it to the feds for checks. I do believe that the government has gotten smarter in that instead of pushing a cause (such as communism) to fight they say support our troops and get people away from wondering what we are doing? I am amazed at the people who support our government invading other countries that do not provide sound proof as to what they have done. Do not take this that I am unamerican but I question what we do and the reason behind it. (normally money) I am 25 and come from a different generation than most, I do not want handouts, I do not want socialism, I wish the government would make people more independent again and give us more freedom than we have now. We say that we fight for freedom but everyday we lose more, what freedom have we gained from our travels abroad? I know this will enrage some people but sometimes I just setback and wonder if you can believe anything the govt says and actually support the politicians that we so often bash for being liars, cheats, and lawyers. So I ask does anyone know that we have fought terrorism or believe that we can stop it? Do we stop it with our presence or enrage the inhabitants of the people that we invade and cause more hatred and support for more attacks? If they do not fear death then how do you scare them from attempting again? Alot of thoughts and not real organized but these are the things that I think about.

[myronman3]

Do we stop it with our presence or enrage the inhabitants of the people that we invade and cause more hatred and support for more attacks? If they do not fear death then how do you scare them from attempting again?

  it is good you are concerned about what we are dealing with.  and dont let anyone give you crap about your age (i have had folks try to silence me saying i was too young to know anything[bullroar]).  
  all politicians are liars.  that is the way it has always been, and will always be.   trick is to pick the liar who you think will do a better job.  
  as far as the above quote, that is what concerns me the most.   you need to know that these people have hated us for no reason other than that we exist, and they always will.  period.  there is no such thing as live and let live.  that has been tried.  and it has never worked.  they cannot be appeased.  even if we would nuke ourselves, they would find someone else to hate.   they aint happy unless they are killing or dying.  and i am all for helping them die.  we are a kind and loving nation, but we need to use an iron fist when dealing with terrorism.   americans have been the most brutual people that have ever existed, but only when we were backed into a corner.    unleash the brutuality on these sissy pants wimps who hide among civilians and watch how tough they are.   but americans arent really ready to take the steps nessasary to deal with this problem, yet.  another 9/ 11 and maybe then our resolve will harden.  
  yes they can be beat.  but the gloves need to come off.   it wont be easy, but then nothing in our history has been.

[Major]

I think it is time for a little history that you are not taught in school:

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U.S. WAR AGAINST TERRORISTS GOES BACK TO FOUNDING FATHERS
(www.WorldNetDaily.com, 4/27/04)

Most Americans probably think the Islamic terrorists declared war on the United States Sept. 11, 2001. Actually, it started a long time before - right from the birth of the nation. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin were commissioned by the first Congress to assemble in Paris to see about marketing U.S. products in Europe. Jefferson quickly surmised that the biggest challenge facing U.S. merchant ships were those referred to euphemistically as "Barbary pirates."

They weren't "pirates" at all in the traditional sense, Jefferson noticed. They didn't drink and chase women, and they really weren't out to strike it rich. Instead, their motivation was strictly religious. They bought and sold slaves, to be sure. They looted ships. But they used their booty to buy guns, ships, cannon and ammunition. Like those we call "terrorists" today, they saw themselves engaged in jihad and called themselves "mujahiddin." Gee, does this name sound familiar?

Why did these 18th-century terrorists represent such a grave threat to U.S. merchant ships? With independence from Great Britain, the former colonists lost the protection of the greatest navy in the world. The U.S. had no navy - not a single warship. Jefferson inquired of his European hosts how they dealt with the problem. He was stunned to find out that France and England both paid tribute to the fiends - who would, in turn, use the money to expand their own armada, buy more weaponry, hijack more commercial ships, enslave more innocent civilians and demand greater ransom. This didn't make sense to Jefferson. He recognized the purchase of peace from the Muslims only worked temporarily. They would always find an excuse to break an agreement, blame the Europeans and demand higher tribute.

A Very Different Policy

After three months researching the history of militant Islam, he came up with a very different policy to deal with the terrorists. But he didn't get to implement it until years later. As the first secretary of state, Jefferson urged the building of a navy to rescue American hostages held in North Africa and to deter future attacks on U.S. ships. In 1792, he commissioned John Paul Jones to go to Algiers under the guise of diplomatic negotiations, but with the real intent of sizing up a future target of a naval attack.

Jefferson was ready to retire a year later when what could only be described as "America's first Sept. 11" happened. America was struck with its first mega-terror attack by jihadists. In the fall of 1793, the Algerians seized 11 U.S. merchant ships and enslaved more than 100 Americans. When word of the attack reached New York, the stock market crashed. Voyages were canceled in every major port. Seamen were thrown out of work. Ship suppliers went out of business. What Sept. 11 did to the U.S. economy in 2001, the mass shipjacking of 1793 did to the fledgling U.S. economy in that year.

Accordingly, it took the U.S. Congress only four months to decide to build a fleet of warships. But even then, Congress didn't choose war as Jefferson prescribed. Instead, while building what would become the U.S. Navy, Congress sent diplomats to reason with the Algerians. The U.S. ended up paying close to $1 million and giving the pasha of Algiers a new warship, "The Crescent," to win release of 85 surviving American hostages.

It wasn't until 1801, under the presidency of Jefferson, that the U.S. engaged in what became a four-year war against Tripoli. And it wasn't until 1830, when France occupied Algiers, and later Tunisia and Morocco, that the terrorism on the high seas finally ended. France didn't leave North Africa until 1962 - and it quickly became a major base of terrorism once again.

What's the moral of the story?

Appeasement never works. Jefferson saw it. Sept. 11 was hardly the beginning. The war in which we fight today is the longest conflict in human history. It's time to learn from history, not repeat its mistakes.

[Major]

To continue about the Barbary Coast:

Anybody remember Presley O'Bannon?
Presley Neville O'Bannon was born on 1776, in Fauquier County, Virginia. First appointed a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps on 18 January 1801, he served in various stations in the United States prior to assignment onboard USS ADAMS. Following a deployment to the Mediterranean on the ADAMS, First Lieutenant O'Bannon returned to the United States in November 1803. He was assigned to duty at Marine Barracks, Washington D.C.

In 1804, First Lieutenant O'Bannon was again called to sea duty, this time onboard USS PRESIDENT. Setting sail for the Mediterranean in May 1804, the PRESIDENT arrived at Gibraltar in August. Following several months in the Mediterranean, First Lieutenant O'Bannon was transferred to another warship, USS CONSTITUTION, and then to USS ARGUS. While serving as the Marine Officer on the later vessel, he was selected for a mission that later was commemorated in the colors of the Marine Corps and recorded in the Marine Hymn in the words "to the shores of Tripoli".  Gee, does  does this name sound familiar?

For many years the United States had maintained peace with the Barbary States by "buying" treaties and paying tributes to the Pasha. The states of Algiers, Morocco, and Tunis remained reasonably complacent under this system, though Tripoli continued to demand larger payments and make threats against the United States.

Finally, (May 14th 1801) the Pasha of Tripoli, Yousuf, demonstrated his dissatisfaction by cutting down the flag staff in front of the U.S. Consulate. This led to a declaration of war by the United States and more warships being dispatched to the Mediterranean. During a storm, one of these, USS PHILADELPHIA, went on the rocks off Tripoli, with her crew being captured and imprisoned at Derna.

This event, and the inability of U.S. agents to ransom the crew of the PHILADELPHIA, led to the formation of a bold rescue plan, which included First Lieutenant O'Bannon. The plan, conceived by Naval Agent William Eaton, proposed the formation of an alliance with Hamet, elder brother of the Pasha of Tripoli.

In January of 1805, First Lieutenant O'Bannon, in command of a Marine Detachment consisting of one sergeant and six privates, joined Eaton's allied force at Alexandria, Egypt. This army of 500 men then began an expedition against Derna. The ships HORNET, NAUTILUS, and ARGUS further augmented the force. Under a bombardment provided by these ships, Lt. O'Bannon led his force on March 27th 1805 through a shower of musketry and stormed the principal edifices, routing the enemy in such haste that their guns were left loaded and primed. First Lieutenant O'Bannon planted the United States Flag upon the ramparts and then turned the guns upon the enemy. After some two hours of hand-to-hand fighting, the stronghold was occupied and for the first time in history the flag of the United States flew over a fortress of the Old World.
The Tripolitains counter-attacked the fortress a number of times, but were repelled with heavy losses. Finally, through a spirited bayonet charge, the enemy was driven from the vicinity of Derna. This stubbornness and pugnacity by the Americans led to an almost mythical belief in their fighting ability.

On the occasion of his departure, Hamet honored Presley O'Bannon by giving him his jeweled sword with a Mameluke Hilt. This sword was the model for the dress sword used by Marine Corps Officers today, making it the oldest continuously used weapon in the U.S. Military Arsenal. Upon his return to the United States, the state of Virginia presented O'Bannon a sword modeled after the original Mameluke blade given him by Hamet.
Hailed as a national hero, "the hero of Derna", Presley O'Bannon resigned from the Marine Corps on March 6th, 1807. He went to Kentucky and served in the State Legislature. He died on September 12th, 1850 at the age of 74. A monument to his memory was erected over his grave in the state cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky

[Major]

So, as you can see, these “Terrorists” as we call them now, have been doing their thing for hundreds of years.   These ideas they have are not new.   This has little to do with the United States and more to do with their desire to have their religion dominate the entire world population.