I wasn't suggesting "jihad"...

In as much as the Beys and Sultans of North Africa were Islamic leaders as much as they were pirates and petty kings, they conducted open naval warfare on any NON MUSLIM state that was capable of providing targets of opportunity.

The US, as the first unabashedly "secular" state in the Western world, was a "golden" target for these pirates. Jambo was of the opinion that the reason that the Barbary pirates didn't attack British/American shipping prior to 1780 was that Britain was paying the Barbary states "bribes" (for lack of a better term), and that Britain's continued practice of paying off the pirates after the American victory ( and subsequent attacks by the pirates) is proof of that.

I am of the opinion that it is a combination of both the tributes AND the fact that Britain constituted the single greatest naval power on the face of the earth, and by the end of the French Revolution, ruled the Med with an iron fist (speaking in naval terms).

Under the "edicts" of Islam, it is a sin to wage war against another Muslim. It is a sin to capture and enslave (or sell into slavery) a fellow Muslim. No single aspect of the Barbary states piracy generated more income for the Beys than the selling of captured sailors and mariners into bondage in other Muslim markets... and if they couldn't do this to British ships and sailors, and wouldn't do it to other Muslim traders and shippers, then what better target was there than the very aggressive and ambitious American traders cruising the Mediterranean Sea in search of rich trading grounds?

Because we are "secular" in our national make-up, what better target of hatred and aggression could the saber-rattlers of the Muslim world want than the US? There is zero risk of fall-out from other Muslim states, and the religious leaders of the time and region certainly couldn't voice opposition... the Qu'ran demands that those who stand in the way of Islam fall to the sword of "jihad".

An upstart fledgling nation that refuses to pay its "tribute" to Barbary supremecy in the Mediterranean, and who openly promises the blessings of a "free society" regardless of religious or ethnic background? I'm not making an analogy here... I really do think this is a very similar situation THEN to what we see now in nations like Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan and the criminal and terrorist elements that exist and prosper within them.

I really do think that the Barbary Wars constitute America's "baptism by fire" with radical Islamic aggression and expansionism. The interesting note is... What won us victory then?

Fast, aggressive and uncompromising military action to defend our interests abroad with the latest and greatest military equipment, tactics and training available at the time. And I think the solution for today's issues is the same.