By 1800 a new slogan was beginning to appear across the new country, "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute."
In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson after refusing to pay Tripoli's demand for immediate payment of $225,000 and an annual payment of $25,000, ordered the frigates President, Essex, and Philadelphia and the sloop Enterprise, under Commodore Richard Dale, to patrol the North African coast and to bombard Tripoli." (FromU. S. has fought Islamic terrorism before - The Barbary Pirates at http://www.zianet.com/web/barbary.htm.
We need another Jefferson.
The tv news today (22 February 2011) reported the deaths of four Americans at the hands of Somali pirates who boarded the American's boat somewhere between Yemen and Somalia. The LA Times has (had) a video from the US Navy at http://www.latimes.com/news/sc-dc-0223-pirates-deaths-20110222,0,1194457.story.
It's time to stop being "politically correct" and to act like we care about our citizens.
This is not a case of sending thousands of soldiers a la Afghanistan or Iraq; this is a matter of sending a small fleet of warships - both surface and submarines - manned with strike forces (Marines, Seals) outfitted with the gear they need to safely do the job at hand, and that job is clearing the pirates from the sea.
Several months ago, when the pirates boarded another ship I suggested that naval vessels from the U.S. and other nations (including China and Russia which have a presence in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden) convoy commercial and private vessels past the infected areas.
Maybe Iran's warships, currently sailing down the Suez Canal, can join the forces facing the pirates; after all, they have the same mentality.
Similar to World War 2 materials convoys, merchant ships and non-commercial vessels would be staged at a point away from the threat, then escorted to a point beyond the threat.
It might not be politically correct - are the pirates "politically correct" - but it should be made clear to everyone in the area that ships not included in the convey will be sunk on sight.
The pirates captured today (22 February 2011) "surrendered" to the Navy and will be dealt with in a gentle manner, not the manner in which they dealt with their captives. These "brave" pirates, murderers of the sea, surrendered rather than die fighting.
We - the world at large - must stop dealing with pirates and others of their ilk - on OUR terms; in order to succeed, we must deal with these people on THEIR terms. They are not, and do not think like, "civilized Europeans" or politically correct Americans. It's time to stop saying "Naughty, naughty" and start taking these cretins out to the proverbial wood shed for a sound thrashing, and damn political correctness.
"But," the panty waists will whine, "if we do that to them, they'll do the same, or worse, to us."
Fools, they ALREADY are doing worse to us and they are getting away with it.
OK, Mr. Obama, you are Commander in Chief (despite your total lack of military experience, not unusual for recent political candidates - John McCain the exception), tell the legions under your command to do what they are trained and paid to do, to clear the waters of pirates that threaten American-flagged ships. If our forces happen to work well with other nations, that's good too, for us and for them.
The only way to put an end to the pirates is to deal with them on their terms - sight ship, sink ship.
