First Contact

Fire of Liberty

While the cable networks are buzzing on and on about the possible retirement of Chief Justice Rehnquist or Sandra Day O'Connor (Bill Kristol's trial balloon even though Judge Bork has hinted that both could retire next week), I thought I'd focus on the summer reading season. Though there are countless books to choose from this summer, I'd like to direct you to The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, The First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805 by Richard Zacks, which provides a well written and in debth historical look at the first significant engagement between the US and the Arab world. While I've seen the book around the Amazon.com website and in a recent Wall Street Journal book review, I didn't have a desire to go into the bookstore and purchase the book until I read this wonderful review over at National Review Online by Michael Ledeen.

While reading Ledeen's review, I couldn't help but to think of the various writers from the isolationistic wing on the Right and various liberal politicians who time after time quipped John Adams's old adage that "America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy," during the follow-up to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Thankfully, Zachs has used his research powers to demonstrate that the US has indeed sought out "monsters", especially when President Jefferson sent a detachment of Marines to confront the Barbary Pirates who had been constantly attacking our ships, stealing our goods and abducting our citizens throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Though the US only sent some eight Marines into the den of the Barbary Pirates they were still able to gather a considerable army of Arab fighters (19th Century Lawrence of Arabia) to fight their way through the hot Libyan desert on their way to confront the Pasha of Barbary , only to be left alone to their own accord when President Jefferson's cleansed his hands of the matter when he decided to initiate his favorite foreign policy tool of Diplomacy. While I give a considerable amount of praise for Thomas Jefferson's role in drafting The Declaration of Independence some 229 years ago, I'd have to say that Jefferson tarnished his image in this extraordinary deference to diplomacy rather than following through with his initial plans of attacking the Pasha of Barbary. Instead of nipping the problem in the bud by destroying these water-bound 19th Century terrorists and their sanctuary, Jefferson sought a solution that might have resolved the situation in the short run it was just another moment of "Kick-the-Can" for others to solve in a future date. It rather remind me of another President named Jefferson who launched a barrage of missiles on various terrorist camps to avenge the various attacks by agents of Araby on our soldiers, civilians and possessions. I think Ledeen summed up how such approaches can lead to disaster when he noted in his review that:

America'’s honor was not rescued until the end of the War of 1812, when Steven Decatur Jr. captured an Algerian flagship, forced the local regime to promise an end to taking American slaves, and then went to Tripoli where he collected a tribute from the Bashaw and liberated ten Christian slaves. As Zacks tells us in his admirable book'’s penultimate paragraph, "ultimately, a few years after Jefferson'’s death, it was military coercion and not diplomatic finesse that ended the three-century-long reign of terror of the Barbary pirates."

Somebody might mention that to Jack Straw the next time he implores us to be patient as he appeases the ayatollahs in Tehran.

From the looks of the review, The Pirate Coast is indeed a must read for history lovers and fans of a good read. Though it's based on something some 200 years ago, Zachs shows that the choices made by these historical figures have an impact on our current actions. Seems to me Zachs has decided to ensure the reading public will not fall prey to the saying "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." So check out Zachs wonderful book.