Not One Cent for Tribute

Tribute is a term that has fallen into some disuse today, but it is a word that refers to paying some tax to another because it is owed due to some arrangement or act of allegiance. It can mean simply taxes, but it can also mean a kind of protection payment. The US paid tribute to the Barbary Pirates in the late 1700 and early 1800's in an attempt to appease them into leaving our merchant ships alone. The US did not have a navy to speak of, and we had no way to protect our shipping off our own shores, much less projecting Naval power across the Atlantic.

The book "Six Frigates" chronicles the fascinating political and historical developments that led to the formation of the US Navy. One of the first uses of the frigates by President Thomas Jefferson was to put down the Muslim pirates who were sponsored by several small city-states in North Africa.  They had terrorized shipping with impunity for many years before the American merchant ships came increasingly into their region, and they found the undefended ships easy pickings. They captured them and made slaves or hostages of the crews, holding then for ransom. Tribute did not work long, for the Muslims found that they could up the ante and extract more money out of the remote infant nation. There was no visible end to their demands. It was that realization that finally brought the US to conclude that we could not go on with tribute.

That kind of activity is still going on today in Muslim lands where they think they can act with impunity (Sudan pirates are an example.)

Anyway, on a Facebook thread today, I commented on a few rants by anti-war "conservatives" who thought the real problem with the US was it's warmaking against other nations. The implications being that if we would just fold up our tents and go home, suddenly the world would love us.

The Tripoli Pirates and Jefferson's solution is a history lesson we need to re-teach. Here was my answering thread: "I am a bit taken aback when I encounter such strident anti-war comments from some, as if, in their opinion, the only real problem we have as a country could be traced to the US's intervention in other people's problems - or that our war-making is in some way a colossal plot to enrich a bunch of international bankers and other miscreants, and we the people are just led like lambs down the primrose path.

I am not a sheep or lamb. I remember my history and the need for the infant US to build six frigates in the midst of a huge internal debate over whether we even needed an army or navy. The Congress finally concluded that our shipping would continue to be ravaged - without any retaliation - by Islamic pirates emanating from North Africa unless they were forcibly stopped. Remember the "Shores of Tripoli"? We mounted an expeditionary force to stomp the pirates into submission to us, rather than paying tribute (in ever increasing amounts) to the Islamic thugs who had been terrorizing the Mediterranean area for centuries. It took the little fledgling USA to do what no other country had ever done – take the war to them.

Our motto: “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute.” Talk is sometimes cheap, but in this case the US did something no other nation had ever done with the pirates - they called their bluff. They resolved that they were not going to pay any more tribute. They would fight instead.

It was necessary to take the war to them to live in the same world with them. Same to day. Amidst all the other problems we have, that same gang of Islamic thugs is still out there intent on carrying on the tradition of Mohammed, which is to intimidate, dominate, exterminate or assimilate all opposition. The last thing you should ever do is ignore them as irrelevant.

Also keep your powder dry as we deal with another group of thugs based in Chicago, who have recently moved their seat of power to Washington, DC.