“Although there is much in the history of America’s wars with the Barbary pirates that is of direct relevance to the current ‘war on terror’, one aspect seems particularly instructive to informing our understanding of contemporary Islamic terrorists. Very simply put, the Barbary pirates were committed, militant Muslims who meant to do exactly what they said…. America became entangled in the Islamic world and was dragged into a war with the Barbary states simply because of the religious obligation within Islam to bring belief to those who do not share it. This is not something limited to ‘radical’ or ‘fundamentalist’ Muslims…. The Islamic basis for piracy in the Mediterranean was an old doctrine relating to the physical or armed jihad, or struggle.”
Joshua E. London joins Melanie Phillips and the fascists of the British National Party in identifying eighteenth century piracy with Islamist terrorism today.