You can pay me now, or you can pay me later

Submitted by Frank Livingston (United States), Aug 8, 2013 at 07:00

Who said this, to whom, when, why and what have we ever done about it? Would you consider this statement to be contrary to our Constitution, our way of life, a danger to our National and Homeland Security? Would you think these are words of an enemy? Surely, our government has studied this but where is the reports?

"The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of their prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every musselman [muslim] who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise."

This statement was a part of a March 28, 1786, letter from John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, the United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Continental Congress, concerning their conversation with the Tripoli ambassador as to why his pirates/terrorists hijacked our merchant ships, stole the ships and cargo while holding the sailors for ransom. (Thomas Jefferson. "The Papers of Thomas Jefferson". Princeton Univ. Press. pp. 9:358.)

Why are we failing to mention the obvious in the 1786 letter that still exists today? Here are the main points:

a. "it was founded on the Laws of their prophet";

b. "that it was written in their Koran";

c. "that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners";

d. "that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and";

e. "to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and";

f. "that every musselman [muslim] who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise."

Has our government studied this and if they have, where are the published reports?

See actual letter here: http://memory.loc.gov/master/mss/mtj/mtj1/005/0400/0430.jpg

This is the typed version: http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~argyll/From%20JOHN%20ADAMS%20And%20THOMAS%20JEFFERSON.pdf

Please take the time to read an article by Gerard W. Gawalt, a manuscript specialist for early American history in the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress titled, "America and the Barbary Pirates : An International Battle Against an Unconventional Foe. It can be found at: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/mtjprece.html

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".