Q. How long has America been at war with militant Islam?

Submitted by Yonason (United States), Jun 2, 2005 at 19:14

A. Since our nation's inception.

"In the fall of 1793, the Algerians seized 11 U.S. merchant ships and enslaved more than 100 Americans.
When word of the attack reached New York, the stock market crashed. Voyages were canceled in every major port. Seamen were thrown out of work. Ship suppliers went out of business. What Sept. 11 did to the U.S. economy in 2001, the mass shipjacking of 1793 did to the fledgling U.S. economy in that year."
from: (www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38200)

Thomas Jefferson finally dramatically reduced their reign of terror in about 1815. But it is important to remember that these Mujahadin had been about their neferious work against 'unbelievers and infidels' for around 300 years prior to that (1), which means they have been performing this specific manifestation of their evil for nigh on 500 years now. There are some differences though, like there are more of them, spread out around the world, and no longer committed to just demanding tribute but fanatically committed to our utter destruction.

Note: Those Algerian terrorists were then know as the "Barbary Pirates" (from which the term 'barbarian' is most aptly derived).


refs:
(1) "Since the sixteenth century, corsairs from the Muslim states of North Africa had controlled the Mediterranean sea lanes by force. At the time the United States won its independence, the states of the Barbary Coast--Tripoli, Algiers, Morocco, and Tunis--had been preying on the world's merchant ships for three hundred years."
from: (www.mariner.org/usnavy/06/06a.htm)

supplimentary, with some nice insights: (www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A59720-2001Oct14)

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