Why are we still playing with them?
America was struck with its first mega-terror attack
by jihadists. 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.
Accordingly, it took the U.S. Congress only four
months to decide to build a fleet of warships.
But even then, Congress didn't choose war, as
Jefferson prescribed. Instead, while building what
would become the U.S. Navy, Congress sent diplomats to
reason with the Algerians. The U.S. ended up paying
close to $1 million and giving the pasha of Algiers a
new warship, "The Crescent," to win release of 85
surviving American hostages.
2007-08-29
01:15:04
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3 answers
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asked by
Anonymous
in
Military