I hesitate to post anything here, but this strikes me...

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Cubfan64
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I hesitate to post anything here, but this strikes me...

Post by Cubfan64 »

How soon we forget our own history...

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections ... prece.html
Joe Ribaudo
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Friends Or Foe?????

Post by Joe Ribaudo »

Paul,

I have done a bit of personal research into this subject over the years. I will wait to see what kind of response you get, if any, before I throw in my two cents......

Take care,

Joe
pippinwhitepaws
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Post by pippinwhitepaws »

scroll to the bottom cubbie, this is a historic posture.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... os/ae.html
Joe Ribaudo
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The Barbary Wars.....

Post by Joe Ribaudo »

Paul,

I was fortunate enough to be reading stories about the Barbary Wars in my, early, pre-teens.

I have "Dawn Like Thunder" by Glenn Tucker and "Victory in Tripoli" by Joshua E. London on my bookshelf. Both books show the dark underbelly of our "war" with the Barbary Pirates.

There were deeds of bravery and shame as in all wars but in the end, we did the right thing. Your comment about forgetting our history was more than appropriate in this case. On page 223 of "Victory in Tripoli" London writes:

"Unlike some of America's later military conflicts, however, Jefferson's war with Tripoli never really escaped its own politics in terms of the national collective memory. The war and its victory did not remain long in the national consciousness. Although its memory is forever enshrined in the Marine Corps hymn-"From the Halls of Montezuma/To the Shores of Tripoli"-its history is little more than trivia, relegated to one or two lines in presidential biographies. The grand Tripoli Monument, transferred in 1860 from the Capitol grounds in Washington to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, today stands forgotten and ignored by the general public."

The "national collective memory" is even shorter these days. 9/11 is so far away in many American's memories, that they are already prepared to buy peace, no matter what the cost. There are those here and around the world who are ready to, and already are, pay the pirates ransom. Perhaps if we pay them enough, they will stop their criminal behavior.

While the Barbary War is not well known in the minds of most Americans, it was an event that took a fledgling country and started it down the road to becoming the most powerful nation in the world. Our world is changing rapidly and IMHO, we are racing headlong into the past.
A past where:

"we took off our shoes and entering the cave (for so it seemed), with small apertures of light with iron gates, we were shown to a huge, shaggy beast, sitting on his rump upon a low bench covered with a cushion of embroidered velvet, with his hind legs gathered up like a taylor, or a bear. On our approach to him, he reached out his forepaw as if to receive something to eat. Our guide exclaimed, "Kiss the Dey's hand!".

William Eaton's narrative of his meeting with the Dey goes on, but this was the "elevated brute" that we had come to beg for the safety of our merchant shipping. Will we soon be kissing the hands of the Somalia pirates?

Good topic!

Take care,

Joe
Joe Ribaudo
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Message On The Monument.....

Post by Joe Ribaudo »

Copyright photo replaced by link to copyright photo by admin at Joe's request.
Link to Tripoli Monument:
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj26 ... nument.jpg
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