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Re: War on Terror



>Frankly I don't see how terrorism can be controlled or ended unless the nation
>s
>of the world cooperate to eliminate the safe havens that we collectively
>provide for them.

Since the fifteenth century with the decline of the Almohad empire in
north Africa, piracy flourished.  It was especially popular during European
great power conflicts such as the Napoleonic wars, when the powers were
distracted fighting each other and often granted letters of marque and
reprisal to various privateers.  After the battle of Waterloo, with Napoleon
finally trounced, the victors turned their attention to piracy.  They
convinced various safe havens to cease harboring pirates.  It was the
U.S. Marines who invaded Algiers in 1815 and got its governor to sign
an agreement to that effect, thus ending the era of pirates.

A parallel?  Not very exact, but interesting.

John S. Quarterman <jsq@quarterman.org>
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