Barbary: Islamic Terrorism and America’s First Military Victory

06/11/2018

Many Americans erroneously trace the roots of Islamic terrorism against their nation to September 11, 2001. In reality, the United States' very first conflict with Muslim terrorists was also its very first war as nation-and it won that war 213 years ago today, on June 10, 1805. Thus and despite the (rather ignorant) question that became popular after the terror strikes of 9/11-"Why do they hate us?"-the United States' first war and victory as a nation was against Islam; and the latter had initiated hostilities on the same rationale it had used to initiate hostilities against non-Muslims for the preceding 1,200 years.