Thomas Jefferson's Early War with Terrorists

Dear Friends,

I’m sending out this surprising article, plus my comments, on America’s
early battle with Islamic terrorists.

This article was originally sent out by Francis Frangipane’s staff June
15th. You know from my background that spiritual warfare through
prayer, praise, and proclamation of the Gospel is primary and should be
accompanied by teaching the Word of God and by building or networking
Christian community for the welfare of everyone in society, even for
the benefit of those who reject Christ. Our warfare as followers of
Jesus is NOT with flesh and blood, but with sin, with ignorance, and
with dark controlling spirits that feed on peoples’ wrong thinking.

However, the power of the State to righteously wage war is clearly
authorized by God. We can’t avoid using it when it is necessary. The
government’s use of force which “bears not the sword in vain” (Romans
13:4) comes into play when evil people use weapons or violence. As in
the movie “To Kill a Mockingbird” starring Gregory Peck, the peaceful
father (Atticus Finch) needed to use his gun, albeit reluctantly, when
a mad dog came down the street toward his children. That’s a clear
illustration of evil possessed with a malicious intent. Such a foe
can’t be negotiated with or appeased, only destroyed.

In my opinion, America and its leaders have been naïve concerning the
nature of our present enemy. President Bush seems to be awakening to
the danger. Now he needs our prayers more than ever. May God have mercy
on us by giving us leaders (and keeping them in power long enough to
succeed) who will be resolute in withstanding evil even when it’s
disguised as a religion.

No religion-- including Christianity-- should ever be cloaked in
legitimacy or given protected status by our government when it permits
or instills hatred or murder. The Constitution doesn’t protect hate
crimes. That’s not true religion.

My concern is not for those terrorists presently attacking our troops
or plotting against our homeland now, but for the next generation,
those multiplied thousands of young people who are still being trained
in the hundreds of one-room school Madrases, who will come to adulthood
without a good education, chanting from the one book they’re allowed to
read, the Koran, knowing only loyalty to Islam, who think killing in
the name of Allah is justified, who are being brainwashed to hate
Americans, Christians, and Jews.

If we (church leaders, government leaders, business leaders) aren’t
thinking long-range, we might win the immediate land-battle and
ultimately lose the mind-war.

Bullets alone won’t stop the next wave of violence. The truth (all
kinds of truth) must somehow penetrate into closed societies so that
enlightenment can enlarge their understanding. The liberties which we
enjoy (that are now being used against us) must be injected into their
limited and narrow cultural systems. Freedom of thought has to
accompany other freedoms.

How do we do this?

1) By Freedom of Communication
We need new communication inroads into every society via satellite
broadcasts, radio or TV, internet links, publishing ventures, student
exchange programs, access to broader education, translating our
historical or helpful materials into their native languages, etc.
Often in poor nations, whoever gets printed material in first, sets
the baseline for their beliefs.

2) By Business Expansion
Christian-owned businesses should compete with Muslim-funded
enterprises in other nations and in America. (This battle has a
definite economic front. Remember-- whoever controls the money, wins!)
Often these new ventures are their way of infiltrating nations,
especially in Africa. These businesses are frequently underwritten by
oil money from Middle Eastern nations which is siphoned off by elite
ruling families. Their expansion via new jobs is the foot-in-the-door
for furthering their agenda of infiltration and domination. They often
use business opportunities to gain entry into poorer nations by bribing
key government officials. (Poverty makes it easy for such corruption to
occur.) Then they build their Mosques or Madrases and set about to
influence the media and the government until their control is well
established and that nation becomes a difficult place for Christians to
live or for people to have religious freedom.

3) By Preaching the Gospel
We need missionary activities of all kinds, formal church workers, plus
bi-vocational tent-makers, professionals who are strong Christians, by
sending in Bible cassette tapes, CD’s, modern Christian music, secret
prayer meetings, Scripture distributions, and when we can do it safely,
public preaching.

4) By Praying Fervently
Prayer knows no limits! Pray that wicked spirits in high places will be
dethroned, made mute, confused, and driven off the land and out of the
minds they presently occupy. Pray for the Good News of Jesus Christ to
penetrate into Jewish, Arabian, and Palestinian lands. Ask the Lord of
the Harvest to equip and send out apostles and prophets into and from
within these nations. The light which they need is primarily THE Light
of the World, Jesus!

5) By Loving our Enemy
The Bible teaches us to be respectful of all men, including
unbelievers. We can truly love people and compassionately try to help
them even when adamantly opposing what they believe or practice.

The hand of totalitarian regimes funding hate-preaching will eventually
be bitten by the very snake they’re feeding.

Ron Wood

WAR AGAINST TERRORISTS GOES BACK TO FOUNDING FATHERS
(www.WorldNetDaily.com, 4/27/04)

Most Americans probably think the Islamic terrorists declared war on
the United States Sept. 11, 2001. Actually, it started a long time
before - right from the birth of the nation. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson,
John Adams and Benjamin Franklin were commissioned by the first
Congress to assemble in Paris to see about marketing U.S. products in
Europe. Jefferson quickly surmised that the biggest challenge facing
U.S. merchant ships were those referred to euphemistically as "Barbary
pirates."

They weren't "pirates" at all in the traditional sense, Jefferson
noticed. They didn't drink and chase women, and they really weren't out
to strike it rich. Instead, their motivation was strictly religious.
They bought and sold slaves, to be sure. They looted ships. But they
used their booty to buy guns, ships, cannon and ammunition. Like those
we call "terrorists" today, they saw themselves engaged in jihad and
called themselves "mujahiddin."

Why did these 18th-century terrorists represent such a grave threat to
U.S. merchant ships? With independence from Great Britain, the former
colonists lost the protection of the greatest navy in the world. The
U.S. had no navy - not a single warship. Jefferson inquired of his
European hosts how they dealt with the problem. He was stunned to find
out that France and England both paid tribute to the fiends - who
would, in turn, use the money to expand their own armada, buy more
weaponry, hijack more commercial ships, enslave more innocent civilians
and demand greater ransom. This didn't make sense to Jefferson. He
recognized the purchase of peace from the Muslims only worked
temporarily. They would always find an excuse to break an agreement,
blame the Europeans and demand higher tribute.

A Very Different Policy

After three months researching the history of militant Islam, he came
up with a very different policy to deal with the terrorists. But he
didn't get to implement it until years later. As the first secretary of
state, Jefferson urged the building of a navy to rescue American
hostages held in North Africa and to deter future attacks on U.S.
ships. In 1792, he commissioned John Paul Jones to go to Algiers under
the guise of diplomatic negotiations, but with the real intent of
sizing up a future target of a naval attack.

Jefferson was ready to retire a year later when what could only be
described as "America's first Sept. 11" happened. 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.

It wasn't until 1801, under the presidency of Jefferson, that the U.S.
engaged in what became a four-year war against Tripoli. And it wasn't
until 1830, when France occupied Algiers, and later Tunisia and
Morocco, that the terrorism on the high seas finally ended. France
didn't leave North Africa until 1962 - and it quickly became a major
base of terrorism once again.

What's the moral of the story?

Appeasement never works. Jefferson saw it. Sept. 11 was hardly the
beginning. The war in which we fight today is the longest conflict in
human history. It's time to learn from history, not repeat its
mistakes.