Q&A - Tripoli: The United States' First War on Terror

Q&A With David Smethurst

Q: Are there any similarities between the Somali pirates and the Barbary pirates?
A: Yes. Somali pirates have operated off the coast of Somali since the early 1990s and began seizing ships in 2005. Like the Barbary pirates, they sieze ships and their crews for ransom. And like the pirates I wrote about, they tend to seize ships owned and operated by states outside of the Middle East. In an ironic twist of fate, the Danish owned Maersk Alabama was captured by pirates on April 8, 2009, 400 miles east of Mogadishu. The 21 American crew were taken hostage, but were later able to retake the ship. Four days later, United States Navy SEALs and United States Marine Corps snipers firing from the USS Bainbridge, killed the three pirates holding Captain Richard Phillips hostage aboard a lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama, and rescued the captain; 1 pirate was captured alive. The USS Bainbridge is named after Commodore William Bainbridge, who fought the Barbary Pirates and was captain of the USS Philadelphia when it was captured in the harbor of Tripoli in 1803. Recently the USS Sterett, a destroyer named after Lieutenant Andrew Sterett who commanded the USS Enterprise during the Barbary War was operating off Somalia.

Q: Tell me about the historical parallels you found between this conflict and the turmoil in Libya?
A: Just like two hundred plus years ago, the US Navy is offshore and even some of the ships (in name) are the same. Today the USS Enterprise is steaming offshore along with a contingent of 1,800 Marines. During the Barbary War, the USS Enterprise, a 12-gun schooner commanded by Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, was involved in the opening round of the war, defeating the Tripolitan brig, Tripoli, on August 1, 1801. Another interesting similarity is how history repeats itself. In 1804 the United States backed a rebellion in Eastern Tripoli to overthrow the ruler of Tripoli. Today the rebellion to topple Gaddafi started in eastern Libya.

Q: The events in your book took place more than two hundred years ago. How did you bring them to life?
A: From 1939 to 1944, the United States government commissioned the publication of the Naval documents related to the United States wars with the Barbary powers. This six volume set contains letters, correspondence, journal entries, official communiqués and logbooks. I used this material, as well as other sources, to write this story from the perspective of the men who fought and died in this war. In addition, William Eaton kept detailed notes including actual dialog, which I used in the book. All of this material helped bring the story, and characters, to life. Lastly, I relied on maps, photographs, illustrations, and anything else I could get my hands on to paint a visual picture of the conflict. I was also able to visit North Africa twice, so I had a good feel for the landscape and terrain.

Q: What made Eaton decide to overthrow the ruler of Tripoli?
A: Eaton was consul to Tunis, one of the four Barbary powers. After living there for several years, he realized that Tunis was weak and could be defeated militarily. Eaton also got tired of being treated as subject of the ruler of Tunis. So, he developed a plot to replace the ruler of Tripoli, Yusuf Karamanli, with his brother, Hamet, who was living in exile in Tunis. The plan was finally adopted by President Thomas Jefferson after the U.S. Navy was unable to defeat Tripoli by force alone. Jefferson saw it as the United States’ best chance to either win the war, or gain favorable terms in any peace negotiations.

Q: Did the United States face an enemy similar to what it faces today?
A: In some ways, yes. The Barbary pirates were terrorists in the true sense of the word. They used terror to exact annual tributes from any state that traded in the Mediterranean. If a country did not pay them, their ships would be attacked, the crews enslaved, and the cargos confiscated. The Barbary pirates would also regularly raid coastal communities and kidnap entire villages, demanding money in return for their release. Our current enemies are, however, different. Al Qaeda is stateless and it's brand of terrorism is aimed and removing America from the Middle East. In the 1800s, American had a small toehold in the Middle East and her primary interest was commerce.

Q: Was Eaton's march across the desert from Alexandria to Derne (Darnah), a distance of some 500 miles, one of the epic journeys in American militiary history?
A: Yes, but it's part of a list of bold strokes, including Patton's relief of Bastogne during World War II, and most recently, the drive on Bagdad. Still, it's quite incredible that with eight marines, a few dozen European mercenaries, and several hundred Arabs loyal to the ousted ruler of Tripoli, Eatonwas able to cross five hundred miles of desert and attack Derne. It has to go down as one of the most daring raids in American military history.

Q: Did the United States win this war?
A: Yes and no. Nothing that happens in the Middle East, as we've only recently relearned, is black and white. We had victories, we had defeats. However, in the long run, Eaton's actions defeated the Barbary Pirates. By 1815 they now longer attacked American merchantmen and the United States was able to sign lasting peace treaties with each of the states, Morocco, Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli without having to pay a single dollar to maintain the peace. But victory didn't occur overnight. It was a long, difficult road.