James Madison, Hater of Pirates

James Madison, Fourth President of the United States of America would be 257 this year and his positions on foreign policy are seminal in the United States early diplomatic history and the United States first interactions with the Muslim World.

Madison, serving as secretary of state under President Jefferson, advocated waging war against the brutes. In 1801, the U.S. refused to hand over any more money, and battles ensued, according to the Montpelier Foundation, whose mission is to preserve Madison’s legacy. By 1805, the Marines had successfully defeated the pirates and the payoffs ceased.

European nations had entered into treaties with the Barbary States whereby they were at peace, but the European nations paid a yearly tribute to ensure the safe release of any hostages taken. The United States chose to not pay, and sent the first marines to battle the corsairs into submission and to release their hostages in the First Barbary War. In the end, the United States won handily and came to a treaty with the Bashaw of Tripoli that ended the war in exchange for ransoming the hostages. The treaty was a questionable triumph for the Jefferson administration and after the war of 1812 a Second Barbary War that included a coalition of European forces along with the US changed the acceptability of the Corsairs in the Mediterranean.

James Madison's is considered the loudest hawkish voice in Jefferson's cabinet that pushed the young country into this battle. His position eventually led to the downfall of the Corsair empires of North Africa.
Today, "the shores of Tripoli" are immortalized in the U.S. Marine Corps's anthem and in monuments such as the Tripoli Monument at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Pirates in the News! Special Edition- La Ponant

Pirates off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden captured the three masted, thirty-person crewed yacht Le Ponant last week.

"This is a blatant act of piracy," Prime Minister Francois Fillon told reporters while on a visit to Brussels. "The Defense and Foreign ministries are mobilized to act as quickly as possible, I hope in the coming minutes or hours to try to win the freedom of these hostages."

This Yacht seems awfully fancy to me, and in discussions over the weekend I asked friends what their takes on this attack were. Obviously, in a fantastic world, we'd all love a pirate ship with several restaurants and a level of luxury reserved for the worlds finest hotels, but the general consensus by all was that, this was a dumb move by the pirates. Unlike tugs and other low-profile ships that can be easily ransomed, this high-profile quarry painted a giant bull's-eye on these pirates. And the French, historically, do not mess around (see the Rainbow Warrior, and that was just for messing with their fish).

And the French do not appear to be messing around now.

Sana'a, Yemen/Paris - The French government has deployed a unit of its elite GIGN anti-terrorism and hostage rescue force to Djibouti to prepare an assault if negotiations with Somali pirates holding the crew of a luxury yacht bring no results, French media reported Monday.

The French do not want negotiations to be too prolonged and representatives have made it clear that no matter the result, they refuse to make it generous enough to encourage piracy of French vessels.

Pirates in the News! December 14, 2007

It's time for yet another installment of Pirates in the News, this week there's some examples of the Good, the Bad and the historic.

To start off, when looking at pirates one has to remember that they are more than fun loving desperadoes, pirates are responsible for some seriously disgusting feats of brutality.

Somali Pirates Threaten to Kill Hostages
"Somali pirates holding the Japanese ship are demanding $1 million," said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenya-based East Africa Seafarers' Assistance Program. "They are also saying we are going to kill the crew if our demands are not met."

The US led Navy in the area has had the ship surrounded since late October, but the pirates remain in control of the Benzene tanker.

UPDATE: Pirates Release Japanese Tanker


6,000 Women of the Bonny Kingdom marched last week in Protest of the pirates.
Over 6,000 mothers and daughters of Bonny Kingdom on Thursday took to the streets of the island in protest of the rising activities of sea pirates on the Bonny/Port Harcourt waterway, which has claimed many lives and is taking serious tolls on the economy of the island.

Sea Shepard "pirates" set to take on whales.

Much like Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior the Sea Shepard alliance has announced its intentions to ram Japanese whaling ships in Antarctic waters that are preying on endangered cetations. The yearly Japanese whaling harvest kills over 1000 whales in the Southern Oceans. While their actions are illegal and violent, it is interesting to see how varied the actions of "pirates" can be.

Indiana University team finds fabled Pirate Ship

Members of a team from Indiana University believe they have discovered Captain Kidd's fabled treasure ship.

"We've got a shipwreck in crystal clear, pristine water that's amazingly untouched," Beeker said in a press release from the university. Now they hope to see the wreck preserved.

Capt. William Kidd was at first hired by the British government to raid enemy shipping in the 1600s. But after capturing the heavily laden Quedagh, he was accused of turning pirate. He sailed the ship to the Caribbean, where he offloaded most of her loot and left her in the care of a small crew in 1699 while he headed to New York in a doomed effort to clear his name.

That's exciting news pirate fans, and stay tuned for a more complete biography of Captain Kidd.