Was there a Congressional Declaration of War on the Barbary Pirates? ( Maybe not!)

Various ^ | Nov. 20, 2001 | Self

[Roscoe]

Bump.

[grania]

Thanks for the incredible research. It's good to know that the administration was probably acting with historical precedent. I'm still uneasy with (1) the powers that the government now has to protect the country against terrorism...worst case scenerio, they're still in place and Hillary or a Hillaroid becomes president and (2) the reluctance of the government to close the borders and send home non-citizens (is that why war isn't being declared?)

[Eternal_Bear]

The beys of Tripoli and Tunis were still under the nominal surzeinty of the Ottoman Empire. They fall into a grey area of whether they even constituted independent nations. We also fought an undeclared war with the French Navy in the late 18th century and had serious altercations with the British Navy even before 1812 as well.

[rdb3]

In other words, because previous presidents have ignored the Constitution, Bush (or any other president) is justified in ignoring the Constitution too.

A total non sequitur.

[ppaul]

Good reference bookmark and BUMP!