[sheltonmac]

Jefferson's challenge resembles President Bush's modern-day dilemma. Like today's terrorists, the 19th-century pirates also were Muslims with an animosity toward Christians dating back to the Crusades.

This lie has been used over and over by the pseudocons to justify their war in Iraq. Jefferson never used the Barbary pirates as an excuse to topple foreign governments, to engage in nation-building or to spread democracy across the globe. Upon congressional authorization, he took specific action against a specific enemy for a specific purpose, that being the defense of the United States.

[ValenB4]

I wouldn't exactly call them a threat to America. More like an annoyance. They weren't about to sail up the Delaware River and sack Philadelphia.