To fully understand the implications of what happened in Benghazi on September 11th we need to go back to the 1790s — to the beginnings of our nation. At that time, we paid tribute to the Barbary Pirates: corsairs who raided merchant shipping in the Mediterranean. Most nations, including the new United States, paid tribute. We had no navy and no choice. Thomas Jefferson objected to paying the tribute, saying that paying tribute would encourage more attacks. When he was sworn in as president, Jefferson stopped paying tribute. The feeling of the country at the time was summed up in...