The United States' First War on Terrorism
As the Iraq War has just ended and the War in Afghanistan is now winding down, most Americans are under the false impression of this nation beginning its "war on terror", as President George W. Bush coined the phrase, since the dawn of the 21 st Century and this is just not true. The United States has been fighting terrorism since shortly after its independence. Compared to the rest of the world, the United States is still very young. This nation was born into a very hostile world ruled by monarchies that did not wish this new democracy well. At the time of its birth, there was an unexpected problem that the new American leaders were unsure as to how to confront, which was known as piracy. This piracy was nothing more than state sponsored terrorism of its day. In this case, it existed in the Mediterranean Sea along the North African Coast. As a result of this, the fledgling United States was considered an easy target due to the lack o...