It was written in their Qu'ran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every Muslim who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise. He said, also, that the man who was the first to board a vessel had one slave over and above his share, and that when they sprang to the deck of an enemy's ship, every sailor held a dagger in each hand and a third in his mouth; which usually struck such terror into the foe that they cried out for quarter at once -- Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja to Thomas Jefferson and John Adams in London, 1885 (original doc. mem.loc)

by Clifford F. Thies

The parliament of Turkey approved that country's participation in NATO's blockade of arms shipments and humanitarian efforts in the war-torn country of Lybia. A total of six ships, a submarine, four frigates and an auxiliary ship, will join the international task force.

Unilke the United States, in Turkey, the head of government actually has to obtain authorization to use force when no imminent threat to the nation is involved.

In this country, according to people such as Joe The Constitutional Scholar Biden, Professor of Constitutional Law Barack Obama, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Hilliary Clinton, this is only illegal nowadays when a Republican is president. Iniating the use of force is tough enough for any democratic country, which is a very good thing, but is particularly sensitive when two majority Muslim country are involved.

We appreciate the concern expressed by the prime minister of Turkey, that the Turks are not willing to "point a gun" at the people of Libya. But, it is a crime for a government to order police and military forces to use lethal force against crowds of peaceful protestors, no less to bomb them using tanks and warplanes, and, at some point, we have to figure out a way to arrest those who engage in such acts.

We, at Libertarian Republican, salute our friend and allyTurkey, who first joined with us in North Africa in what we call the Second Barbary Coast War