Although they often disagreed, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had a mutually agreeable conversation – when the mantle of authority was being transferred (1800) – over the impressment of American seaman by Muslim leaders in North Africa. As U.S. commercial interests in the Mediterranean increased at the beginning of the 19th century, our ships were seized and seamen were forced into imprisonment and slavery.
President Jefferson indicated that the extortion payment made for the release of our citizens was humiliating. It was this sentiment that led directly to the creation of the American navy, a navy that ultimately protected the freedom of the seas for more than two centuries.
Now, however, watching American sailors on their knees with hands behind their head, the humiliation that this nation suffered in the past has seemingly reappeared in the present. Obviously the two events are not the same; no two events separated by centuries are.
The White House downplayed the incident indicating our sailors were well treated, with Secretary Kerry even thanking Iranian leadership for the release of the sailors. Vice President Biden made reference to the critical role of diplomacy and said at no point did our sailors apologize. Yet the facts belie these assertions.
One video shows a U.S. service member speaking to a questioner, admitting wrongdoing and apologizing. In fact, as Biden and Kerry should know, the Geneva Conventions, which govern military conflicts, ban the practice of employing prisoners for propagandistic purposes. The Iranian government had the videos in question plastered all over national television screens.
Several U.S. lawmakers described the arrest and detention including the seizure of arms, as unjustifiable. Senator John McCain assailed the White House praise of Iran. He said, “The administration is pretending as if nothing out of the ordinary occurred. By failing to affirm basic principles of international law, it places our Navy and Coast Guard vessels and the men and woman who sail them at increased risk in the future.”
It has long been recognized that it is unlawful for governments to use photographs or videos of military detainees for propaganda purposes as was done routinely by North Koreans and the North Vietnamese military in the past. Whether there was a technical violation of the Geneva Conventions is a matter to be determined by lawyers, but there is little doubt the spirit and intentions of the Convention were violated.
While there is some indication the two U.S. naval vessels entered Iranian waters en route from Kuwati to Bahrain, the Iranian navy could have pointed the vessels in the right direction and sent them on their way. By addressing the vessels at gun point and forcing the seamen to their knees, it would appear that the Iranian government had an ulterior motive.
This was an opportunity to suggest that Iran is the “strong horse” in the region and American power and influence are in decline. President Obama would object to the characterization as he did in his State of the Union address, but he seems to be oblivious to the way American power, or lack thereof, is regarded in the Middle East. Moreover, it would seem that the Iran deal on nuclear questions has forced the U.S. to be self-deterred. There isn’t any action that would put the Obama administration in the position of jeopardizing the P5+1 agreement with Iran. As a consequence, Iran tests U.S. mettle almost every day. It tests through U.S. citizens once held unlawfully, albeit recently released in a prisoner exchange. It tests with the flight of missiles that could carry mook nuclear weapons in violation of the accord. It tests by firing missiles near the U.S.S. Truman in the Gulf of Hormuz. It tests by seizing U.S. naval vessels.
Despite the lack of resources, President Jefferson vowed to build a flotilla that would force the Muslim leaders of North Africa to desist from acts of piracy. He did, which explains why the mast of the Philadelphia, a ship we intentionally scuttled in the war with the pirates, still stands in Tripoli. It explains why we sing from the “Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.”
Rarely in our past were presidents self-deterred. In fact President Lincoln captured the American spirit in December 1, 1862 when he said, “Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.” We are that latest generation and we might ask if we are lighted down with honor or dishonor. Yes, we cannot escape history.
Herbert London is President of the London Center for Policy Research, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of the book The Transformational Decade (University Press of America). You can read all of Herb London’s commentaries at www.londoncenter.org
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