Transcription
In 1788, when the United States was barely a country, right, uh, it was having its um sailors taken as slaves by the Barbary states, the states of the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, Tripoli, Tripoli, shores of Tripoli. Ships, uh, stopped, um, its crews carried off into slavery. We estimate one and a half million European-American slaves taken between 1750 and 1815.
Jefferson and Adams went to their ambassador in London and said, "Why do you do this to us? The United States has never had a quarrel with the Muslim world of any kind. We weren't in the Crusades. We weren't in the war in Spain. Why do you do this to our people in our ships? Why do you plunder and enslave our people?"
And the ambassador said very plainly, Mr. Abdul Rakman said, "Because the Quran gives us permission to do so because you are infidels, and that's our answer."
And Jefferson said, "Well, in that case, I will send a navy which will crush your state," which he did. And a good thing to the Islamic fundamentalism is not created by American democracy. It's a lie to say so. It's a masochistic lie, and it, and, and it excuses those who are the real criminals, and it blames us for the attacks made upon us.