Unbelievable. I don't even know where to begin in fisking Obama's speech. But let's start here:

"know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America's story. The first nation to recognize my country was Morocco. In signing the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, our second President John Adams wrote: "The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims."
-Obama

What was the Treaty of Tripoli?

It was a treaty signed with the Arabs of Tripoli (and Algiers and Morocco) to get them to stop hijacking and attacking US ships - also known as piracy.

In 1801-1805 the US fought the Barbary Wars with these states who abrogated the treaty (except Morocco who did not break the treaty) and continued to attack and US ships .


In 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli tried to raise the price for not attacking US vessels (if I recall correctly, the US was paying 1 million dollars a year in extortion bills at that point).

President Jefferson, instead of giving in to the extortion (and continuing attacks) sent over a frigate and destroyed a Tripolitan ship. This was the first of many pirate ships the US destroyed.

The war ended in 1805, when for the first time in history the United States flag was raised in victory on foreign soil (Occupation). If you ever heard of the Marine Hymn then you would recognize the line — "to the shores of Tripoli".

So when Obama says that the Muslims have a long history with the US, I was wondering if he meant piracy, ransoms, hostage taking, treaty abrogation, and terrorism (then known as piracy).