Noel Maurer: "Andrew, say more! After all, there are three conflicts, which are linked but not identical. One is a counterterrorism campaign against Al Qaeda and other radicalized "Islamists." (I lack a better word for the ideology.) The other two are counterinsurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. I see the parallel with the Barbary Wars for the first, but it's not entirely obvious."

Well, it goes beyond the US historical involvement in the Barbary states. The threat of piracy and terror wasn't ended until they were occupied by France and Italy. US, English, and Dutch puntative attacks kept the piracy down, but it took an occupation and restructuring of governance to stop it completely.

The US occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan are like that. If we had just struck against Al Qaeda and other terorists, they would likely creep back after a couple years, like Barbary piracy did.

The US isn't a colonial power like France was, so our solution is to create stable local governments in the countries that will prevent terrorism and be our allies.

Of course, the analogy breaks down because the world to day is far different than it was in 200 years ago. The threat isn't geographically isolated in a few states, but rather spread out requiring far more effort and intervention than the Barbary Wars did.