Well hey, at least he isn't torturing people like Bush did.

[coalition_unwilling]

221. Actually, I now think my invocation of the Barbary Coast pirates

may not have been entirely a propos to your point, as the pirates acted for the benefit of the Barbary States (Algeria, Morocco, Tunis and Tripoli), so were not 'stateless' in the way I think your post used the term. IOW, the four BC states could and did sign treaties with the U.S. that proscribed such piracy upon American vessels in the Mediterranean.

I'm not an expert in the period, but the U.S. Congress authorized military action (primarily naval and marines). There were several pitched battles on land and at sea. The line in the Marine Corps hymn -- 'to the shores of Tripoli' -- refers to an operation mounted by the USMC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War

Apologies for the unintentional mis-direction. Most sailors captured by the BC pirates probably felt terrorized during their subsequent captivity and enslavement, but the BC pirates were not 'terrorists' as we use the term today.