 |
| British Ships of the Line at Algiers, August 26th 1816 |
Military history is often sanitized (and weaponized, no pun intended) for the purposes of propaganda, and demoralization of Western peoples and our story, it can be a mercy and a salvation to delve into maps and maneuvers, where they can reveal and spell out the sinuous, harmonious connections underlying the story of our people, of Christendom, which is sometimes sorrowful, often triumphant, one of these connections is between the Bombardment of Algiers (1816) and Operation Epic Fury (2026) which were righteous, powerful responses to regimes that had pushed the international community to a breaking point. To understand these conflicts, one must look at the predatory nature of the targeted states and the devastating "super weapons" deployed to dismantle them.
The Butcher’s Bill: Regimes of Terror
The history of the West’s conflict with Islam is ancient, and it is incredible that the same personalities and physiognomies play themselves out over the centuries, just as Alexander the Great turned east and struck down Persian power, establishing a lasting connection and hegemony of the West over the Orient, and the latest conflict, involving the murderous and brutal Iranian regime and yet another righteously vengeful Western power. Such was the case in the way Western states dealt with Islamic pirate states in the 19th century, a continuation of centuries of war and piracy directed against European people by these brutal people which continues even to this day!
The Deylik of Algiers in 1816 was not a standard diplomatic partner; it was a state built on the economy of human suffering. For three centuries, the Barbary pirates had enslaved over a million Europeans, snatching victims from as far away as Iceland. By 1816, the "white slave trade" had reached a fever pitch of cruelty. The Dey, Omar Agha, famously treated diplomats with contempt, once even detaining the British Consul in irons. The bombardment was sparked by a horrific massacre of 200 Sicilian and Corsican fishermen under British protection—men who were slaughtered or dragged into chains while they slept.
The Iranian Regime in 2026 mirror-imaged this domestic and regional brutality. Leading up to the strikes, the Islamic Republic had engaged in what Amnesty International called the "deadliest period of repression in decades." In January 2026 alone, security forces carried out mass killings of thousands of protesters, using heavy machine guns on civilians in cities like Bandar Abbas and Neyshabur. Combined with their "nuclear breakout" and the constant threat to global energy through the mining of the Strait of Hormuz, the regime had become an existential "rogue actor" that the Trump administration viewed as beyond the reach of traditional sanctions. Iran has long leveled its murderous intent against European peoples, including the US Marines in Beruit bombing in 1983, an operation by the way, which the Mossad was aware of and didn’t forewarn us. Our greatest ally.
The Hammer: British Ships of the Line
When diplomacy failed in 1816, the British sent the "super weapons" of the 19th century: the First-Rate Ship of the Line.
* HMS Queen Charlotte: Admiral Pellew’s flagship was a floating fortress carrying over 100 guns. During the battle, it anchored just 80 yards from the Algerian mole—literally within spitting distance of the enemy batteries.
* The Firepower: The Allied fleet fired over 50,000 round shots using 118 tons of gunpowder in a single afternoon.
* Congreve Rockets: These were the "smart bombs" of the era—early incendiary missiles that arched over the city’s walls, turning the Algerian navy into a bonfire within their own harbor.
The carnage was "sanguinary" (bloody). The British casualty rate was 16%, nearly double that of the Battle of Trafalgar. It wasn't a tactical dance; it was a grueling, industrial-scale demolition of a city.
 |
| A Barbary pirate, Pier Francesco Mola, 1650 (Wikicommons) |
The Lightning: Trump’s "Epic Fury"
In 2026, the weaponry shifted from massed cannon fire to "invisible" precision. Operation Epic Fury showcased a suite of high-tech assets designed to strike without warning:
* B-21 Raider & B-2 Spirit: Stealth bombers flew directly into the most "impenetrable" Iranian air defenses, dropping 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP) to collapse nuclear bunkers buried deep under mountains.
* The PrSM (Precision Strike Missile): Fired from HIMARS units, these missiles reached speeds and accuracies that rendered Iranian "S-400" defense systems obsolete.
* Decapitation Tech: Unlike 1816, where the goal was to hit the city, 2026 focused on the individual. The use of "R9X" kinetic missiles—the so-called "flying ginsu" with blades instead of explosives—allowed for the targeted elimination of IRGC leadership while they were in moving vehicles, a level of terrifying precision that the British of 1816 could only have dreamed of.
Conclusion: The Price of Defiance
Despite the differences in the weapons, many things are the same, the antagonists are the same, the same Oriental cruelty and arrogance is the present. For now, we have the technological superiority Christian nations have lacked in the past, but we still fight on.
Both Algiers and Tehran underestimated the "breaking point" of a global power. In 1816, the British proved that wooden ships could survive a shore battery long enough to level a city. In 2026, the U.S. proved that geographic isolation and deep bunkers offer no protection against fifth-generation warfare.
In both cases, the "super weapons" achieved their immediate goal: the Dey of Algiers surrendered and freed 3,000 slaves the next day, and the Iranian command structure was shattered in 100 hours.
At this point, we stand at a brief pause as the world waits for the pause. Like the English King Henry V at Harfleuer, or Admiral Exner in Algeria, a successful bluff decided the day. Is the Don making a similar bluff, or is he stalling while he waits for ground forces and additional carriers arrive to steel the resolve of his diplomacy?
No comments:
Post a Comment