In the early days of the nation, before it was really even a country, much of our nation’s naval power was in the form of privateers. These men received letters of marque that authorized them to raid British shipping and to profit from it. In essence, it was piracy with permission, and it’s kind of glorious.
The Constitution authorized Congress to issue letters of marque and reprisal, though they haven’t done it for ages now. While Lincoln was authorized to use them during the Civil War, the last use seems to have been around 1815.
Now, more than 200 years later, it’s an idea worth remembering as the Mexican cartels seem to think it’s a fine time to get rowdy.
The United States Congress still retains full authority to issue Letters of Marque, although none have been issued for more than a hundred years.
A Letter of Marque was actually a simple concept. They allowed private citizens in private warships to attack enemy vessels during wartime. These privateers could then take ownership of whatever plunder they seized—gold, weapons or the captured ships—after an admiralty court ruled in their favor and took a percentage of the profits.
Letters of Marque were used for hundreds of years across the globe, because they allowed a country to enlarge the size of their navy very quickly and cheaply.
The authority to issue Letters of Marque can still be found in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution: “The Congress shall have Power … to declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.”
Congressman Tim Burchett, a Republican from Tennessee, and Senator Mike Lee, a Republican of Utah, who both have extremely solid Second-Amendment credentials, have drafted bills that would revitalize the Letters of Marque, in order to target Mexican drug cartels.
Congressman Burchett described the bill in a phone call Monday morning:
“It allows the president to contract out to privateers and go after the cartels,” Burchett said. “These would be top-tier operators, SEALs, Special Forces, Marine Raiders and commando types. Some are still working as private operators. It allows private citizens to act against the cartels. In President Trump’s first term, when he got [Former Iranian Quds Force Commander Qasem] Soleimani, the Democrats just berated our military leaders because they didn’t ask for their permission. If the Democrats still want us to ask for their permission, we got some real problems. This is constitutionally provided and has been done before. We went after the Barbary pirates. It’s constitutionally provided and within the law. In this day and age, we need it. The constitution grants congress the power to grant these letters.”
It’s a bold strategy, to be sure, and while I don’t see Democrats clamoring for it, I still think it offers a viable strategy. As Burchett noted, it’s been used on criminal organizations before, like the Barbary pirates, so there’s precedent for using it on entities like the cartels.
Years ago, I thought it would be a good way to deal with terrorism, but using the letters of marque to authorize hackers to take down things like terrorist bank accounts, disrupt communications, and the like, all without any expense to the US taxpayers. This is kind of along the same lines, and I think it’s quite the strategy.
Plus, let’s face it, we’ve got a buttload of combat veterans sitting around missing the action. While many have successfully transitioned into civilian life, there are a lot of them who were wired for combat before they ever enlisted, and nothing will ever be the same for them. They loved taking out our nation’s enemies, so why not offer them a way to do just that?
And if the cartels end up getting wiped out by a bunch of cranky old veterans who no longer give a damn and can kill bad people with US government permission, as well as make a little money by taking their stuff, isn’t that a win for everyone involved except the cartels?
And screw those guys.
Honestly, this is a low-cost solution to a real problem. Hell, it’s a low-cost solution to a lot of our problems internationally. It’s time to bring back piracy with permission and show the rest of the world that not just is our military deadly, but even our private enterprises can mess you up.
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