Long - Food for Thought re Terrorism )don't read it, seriously, if you don't want to think about this stuff)

I did *not* write this, but I may as well have, given my becoming better known conservative streak on this board. I think this writer makes a very good point. Just food for thought about what we are up against and why they've got to go.

AMERICA WAKE UP!

That's what we think we heard on the 11th of September 2001, and maybe it was, but I think it should have been 'Get Out of Bed!'
In fact, I think the alarm clock has been buzzing since 1979 and we have continued to hit the snooze button and roll over for a few more minutes of
peaceful sleep since then.

It was a cool fall day in November 1979 in a country going through a religious and political upheaval when a group of Iranian students attacked and seized the American Embassy in Tehran. This seizure was an outright
attack on American soil; it was an attack that held the world's most powerful country hostage and paralyzed a Presidency. The attack on
this sovereign US embassy set the stage for the events to follow for the next 23 years.

America was still reeling from the aftermath of the Vietnam experience and had a serious threat from the Soviet Union when President Carter
had to do something. He chose to conduct a clandestine raid in the desert. The ill-fated mission ended in ruin, but stood as a symbol of America's inability to deal with terrorism. America's military had been decimated and downsized/right sized since the end of the Vietnam War. A poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly organized military was called on to execute a complex mission that was doomed from the start.

Shortly after the Tehran experience, Americans began to be kidnapped and killed throughout the Middle East. America could do little to protect
her citizens living and working abroad. The attacks against US soil continued.

In April of 1983 a large vehicle packed with high explosives was driven into the US Embassy compound in Beirut. When it exploded, it killed 63
people. The alarm went off again and America hit the Snooze Button once more.

Then just six short months later a large truck heavily laden down with over 2500
pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the US Marine Corps headquarters in Beirut. 241 US servicemen are killed. America mourns
her dead and hit the Snooze Button once more.

Two months later in December 1983,
another truck loaded with explosives is driven into the US Embassy in Kuwait, and America continues her slumber.

The following year, in September 1984, another van was driven into the gates of the US Embassy in
Beirut and America slept.

Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe. In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid. Then in August a
Volkswagen loaded with explosives is driven into the main gate of the US Air Force Base
at Rhein-Main, 22 are killed and the Snooze Alarm is buzzing louder and louder as US soil is continually attacked.

Fifty-nine days later a
cruise ship, the Achille Lauro is hijacked and we watched as an American in a wheelchair is singled out of the passenger list and executed.

The terrorists then shift their tactics to bombing civilian airliners when they bomb TWA Flight 840 in April of 1986 that killed 4. And how can we forget the most tragic bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, that killed 259.

America wants to treat these terrorist acts as crimes; in fact we are still trying to bring these people to trial. These are acts of war. The
Wake Up alarm is louder and louder.

The terrorists decide to bring the fight to America. In January 1993, two CIA agents are shot and killed as they enter CIA headquarters in
Langley, Virginia.

The following month, February 1993, a group of terrorists are arrested after a rented van packed with explosives is driven into
the underground parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Six people are killed and over 1000 are injured. Still this is a crime and not an act of war? The Snooze alarm is depressed again.

Then in November 1995 a car bomb explodes at a US military complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia killing seven service men and women. A few
months later in June of 1996, another truck bomb explodes only 35 yards from the US
military compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It destroys the Khobar Towers, a US Air Force barracks, killing 19 and injuring over 500.
The terrorists are getting braver and smarter as they see that America does not respond decisively. They move to coordinate their attacks in a
simultaneous attack on two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
These attacks were planned with precision. They kill 224.
America responds with cruise missile attacks and goes back to sleep. The USS Cole was docked in the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling on 12
October 2000, when a small craft pulled along side the ship and exploded killing 17 US Navy Sailors. Attacking a US War Ship is an act of war,
but we sent the FBI to investigate the crime and went back to sleep.
And of course you know the events of 11 September 2001. Most Americans think
this was the first attack against US soil or in America. How wrong they are.
America has been under a constant attack since 1979 and we chose to hit the snooze alarm and roll over and go back to sleep.
In the news lately we have seen lots of finger pointing from every high official in government over what they knew and what they didn't
know.
But if you've read the papers and paid a little attention I think you can see exactly what they knew. You don't have to be in the FBI or CIA or
on the National Security Council to see the pattern that has been developing since 1979. The President is right on when he says we are engaged in a
war.
I think we have been in a war for the past 23 years and it will continue until we as a people decide enough is enough.


America has to 'Get out of Bed' and act decisively now. America has changed forever. We have to be ready to pay the price and make the
sacrifice to ensure our way of life continues. We cannot afford to hit the Snooze Button again and roll over and go back to sleep. We have to make the terrorists know that in the words of Admiral Yamamoto after the attack on Pearl Harbor
'that all they have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.'

I got that in an e-mail but I try to stay away from politically charged threads :)
I will share this, which I just got today:

Subject: IT WAS 1987, ANYONE REMEMBER?

It was 1987! At a lecture the other day they were playing an old news video of Lt.Col. Oliver North testifying at the Iran-Contra hearings during the Reagan Administration.
There was Ollie in front of God and country getting the third degree, but what he said was stunning!
He was being drilled by a senator; 'Did you not recently spend closeto $60,000 for a home security system?'
Ollie replied, 'Yes, I did, Sir.'

The senator continued, trying to get a laugh out of the audience,
'Isn't that just a little excessive?'

'No, sir,' continued Ollie.

'No? And why not?' the senator asked.

'Because the lives of my family and I were threatened, sir.'

'Threatened? By whom?' the senator questioned.

'By a terrorist, sir' Ollie answered.

'Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare you that much?'

'His name is Osama bin Laden, sir' Ollie replied.

At this point the senator tried to repeat the name, but couldn't
pronounce it, which most people back then probably couldn't. A couple of
people laughed at the attempt. Then the senator continued. Why are you so
afraid of this man?' the senator asked.

'Because, sir, he is the most evil person alive that I know of',
Ollie answered.

'And what do you recommend we do about him?' asked the senator.
'Well, sir, if it was up to me, I would recommend that an assassin
team be formed to eliminate him and his men from the face of the earth.'

The senator disagreed with this approach, and that was all that was
shown of the clip.
By the way, that senator was Al Gore
Also:

Terrorist pilot Mohammad Atta blew up a bus in Israel in 1986. The
Israelis captured, tried and imprisoned him. As part of the Oslo agreement
with the Palestinians in 1993, Israel had to agree to release so-called
'political prisoners.'

However, the Israelis would not release any with blood on their
hands, The American President at the time, Bill Clinton, a nd his Secretary
of State, Warren Christopher, 'insisted' that all prisoners be released.

Thus Mohammad Atta was freed and eventually thanked the U S by flying
an airplane into Tower One of the World Trade Center. This was reported by
many of the American TV networks at the time that the terrorists were first
identified. It was censored in the US from all later reports.

If you agree that the American public must be made aware of this
fact, pass this on.

More food for thought.

Definitely food for thought, Susan. Thanks.

Further, did you know The Sudan offered up Osama bin Laden, on a silver platter, basically, to the Clinton administration as a 'person of interest' in terrorism and that Clinton said 'Thanks, but no thanks.'?

Too busy schmoozing Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Babs Streisand to pay attention to the rest of the world.

He also never visited the WTC after the 1993 bombing. Or the families.

I agree - anybody messing with America should realize what they are in for.

We need to as the strongest country in the world intervene at appropriate times and even more strongly need to defend ourselves. I am just sad we did not act earlier before more ppl were tragically hurt.

I think the economy has a lot more to do with politics than anyone would like to admit.

We have the power to decimate evil ppl/countries/political regimes - are we afraid of world reprecussions or is it something else driving white house decisions.

Bush comes across as weak even when hes making a declaration of war intent...how sad. I can only imagine what other countries think of our leaders.

OH and whats up w/the countdown

isn't it supposed to be a SURPRISE attack???

we werent prepared for their attacks why should they be for ours

we have to fight down and dirty like they do

LOL Someday! It was in a mass forward from my MOH.

I suppose you could do all of the historical legwork for each instance of terrorism and use that...good luck!

of course I'm for ending terrorism...but this argument could go back to 1801 and the Barbary Pirate Conflict...when the marines went on the 'shores of Tripoli'

Unfortunately, terrorism is not new...and I don't think it will ever end

Somedaybride...check this website out...they have a lot of information on sources of e-mails like this. And if they don't already have it, send it to them and they can likely find out...

Snopes

You're probably right, Yabbo. They are religious zealots who are absolutely convinced that we are arrogant sinners and that they are doing God's will in trying to murder as many of us as possible, if not scare us to death.

Unfortunately, I think a vision of NYC as Tel Aviv (random bus bombings, snipers, terrorists opening fire on seated dinners at religious holidays, backpack bombs) is not so far off. My boss, a very observant and pro-Israel Jew, doesn't think they can get 'those types of guys' into the country - not with the tightened security. By 'those types of guys' he means the suicide bombers who blow up buses, etc. He told me they tend to be peasants from poor families with poor social skills (hence their attractiveness as martyrs) who would absolutely be racially profiled in airports.

The suicide bombers on the planes were well educated, intelligent, well dressed and assimilated well. We can only hope there aren't so many more of them left.....

went looking for more informatoin on what SusanS posted and found this (not that it really matter, we all cant stand Bin Laden anyways!!):

Comments: Sorry, wrong terrorist. When Colonel Oliver North defended his government-purchased home security system before a Congressional committee in 1987, he cited threats on his life from the infamous Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal, not Osama bin Laden. The latter was busy fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan at the time. Bin Laden's fervent hatred of the U.S. is said by most sources to date from 1990, when American troops were stationed in his home country of Saudi Arabia in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

You are right, Nina. It's hideous that not only do we have to fend off foreign terrorists, but homegrown ones as well....

It's a crappy world we live in (politically) but we've got to forge ahead...