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Short History Lesson or, On what date did the War on Terror begin?

2K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  buzzg 
#1 ·
A must read historical account of Terrorism against the US ~

This is not very long, but very informative. You have to read the catalogue
of events in this brief piece. Then, ask yourself how anyone can take the
position that all we have to do is bring our troops home from Iraq, sit
back, reset the snooze alarm, go back to sleep, and no one will ever bother
us again. In case you missed it, World War III began in November 1979...
That alarm has been ringing for years.

US Navy Captain Ouimette is the Executive Officer at Naval Air Station,
Pensacola, Florida. Here is a copy of the speech he gave last month. It is
an accurate account of why we are in so much trouble today and why this
action is so necessary.


AMERICA NEEDS TO 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 U. S. embassy set the stage for events to follow for the next 25
years.

America was still reeling from the aftermath of the Vietnam experience and
had a serious threat from the Soviet Union when then, 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 down sized/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 explodes, it kills 63
people. The alarm went off again and America hit the Snooze Button once
more.

Then just six short months later in 1983 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 and 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 gate
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 1985 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 interests are continually
attacked.

Fifty-nine days later in 1985 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 the most tragic
bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 259.
Clinton treated 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 getting 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 25 years and it will continue until we as a
people decide enough is enough. America needs to "Get out of Bed" and act
decisively now. America has been 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 keep hitting the snooze button again and again and roll
over and go back to sleep.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamamoto said "... it seems all
we have done is awakened a sleeping giant." This is the message we need to
disseminate to terrorists around the world.

Support Our Troops and support President Bush for having the courage,
political or militarily, to address what so many who preceded him didn't
have the backbone to do, both Democrat and Republican. This is not a
political thing to be hashed over in an election year this is an AMERICAN
thing. This is about our Freedom and the Freedom of our children in years
to come.
 
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#5 ·
In late 1979 I was "traveling" for my country.I was sill active duty USN. Up until then I would travel in full military uniform. That all changed. I was told by my superiors that a memo had come down from"higher up" that no longer could we wear the military uniform,nor could we have any markings on our baggage that would make us stand out as Americans. This,I remember, really upset me. It made me feel that I should hide the fact / be ashamed that I was a US military person. It took another 6 years,but this,I feel,was the beguinning of the end for me. I retired in late '86. I love my country and I should have been able to openly show it. I had a good 22+ years in the USN ,but I will never forget being told that back in 1979 or early '80.-----------
 
#6 ·
aahhhh yes.. The Carter Adminstration. Biggest bunch of pansys to ever live in the Whitehouse.

I joined the Navy in 76. . Got out in 81. The Reagan administation showed a major difference in mindset.

The mideastern types respect only one thing...and that is POWER.
Reagan promised the hostage takers that he was coming to kill them if they continued holding American citizens.

The day he was inaugurated they were let go. Coincidence ?

I think not.
 
#7 ·
HotGuns ~ Ditto

"aahhhh yes.. The Carter Adminstration. Biggest bunch of pansys to ever live in the Whitehouse."

& Ditto: All of the above!

We have a big problem on our hands and it's going to keep getting worse here at home until we kill the problem.
 
#8 ·
Our leaders(both Dem. and Rep.)can talk all they want. They can wag their finger at the camera all they want. They can make statements like,"We will not negotiate with terrorists.We will hunt you down.We are coming to get you. There is nowhere that you can hide. We will bring the fight to you." The terrorists know that we fight "fair". If they hide in a mosque we will not target it. They come out the door and shoot at(kill) our soldiers and we will not return fire(in most cases). They have huge supplies of weapons and explosives hidden in the mosques.And our intel confirms this. They bring their wives and kids to their training camps. They live in the same barracks that the soldiers live in. They eat at the same table that the soldiers eat at. I know how I would handle that situation. Same as we did in "the Nam". We(my people) didn't give a crap 'bout their "hearts and minds. We made them dead. If you was a fighter OR you harbored/helped/fed/clothed/etc. the fighters we targeted you. Run into a temple if you want to--we just sent a few 40mm grenade's in after you. (also a couple of M34's)This is the hard,cold truth. How do/should we fight this WWIII. Go find them and kill them. As an American citizen I don't want to hear all the details. Just make them dissapear. All the people at Gitmo. Make them just vanish. Don't feel that you have to tell me all about it. BTW-what are we gonna do with all the people that we have in captivity? How many do we have? Take a guess. I surely don't have a clue. ---- We will see how Tony Blair handles the situation in England. Hope that he starts deporting them by the hundreds/thousands. When he deports them he should sieze ALL their assets also. Like in the U.S,everything that they have they got from England. It should go back to the government. Hope America adopts the same principles. Unfortunately there will be another 9/11. The next time it just might be with nukes. When will the US and Englend have had enough. What will it take. Hopefully not too much more.-----------
 
#9 ·
RSSZ said:
It made me feel that I should hide the fact / be ashamed that I was a US military person.
I don't think that there is, or ever has been, a reason to be ashamed to wear the uniform of the US military. It was, I'm sure just a matter of security so you weren't jumperd along the way. The same goes today with passports. Best to put your passport in an unmarked carrier of some sort so someone can not tell with a glance that you are an American. They like to single us out and attack us because they are cowards and fear us because we can kick their backsides all they way back to whatever pigstye they may have come from. Be proud of it, but smart. :wink:
 
#10 ·
RSSZ said:
"We will not negotiate with terrorists.We will hunt you down.We are coming to get you. There is nowhere that you can hide. We will bring the fight to you."
I remember hearing a story during the 70's that was making the rounds when there were a lot of kidnappings going on in the middle East. I can't vouch for how true it is. The story went that amongst all the kidnappings of Americans there was a Russian diplomat taken.

The Russians (KGB?) "found" the diplomat and his kidnappers. The diplomat returned home, the bodies of the kidnappers (in rather bad shape) were returned to a "public place" with a note.

No Russian was kidnapped in the area again, needless to say the kidnappings of Americans did not stop.
 
#11 ·
Bumper said:
I don't think that there is, or ever has been, a reason to be ashamed to wear the uniform of the US military. It was, I'm sure just a matter of security so you weren't jumperd along the way.
If I remember correctly that notification went out after one of the airline hijackings where there were (uniformed) naval personnel on board. They were singled out and one or more was killed. It was designed as a method of protection for the military. It was also suggested at that time that military get regular passports in addition to the red ones we used to carry.
 
#12 ·
Sorry gentlemen,I definately feel that the way to be safe is to get very tough on the people that would target Americans. Not to deny that you are one. If your gonna hide in the name of safety then why carry a conceled weapon. Some of you sound like the people that would deny that you are an American if it came down to who the BG's were gonna kill. Self preservation isn't everything ! I am very proud to be an American. If I want to(and I do), wear an American flag on my jacket,I will. I will defend the jacket as I would my life. I wear this jacket when I travel.If the little flag is a target to the BG's then---COME AND GET IT !! This,with due respect to my fellow CCWer's---------
 
#13 ·
RSSZ said:
Sorry gentlemen,I definately feel that the way to be safe is to get very tough on the people that would target Americans. Not to deny that you are one. If your gonna hide in the name of safety then why carry a conceled weapon. Some of you sound like the people that would deny that you are an American if it came down to who the BG's were gonna kill. Self preservation isn't everything ! I am very proud to be an American. If I want to(and I do), wear an American flag on my jacket,I will. I will defend the jacket as I would my life. I wear this jacket when I travel.If the little flag is a target to the BG's then---COME AND GET IT !! This,with due respect to my fellow CCWer's---------
If you were in the military, traveling on a commercial plane, you would not normally be carrying concealed.

And, I will tell you straight out I am very proud to be an American and don't "hide in the name of safety". I don't consider "not advertising" wherever you happen to be from as being a form of cowardice as you imply. I actually find it ironic that people who would not carry in a fanny pack because it "screams gun" would travel the world making sure everyone knows you are an American. You go ahead, though, when they shoot you in the head just because, I will be trying to figure out how to kill the SOBs with what I have available not how to spectacularly commit suicide....
 
#14 ·
If you refer to the confrtontation US v. Terrorists, the alarm went off just after 1784. Barbary Coast pirates were hijacking US ships, sending americans to prison and keeping the goods. There was no US Navy back then and after long a debate a bill was signed by President Washington on March 27, 1794 in which it was uthorized the construction of six warships.
Unfortunately, the doves won and it was decided that, before the warships were finished, to pay ransom for the crews and ships. Of course, this did nothing but encourage the Barbary Pirates who continued their misdeeds. Finally in 1804, smarter heads prevailed after the US Philadelphia was taken after running aground at the shores of the Barbary Coast and it was decided that the best thing was to attack. A raid was undertaken by the Marines, the Philadelphia was burned since it couldn't be brought back and the Head Pirate was shaken and decided that it might be not such a bad idea to mess with the US of A.

The Barbary Coast comprised by four kingdoms: Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and the one in which the above story happened, Tripoli.

We have been fighting with Muslims since the birth of Our Country.

And now you also know (If you didnt) why Marine Hymn starts the way it does. :smile:

Did I just sound like Paul Harvey? :eek:

Ok, don't get excited, I aint a scholar or anything. The info was taken from "The Savage Wars of Peace. Small Wars and the Rise of American Power" by Max Boot. VERY illuminating, specially since it seems our leaders keep forgetting past history.
 
#15 ·
From "Christianity Today" magazine:

"With enormous energy, the warriors of Islam struck out against the Christians shortly after Mohammed's death. They were extremely successful. Palestine, Syria, and Egypt—once the most heavily Christian areas in the world—quickly succumbed. By the eighth century, Muslim armies had conquered all of Christian North Africa and Spain. In the eleventh century, the Seljuk Turks conquered Asia Minor (modern Turkey), which had been Christian since the time of St. Paul. The old Roman Empire, known to modern historians as the Byzantine Empire, was reduced to little more than Greece. In desperation, the emperor in Constantinople sent word to the Christians of western Europe asking them to aid their brothers and sisters in the East."

I believe that today's War on Terror is only a continuation of something that began in the 7th Century....
 
#16 ·
And TA - I'll guarantee ya - it'll be dragging on a long time more too - long after we are all worm food.

Oil and water - they'll never mix.
 
#17 ·
America/Americans have historically been the recipients of the first blow. It seems to be in our nature to be struck first before striking back. We used to strike back quickly, decisively and with ferocity. As Admiral Yamamoto said after the attack on Pearl Harbor; "I think we have done nothing more than awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." I believe that President Bush is a modern day version of that sleeping giant, but it is unfortunate that a large, vocal group of Americans do not share that willlingness to fight back, but would rather negotiate and appease.
The lessons of history are clear and need only be reviewed to come to the conclusion that finally we are responding. My regret is that we are not responding in kind. The only way to rid the school yard of the bully is to crush him.
buzzg
 
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