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 (When more than 3,000 Americans were
killed -AD) 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 officials 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.
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.
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.
If you believe in this
please forward it to as many people as you can especially to the young
people and all those who dozed off in history class and who seem so quick to
protest such a necessary military action.
If you don't believe it, just delete it and go back to sleep. |
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