Too true

[deb_in_nc]

~*~FREEDOM~*~ISN'T~*~FREE~*~
>
> Subject: World War III
>
> Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 05:56:24 -0400
>
> Not very long, and 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 23
>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 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 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 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.
>
> 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 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.

[rainstorm]

thanks deb

[streetsoldier]

The actual quote from Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was...

"I fear that all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant, and fill him with a terrible resolve."

OK, they "woke us up"; but the snooze feature is still working.

[azskyman]

Three days after September 11th, Dr. Tony Kern, Lt Col USAF Retired, and former director of military history at the Air Force Acadamy wrote a wonderful piece which I have kept close to me ever since.

Among his observations in this three page document were these truths....

"This war will be won or lost by the American citizens, not diplomats, politicians, or soldiers. They (the terrorists) do not fear us. We must not fear them. Our enemy is ready and willing to die to the last man.

Unlike Americans who are eager to put this messy time behind us, our adversaries have time on their side, and they will use it. They plan to fight a battle of attrition, hoping to drag the battle out until the American public loses its will to fight. It is generally acknowledged that America lacks the stomach for a long fight. We need only look as far back as Vietnam, when North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap defeated the United States of America without ever winning a major tactical battle."

Dr. Kern concluded by saying, "Just keep faith in America, and continue to support your President and the military, and the outcome is certain. If we fail to do so, the outcome is equally certain."

The snooze button is not an option.

[rainstorm]

nov 02 will determine if we still care or not