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, 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...
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) and maybe it was, but I think it should have been 'Get Out of Bed!' In fact, 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 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 ONLY six short months later in 1983 a large truck heavily laden down with over 25,000 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 Rheine-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.
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 alongside 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.
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 other people, 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.
Fw: Fwd: WWIII
THIS IS NOT A RED OR BLUE THING, NOT A RIGHT OR LEFT THING, NOT A LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE THING, BUT AN AMERICAN THING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT.
When WW III Started - 1979
8/12/2010 06:47:00 AM
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Key Words:
CARTER,
IRAN,
MUSLIMS ARE SCARY,
TERRORISM
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This entry was posted on 8/12/2010 06:47:00 AM
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26 comments:
Ok, so... what? What action is he calling for? Should we invade a country? Already did that, twice, and the results have been pretty shitty? What does he want?
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/wakeup.asp
Real person, real speech given sometime in 2002 or 2003.
Agree with first Anon post: and so, what's the point? Yeah, there's terrorists out there, and there always have been. Now what?
I don't think anyone in America is "asleep" about the fact that terrorists exist. It does seem that W was too busy being on vacation in August 2001 to be bothered to do anything about the terrorist attack that he was clearly warned about by Richard Clark.
So, who's been asleep at the wheel?
And what now? W's "solution" to attack Iraq, who had nothing to do with the terrorists of 9/11, hasn't done one darn thing in terms of making the USA "safer."
What's the point of this gibberish? Pay the Military Industrial Complex more tax dollars because... ??? some wealthy billionaires will get wealthier.
I think Ouimette oughta write another diatribe about the terrorist USA billionaires ripping us all off. That might be more useful and insightful.
A string of terrorist attacks going back several decades does not constitute World War 3. Must they be so totally over-the-top about everything? It's a constant soap opera with the Right. I guess some people thrive on daily doses of hysterical fear-mongering. It just makes me tired, so yes mr. email forwarder I will go back to sleep.
If there's one thing Americans all agree on, it's our need to return to the glory days of the Vietnam War.
Google won't tell me which defense contractor Daniel Ouimette works for nowadays.
Just plain stupid. Asleep? People were convicted and imprisoned for the first WTC attack. The Cruise missiles took out Al Qaeda training camps in the wake of the embassy bombings. Some nap. (If anyone was asleep, look at Bush: Why did George W. Bush ignore counterterrorism until September 11?)
Does Mr. Genius think he has a solution? Maybe carpet-bomb Iran after the embassy seizure? Yeah, that would have made the world safe for the U.S. No doubt.
The middle east terrorism problem could have been crushed in the early 80's. It should have been done with a heavy hand.
What this is, as is the financial problems we face today, is a finely crafted diversion. Something to keep one group fighting with another. I'm beginning to believe there will be a WWIII and wouldn't be surprised if it's our "October Surprise" for 2010. Lets hope not.
Americans are getting smarter by the day and are sick of the Government and Media B.S that we've been feed for the last 30 years.
We've lost a lot of liberties since 9/11 and we allowed it out of fear of terrorism (real or staged)
The US has long felt entitled to interfere
with domestic policies of weaker nations
just because we can.
And, gee whiz, these and other nations are
just supposed to bask in our awesomeness;
why aren't they grateful? Why do they hate
our freedoms?
9/11 was asymmetrical blowback. As long
as we keep bullying, expect this to happen
again and again. Any sane nations' response
is to aggressively try to attain nuclear
weapon capability. North Korea is a rogue
state but is also untouchable by us. No, we
continue to pick off those nations with no
nuclear weapons but vast natural resources.
We've pretty much tipped our hand, and there
will be a multitude of alliances against us,
including former allies. Just like the coalitions
arrayed against Napoleonic France. Do you
want to be eaten last or would you prefer to
not be eaten at all?
And, at some point in the near future, China
is going to jerk our leash. That may wake
some of us up, but certainly not our leaders,
the media, and their slavish followers.
The next 10 years will be illuminating.
Well said, gruaud, esp reference to Napolean (just happen to be reading up on his reign right now, and your comment is apt).
I think this nation is in for a really bumpy ride. Listening to the facist right is not going to solve the problems facing us, but too many citizens refuse to grow up and face the reality that we no longer live in a democracy.
When China yanks the chain, it's gonna be a big surprise to some.
Ranting crap like this is a smokescreen and a complete waste of time serving no purpose other than to distract the idiots out there.
If I'm not mistaken, the official republican position on the response to the Kenya and Tanzania embassy bombings was "no war for Monica!"
And leave Napoleon alone! ;P
He may have been Britain's "Corsican Ogre," but it's interesting to note that Napoleonic France was no less totalitarian and in many ways had a more benign ruler than the other members of the coalitions. Such as...
The Austrian Emperor
The Spanish Bourbon monarch
The Prussian Burghers
The Elector of Brandenburg
The Pope
The freakin' Russian Tsar
And the approximate 1% of the British population eligible to vote (seriously: 200,000 out of about 20 million).
For those of you that believe our response over seas has been ineffective, could you please point out any major act of terrorism within our borders since 9/11? Please humor me and continue your argument by pointing out other major U.S. ships, embassies, etc. that have been compromised.
@ yet another con anon:
Well, right away, we were hit with the anthrax
attacks, although THAT seems to have gone
down the conservative memory hole.
Add to that we're bogged down in Afghanistan
and Iraq and have blown TRILLIONS of dollars.
The terrorists couldn't be happier. They don't
have to hit us here anymore. Mission fucking
ACCOMPLISHED.
Humor you?
You fucking moron. You probably giggle
at train wrecks. You think that we the fact
that we haven't been attacked again is
somehow a win.
Osama bin Laden didn't spend a trillion
bucks to crash our economy.
We did.
@ Anon
"Lisa, I'd like to buy your rock."
Look it up if you have to.
@ "Lisa, I'd like to buy your rock"
There is possibly some truth to that.
@ gruaud
You should see a counselor if you're really going to get that upset over a post. I suppose the other possibility is that you simply need to berate someone online to feel better about yourself. Either way, consider a counselor.
War feeds economic growth... or so they tell me. I'm not really certain that I agree with the logic behind that.
Personally, I feel that war is irrelevant here. A society that had completely overextended itself in debt was taken hook, line & sinker by increadiblely appealing adjustable rate mortgages. Either due to lack of understanding or failure to look to the future, those mortgages were gobbled up. Whent he ARMs adjusted and the creditors came calling, the whole system fell apart.
All of that was stacked on the back of a burst I.T. boom, followed shortly by the 9/11 attack.
You're right, they didn't kill our economy - we did - but it wasn't with the war.
Now, go find yourself a counselor before you go and hurt someone...
@ Anon
You come troll here and smugly ask someone to "humor you" and your stupid beliefs. Gruaud, a longtime poster here, points out just how wrong you are, and you're only defense is "I was just kidding, you must be crazy to take this so seriously"? Pathetic.
I never said I was kidding about anything, nor did I come here trolling. My first post was civil and my subsequent posts have been better than proportionate.
Do you really find it that difficult to take something seriously and avoid getting angry about it?
PS:
"You fucking moron. You probably giggle at train wrecks."
"Pathetic."
Those are attempts to troll.
Those are attempts to troll.
Gruaud is a longtime poster here.
You popped up in once and said something smug and nonsensical.That's the definition of a troll.
The definition of "Troll" is an attempt to elicit emotional response and/or intentionally derail the original topic.
My post was absolutely on topic. It asked a valid question related to the topic. Nothing in the post resorted to name calling, beratement or the like.
Just because you don't agree with my point of view doesn't make me a troll. Your responses fit the bill perfectly though. They were unrelated to the subject matter, emotionally charged and nothing more than an attempt to elicit an emotional response in return.
Any valid response to my points on the economy and how those points may support or debunk the theory posed by Grauad or are you both just looking for a fight?
The definition of "Troll" is an attempt to elicit emotional response and/or intentionally derail the original topic.
So coming here out of nowhere and smugly asking the commenters to rebuke some half-assed point of yours isn't an attempt to elicit a response? Calling into question someone's emotional state isn't derailing the subject?
So coming here out of nowhere and smugly asking the commenters to rebuke some half-assed point of yours isn't an attempt to elicit a response?
IMO, the point isn't half-assed, it's on topic, it's a valid question and it's not intended to be smug. You just inferred that part.
Calling into question someone's emotional state isn't derailing the subject?
Nope. It would be considered "feeding the troll" since it was a response to his troll - "You fucking moron. You probably giggle
at train wrecks."
Once again, my original post was on topic and regardless of your personal opinion, I still believe the point was valid.
"...isn't an attempt to elicit a response?"
I wasn't intending to ignore the actual question, so let me clarify. Yes, it was intended to elicit a response based on fact, logic and some rational thought.
On the other hand, where it seems you were trying to lead me: "...isn't an attempt to elicit a [emotional] response?"
Most certainly not.
IMO, the point isn't half-assed, it's on topic, it's a valid question and it's not intended to be smug. You just inferred that part.
Half-assed was generous, and it certainly came across as smug. "If any of you have a problem with this, then answer this silly and irrelevant question".
Nope. It would be considered "feeding the troll" since it was a response to his troll
Or it was a petty attempt to insult someone else. Someone else who, again, posts here pretty much every goddamn day, as opposed to you who popped out of nowhere and asked a trollish question. Whose the troll again?
Busy day yesterday!
I stand by my assertions although the
'giggling at train wrecks' was over the
top, I do agree.
Also, anon's comment about the war
being irrelelvant to our collapse.
Wow.
We've hollowed out a wide variety of
social programs just to pay for the damned
thing, in addition to selling our debt to
a country that has no love for us: China.
By choosing the Iraq/Afghanistan tarpits
over public investment, Bush cost us
hundreds of thousands of jobs, and
losses to infrastructure, energy conservation
education and healthcare. Things that may
not be important to conservatives, but are
to the rest of America.
The wars are irrelevant?
The effects are all around you. Even had
there been no housing bubble, the economy
would be teetering.
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