Posted on 10/18/2006 1:32:35 PM PDT by presidio9
Americans must take a lesson from history and not believe the terrorist threat has been exaggerated or will go away, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Wednesday.
He described a new, more ruthless and lethal terrorist enemy, "with no territory to defend, no treaties to honor, that measures progress in terms of decades, not days."
"With this sort of enemy, we cannot afford — and indeed could not survive — another holiday from history," Rumsfeld said.
Contending there are those who say terrorism is "somebody else's problem, or it will go away," Rumsfeld countered that America has no choice but to go on the offensive. And he urged patience with the Iraqi and Afghan governments as they struggle to build their democracies.
Rumsfeld's call for perseverance comes three weeks before the November elections, as members of Congress face a public growing increasingly unhappy and impatient with the war in Iraq.
In remarks to students at the Air Force's war college at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., Rumsfeld also acknowledged that the Iraq war, like other battles, "has not been a steady, smooth glide path."
And he offered no firm prediction on when U.S. troops levels will be substantially reduced there.
"There's going to be violence in that country, I suspect, for some time," he said. "But if we do our job well, and if we are doing a good job in training and equipping the Iraqi forces, we ought to be able to reduce down our forces in the months ahead, as we pass off more and more responsibility."
He said the enemy is unpredictable and frequently adapts to changing conditions, such as when insurgents began to use roadside bombs and other explosive devices after convoys became better protected against traditional attacks. He has made similar concessions before.
In Iraq, meanwhile, sectarian violence continues to rage in Balad, north of Baghdad, prompting the U.S. military to send troops there to back up the Iraqi Army.
The ongoing attacks in and around the capitol city have pushed the death toll of American troops to nearly 70 this month, putting October on track to be the deadliest month for coalition forces since January 2005.
Rumsfeld's speech echoed statements he made in August, when he warned an American Legion convention in Salt Lake City that the U.S. must not repeat the World War II-era mistake of trying to appease the enemy, even as fascism took hold.
While Rumsfeld did not specifically cite Bush critics in the speech, irate Democrats took issue with any suggestion that opponents of the Iraq war could be likened to those who wanted to appease Adolf Hitler before World War II.
While at the base Wednesday, Rumsfeld also met with Howard and Carol Payne, whose son Brad, a marine from Pike Road, Ala., was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb on October 6.
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"With this sort of enemy, we cannot afford — and indeed could not survive — another holiday from history,"
How true. Now if we can just get the Dims, media, so called "celebrities", college profs and some of my "friends" and relatives to believe and act on this.
Rumsfeld has it right.
This is not true Rummy. They live in the ocean of Islam. Simply dry the ocean. You know -- Daisy Cutters, MOABS, Nukes.
Too late. They're already here.
We are currently struggling to survive the last "holiday from history" - the eight years of the Clinton administration.
Another one like that and Russia, China, Iran and Venzuela will all be throwing and in our faces!!
You are blind as a bat. The Muslims are eating away capital throughout old Europe in the form of welfare. They are forcing European authorities to spend more of their resources on surveillance. They are reproducing at a rate that will make them a majority in many European countries in a generation or two. In the meantime they have taken over public housing in France where even the French police dare not tread. More of the same in England and Belgium. In Egypt, the Copts suffering increases. Christians in Syria, Pakistan, Iraq, Indonesia are continuing to be the subject of deadly persecution. The Muslims are taking over southern Thailand. There, the Thai prince gave permission to his Muslim General to carry out a coup. Most Thais are Buddhists, for now. Somalia has fallen to Sharia. Nigeria is a mess. And that's not the complete dismal picture.
I don't buy the notion of proportional warfare. All that means is the war never ends unless we quit, like Vietnam. We need to cut off the heads, the clerics, and show the rest we can wipe them out if war is their choice.
I find it shocking not only that the AP wrote this up, but in the manner they did.
While Rumsfeld did not specifically cite Bush critics in the speech, irate Democrats took issue with any suggestion that opponents of the Iraq war could be likened to those who wanted to appease Adolf Hitler before World War II.
Well said Rummy!
History repeats itself for many forget it's lessons.
Hezbollah members already have entered the U.S. from Mexico, the report confirmed.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4263968.html
Drug-related violence in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, across from Laredo, Texas, captured the national spotlight in a deadly turf war between rival gangs.
Terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah make money by drug trafficking, money laundering, and arms dealing along the southwest border towns of Texas, McCaul said.
"That's where we're seeing the violence. That's where we're seeing the executions. That's where we're seeing the beheadings. It's graphic. Like I said, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to pull out those kind of pictures. But let me tell you, I've seen it first hand. It's very graphic and very disturbing," McCaul said.
The illegal drug industry is becoming a conduit for terrorism activity in Latin America, the report said.
http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=172793
**"With this sort of enemy, we cannot afford — and indeed could not survive — another holiday from history," Rumsfeld said.**
Darn straight, boss! :)
I totally agree too with this assessment. For all intents and purposes bin laden and his cronies have had their arses handed to them, hence now they are more ideological than actual perpetrators of direct terrorist attacks from their home base. They are reduced to making home videos of threats and rhetoric.
However, these newer brand of jihadists are probably 'lone wolves,' who may or may not have actual connections or direct ties to the mother al qaeda organization. Rather they have taken up the "cause" from al qaeda and acting on their own, like those home grown british terrorists. That is why in this next phase of the war on terror, the world must be even more vigilant to fight this determined enemy.
Sadly, it may take another attack on our soil to again wake up the anti war crowd from their coma.
Is there any doubt...?
That article makes a pretty spectacular claim with out substantiating it in any way. Why the heck would terrorists want to risk walking through the desert when they are well financed, can afford a plane ticket, and can enter this country legally on a student visa? Sure, our borders need to be secured, but not because of a terrorist threat?
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