Posted on 10/13/2001 5:22:37 AM PDT by Bowana
We Are Not Like Them
Some people are saying that our own government may have done something to cause the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Tuesday, September 11th. Some say our support of Israel caused this tragedy; others say it’s our policies and actions to influence other countries in the Middle East. Then these same people say that retaliation will only "lower us to their level" or will "Make us like them".
To these people I say, "We will Never be like them!" We have never aimed at innocent people, now I am not talking about war, in war innocent people die, I am talking about our so-called "Police Actions" or interventions around the world. Yes we bombed an aspirin factory, but our intelligence reports lead us to believe that it was a chemical weapons plant. Bad intelligence reports? Yes, but were we given false reports just to lead us into actions that inevitably gave the United States a black eye? That is not only possible, but also probable. We did bomb a Chinese Embassy, but that was an accident, we didn’t aim at them. These recent acts of terrorism were purposely aimed at innocent United States citizens. That is why we will never be like them.
This was not just an attack on our buildings. This was not just an attack on our civilians. This was an attack on our Liberty, our Freedom, and this was an attack on our way of life. These terrorists have invoked terror into our civilian jetliners. They have invoked terror into our tall buildings. They have invoked terror into our places of work and they have invoked terror into our homes.
Now is the time to take a stand against terrorism. Now is the time to be United, United we Stand, Divided We Fall. These people making excuses like it is our Government’s policies that caused this act of terrorism or that it is our alliance with Israel that caused this act of terrorism, are only clouding the issue, and are acting to divide us. These same people claim that retaliation will make us like these terrorists. This is another attempt to divide us. We must not be divided, we must stand United. We do not target innocent civilians; we target only the guilty.
To Osama Bin Laden and all of his associates and supporters I say this, There is no mountain thick enough. There is no cave deep enough. There is no country big enough to protect you from us. Thanks to you, we are United and we will act United in our efforts to find you and your associates and make you pay for your horrendous act of terrorism. We are United against you and you better look over your shoulder because we will find you, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but we will find you and you will pay for what you have done.
Todd Beamer was a passenger on Flight 93 and during a cell phone conversation with an operator he told her of the hijacking and that there was a group that had decided to do something about it. Passengers Jeremy Glick, Tom Burnett, and Mark Bingham had also made similar calls to various people, all with the same statements that they were going to "Do something about it". Another passenger was Richard Guadagno, a refuge manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a friend of mine had the honor to be Rich’s supervisor while working for the Fish and Wildlife service. He said "I just know that Rich was in the thick of the struggle. He was that sort of an officer."
The last thing that the operator heard Todd Beamer say was "Let’s Roll". That was just minutes before that ill-fated flight crashed into the ground in a field in Pennsylvania. Todd Beamer’s wife said that he always used to say that to get his kids going when they were leaving the house. The heroic actions of these passengers probably caused this plane to crash with no injuries on the ground. It is now believed that this plane was headed towards Washington, D.C. Possibly the Whitehouse or the Pentagon.
Well America, Now is the time to be United, United We Stand, Divided We Fall, and to all Americans, I say now, "Let’s Roll"!
(Proceeds from this column are being donated to the rescue effort in New York City)
Oh, well, the verities of the last 30 years are beginning to wear a bit thin.
If American were to hostilely occupied by a foreign country, would it be "evil" or "immoral" of the U.S. to conduct terrorist acts against the occupying country on their own territory aimed against their innocent citizens?
YES, I believe it would be immoral! If a "Hostile Country" occupied this country. I would imagine that we would be busy attacking them from within what was "our" country.
If while being "Occupied" we still had the ability with hidden air bases to hit "Their" country's military targets then that would not be immoral. Of course during times of war we do attack opposing towns and cities since it is war.
We did bomb German and Japanese civilians but that was during a war when they were trying to take over other countries. We were not trying to take over any countries when this attack against our civilians took place. For that matter we are still not trying to "Take Over" any countries, we are just seeking retribution for terrorist acts.
I'd say no. That noncombatants get killed in a war is a given, but they should not be targeted.
No it does not. Multiculturalism says all other cultures are better than American, including Islamic culture. They are idiots, of course.
In the interest of keeping the discussion going, what about the british bombers in ww2?
Actually I would like to say there is no appropriate time for targeting civilians! During WWII, I understood the bombing of cities with factories and supplies, and I also unerstand the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I am not sure that I agree with it in hindsight, but with thousands of American Boys dying and the possibility of loosing thousands more, it did bring a quick end to the war. At the time I believe it was the right decision.
Today I would hope that technology offers us the opportunity to target military targets with the least colateral damage possible.
The difference is that these are acts of war when both sides know that they are at war. The attack of innocent civilians during peacetime is terrorism, pure and simple!
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