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'Our Enemy Is Not Terrorism'
The U.S. Naval Institute 130th Annual Meeting and Annapolis Naval History Symposium (2004 | 1 July 2004 | John Lehman, Former Secretary of the Navy

Posted on 07/01/2004 11:06:42 AM PDT by NavySEAL F-16

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To: MACVSOG68

I agree, those may be Bin Ladens' goals, but I don't believe they are the goals of Islam...perhaps, if he was it's leader, he would say they were.

I think one of the reasons that Muslims are quiet, is that they believe all that happens is the will of God...and who are they to question the will of God? I may very well be wrong, as I am not a Muslim, but this is the way it looks to me.

I really don't think there is such a thing as a religious war, as religions are created by man. These wars, that are referred to as religious wars, are waged by men that want something, and one of their weapons is religious zealotry.


21 posted on 07/01/2004 11:49:36 AM PDT by stuartcr
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To: NavySEAL F-16
Go Navy!

BTW, been meaning to ask you...why the F-16?

Also, thanks for your "special" contribution. I was TDY at Coronado for a while and observed some of your training up close. I would have been ringing the bell after the first day.

My Tagline may have some interest for you.

22 posted on 07/01/2004 11:55:42 AM PDT by A Navy Vet (Veterans for Constitutional Restoration - www.VetsCoR.org)
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To: Slings and Arrows

"Bush is practicing the fine art of saying "nice doggie" until he can find a big enough rock."

And I am so anxious to find out how big of a rock he is going to use on the doggie!


23 posted on 07/01/2004 11:56:02 AM PDT by Esther Ruth (As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth & FOREVER)
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To: NavySEAL F-16

Very good, but what the article fails to point out is that the Islamic Fundamentalists are following the Koran to the letter. The fundies are the real Muslims. Islam, according to the Koran, is at war with all non Muslims.

ISLAM IS THE PROBLEM!


24 posted on 07/01/2004 11:56:06 AM PDT by broadsword (Liberalism is the societal AIDS virus that thwarts our national defense.)
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To: stuartcr
You might want to read the Koran and the Hadiths. You will see what Islam teaches.
25 posted on 07/01/2004 11:57:30 AM PDT by NavySEAL F-16 ("proud to be a Reagan Republican")
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To: stuartcr
...but I don't believe they are the goals of Islam...

That statement shows you to be either ignorant of Islam and the Koran or a trojan horse for those who have declared war on human civilization.
26 posted on 07/01/2004 11:58:18 AM PDT by broadsword (Liberalism is the societal AIDS virus that thwarts our national defense.)
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To: NavySEAL F-16

It would seem that if this were true, then all Muslims would be this way, but they are not. I believe it is in the interpretation of the writings...as it is in all religious writings.


27 posted on 07/01/2004 11:59:11 AM PDT by stuartcr
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To: broadsword

Why then, don't all Muslims follow this thinking?


28 posted on 07/01/2004 12:01:05 PM PDT by stuartcr
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To: stuartcr

Our war is against jihadists and those that harbor them. There's no denying it. All Muslims are not jihadists but almost every terrorist act committed against Americans in the past 30 years has been perpetrated by jihadists.


29 posted on 07/01/2004 12:06:58 PM PDT by jwalsh07
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To: ZULU

"We need a NEW category and description of malefactor to describe these creatures."

The decision by the USSC leaves this option: "Take no prisoners"

Perhaps detain for a very limited time, interview very agressively, bang, and presto - - no prisoners taken.


30 posted on 07/01/2004 12:08:53 PM PDT by truth_seeker
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To: stuartcr
...these individuals are using their interpretation of the Islamic faith,...

To say we are engaged in a "war on terror" is to give the impression that we are fighting against some relatively small ragtag band of crazy religious zealots. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Islamic-jihadists have networks throughout the world and their followers may well number into the millions. We are fighting World War III, and I wish somebody in our government would say so.

The Islamists have declared a holy war on us and they are prepared to fight us to the death no matter how many years it takes. Any yet there are many Americans who still believe we can somehow negotiate with them or treat them as though they are just a few misguided criminals or zealots who, somehow, have misintrepreted the Koran.

As one political pundit has so clearly put it, "How can we expect to win when they're willing to die for their cause — but we are not willing to even kill for our survival?"

Consider this: "Those who were brought in alive [having surrendered] were ordered beheaded, after which a tower of skulls was erected in the camp." [The Baburnama -Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor, translated and edited by Wheeler M. Thacktson, Oxford University Press,1996, p. 188.]

Please. Your naivete astounds! You need to do some reading.

31 posted on 07/01/2004 12:10:03 PM PDT by JesseHousman (Execute Mumia Abu-Jamal)
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To: NavySEAL F-16
So we left ourselves completely vulnerable to a concerted attack.

We left ourselves completely vulnerable to a concerted attack because we let the government deny us the right to keep and bear arms. Now, this same government is asking for our support in their effort to fight a Fourth Generation war with a Second Generation military.

And in the meantime, not one federal gun law has been repealed.

32 posted on 07/01/2004 12:15:38 PM PDT by sheltonmac ("Duty is ours; consequences are God's." -Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson)
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To: stuartcr
I think one of the reasons that Muslims are quiet, is that they believe all that happens is the will of God...and who are they to question the will of God? I may very well be wrong, as I am not a Muslim, but this is the way it looks to me.

I agree completely with that, which is why bin Laden's task is so much easier than it ought to be. Remember, all political change comes from activists, not the quiet majority. He has the goal of an greater Islamic empire, and he has the means to do so as long as we refuse to admit two things. One, all Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims. Second, the critical states in this game are Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, all of which are very weak internally. The West must recognize this and understand that Iraq is the key in this game of dominoes and must be stabilized at any cost.

33 posted on 07/01/2004 12:27:21 PM PDT by MACVSOG68
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To: NavySEAL F-16

We have not ignored them. I'll repost what someone did some time ago.

------------

 The list below presents specific incidents of U.S. policy.

It minimizes the grievances against the U.S. because it excludes long-standing policies, such as U.S. backing for authoritarian regimes (arming Saudi Arabia, training the secret police in Iran under the Shah, providing arms and aid to Turkey as it attacked Kurdish villages, etc.).

The list also excludes actions of Israel in which the U.S. is indirectly implicated because Israel has been the leading or second ranking  recipient of U.S. aid for many years and has received U.S. weapons and benefited from U.S. veto in the Security Council.

 1949:

CIA backs military coup deposing elected government of Syria.

1953:

CIA helps overthrow the democratically elected Mossadeq government in

Iran (which had nationalized the British oil company) leading to a

quarter-century of dictatorial rule by the Shah, Mohammed Reza

Pahlevi.

1956:

U.S. cuts off promised funding for Aswan Dam in Egypt after Egypt

receives Eastern bloc arms.

1956:

Israel, Britain, and France invade Egypt.

U.S. does not support invasion, but the involvement of NATO allies

severely diminishes Washington's reputation in the region.

1958:

U.S. troops land in Lebanon to preserve "stability."

1960s (early):

U.S. unsuccessfully attempts assassination of Iraqi leader, Abdul Karim Qassim.

1963:

U.S. reported to give Iraqi Ba'ath party (soon to be headed by Saddam

Hussein) names of communists to murder, which they do with vigor.

1967:

U.S. blocks any effort in the Security Council to enforce SC

Resolution 244, calling for Israeli withdrawal from territories

occupied in the 1967 war.

1970:

Civil war between Jordan and PLO. Israel and U.S. prepare to

intervene on side of Jordan if Syria backs PLO.

1972:

U.S. blocks Sadats efforts to reach a peace agreement with Egypt.

1973:

U.S. military aid enables Israel to turn the tide in war with Syria and Egypt.

1973-75:

U.S. supports Kurdish rebels in Iraq.

When Iran reaches an agreement with Iraq in 1975 and seals the

border, Iraq slaughters Kurds and U.S. denies them refuge.

Kissinger secretly explains that "covert action should not be

confused with missionary work."

1978-79:

Iranians begin demonstrations against the Shah.

U.S. tells Shah it supports him "without reservation" and urges him

to act forcefully.

Until the last minute, U.S. tries to organize military coup to save

the Shah, but to no avail.

1979-88:

U.S. begins covert aid to Mujahideen in Afghanistan six months before

Soviet invasion.

Over the next decade U.S. provides more than $3 billion in arms and aid.

1980-88:

Iran-Iraq war.

When Iraq invades Iran, the U.S. opposes any Security Council action

to condemn the invasion.

U.S. removes Iraq from its list of nations supporting terrorism and

allows U.S. arms to be transferred to Iraq.

U.S. lets Israel provide arms to Iran and in 1985 U.S. provides arms

directly (though secretly) to Iran.

U.S. provides intelligence information to Iraq.

1984:

Iraq uses chemical weapons.

U.S. restores diplomatic relations with Iraq.

1987:

U.S. sends its navy into the Persian Gulf, taking Iraq's side.

1984:

An aggressive U.S. ship shoots down an Iranian civilian airliner, killing 290.

1981-1986:

U.S. holds military maneuvers off the coast of Libya with the clear

purpose of provoking Qaddafi.

1981:

A Libyan plane fires a missile and two Libyan planes were

subsequently shot down.

1986:

Libya fires missiles that land far from any target and U.S. attacks

Libyan patrol boats, killing 72, and shore installations.

When a bomb goes off in a Berlin nightclub, killing two, the U.S.

charges that Qaddafi was behind it (possibly true) and conducts major

bombing raids in Libya, killing dozens of civilians, including

Qaddafi's adopted daughter. (Give me a break!)

1982:

U.S. gives "green light" to Israeli invasion of Lebanon, where more

than 10,000 civilians were killed.

U.S. chooses not to invoke its laws prohibiting Israeli use of U.S.

weapons except in self-defense.

1983:

U.S. troops sent to Lebanon as part of a multinational peacekeeping

force; intervene on one side of a civil war.

Withdraw after suicide bombing of Marine barracks.

1984:

U.S.-backed rebels in Afghanistan fire on civilian airliner.

1988:

Saddam Hussein kills many thousands of his own Kurdish population and

uses chemical weapons against them.

The U.S. increases its economic ties to Iraq.

1990-91:

U.S. rejects diplomatic settlement of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait

(Rebuffing any attempt to link the two regional occupations, of

Kuwait and Palestine).

U.S. leads international coalition in war against Iraq.

Civilian infrastructure targeted.

To promote "stability" U.S. refuses to aid uprisings by Shi'ites in

the south and Kurds in the north, denying the rebels access to

captured Iraqi weapons and refusing to prohibit Iraqi helicopter

flights.

1991:

Devastating economic sanctions are imposed on Iraq.

U.S. and Britain block all attempts to lift them.

Hundreds of thousands die.

Though Security Council stated sanctions were to be lifted once

Hussein's programs to develop weapons of mass destruction were ended,

Washington makes it known that the sanctions would remain as long as

Saddam remains in power.

Sanctions strengthen Saddam's position.

1993:

U.S. launches missile attack on Iraq, claiming self defense against

an alleged assassination attempt on former president Bush two months

earlier.

1998:

U.S. and U.K. bomb Iraq over weapons inspections, even though

Security Council is just then meeting to discuss the matter.

1998:

U.S. destroys factory producing half of Sudan's pharmaceutical

supply, claiming retaliation for attacks on U.S. embassies in

Tanzania and Kenya and that factory was involved in chemical warfare.

U.S. later acknowledges there is no evidence for the chemical warfare charge.

 


34 posted on 07/01/2004 12:32:42 PM PDT by ex-snook ("Above all Things Truth Beareth Away the Victory")
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To: NavySEAL F-16

bump


35 posted on 07/01/2004 12:36:54 PM PDT by varon (Allegiance to the constitution, always. Allegiance to a political party, never.)
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To: stuartcr

By their own definition, they are infidels. Just think of how the 9/11 hijackers assimilated into American society before their "big day". Just read their "handbook". I suggest you also read Stephen Emerson's book. He has a map of where all the cells are located in the U.S. I don't think they broadcast their intentions on the radio or on the street corner.


36 posted on 07/01/2004 12:37:33 PM PDT by NavySEAL F-16 ("proud to be a Reagan Republican")
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To: NavySEAL F-16

John had a great speech.

Thanks for posting it.

I have a new tagline for awhile, and it will be recycled


37 posted on 07/01/2004 12:39:57 PM PDT by Grampa Dave (Our enemy is violent, Islamic fundamentalism, which directs acts of Islamo terrorism!)
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To: jwalsh07

That doesn't make it a war against Islam...just against those individuals and their followers.


38 posted on 07/01/2004 12:41:41 PM PDT by stuartcr
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To: stuartcr

Yup, thats what I said.


39 posted on 07/01/2004 12:42:38 PM PDT by jwalsh07
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To: stuartcr

You can't be a Muslim unless you follow the Koran. Read what Bin Laden and all the Mullah's have to say. Muslim is not an ethnicity -- you are only a Muslim if you follow the Koran. That's their definition, not mine.


40 posted on 07/01/2004 12:46:49 PM PDT by NavySEAL F-16 ("proud to be a Reagan Republican")
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