ARE we in a World War? You be the judge...

US State Dept; wikipedia; UCal; multiple others ^ | 7/24/05

[Wolfstar]

An incredible number of attacks by Islamic jihadists have been planned over the last 35 years. Although many have been averted, far too many plots have succeeded:

Since 1970, jihadists carried out attacks in over 60 cities, in at least 41 countries, on five continents and Pacific islands. Jihadists have assassinated heads of state, ambassadors and military personnel, and killed thousands of men, women, and children of many ages, ethnicities and religions (including Muslims). They have sometimes deliberately targeted children and babies.

The 78 incidents listed below should not be taken as a complete list, merely a representative one. The listed attacks resulted in at least 7478 deaths (rate of over two attacks/death toll over 210 annually). They began 33 years before our invasion of Iraq.

Had just one of the biggest known aborted attacks been successful (e.g., Operation Bojinka), the death toll would have been in the tens of thousands, resulting in an annual rate of many hundreds killed. Luck, as much as intelligence and investigative skill, has prevented some massive attacks. Operation Bojinka was only discovered due to an apartment fire. However, the frequency and complexity of such attacks have continued to escalate since the 1970's.

We easily could have lost well over 10,000 on 9/11/01. Yet that was not the biggest known planned attack on New York City. The same cell which carried out the 1993 WTC attack intended to bomb the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, the UN building, and other NYC landmarks on one day. Had they succeeded, the death toll could have been beyond unthinkable. Similarly, had the plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport succeeded during New Year's, 2000, the death toll could have been horrendous. Sooner or later, we may run out of luck.

We know the jihadists train and carry out small test runs for much larger planned attacks. Was the 2001 anthrax bioweapons attack such a test run? We may never know — that is, we may never know until the day we're hit with a much larger bioweapons attack. We also know from captured terrorist documents, computers and equipment that the jihadist network wants to make or obtain chemical and nuclear weapons. They are already way too close to such weapons in Pakistan and Iran. Most importantly, we know they take a very long view of history. Their plots can and often do take years to execute.

If this list doesn't make clear that we are in a bona fide World War, what will? Yes, it's an unconventional war or, to use the current faddish term, an asymmetrical war. We are facing what amounts to a shadowy guerrilla army that operates worldwide, rather than massed armies openly fielded by nations. Nevertheless, for our own survival we need to come to grips with the fact that we are, indeed, in a World War such as has never been seen before. The enemy has been escalating the frequency and ferocity of his attacks over the past 35 years while we have been oblivious to the growing danger.

Year	Month	Day	Location	Description	Dead
1970	Feb	21	Zurich, Switzerland	SwissAir 330 bombed by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a member group of Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). All aboard were killed.	47
1970	Sept	6–7	Europe: Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Zurich	First multiple aircraft hijackings: Five planes were hijacked. (Two landed at a desert airstrip in Jordan called Dawson's Field, giving the incident it’s name.) The PFLP was responsible.	2
1972	May	30	Tel Aviv, Israel	First known joint operation between jihadists and a terroristic Communist group. PFLP dispatches members of the Japanese Red Army to attack Lod Airport in Tel Aviv.	27
1972	Sept	5	Munich, Germany	Israeli athletes murdered at Munich Olympics by a group calling themselves "Black September," an arm of Fatah operating under Yasser Arafat's direct command. (The PLO was kicked out of Jordan and fled to Lebanon in September, hence the term "black.").	11
1973	Dec	17	Rome, Italy	Phosphorus bombs thrown aboard Pan Am 110. The terrorists were all members of Fatah, and Abu Nidal masterminded the attack.	30
1973	Mar	1	Khartoum, Sudan	Palestinian terrorists take over Saudi embassy. A Belgian and two Americans, were killed, including Cleo Noel, U.S. Amb. to Sudan.	3
1974	May	15	Ma'alot, Israel	One of the earliest known incidents when jihadists deliberately targeted children. PFLP broke into a high school where 14 to 16-year-olds were resting after an outing. They killed a security guard, detonated grenades and shot the children.	26
1974	Sept	8	Athens, Greece	TWA 841 explodes after takeoff killing all aboard. A youth group in Beirut claimed responsibility. Abu Nidal was the suspected mastermind.	88
1976	July	3–4	Entebbe, Uganda	Hijacking of Air France 139 and subsequent Operation Entebbe: Six terrorists and three hostages died. Ugandan forces opened fire on Israeli troops killing Col. Jonathan "Yoni" Netanyahu, the operation’s commander; 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed and Ugandan fighter planes sitting on the ramp were "put into non-flying condition."	55
1979	Nov	4	Tehran, Iran	A militant Islamic mob took over the U.S. embassy and held 52 Americans hostage for the next 444 days. A U.S. rescue attempt in April 1980 failed. The hostages were released Jan. 20, 1981.	8
1981	Oct	6	Cairo, Egypt	Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated by the Egyptian branch of Islamic Jihad (a code name for Hezobllah).	1
1982	Sept	14	Lebanon	Lebanese Prime Minister Bashir Gemayel and 25 others were killed in a car bomb attack. Gemayel was seen by many Muslims as too "pro" Israel.	26
1983	Apr	18	Beirut, Lebanon	A van drove up to the U.S. embassy, parked under the portico and exploded. The front section of the embassy collapsed. Islamic Jihad was responsible.	63
1983	Dec	12	Kuwait City, Kuwait	A truck loaded with explosives crashed into the U.S. Embassy annex. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.	4
1983	Oct	23	Beirut, Lebanon	A truck drove to HQ, U.S. Marines. The driver gunned his engine, crashed through a barbed-wire fence, passed between two sentry posts, crashed through a gate, and barreled into the lobby. The Marine sentries did not have loaded weapons and were unable to shoot the driver. (According to one Marine, the driver was smiling as he sped past him.) The suicide bomber detonated his truck. The force collapsed the four-story cinder-block building.About 20 seconds later, an identical attack occurred on the French paratroop barracks.It was the deadliest single-day death toll for the American military since World War II. Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria, were responsible.	299
1983	Sept	23	Abu Dhabi, UAE	Gulf Air 771 enroute from Abu Dhabi to Karachi exploded and crashed in the desert near Mina Jebel Ali, UAE, killing all aboard.	117
1985	Apr	12	Madrid, Spain	A bomb exploded in a restaurant where U.S. soldiers liked to eat.	18
1985	Dec	27	Rome, Italy & Vienna, Austria	Four terrorists walked to the ticket counter of El Al airlines at Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport and opened fire with assault rifles and grenades. Minutes later, an identical attack occurred at the Vienna International Airport. The Abu Nidal group was responsible.	20
1985	Nov	23	Valeta, Malta	EgyptAir 648 hijacked by Abu Nidal group. The plane was flown to Malta where Egyptian commandos stormed it.	60
1985	Oct	7	Port Said, Egypt	Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro hijacked by Palestinian terrorists. Wheelchair-bound elderly man, Leon Klinghoffer, was shot and thrown overboard. Instructions for the attack originated from Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Tunis.	1
1986	Apr	2	Athens, Greece	A bomb exploded aboard TWA 840, sucking four American passengers, including a nine-month-old baby, to their deaths below. The "Arab Revolutionary Cells" claimed responsibility. The group was later connected to Yasser Arafat.	4
1986	Apr	6	Berlin, West Germany	The La Belle discotheque was bombed in an attack on U.S. servicemen. Libya was responsible.	3
1986	Sept	5	Karachi, Pakista	Pan Am 7 hijacked by four armed men (Abu Nidal). The leader ordered flight attendants to collect passports. Rajesh Kumar, a 29-year-old California resident who had recently become a naturalized U.S. citizen, was shot in the head, then heaved onto the tarmac. The terrorists positioned themselves in front and behind the crowd of passengers/crew. After reciting a martyrdom prayer in Arabic, they opened fire, throwing hand grenades into the crowd and spraying the trapped people with automatic weapons fire. A 2nd U.S. citizen was killed; the father of two young children who were next to their dad when he was shot. Scores of other passengers were injured.	21
1988	Dec	21	Lockerbie, Scotland	Pan Am 103 exploded over Lockerbie killing 270, including 11 people on the ground; 189 were Americans. The terrorists were traced to Libya.	270
1989	Sept	19	Sahara Desert	UTA 772, a French DC-10, exploded killing all aboard. The brother-in-law of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and five other Libyans were put on trial in absentia for the bombing. In 2003, Libya admitted responsibility and agreed to pay the families of the victims.	170
1992	Mar	17	Buenos Aires, Argentina	A car bomb exploded in front of the Israeli Embassy. Most victims were Argentine civilians, including children. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. In 1998, a telephone call intercepted from the Iranian embassy in Argentina proved Iran had been involved in the attack.	29
1993	Feb	26	New York	First World Trade Center bombing, which was planned by Ramzi Youssef.	6
1993	Jan	25	Langley, Virginia	Mir Aimal Kansi, a Pakistani, fired an AK-47 assault rifle into cars waiting at a stoplight in front of CIA HQ. He was captured in Pakistan and executed in the United States Nov 14, 2002.	2
1994	Dec	11	Near Okinawa, Japan	Small bomb on Philippines Airlines plane kills one, injures six. Authorities learned that Ramzi Yousef planted the bomb as a test run for "Operation Bojinka."	1
1994	Dec	24	Algiers, Algeria	Air France 8969 was hijacked by GIA (Armed Islamic Group). The terrorists planned to crash the plane into the Eiffel Tower in Paris.	7
1994	July	18	Buenos Aires, Argentina	A powerful bomb made of ammonium nitrate was driven through the front gates of the seven-story Argentina-Israeli Mutual Association, leveling the building. The suicide bomber, Ibrahim Hussein Berro, a 29-year-old Shiite Muslim, has been honored with a plaque in southern Lebanon.	86
1994	July	19	Panama	A Panamanian commuter plane exploded killing all aboard. A group based in Lebanon claimed the attack, but it is believe Hezbollah was responsible, with backing from Iran.	29
1995	Jan	6–7	Manila, Philippines	Plans for "Operation Bojinka" were discovered on a laptop computer in Manila after an apartment fire. It was to be a large-scale attack on airliners in 1995, and was a precursor to the Sept 11 attacks. The plot was developed by Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed while they were in Manila in 1994 and early 1995. Bombs were to be planted on 11 U.S.-bound airliners that had stopovers all around East Asia and Southeast Asia. The aircraft would have blown up over the Pacific and South China Sea almost simultaneously. If this plan worked, as many as 4000 would have perished and air travel would have been shut down worldwide.	0
1995	Nov	13	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	A car bomb exploded outside a joint HQ for U.S. and Saudi military. Three Islamic terror organizations claimed responsibility.	7
1995	Nov	19	Islamabad, Pakistan	Egyptian Embassy was bombed.	19
1996	Dec	3	Paris, France	A bomb exploded aboard a subway train killing four and injuring 86, including a U.S. citizen. No one claimed responsibility, but Algerian extremists were suspected.	4
1996	June	25	Dhahran, Saudi Arabia	Fuel truck carrying a bomb exploded outside the U.S. military's Khobar Towers housing facility. The Saudi branch of Hezbollah was responsible.	19
1997	Nov	17	Luxor, Egypt	Six gunmen emerged from desert cliffs into the Temple of Hatshepsut and opened fire with automatic weapons at dozens of tourists. The dead included Japanese, German, Swiss and Egyptian citizens.	71
1997	Sept	18	Cairo, Egypt	Three men calmly walked up to a tourist bus outside the Egyptian Museum, pulled weapons from a plastic bag, and unleashed an attack that killed 10, at least seven of them German tourists. One gunman, Saber Mohammed Farhat Abu el-Ulla, had carried out a similar attack four years earlier, killing two Americans and a French citizen.	10
1998	Aug	7	Nairobi, Kenya & Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania	Twin truck bomb attacks against U.S. embassies. At least 225 dead and more than 4000 wounded.	225
1999	Jan	3	Islamabad, Pakistan	Gunmen opened fire on Shi'a Muslims worshipping in a mosque.	16
1999	Dec	24	Kathmandu, Nepal	Indian Airlines 814 was hijacked by Taliban agents.	1
1999	Aug	31	Moscow, Russia	Multiple Russian apartment bombings by Chechen terrorists, killing at least 300.	300
2000	Oct	12	Aden, Yemen	Boat bomb attack on the USS Cole.	17
2001	Dec	13	New Delhi, India	Terrorists attack Indian Parliament building. Laskhar-e-Taiba, a radical Islamic group (affiliated with Al Qaeda), was thought responsible. A terrorist arrested in connection with the attack told investigators Al Qaeda had plans to attack the British and Australian Embassies, and Parliament.	12
2001	Sept	11	New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania	Hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. A fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3000 dead, including 265 on the planes; 343 firemen; 60 New York City and Port Authority police officers; 125 at the Pentagon.	2,985
2002	Oct	17–18	Zamboanga & Manila, Philippines	Two bombs exploded in the main shopping district of the mostly Christian city of Zamboanga. A day later, a bus was bombed in Manila. Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamic extremist group affiliated with Al Qaeda, was responsible.	9
2002	Apr	11	Djerba, Tunisia	Car bomb attack against a synagogue on the resort island of Djerba. At least 21 dead.	21
2002	June	14	Karachi, Pakistan	Truck bomb attack against U.S. Consulate.	12
2002	May	9	Kaspiisk, Dagestan	A bomb explosion in kills at least 42 people and injures 130 or more during Victory Day festivities.	42
2002	Nov	28	Mombasa, Kenya	Attack on an Israeli-owned hotel. Surface-to-air missile launched at Israeli airliner the same day.	12
2002	Oct	12	Bali, Indonesia	Attacks against U.S. Consulate, Sari Club and Paddy's Bar. Most of the dead were Australian tourists.	202
2002	Oct	23	Moscow, Russia	Moscow theater hostage crisis begins; 120 hostages and 40 terrorists killed in rescue 3 days later.	160
2003	Apr	3	Russia	Chechen Islamists carry out 10 deadly suicide bombings across Russia and nearby provinces between Apr and Dec.	250
2003	Aug	19	Baghdad, Iraq	Canal Hotel Bombing (UN HQ) in Baghdad, Iraq kills 22 people including the top UN representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello.	22
2003	Aug	5	Indonesia	Car bomb attack against Marriott Hotel. At least 12 dead.	12
2003	Aug	1	Mozdok, Russia	The Russian hospital in Mozdok, North Ossetia, was bombed.	50
2003	May	12	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Attacks at three compounds housing non-Saudi workers. At least 30 dead. Al Qaeda was responsible.	30
2003	May	16	Casablanca, Morocco	Multiple suicide bombings against Spanish and Jewish facilities, and involved 12 bombers and 5 targets. The Attack was attributed to a Moroccan Al Qaeda-linked group.	45
2003	May	12	Znamenskoye, Chechnya	Truck bomb attack on a government building.	59
2003	Nov	8	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Car bomb attack against residential compound housing mainly workers from other Arab countries.	17
2003	Nov	15–20	Istanbul, Turkey	Two car bomb attacks at Jewish synagogues, plus car bomb attacks at HSBC Bank and the British Consulate.	60
2004	Feb	1	Arbil, Iraq	Two suicide bombings kill 109 Kurds.	109
2004	Mar	2	Iraq	Known as the Ashoura Massacre, Al Qaeda carries out suicide bombings at Shia holy sites killing 181 and wounding over 500.	181
2004	Aug	24	Russia	Multiple, nearly simultaneous Russian airplane bombings.	90
2004	Aug	31	Moscow, Russia	Suicide bombing near a subway station entrance in northern Moscow.	10
2004	Dec	12	Gen. Santos, Philippines	Bombing at Christmas market in General Santos, Philippines.	15
2004	Feb	6	Moscow, Russia	Bomb on Moscow subway.	41
2004	Feb	27	Philippines	Superferry 14 was bombed by Abu Sayyaf group.	116
2004	Mar	11	Madrid, Spain	Bomb attacks against four trains. Terrorists blew themselves up when confronted by police.	199
2004	May	1	Yanbu, Saudi Arabia	Attack on non-Saudi oil workers.	7
2004	May	29	Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia	Islamic terrorists kill 22 people at an oil compound in Saudi Arabia.	22
2004	Oct	8	Taba, Egypt	Large explosions at Hilton Hotel in Taba and at two campsites in the Sinai area.	30
2004	Oct	7	Sinai, Egypt	Three car bombs explode in the Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 32 and wounding 114, most of them Israeli tourists.	32
2004	Sept	9	Jakarta, Indonesia	Car bomb outside Australian Embassy.	9
2004	Sept	1–3	Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia	Beslan school hostage crisis in North Ossetia, Russia results in a massacre of children.	330
2004	Sept	9	Jakarta, Indonesia	The Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia was bombed.	8
2005	July	7	London, England	Four suicide bomb attacks in three tube trains and a bus. At least 56 dead.	56

[ChadGore]

I found a few world maps that you might be able to use:

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/reference_maps/jpg/physical_world.jpg
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/reference_maps/jpg/political_world.jpg

[Stu Cohen]

You will find more people on FR who generally agree with you about the problems of illegal immigration than those who don't. However, your zeal to minimize the threat of jihadism in order to make your overly dramatic point is disgusting.

While I respect your opinion, I disagree.

If we are going to go into hysterics about the foreign threat, it makes more sense, in a logical manner, to focus on the larger threats. We have more or less let the media shape what it is that we are supposed to fear "the most", but like most things, it is a case of the emporer wearing no clothes, and there are a large number of people who are indeed disguisted by the suggestion of the emporers bakedness.

I had relatives in the Pentagon at the time of the attack. One of them lived in LA for many years. I asked him, a victim of islamic terrorsits who suffered partial hearing loss in the attack what he though was the bigger threat. He said "Mexicans", and begin to tell me of his experiences of nearly being shot on several occasions, and several successful roberies against him.

Yes, the islamists targeted him once in his lifetime, but he had been target about many times by Mexicans, and, he told me, daily in High School.

So, trivialize it if you must, ignore the greater problem if it makes you feel better, more mainstream, and patriotic. But putting more resources into fighting the lessor threat won't make you or your family any safer.

But, on the bright side, the solution to both problems is almost exactly the same. Close the borders. Make it the nation's #1 priority. Devote resources into deporting this that should be here now.

Bada Boom, you just solved both problems and no longer need to argue about which one is more serious.

[mercy]

Please.

You did not read and grasp the points of the poster. He has very good reasons for precluding your list. He's right.

Nobody on Fr (nobody that counts) fails to understand the import of what your list shows. It's a great list.

However it takes about three minutes to load.

I think you are just piggybacking and YOU have decided your list is SO important that it's ok to overide the wishes of the orginal poster. I think you should ask the moderator to pull it and replace it with a simple link.

[mercy]

Thanks. I did not know that.

[ThePythonicCow]

Excellent post - thanks.

How did you do the HTML table formatting? Was it just manually typed in, or did you use some HTML editor tool, or did you find that table someplace else? It looks nice, and is functional and simple.

[mad_as_he$$]

Dude Idol has been over for sometime....The winner is now doing Hershy's commercials

[GatorGirl]

FYI

[Wolfstar]

You're welcome. As for the HTML, I used Dreamweaver. I have an old Win98 machine with older versions of software, but it's still functional, which is all that counts.

[Wolfstar]

Whatever I can do to help, please let me know.

Thanks, Peach. Will do.

[bitt]

29 mark

[ChadGore]

Re: Bada Boom, you just solved both problems and no longer need to argue about which one is more serious.

With little due respect, I laugh at your argument for a very very good reason. Like every President before him, Bush has a porous border with Canada and Mexico, and so will every other President after him that will be fighting the War On Terror.

What Wolfstar has done, on your behalf, dear reader, is lay out the actions of out enemy around the world in my lifetime, a shared experience, not some distant ancient history. That you attempt to minimize and overlook the death of thousands, and thousands, and thousands of MY PEOPLE is very telling. Any death at the hand of islamic terror is "MY PEOPLE", and should be yours too.

Why is this important? Because of all the rights enjoyed by all the people in all the countries of the world the only universally recognised human right is the right to life, the right to continue to live, the right for my life and yours to continue to be, and it is this right that our enemy knowingly purges.

Knowingly, repeatedly, and continuously over my lifetime.

It's a human right,It's a civil right, it's a natural right, it's a national right, and it's worth defending.

[Dont_Tread_On_Me_888]

There is nothing "unacceptable" in post #80.

The majority of citizens don't care. Until a sufficient number of citizens show a sufficient level of outrage, our nation will not be the #1 priority--Africa, Mexico and various other global agendas will come before American security.

Should Ameicans fail to demand our leaders focus on America, then we only have ourselves to blame for whatever our future holds for us. Exactly what is "unacceptable" about that?

For you to label post #80 "unacceptable" means you are part of the problem. We need citizens who do show outrage and who do demand that this nation become the #1 priority of our national focus, not Mexico, not Africa, not the UN, not the IMF, not the World Bank, but AMERICA and American sovereignty and American national security.

You are "unacceptable" for calling post #80 "unacceptable". We have nobody to blame but ourselves should we fail to get our "leaders" to focus the national priority on our own security.

[Peach]

I just found the article.

It's in the July 12th issue of Family Circle. The woman's name is Shannen Rossmiller and she is a cyberspy.

The small group that works together is called 7-Seas. It is composed of Shannen who is a judge, a former security director for an international oil company, a real estate agent, an ex-police detective, a corporate executive and an architect. They reside in the US, Australia, Singapore and Canada.

The 7-Seas group interprets and archives "threat postings" by country, group, method, weapons, known terrorists and even suspect charities. They relay the information to authorities.

During the fi rst half of 2003, the group provided US intelligence officers with information on at least 5 terrorist threats. Their warnings helped foil attacks against US officials visiting Iraq and to the King Fahd Causeway, a four-lane 16-mile superhighway linking Saudi Arabia with the island of Bahrain.

Using special software, Shannen peeled away the layers of a jihadist she was corresponding with and pinpointed his location with a four square mile area of Washington State. By the 4th e-mail with him, she knew his identity. He was a 26 year old National Guard Specialist, Ryan G. Anderson, due for deployment to Iraq.

He sent Shannen hints about troop deployments and movements and offered detailed information about vulnerability of military equipment.

Anderson was arrested in February 2004 by Army undercover intelligence officers posing as Al Qaeda members, after they received a heads up from Shannen.

[Stu Cohen]

With little due respect, I laugh at your argument for a very very good reason. Like every President before him, Bush has a porous border with Canada and Mexico, and so will every other President after him that will be fighting the War On Terror.

With even less respect, they aren't really fighting the "war on terrorism" then, are they?

What Wolfstar has done, on your behalf, dear reader, is lay out the actions of out enemy around the world in my lifetime, a shared experience, not some distant ancient history.

Ancient history? I'm talking about today. Yesterday. Last week. Last month. Last year. What ancient history?

That you attempt to minimize and overlook the death of thousands, and thousands, and thousands of MY PEOPLE is very telling.

Actually, it is you who have overlooked the casualties of thousands and thousands of your own people simply to comply with the mainstream and tow the party line, and that is 100 times more telling.

ny death at the hand of islamic terror is "MY PEOPLE", and should be yours too.

I think any person hurting any other inncent person is equally as bad, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. The fact that a good deal of it could have, and still could be prevented simply with real border control is what you should really be pissed about, and not just following some pre-packaged dogma. Yeah, yeah, we all know terrorists are bad. How about keeping them out? Ya think that might help? Or will simply pointing out that they are "evil" and checking 30 year old white advertising execs at the NY subway work for you?

Why is this important? Because of all the rights enjoyed by all the people in all the countries of the world the only universally recognised human right is the right to life, the right to continue to live, the right for my life and yours to continue to be, and it is this right that our enemy knowingly purges.

Why do you people keep dragging the IRS into these arguements?

Knowingly, repeatedly, and continuously over my lifetime.

Yeah, maybe we should keep them out of the country then. I mean, you lock your doors at night to keep out the bad guys, right? Especially if you live in a dangerous neighborhood. How much do you suck as a "protector" if you knowingly leave them unlocked?

It's a human right,It's a civil right, it's a natural right, it's a national right, and it's worth defending.

If it's a human right to not be the vitim of crime, then I feel compelled to point out to you that 99.999% of the crime in this country is not committed by muslims. Much like black folks decrying the KKK when 88% murdered black men are murdered by other black men, and the KKK is responsible for less than .001% of the murder of black people ... I fear you too are chasing false security by concentrating on the least criminal you are likely to enounter.

[King Prout]

aside from a curious general absence of mention of the innumerable attacks on Israel, this is a damned good summary

[John Filson]

What about the Darfur in the Sudan? There are 300 people per day dying there right now. There's some good evidence that it's classic Islamic colonialism.

[Petruchio]

Well Done!!!

May I add a few disjointed thoughts that might help fill in a few gaps?

1-World Wars

WW I = The War to end all Wars
WW II = The War to finish what was unfinished in WW I
WW III - The Cold War (Sorry Liberals, We won! )
WW IV = The current conflict between The West vs. Radical Islam

2- I do classify this as a world war, because the World is the prize at stake.

3- We did not start it. This official state of war has existed ever sense February 23, 1998, when The World Islamic Front for Jihad—the fore-runner of Al Queda—issued a formal declaration of war on the United States (signed by Bin Ladin). The World Islamic Front for Jihad was renamed Al Queda (al-Qa'ida), meaning (The Base). In simple terms an attempt to meld all the different Militant Islamic groups under one common banner, with one self-proclaimed leader in Usama Bin Ladin. This is a confederation of Militant groups, not Nations, which compounds our efforts to prosecute this war. This is documented fact. It is also a fact that the previous Administration did not take this Declaration of War seriously. Even after attacks on US Embassies, The USS Cole, and other acts of terror such as bombings in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jakarta, and elsewhere.

4- The sad part of all of this is it is not politically correct to accurately define this War. The reality is this is a War between 2 world views, Militant Islam vs. The West. (When I say The West, I mean those Countries with a Judaeo-Christian/Greco-Roman Heritage) Militant Islam has sworn to continue until we are destroyed, or they are. They seek World Dominion under 14th century concepts. We seek Freedom for all to choose how they will be Governed for and by themselves. Those world views are totally incompatible. By the time this is over, only one world view will remain. In light of this, I guess you could call this the 9th Crusade. (the first 8 spanned 1095 to 1270)

5-Let's go back and look at that 1998 Declaration of War. Pay close attention to the wording in that Declaration of War. In one part it says: Quote:

The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it

Two paragraphs later we see: Quote:

We -- with Allah's help -- call on every Muslim who believes in Allah and wishes to be rewarded to comply with Allah's order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it.

Words mean things. So does the position of words. Notice the call to kill civilians comes before the call to kill Military. Those are the Rules of Engagement that we are facing. We see this applied time and time again with beheading of innocents, bombings of civilian centers, and passenger airliners flown into buildings. Some Rules of Engagement! Instead of Uniforms, wear the clothing of civilians. Hide in the population. Attack innocent civilians before attacking Military. These are the tactics of cowards.

In stark contrast, these are the Rules of Engagement we are fighting under: Fire only on confirmed targets. Protect innocents wherever possible. Provide food and relief to civilians, even at the risk of aiding the Militants in the process. Even under those restrictive Rules of Engagement, we are winning. Slowly, but we are winning.

6-On a wider view, Post 9-11 we focused on Nation/States that were/are providing safe harbor, supplies, medical support, etc. to the Militant combatants. The taliban in Afghanistan was a prime example of this effort. Iraq also fit this definition with the training camps that were there such as at Salman Pak. Remember, the combatants are only members of the Nations/States, not the Nations/States themselves. It is only through the political equivalent of the Texas 2-Step that we can even fight this at all.

7-Those who do not learn from history, are destined to repeat it.

We have been there before. There was another time when Militant Islamics declared war on the United States. 200 years ago, a confederation of Militant Islamics declared war on the United States. This confederation was not a Nation/State, or an axis of Nations/States. It was an association of like minded people from a group of four semi autonomous North African city-states of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, known collectively as the Barbary States.

The major source of income for these city-states was through privateering, also known as piracy. United States shipping was one of their favorite and profitable targets. In 1801, Jefferson ordered our Navy and Marines to the Barbary Coast for the first of 2 Barbary Wars, which we won in 1805. Congress again ordered our Forces there in 1815 for the second Barbary War. After the 2 Barbary Wars, it took almost 200 years for Militant Islam to find the courage to take on the United States again. You know what was said about History repeating itself? Dig it! Roughly 10 years between the 2 Barbary Wars, and roughly 10 years between the 2 Gulf Wars . . . In both cases we had to go back and finish what was left undone 10 years earlier.

[cwb]

"I haven't heard any Blair of Howard press conferences. If they're anything like our press conferences, our press and our left then it is sad, and dangerous."

---

The Brit press is worse. Sadly, the very day of the 2nd London bombings (July 21) a female reporter...followed by another man, asked Blair if his Iraq policy was responsible for these attacks. And just the day before, Ken Livingstone (London Mayor) was giving justification for Palestinian suicide bombers in their plight against Israel.

In their ignorance to apply moral equivalences, Ken Livingstone and the media don't realize that they have made it perfectly acceptable to attack London. Amazingly, both he and the press can't see that simply by asking, "aren't your (US/Brit) policies responsible for the attacks"...that they are giving further justification for future attacks.

In their zeal to absolve themselves of what they see as injustices done to the Mid-East, liberals continue to provide excuses for these attacks. Unfortunately, not only is this wrong (and dangerous)...their historical perspective is wrong as it not only exonerates Islam, it allows them to operate as the bereaved party in search of retribution.

[SJackson]

aside from a curious general absence of mention of the innumerable attacks on Israel...

That doesn't count. Note the reaction to yesterday's murders.

[Cindy]

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