The Greatest Happiness is to scatter your enemy and drive him before you. To see his cities reduced to ashes. To see those who love him shrouded and in tears.
Posted on 01/18/2006 5:08:39 PM PST by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2006 – The American people must remind themselves every day that the United States is at war, a top Army general said today. Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, speaking at the American Enterprise Institute here, said that 21st century warfare is more about "will and perception, than taking territory or enemies killed."
The will of the American people and people around the world to confront the terrorists and defeat them is the center of gravity in what Pentagon officials are calling "the long war," Odierno, assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.
The enemy realizes this, he said. "Ultimately, they believe they will be more patient than Western states and they will, over time, win out," he said.
Information is just as critical as firepower in the long war, Odierno said, and this, too, the enemy understands.
The enemy in the long war is not a traditional foe. Terror networks are "violent, elusive, global in nature and loosely connected," Odierno said. The only tie is the tie of ideology, and that ideology is to make a "caliphate" -- a land in which political, social and religious aspects of life are solidified and led by a single supreme ruler.
"The (terrorist) propaganda on the Internet is clear, they want to re-establish the caliphate," Odierno said. "The center of the caliphate was initially going to be Afghanistan and was supported by the Taliban. Once the Taliban was defeated and overthrown, they shifted. And now in all their writings they say the center of the caliphate will be in the 'Land of Two Rivers' -- Iraq."
Their goal is to start in Iraq, expand the caliphate throughout the Middle East and then ultimately across the entire world, Odierno said. "Will they do this? No," he said. "But that's their intent."
Americans need to talk about these terror goals, he said. Americans need to understand the way the terrorists think and understand the threat they pose, because this may help Americans foster the will to combat these groups, he said.
"Americans need to talk about these terror goals, he said. Americans need to understand the way the terrorists think and understand the threat they pose, because this may help Americans foster the will to combat these groups, he said."
That means us folks! Keep on keeping on, Get the word out someway everyday.
bump
They will if we sit back and do nothing visa vis Western Europe.
Bump for reference.
Great Post 'Rat
Sorry that's all I have.
Those who are yawning have a constricted world view, one that perceives history to have begun when George Bush was elected president. This world view, coincidently is xenophobic, because terrorism has not been a scourge to the US alone.
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page7930.asp
International terrorism: significant attacks associated with Al Qaida This is a list of significant terrorist attacks from the first on the World Trade Centre in New York until that in London on 7 July. It does not include all terrorist attacks. Some of those listed were directly linked to Bin Laden or other Al Qaida leaders, but many were conducted by terrorists inspired by Al Qaida.
During this period several planned attacks which might have led to significant loss of life have also been prevented, most notably a planned attack on Strasbourg Christmas Market in December 2000 and other attacks planned a year earlier against targets in the US and Jordan.
Date of event
Location
Summary
26-Feb-93
USA (New York)
First World Trade Center bombing planned by Ramzi Youssef. 6 killed, over 1000 injured.
11-Dec-94
Philippines
Small bomb on Philippines Airlines flight; 1 Japanese businessman killed, 10 people injured.
29-Jul-95
France (Paris and Lyon)
4-month bombing campaign. Attacks on the Paris metro, the Arc de Triomphe and outside a Jewish school in Lyon.
13-Nov-95
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh)
Car bombs at military compound.
18-Sep-97
Egypt(Cairo)
Gunmen attack a tourist bus. 9 Germans and 1 Egyptian killed.
17-Nov-97
Egypt (Luxor)
Gunmen attack tourists. c.70 killed.
7-Aug-98
Kenya (Nairobi) and Tanzania (Dar-es-Salaam)
Truck bomb attack against US embassies. Over 200 people killed, thousands injured.
12-Oct-00
Yemen
Boat bomb attack on the USS Cole in the port of Aden. 17 US soldiers killed, 39 wounded.
11-Sep-01
USA (New York and Washington)
Hijacked planes crashed into the two World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashes into a field in Pittsburgh. c. 3000 killed.
11-Apr-02
Tunisia
Vehicle bomb attack against a synagogue on the resort island of Djerba. c.21 killed.
8-May-02
Pakistan (Karachi)
Bomb attack against bus carrying French engineers near Sheraton Hotel.
14-Jun-02
Pakistan (Karachi)
Truck bomb attack against US Consulate. 12 killed, 51 injured.
6-Oct-02
Yemen
Boat bomb attack against French oil tanker MV Limburg off Ash Shahir port. 1 killed.
12-Oct-02
Indonesia (Bali)
Attacks against US Consulate, Sari Club and Paddy's Bar. 202 killed, including 26 Britons.
28-Nov-02
Kenya (Mombasa)
Attack on an Israeli-owned hotel. 12 killed. Surface-to-air missile launched at Israeli airliner the same day.
12-May-03
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh)
Attacks at 3 compounds housing expatriates. Over 30 killed.
16-May-03
Morocco (Casablanca)
Multiple suicide bombings against Spanish club, hotel and sites. 45 dead, c.100 injured.
5-Aug-03
Indonesia
Vehicle bomb attack against Marriott Hotel. c. 12 killed, 100 injured.
8-Nov-03
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh)
Major vehicle bomb attack against residential compound housing mainly expatriate workers from other Arab countries. 17 killed, over 80 injured.
15-Nov-03
Turkey (Istanbul)
2 vehicle bomb attacks at Jewish synagogues.
20-Nov-03
Turkey (Istanbul)
2 vehicle bombs at HSBC Bank and British Consulate. Together with 15 Nov attack, over 60 people killed (including 2 Britons).
11-Mar-04
Spain (Madrid)
Bomb attacks against 4 trains. Terrorists blew themselves up when confronted by police. 199 killed.
1-May-04
Saudi Arabia (Yanbu)
Attack on expatriate oil workers. 6 foreign nationals and 1 Saudi killed.
30-May-05
Saudi Arabia (Al Khobar)
4 attacks in Al Khobbar target oil companies and compound.
9-Sep-04
Indonesia (Jakarta)
Vehicle bomb outside Australian Embassy. 9 killed, over 100 injured.
8-Oct-04
Egypt
Large explosions at Hilton Hotel in Taba and at 2 campsites in the Sinai area. Over 30 killed.
28-Oct-04
Pakistan (Islamabad)
Explosion at Marriott Hotel. 7 injured.
19-Mar-05
Qatar (Doha)
Vehicle bomb attack outside the Doha Players' Theatre. 1 (British national) killed, 12 injured.
07-Apr-05
Egypt (Cairo)
Attack near tourist bazaar in Cairo. 2 French nationals and one American killed, c.18 injured.
30-Apr-05
Egypt (Cairo)
Tourist bus fired on in Cairo. 8 injured.
07-Jul-05
UK (London)
4 explosions - 3 in tube trains, one in bus. At least 52 dead, 700 injured.
ping for pictures
They are good aren't they? Too bad the Feds won't reissue them in large numbers.
BTTT
1) Once you have posted the link DON'T CUT AND PASTE THE CONTENTS OF THE PAGE.
You apparently were so blissfully unaware of the global reach of our enemy, I thought I should put it right where you can see it. Did I waste some of your electrons or was it a yawn to read about all the carnage?
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2) Your point that terrorism has not been a scourge to the U.S. alone is true but not very relevant—- see the title of this thread, and reread 24.
It was YOUR point that there had been "only one attack". This was a falsehood in your argument with the title. YOU said that their goal was harming the "West or something". You refute the title, I refute you. Relevance isn't the issue, your microscopic world view is.
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3) By expanding the list to include attacks “associated with Al Qaida” (which apparently can mean "conducted by terrorists inspired by Al Qaida", and maybe even less) you seem to have pretty well abandoned any claim to an organized, cohesive enemy, which is usually required for something to be called an actual war.
Yes, their diffuseness makes this a different kind of war. Perhaps though we should have paid attention when Osama Bin Laden DECLARED WAR on us in 1996. www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/international/fatwa_1996.html
(I didn't include the whole page, I know how you hate that) Having a professional military education however, I would look back in history at other insurgencies (small wars) that the US has fought against irregular, incohesive enemies.
http://www.nwc.navy.mil/jmo/nopc/Book%20Reviews/Small%20Wars%20Manual%20-%20Parker.htm
Wars, none the less.
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4) If you post page after page of supporting data, make very sure that you have a clear point to support. Your data indicate an addition thousand deaths worldwide over the past 13 years. Is that your point? (And see 2, above.)
I was replying to someone who evinced total ignorance about the recent history of Al Queda terrorist attacks worldwide and preceding attacks against his or her fellow citizens (USS Cole, Khobar Tower, etc). Hope they got my point.
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4) You misused the word “xenophobic”. It implies fearful or contemptuous, when what you seemed to mean was indifferent or oblivious.
In view of all that human suffering, how could anyone who doesn't take terrorism seriously be anything but contemptuous of his or her fellow man?
Misunderstanding is one thing, false quotation is another. Exactly how is this a false quote:::::
"has succeeded in one spectacular act of mass murder"
One act..
Actually I think xenophobic is on the money because of your glaring unconcern for the world-wide carnage of islamo-fascist terrorism. Call it what you may, it is a personality disorder leading you to misperceive the danger we all face and to yawn at suffering.
By all means, don't waste your time arguing with me about the nature of terrorism and who suffers from it. There is an awful lot of navel gazing to be done--- "Yawn".
Marine Bump!
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