America Under Attack

various sources ^ | 9/13 | Gary Foss

[gary_f]

"These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong."

-President George W. Bush

AMERICA UNDER ATTACK

"….. I keep wondering what it was you hoped to teach us. It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're about. You don't know what you just started. But you're about to learn. "

-Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald

"In response to the slaughter of our fellow citizens -- thousands of innocent non-combatants -- former House Speaker Newt Gingrich concluded, "I don't want to bring them to justice. I want to defeat them." It is The Federalist's position that we should give nations which harbor terrorists the same advance warning we gave Hiroshima -- and let fly. We must turn the sands of Afghanistan into molten glass -- NOW -- and let bin Laden's other host nations know that our actions against Afghanistan were only the first volley of fire."

-The Federalist

"American officials have consistently held the view that terrorism is a form of criminal activity. Consequently, they have made their goal the arrest and trying of perpetrators who carry out violent acts. That's all fine and good as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. This legalistic mindset allows the funders, planners, organizers, and commanders of terrorism to continue their work untouched, ready to carry out more attacks. The better approach is to see terrorism as a form of warfare and to target not just those foot soldiers who actually carry out the violence but the organizations and governments who stand behind them."

-Daniel Pipes

"What's needed is a unified, unifying, Pearl Harbor sort of purple American fury - a ruthless indignation that doesn't leak away in a week or two. For once, let's have no "grief counselors" standing by with banal consolations, as if the purpose, in the midst of all this, were merely to make everyone feel better as quickly as possible. We shouldn't feel better. For once, let's have no fatuous rhetoric about "healing." Healing is inappropriate now, and dangerous. There will be time later for the tears of misfortune. A day cannot live in infamy without the nourishment of rage. Let's have rage. What's needed is a unified, unifying, Pearl Harbor sort of purple American fury-a ruthless indignation that doesn't leak away in a week or two, wandering off into pixils of forgetfulness or into the next media sensation or into a corruptly thoughtful relativism (as has happened in the recent past, when, for example, you might hear someone say, "Terrible what he did, of course, but, you know, the Unabomber does have a point, doesn't he, about modern technology?)"

-Lance Morrow, Time.com

"Evil is still here. It begets evil. When you look at the delighted faces of Palestinians cheering in the streets, we have to realize that there are cultures on this planet of such depravity that understanding them is never fully possible. And empathy for them at such a moment is obscene. But we can observe and remember. There is always a tension between civilization and barbarism, and the barbarians are now here. The task in front of us to somehow stay civilized while not shrinking from the face of extinguishing-by sheer force if necessary-the forces that would eclipse us…..My hope is that this will awaken the sleeping tiger. When our shock recedes, our rage must be steady and resolute and unforgiving. The response must be disproportionate to the crime and must hold those states and governments that have tolerated this evil accountable. This is the single most devastating act of war since Nagasaki. It is the first time that an enemy force has invaded the precincts of the American capital since the early nineteenth century. It is more dangerous than Pearl Harbor. And it is a reminder that the forces of resentment and evil - so prominent only recently in the Durban conference - can no longer be appeased. They must be destroyed - systematically, durably, irrevocably. Perhaps now we will summon the will to do it."

-Andrew Sullivan

"Arafat's people were overjoyed at the news of our dead, so he is no longer acceptable in civilized society. Never again. Those dancing, jubilant Palestinians were carrying out the wishes of their leaders, and we don't welcome those who celebrate mass murder of Americans. Their disgusting revelry shows, once and for all, that they do not distinguish between us and the Israelis. They want us all dead. That being the case, we have to make it clear that no one can drive a wedge between us and the only free people in the Middle East. And we are not going to be satisfied with some defensive wall to protect Israel from these killers. We must take the battle to them, together. If they kill us together, they will have to fight us together. Again, moving our embassy to Jerusalem will further demonstrate our resolve."

-Michael Ledeen, National Review

"The foreign policy foundation of the Clinton administration allowed our military to decline, depending instead on the errant parameters of antiquated international laws and United Nations doctrine. Unlike the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush(41), Clinton pulled our punches and appeased terrorists. His regime, in effect, filed the flight plans for Tuesday's attacks. ….We can't expect rogue nations and terrorist cells to abide by such laws and doctrines. We can't negotiate with the Muslim equivalent of Kamikaze pilots, whose only loyalty is to an erroneous notion that their bloody martyrdom will lead to eternal life. We can only kill them."

-The Federalist

"For U.S. intelligence to have missed an operation of this magnitude indicates one of two things. First, the competence of U.S. intelligence is overrated or the willingness of policymakers to heed warnings has declined. In either case, the system is badly broken. Alternatively, the sophistication of terrorist counter-intelligence has improved to such an extent that the prior level of expertise bought to bear is simply no longer sufficient. Whether we are facing a decline in U.S. intelligence capability or an increase in counter-intelligence blocking the United States, Sept. 11, 2001, will go down as one of the major intelligence failures in U.S. history."

-Stratfor.com

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NEWS

The White House and Air Force One were targets of Tuesday's terrorist strikes, an administration spokesman said Wednesday. ``We had specific credible information that both were intended terrorist targets, and that the plane that hit the Pentagon may have been headed for the White House,'' said Sean McCormack, spokesman for President Bush's National Security Council.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010912/us/attack_white_house_3.ht

Highly placed sources in the Indian Army say that the intercept of a conversation between two supporters of Osama bin Laden indicated that his attack on the United States may not be over yet.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200109/For20010913e.html

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement said Wednesday any U.S. strikes against the country in retaliation for Tuesday's terror attacks in the United States would not succeed and only sow hatred in the region. (Ed.note: Not if they're all reduced to ash.)

http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010912/wl/attack_afghan_taliban_dc_1.html

According to this source, three weeks ago the Taliban named Osama Bin Laden the Commander in chief of the Afghan armed forces.

http://www.vny.com/cf/news/upidetail.cfm?QID=216037

Israeli intelligence had evidence that Yasser Arafat was involved in the planning of the World Trade Center bombing in New York in February of 1993.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=9755

Palestinians danced for joy in the streets of several Palestinian Authority cities when they heard the news of the World Trade Center attack - but many foreign television viewers may never know this. Several television stations were warned by the Palestinian Authority not to broadcast the film clips of the Palestinian celebrations, and Palestinian reporters working for foreign stations in PA areas were physically threatened for having filmed the scenes.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=9758&PHPSESSID=77f130a20da9fc12cdd5584f3c488227

The passengers on United Airlines flight 93 may have saved the White House and thousands more lives by resisting the hijackers before they crashed. Can we give the Medal of Honor posthumously?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14344-2001Sep11.html N.J. hero's cell phone call to his wife: "I Love You, We're Going to Stop Them"

http://www.nydailynews.com/2001-09-12/News_and_Views/City_Beat/a-125114.asp

Authorities searching nationwide for terrorists have identified teams that totaled as many as 50 infiltrators who supported or carried out the strikes. About 40 of the men have been accounted for, including those killed in the suicide attacks, but 10 remain at large

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-091301terror.story

RUMOR MILL

>Right now, Al Gore is "stranded in Austria" and Bill Clinton is "under protective guard in a resort in Australia."

>A Saudi national who is a commercial pilot is now in custody of the FBI, and is fully cooperating. A furniture salesperson recognized his picture, contacted the FBI in Vero Beach (?) Fla., and Bukhari was arrested. His homes had already been searched, and reports are that he is 'naming names'...

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HELPRIN

Mark Helprin's eloquent analysis

http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/mhelprin/?id=95001104 _________________________________________________________________

WEB SITE OF THE WEEK

The Middle East Media and Research Institute translates the Arabic media into English and publishes it on the web. Here's what the Palestinian Authorities' chief holy man, Sheik Ibrahim Madhi, had to say in his weekly sermon on Palestinian TV three weeks ago:

"Oh believing brothers, we do not feel a loss... The martyr (suicide bomber), if he meets Allah, is forgiven with the first drop of blood; he is saved from the torments of the grave; he sees his place in Paradise; he is saved from the Great Horror [of the day of judgment]; he is given 72 black-eyed women; he vouches for 70 of his family to be accepted to Paradise; he is crowned with the Crown of glory, whose precious stone is better than all of this world and what is in it…"

"In several years, Allah willing, we will enter Jerusalem as conquerors, to Jaffa as conquerors. To Haifa as conquerors, to Ashkelon as conquerors. We are certain that victory is near….Blessings for whoever assaulted a soldier... Blessings for whoever has raised his sons on the education of Jihad and Martyrdom; blessings for whoever has saved a bullet in order to stick it in a Jew's head…"

To read more, go to the "translations" section: http://www.memri.org/

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THINK IT'S OVER?

This from a respected Indian think tank:

Osama bin Laden's quest for nuclear weapons commenced in 1996 and he is reported to have spent millions of dollars on this project. The focus has been an acquisition of nuclear suitcase bombs. Evidence of his success comes from Russian, Arab countries and from confessions by captured Islamic terrorists worldwide. The estimates of Osama bin Laden acquisitions are as follows.

Russian estimates - 'A few nuclear suitcase bombs'

Arab intelligence sources - ' More than 20 nuclear suitcase bombs'

The nuclear suitcase bombs have been acquired from former soviet Central Asian Republics (CAR) Islamic countries with the active assistance of Chechen Muslim rebels. Laden's agents are reported to have paid $ 30 million cash and two tons of Afghan heroin worth $ 700 million in Western markets, to Chechen mafia for this purpose. The suitcase nuclear bombs are reported to be stored at two locations in Afghanistan :

Khowst. In deep tunnels.

Kandahar. In deep caves

http://www.ipcs.org/issues/articles/489-ter-kapila.html

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WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. PRAY for our nation and the victims of this vicious assault.

2. Fly the flag.

3. Call or write Sens. Murray and Cantwell. Tell them to STOP THE PARTISANSHIP NOW, and confirm the President's appointments. He can't conduct a war understaffed! Remind them that there were no confirmation fights during World War II.

4.Tell them you don't want a resolution condemning the attack, you want a DECLARATION OF WAR.

5. Tell them you want the federal budget surplus, ALL OF IT, spent on rebuilding the military and our intelligence capability. This will also help the sagging economy.

Cantwell, Maria (D - WA), (202) 224-3441 fax (202) 228-0514

http://cantwell.senate.gov/

http://cantwell.senate.gov/mailform.html

Murray, Patty (D - WA), (202) 224-2621 fax (202) 224-0238

http://murray.senate.gov/

mailto:senator_murray@murray.senate.gov

Rep. Jennifer Dunn, (202)-225-7761 fax (202)-225-8673

http://www.house.gov/dunn/

http://www.house.gov/dunn/pr/contacts.htm

mailto:dunnwa08@mail.house.gov

President George Bush, (202) 456-1414 fax (202)-456-2461

mailto:president@whitehouse.gov

http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/

Vice-President Dick Cheney, (202) 456-1414 fax (202)-456-2461

mailto:vice.president@whitehouse.gov

http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/vpbio.html

Contact info for other elected officials can be found at this C-SPAN site:

http://capwiz.com/c-span/home/

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WISE WORDS

"Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, 'What should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship, and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!"

-Samuel Adams

"What seems to have been lost in all this debate is the simple truth of how a defense budget is arrived at. It isn't done by deciding to spend a certain number of dollars. ... We start by considering what must be done to maintain peace and review all the possible threats against our security. Then a strategy for strengthening peace and defending against those threats must be agreed upon. And, finally, our defense establishment must be evaluated to see what is necessary to protect against any or all of the potential threats. The cost of achieving these ends is totaled up, and the result is the budget for national defense. ... Since the dawn of the atomic age, we've sought to reduce the risk of war by maintaining a strong deterrent and by seeking genuine arms control. 'Deterrence' means simply this: making sure any adversary who thinks about attacking the United States, or our allies, or our vital interests, concludes that the risks to him outweigh any potential gains. Once he understands that, he won't attack. We maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only invites aggression."

-Ronald Reagan

"Whether the object be to crush an army, to storm a city, or to assassinate an individual, it is always necessary to begin by finding out the names of the attendants, the aides-de-camp, and door-keepers and sentries of the general in command. Our spies must be commissioned to ascertain these. ... Attack [your opponent] where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected. ... Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack."

-Sun Tzu

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