Posted on 07/18/2003 12:25:09 PM PDT by Matchett-PI
AMERICA WAKE UP! Speech given by US Navy Captain Dan Ouimette, to the Pensacola Civitan Club Feb 19, 2003. Captain Ouimette is the Executive Officer of NAS, Pensacola, FL.
America WAKE UP!
That's what we think we heard on the 11th of September 2001 and maybe it was, but I think it should have been "Get Out of Bed!" In fact, I think the alarm clock has been buzzing since 1979 and we have continued to hit the snooze button and roll over for a few more minutes of peaceful sleep since then.
It was a cool fall day in November 1979 in a country going through a religious and political upheaval when a group of Iranian students attacked and seized the American Embassy in Tehran. This seizure was an outright attack on American soil; it was an attack that held the world's most powerful country hostage and paralyzed a Presidency. The attack on this sovereign US embassy set the stage for the events to follow for the next 23 years.
America was still reeling from the aftermath of the Viet Nam experience and had a serious threat from the Soviet Union when then, President Carter, had to do something. He chose to conduct a clandestine raid in the desert. The ill-fated mission ended in ruin, but stood as a symbol of America's inability to deal with terrorism. America's military had been decimated and downsized / right sized since the end of the Viet Nam war. A poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly organized military was called on to execute a complex mission that was doomed from the start.
Shortly after the Tehran experience, Americans began to be kidnapped and killed throughout the Middle East. America could do little to protect her citizens living and working abroad. The attacks against US soil continued.
In April of 1983 a large vehicle packed with high explosives was driven into the US Embassy compound in Beirut. When it explodes, it kills 63 people. The alarm went off again and America hit the Snooze Button once more. Then just six short months later a large truck heavily laden down with over 2500 pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the US Marine Corps headquarters in Beirut. 241 US servicemen are killed. America mourns her dead and hit the Snooze Button once more. Two months later in December 1983, another truck loaded with explosives is driven into the US Embassy in Kuwait, and America continues her slumber. The following year, in September 1984, another van was driven into the gates of the US Embassy in Beirut and America slept.
Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe. In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid. Then in August a Volkswagen loaded with explosives is driven into the main gate of the US Air Force Base at Rhein-Main, 22 are killed and the Snooze Alarm is buzzing louder and louder as US soil is continually attacked. Fifty-nine days later a cruise ship, the Achille Lauro is hijacked and we watched as an American in a wheelchair is singled out of the passenger list and executed. The terrorists then shift their tactics to bombing civilian airliners when they bomb TWA Flight 840 in April of 1986 that killed 4 and the most tragic bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 259. America wants to treat these terrorist acts as crimes; in fact we are still trying to bring these people to trial. These are acts of war...the Wake Up alarm is louder and louder.
The terrorists decide to bring the fight to America. In January 1993, two CIA agents are shot and killed as they enter CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. The following month, February 1993, a group of terrorists are arrested after a rented van packed with explosives is driven into the underground parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people are killed and over 1000 are injured. Still this is a crime and not an act of war? The Snooze alarm is depressed again.
Then in November 1995 a car bomb explodes at a US military complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia killing seven service men and women. A few months later in June of 1996, another truck bomb explodes only 35 yards from the US military compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It destroys the Khobar Towers, a US Air Force barracks, killing 19 and injuring over 500.
The terrorists are getting braver and smarter as they see that America does not respond decisively. They move to coordinate their attacks in a simultaneous attack on two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. These attacks were planned with precision, they kill 224. America responds with cruise missile attacks and goes back to sleep.
The USS Cole was docked in the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling on 12 October 2000, when a small craft pulled along side the ship and exploded killing 17 US Navy Sailors. Attacking a US War Ship is an act of war, but we sent the FBI to investigate the crime and went back to sleep.
And of course you know the events of 11 September 2001. Most Americans think this was the first attack against US soil or in America. How wrong they are. America has been under a constant attack since 1979 and we chose to hit the snooze alarm and roll over and go back to sleep.
In the news lately we have seen lots of finger pointing from every high official in government over what they knew and what they didn't know. But if you've read the papers and paid a little attention I think you can see exactly what they knew. You don't have to be in the FBI or CIA or on the National Security Council to see the pattern that has been developing since 1979. The President is right on when he says we are engaged in a war. I think we have been in a war for the past 23 years and it will continue until we as a people decide enough is enough.
America has to "Get out of Bed" and act decisively now. America has changed forever. We have to be ready to pay the price and make the sacrifice to ensure our way of life continues. We cannot afford to hit the Snooze Button again and roll over and go back to sleep. We have to make the terrorists know that in the words of Admiral Yamamoto after the attack on Pearl Harbor "that all they have done is to awaken a sleeping giant."
Thank you very much.
Dan Ouimette
Filed By JLW (OrbusMax) http://www.OrbusMax.com
In light of the fact that America's enemies were emboldened to attack us because they were given every reason to think of us as a weak paper tiger, who will dare to say that it was OK to have permitted the decades-long efforts of the DemocRATS to emasculate our military and intelligence-gathering agencies to be successful?
The picture below is an accurate illustration of the type of thing that will eventually happen to a people who stupidly trust EMASCULATED MALES & CYNICAL OPPORTUNISTS (The quintessential description of most members of the DemocRAT party) to defend America?
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It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
FOX NEWS.com (AP): "FEDS INVESTIGATING THEFT OF LARGE AMOUNT OF EXPLOSIVE CHEMICAL" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "DENVER -- Federal agents said Friday they are investigating the theft of 1,100 pounds of an explosive chemical from construction companies in Colorado and California in the past week. Both thefts involve ammonium nitrate, a key ingredient in the bomb that destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995.") (July 18, 2003) (Read More...)
FOX NEWS.com (AP): "FLIGHT ATTENDANT ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF SETTING FIRE IN PLANE" (ARTICLE SNIPPETS: "A federal grand jury indicted Turhan Jamar Lamons on a charge of attempting to set fire to and wreck ComAir Airlines Flight 5491 from Atlanta to Huntsville, Ala." ..."The 23-year-old attendant also is charged with making a bomb threat against an AirTran Airways flight one week after Sept. 11, 2001. The threat resulted in the plane being evacuated and searched.") (July 18, 2003) (Read More...)
stepping back in time...THECITIZENNEWS.com - THE FAYETTE CITIZEN: "POLICE BLOTTER" (ARTICLE SNIPPETS: "The following arrests were reported by the Fayetteville Police Department for the past week:"..."Turhan Jamar Lamons, 21, for forgery in the first degree.") (October 7, 2001) (Read More...)
WTOP.com: "MORE HELP NEEDED TO FIND ARSONIST" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: ""We can't overstress the public's involvement in these cases," Prince George's County Fire Chief Ron Blackwell said on WTOP's The Politics Program with Mark Plotkin. "In these kinds of cases, we need a tremendous amount of information." "We need the public's help," said D.C. Fire Chief Adrian Thompson. As calls and e-mails from the public are coming in to investigators, Thompson says people need to let investigators know if they saw anything unusual in their neighborhoods around the time of the fires. A reward fund for information that leads to an arrest and conviction now stands at $20,000." ... "If you have information, the tip line is (301) 77-ARSON. E-mails can be sent to 77Arson@co.pg.md.us. Of those 24 fires, 14 are in D.C. and 10 are in Prince George's County. Six of the fires are considered "similar in nature" and have been conclusively linked to one another. Those six fires occurred in the early morning or overnight hours, involved an occupied dwelling and were purposely set using an ignitable liquid. Local investigators are reviewing previous arsons to see whether there are any connections. They also have a list of people who have a criminal history of setting fires.") (Updated July 18, 2003) (Read More...)
SEATTLE TIMES.com (AP): "ATTORNEY CALLS BOMB-THREAT EXCESSIVE" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "SEATTLE --The attorney representing a college student indicted on charges of threatening to bomb Coast Guard and Army National Guard stations in Bellingham said yesterday the charges against his client are excessive.") (ARTICLE NOTE: The suspect is identified as Paul Douglas Revak, age 20.) (July 18, 2003) (Read More...)FOX NEWS.com (AP): Spokane, Washington. "JURY CONVICTS WASHINGTON MAN OF MAKING RICIN" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: The suspect is identified as Kenneth Olsen, age 49.) (July 17, 2003) (Read More...)FREECONGRESS.org - THE FREE CONGRESS FOUNDATION - Notable News Now: "THE CALL FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM" - Commentary by Paul Weyrich (COMMENTARY SNIPPET: "Recently, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) had the dubious honor of having a second member of its national staff arrested on charges related to terrorism. Randal Todd "Ismael " Royer was picked up in June by federal agents. He is alleged to have trained with a Kashmiri terrorist group called Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has links to al Qaeda. Earlier this year, Bassem Khafagi, who had been community affairs director for CAIR's office in Washington, D.C., had also been arrested. The news media has turned a blind eye to the alleged wrongdoers at CAIR, refusing to take an in-depth look at this group, who funds it and why. Experts on Islam know this group has strong links to the Saudi government, and that Saudi Arabia's government itself is under the strong influence of the Wahhabi sect of Islam.") (July 16, 2003) (Read More...)INSIGHT On The News online: "FBI POLARIZED BY 'WAHHABI LOBBY'" by J. Michael Waller (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, a favorite self-proclaimed victim has been an aggressive band of Washington-based groups that purport to represent the nation's Muslims and hyphenated Arabs. That constituency is known as the "Wahhabi lobby" for many of its members' alleged ties to Saudi Arabia, whose state religion is considered by many to be an extremist and violent Wahhabi sect of Islam [see "'Wahhabi Lobby' Takes the Offensive," Aug. 5, 2002].") (July 11, 2003) (Read More...)
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: "ATTACK ON AMERICA!" (Read More...)
FOX NEWS.com: "STUDY: CANADA A POTENTIAL TERRORIST HAVEN" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "A senior administration official told Fox News the United States sees potential repercussions of Canada's leniency for security within U.S. borders. The United States needs Canada's cooperation to prevent future terrorist attacks. And once terrorists make it across Canada's more lenient borders, it's all too easy for them to gain access to the United States, experts say.") (July 16, 2003) (Read More...)FOX NEWS.com: "TERRORISTS MAY BE EYING NORTH AMERICANS" (July 15, 2003) (Read More...)
YAHOO! News (NEW YORK TIMES): "A MUSLIM MISSIONARY GROUP DRAWS NEW SCRUTINY IN U.S." (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "But since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Tablighi Jamaat, once little known outside Muslim countries, has increasingly attracted the interest of federal investigators, cropping up on the margins of at least four high-profile terrorism cases. It has been cited either as part of a cover story like Mr. Faris's, or as a springboard into militancy, as in the case of John Walker Lindh, the American serving time for aiding the Taliban.") (July 14, 2003) (Read More...)
I can't seem to get this story out of my mind, even though it came from Pravda.
An excellent related article here:
The Corrections (by Victor Davis Hanson)
Bush Doctrine Unfolds :
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