Anniversary look back: We Are At War; Are We Prepared For It?

I'm hesitant to post a thread when the load on the server is so severe, but there are good Freepers going off half-cocked. I'm still too angry to post comments 'off the top of my head', and I see a few others are also. Here are a few thoughts to ponder.

We are at war with a subtle, determined, devious enemy. There is a fair likelihood that Osama bin Laden didn't mastermind this attack alone, that it was aided at least in part from Libya or Iraq or Saudi Arabia, and Osama is their cover, to divert attention from the real cell of rot. Yousef, who headed the prep for the first WTC bombing that failed, is likely an Iraqi deep cover agent whose alternate identity of Karim is fabricated, so we must be very thorough because these terrorists may have also left false trails. We must be sure from where this originated, and then be thorough in our annihilating retaliation. Spitting cruise missiles into the Afghan desert or a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant may please the kneejerk quarterbacks, but it is a luxury we can no longer afford.

We are in a war that will make many more casualties of Americans, make no mistake about that. To reduce the potential for casualties after we make our initial strike, we must prepare for the coming struggle against an enemy determined to slaughter innocent Americans, an enemy who believes they will be blessed if they die killing innocent Americans ... to these hate-filled fanatics, there are no innocent Americans. And make no mistake here also, when the fire comes from the sky upon these terrorists, it will be the American people sending those strikes and it will be the American people who will receive the outrage that follows. We are not prepared for that and if we are to be successful against this evil that has slaughtered so many of our fellow Americans, we must get ready, quickly, and steel ourselves for the long haul against these bastards.

There is much talk of the greatest generation ... their war lasted just at five years, but it was in fixed, pitched battles overseas. Some of our battles will be fought in airports, on train lines, in banks and hotels, and yes, right in the very neighborhoods we considered safe just three days ago. Targets of opportunity are everywhere in this vast land, and they're not all in the blue zones around biggest cities. This war will be, in part, fought in the heartland of America. We are not yet ready for that. Until we are at least preparing for that level of conflict, prepared to deal with catastrophic evil such as biological and chemical devastation, we are not fully ready to make our initial strike, our devastating first blow at the enemy, whomever that turns out to be.

When the deviant, bill clinton, fired off missiles at targets he knew would not be bloody in the main, he did nothing but steel our enemy. Now, we must become the hammer that beats that steel into oblivion.

Recriminations will come soon enough, and I will be one of the first to point out the complicity of the whole Lott of pubbies who would not stand up for what is right ... but now is the time to prepare for war. May God grant us the determination to see this through, now, before it is beyond our capabilities to deal with it.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030913.html

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 13, 2003

President's Radio Address

Audio

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Two years ago this week, America suffered a brutal attack. We will never forget the burning towers and the smoke over Arlington Cemetery, and the passengers who rushed the hijackers. Yet history asks for more than memory. On September the 11th, 2001, we began a war on global terror that continues to this hour.

In the decades before that terrible day, the terrorists conducted a series of bolder and bolder attacks in the Middle East and beyond. They became convinced that free nations were decadent and weak, and would never offer a sustained and serious response. They now know otherwise.

Together with a coalition of nations, we have struck back against terror worldwide, capturing and killing terrorists, and breaking cells and freezing assets. In Afghanistan we removed the Taliban regime that harbored al Qaeda. In Iraq, we defeated a regime that sponsored terror, possessed and used weapons of mass destruction, and defied the United Nations Security Council for 12 years. We have helped to liberate people from oppression and fear.

Today, with our help, the people of Iraq are working to create a free, functioning and prosperous society. The terrorists know that if these efforts are successful, their ideology of hate will suffer a grave defeat. So they are attacking our forces, international aid workers, and innocent civilians. Their goal is to drive us out of Iraq before our work is done. They are mistaken, and they will fail. We will do what is necessary to win this victory in the war on terror.

We are following a clear strategy with three objectives: Destroy the terrorists, enlist international support for a free Iraq, and quickly transfer authority to the Iraqi people. Through a series of ongoing operations, our military is taking direct action against Saddam loyalists and foreign terrorists. One major effort underway right now, called Operation Longstreet, is seeking and finding our enemies wherever they hide and plot. Already, this operation has yielded hundreds of detainees and seized hundreds of weapons, and we will remain on the offensive against the terrorists.

We are expanding international cooperation in rebuilding Iraq. Today in Geneva, Secretary of State Powell is meeting with Secretary General of the United Nations and representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council. They are discussing ideas for a new resolution to encourage wider participation in this vital task.

And we're moving forward on a specific plan to return sovereignty and authority to the Iraqi people. We have created a governing council made up of Iraqi citizens. The council has selected a committee that is developing a process through which Iraqis will draft a new constitution for their country. Day to day operations of many government tasks have been turned over to ministers appointed by the Governing Council. And when a constitution has been drafted and ratified by the Iraqi people, Iraq will enjoy free and fair elections, and the coalition will yield its remaining authority to a free and sovereign Iraqi government.

We have a strategy in Iraq and a mission. We will fight and defeat the terrorists there, so we don't have to face them in America. And we will help transform Iraq into an example of progress and democracy and freedom that can inspire change and hope throughout the Middle East.

Thank you for listening.

END

Great Post,

We were attacked by those who many here want to appease, We were not attacked by a Nation or a Government, we were attacked by a perverse idiology that subscribes to the notion that their religion can only survive if they kill those who don't.

The subscribers of this idiology are all across the globe and our survival depends our ability to confront them.

Liberals would have us believe that removing the Taliban from Afghanistan was all we needed to do in response to 9/11, but anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the problem would be able to conclude that we need to drain the swamp, not kill the Mosquito.

Saddam controlled the largest and most powerful military in the region and his regime was supporting every terrorist organization that he could, including sending $25,000 checks to the families of Homicide Bombers.

The bottom line is this..... We are not just responding to the attacks on 9/11, we are waging war against the terrorist where ever they live and operate and therefore taking the fight to them, instad of waiting for the next attack.

WE ARE WINNING AND MANY ON THE LEFT ARE UPSET ABOUT THAT

Great piece.

Two years later the president and the majority of Americans still use euphemisms: 'evildoers', 'terrorists', 'extremists', and infrequently 'islamists' or 'radical islam' to describe the enemy.

We stand little chance of winning if we can't even identify what and who the enemy is: ISLAM and MUSLIMS.

Another major attack, like the one the government has been telling us to expect and that they can't prevent, the one that will be much worse than 9/11, and it may all be over.

Unless and until we remove the entire filthy menace from our borders, we're just sitting ducks waiting for the next big one.

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