'They're coming'

The Washington Times ^ | April 2, 2002 | Alan W. Dowd

[Mr. Thorne]

"Let's roll." By now, Todd Beamer's two-word battle cry is as much a part of our national lexicon as Franklin Roosevelt's "date of infamy," John F. Kennedy's "bear any burden," or Ronald Reagan's "tear down this wall." Mr. Beamer's words, captured by a cell phone as he led Flight 93's passenger revolt on September 11, have inspired and redefined a nation. They have been quoted by presidents and prime ministers, reproduced on bumper stickers, plastered on the side of buildings, emblazoned on fighter-jets and stenciled on bombs.

[Mr. Thorne]

"They're coming..."

I like it.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Remember the words to "Over There" from WWI?

[Miss Marple]

I like it too. Thank you for posting this.

[HiJinx]

Charging in from all points of the compass, wearing white hats and six-guns blazing...!
Hmmm...'nough Old West imagery...what on earth could they have been thinking?
At some point, one must compare the terrorists to annoying insects, to be squashed just as surely as a man swats a mosquito.
It's just a dirty damned shame we had to lose thousands of civilian souls before we became annoyed enough to swat...

[HiJinx]

Something about "the Yanks are coming..."?

[Miss Marple]

Over there, over there, Over there, Over there,
Send the word, send the word over there--
That the Yanks are coming,
The Yanks are coming,
The drums rum-tumming
Ev'rywhere.
So prepare, say a pray'r,
Send the word, send the word to beware.
We'll be over, we're coming over,
And we won't come back till it's over
Over there.

Words and music by George M. Cohan, author of "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy."

[Mr. Thorne]

Yep. That's why I like it.

"The Yanks are comin', the Yanks are comin', and we won't be back 'til it's over, over there..."

[Mr. Thorne]

Well, fudge, you beat me.

And with the actual lyrics, as well. Delightful!

[Frapster]

"They're coming" is for those who have something to fear from those who state, matter-of-factly, "let's roll."

[Miss Marple]

Google search is a wonderful thing.

I love that song...my grandfather served in France in WWI and he would sing it when we were kids.

[TLBSHOW]

They're coming and they are going to destroy those that want to kill us. Excellent.

[Ditter]

I have had the same question in my mind ever since 9-11. "What were these hijackers/bin Laden thinking?" All I can figure is they misjudged how much the other Arabs hated us. Did they think every Arab would rise up on 9-12 & attack us too? Did they think they were starting a world war with the west? Will that be the result of 9-11?

[Chairman_December_19th_Society]

I like it too!!

Thanks for posting!!

Message to Saddam - We're coming!!

[Valin]

In a matter of five weeks, this improbable task force erased what it took the Taliban and al Qaeda five years to build.

Improbable, not really it's what happens when a liberal democracy gets its dander up. IMHO we are still getting our ducks in a row. This war is going to be going on for a long time, there will be false starts, wrong turns, blunders along the way but in the end we will win.
Defeat is NOT an option. If the terrorists win we all get to take a giant step back to 600 ad (note this is a bad thing).

[Chairman_December_19th_Society]

take a giant step back to 600 ad (note this is a bad thing).

I'm glad you point out that it is a bad thing, because there are many on the left - eko-wackos in particular - who would argue that it would be good.

[ward_of_the_state]

Yes, the sleeping giant has been awakened!

[Valin]

"The true story is, junior officers and noncoms who had been college students two years before and had ROTC commissions pinned down at that sea wall and couldn't retreat, couldn't go back -- it was just chaos back behind them -- couldn't, as the plan called for, go up the draws. They were getting butchered where they were all the sea wall because the Germans had it all zeroed in with their mortars that were coming down on top of them. And, "Over here, Captain," "Over here, Lieutenant, over here." A sergeant looked at this situation and said, "The hell with this. If I'm going to get killed, I'm going to take some Germans with me." And he would call out, "Follow me," and up he would start. Hitler didn't believe this was ever possible. Hitler was certain that the soft, effeminate children of democracy could never become soldiers. Hitler was certain that the Nazi youth would always outfight the Boy Scouts, and Hitler was wrong.

The Boy Scouts took them on D-Day. Joe Dawson led Company G. He started off with 200 men. He got to the top of the bluff with 20 men, but he got to the top. He was the first one to get there. He's going to be introducing President Clinton tomorrow at Omaha Beach. John Spaulding was another. He was a lieutenant. Many of them are nameless. I don't know their names. I've talked to men who've said, "I saw this lieutenant and he tossed a grenade into the embrasure of that fortification, and out came four Germans with their hands up. I thought to myself, hell, if he can do that, I can do that." "What was his name?" I will ask. "Geez, I don't know. I never found out his name. I never saw him before, and I never saw him again, but he was a great man. He got me up that bluff."
Stephen Ambrose

They're not the first to make that mistake.

[boris]

The problem is, they're mostly not coming.

National Guard troops "guarding" airports and bridges have unloaded weapons.

No action has been taken to secure the borders.

The U.S. is still issuing visas to citizens of terrorist states. Some are--no kidding--for flight training.

Nothing has been done to round up enemy aliens...much less people who have overstayed their visas.

We have bombed Afghanistan and made the rubble bounce. Took some prisoners. All window dressing.

Bush said we'd punish those in league with the terrorists. Have we seen any punishment for Libya, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Yemen, UAE, Sudan, Pakistan (yes, Pakistan)?

Have we closed down--with extreme prejudice--the hundreds of "madrasas" which teach terrorism in Pakistan?

Have we acted to shut down the ~100 active terrorist cells operating in the U.S.?

Have we begun a world-wide program of 'targeted assassination' against the leaders of terrorist organizations?

We are still in denial...and it will take another attack or two--an American city turned to dust, thousands or millions killed--before we get serious.

"They're coming"? A joke; nothing more.

--Boris

[xJones]

"What were these hijackers/bin Laden thinking?" All I can figure is they misjudged how much the other Arabs hated us. Did they think every Arab would rise up on 9-12 & attack us too? Did they think they were starting a world war with the west? Will that be the result of 9-11?

It would be fascinating to know what they were thinking. I'd bet that like all fanatic cults, the al-Quida guys were caught up in group-think. One fanatic spouts off that America is too weak to strike back and a dozen more starts topping that with how decadent and spinelesss, etc. Americans are, they wouldn't dare retaliate....blah, blah, blah. Of course Allah would take a big hand in their *righteous* cause...blah, blah, blah. Devout Muslims in all nations would recognize that the moment had come and rise up...blah, blah, blah. IOW, they were in good part seduced by their own cabal circle-jerking. Just a guess, of course.

[TomGuy]

"As the terrorist peered through the cockpit door and contemplated what he had unleashed, he didn't laugh or smirk, or rant or pray. Instead, he conveyed a desperate warning to his fellow murderers: "They're coming," he gasped. And perhaps for the first time since his terrorist cell planned and launched its attack on America, he felt fear — "

I hope Todd, Jeremy, and the other heroic men and women of Flight 93 allowed the hijackers a few moments to realize what they had unleased upon themselves--a few moments of pain and agony, a few moments of fear, a few moments to know they had awakened the sleeping giant and it was coming toward them--unfettered, resolved.