Above and Beyond

The Wall Street Journal ^ | February 25, 2003 | DOROTHY RABINOWITZ

[Tom D.]

It has been said of Osama bin Laden that the main lesson he derived from the war in Somalia was that the infliction of heavy casualties was all that was needed to cause Americans to turn and run. Americans, he suggested, are weak that way, and soft. Undoubtedly a happy thought for those subscribing to this view, but those who do would be well advised to consider certain aspects of that war in Somalia -- in particular the dogged determination of the Americans who fought the enemy in the streets of Mogadishu on Oct. 3, 1993, a battle in which two Rangers were awarded Congressional Medals of Honor.

[Tom D.]

My gut reaction was to put an a quote or two from this article here and comment on them, but after reading through it a couple of times, it became apparent that trying to amplify anything here would first, be a useless exercise, and secondly, counterproductive.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Les Aspin, then secretary of defense, had evidently concluded that to agree to the reinforcements would be impolitic. Indeed, as he later explained, to allow them might have given the impression that the U.S. was increasing its presence in Somalia."

More correctly, "Les Aspin, BILL CLINTONS' secretary of defense" refused to send the reinforcements necessary to save our troops lives. The deaths of these fine men rest directly on Bill Clinton and his psychophants.

[expatpat]

It has been said of Osama bin Laden that the main lesson he derived from the war in Somalia was that the infliction of heavy casualties was all that was needed to cause Americans to turn and run...... would be well advised to consider.........the dogged determination of the Americans who fought the enemy in the streets of Mogadishu.

Much as I hate to criticize DR, it wasn't the guts of the fighting men OBL was referring to, but the guts of the politicians, like Clinton.

[JMJJR]

btt

[scotiamor]

A local veterans group offered my Wisconsin town a Vietnam-era tank to put in a local park. Some local anti-war bitches protested, "for the children" - and the cowardly city council backed down. I led a brief effort to rename the park "Les Aspin Park" (he was a former Wisconsin congressman), the perfect name for a park where no tanks are allowed. Tanks have saved thousands of infantrymen lives - and would have saved lives in Somalia. Later the Clinton administration wouldn't lift a finger to save 1,000,000 Tutsi lives in Rwanda, so maybe Somalia was their starting point. The father was right - Clinton wasn't fit to be president.