America Needs To WAKE UP!!! *Rebuttal*

[GiovanniC]

A friend of mine (who supports John Kerry) sent me this today:

You have to read the catalogue of events in this brief piece. Then, ask yourself how anyone can take the position that all we have to do is bring our troops home from Iraq, sit back, re-set the snooze alarm, go back to sleep, and no one will ever bother us again. In case you missed it, World War III began in November 1979... that alarm has been ringing for years.

U.S. Navy Captain Ouimette is the Executive Officer at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida. Here is a copy of the speech he gave last month. It is an accurate account of why we are in so much trouble today and why this action is so necessary.

AMERICA NEEDS TO WAKE UP!
That's what we think we heard on the 11th of September 2001 (When more than 3,000 Americans were killed) 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.

* Blah, blah, blah, Iranians attack Tehran embassy*

America was still reeling from the aftermath of the Vietnam 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 Vietnam 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.

* Blah, blah, blah... details all the terrorist attacks against US since 1979. *

Clinton treated these terrorist acts as crimes; in fact we are still trying to bring these people to trial. These are acts of war.

* Blah, blah, blah, all the terrorist attacks since Clinton. *

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 officials 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 needs to "Get out of Bed" and act decisively now. America has been 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 keep hitting the snooze button again and again and roll over and go back to sleep.

* Blah, blah, blah, Pearl Harbor *

This is not a political thing to be hashed over in an election year this is an AMERICAN thing. This is about our Freedom and the Freedom of our children in years to come.

Please forward this to as many people as you can especially to the young people and all those who dozed off in history class and who seem so quick to protest such a necessary military action.
Time to wake up!!!

================================================================

Have any of you guys had this thing forwarded to you, and if so, have you responded? Here is my rebuttal:


I'd be curious to know what this guy proposes we do once we "wake up and turn off the snooze alarm".

I'm not sure which military action he is describing as "necessary" -- the introduction mentions Iraq, but the actual author doesn't. And if he does mean Iraq, he's dead wrong. Iraq was the opposite of a necessary military action. Not only did it do nothing to stop terrorism; in fact, it actually increased the frequency of worldwide terrorism and provided more recruits for organizations like al Qaeda and Islamic Jihad. http://washingtontimes.com/world/20040525-093748-8557r.htm

He dismisses Clinton's actions of treating terrorism like a crime instead of an act of war, but the reality is that they ARE crimes. They are typically acts of war perpetrated by individuals, not governments. You can't bomb Thailand or Yemen or Germany or UAE just because a terrorist comes from there any more than you can bomb Michigan because Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols went bonkers and put a crater in Oklahoma City.

Now, if a government is responsible for the terrorism, then go after that government. The only country where there has been compelling evidence that they supported the 9/11 terrorists is Saudi Arabia, and we won't touch that country with a ten-foot pole. Even Afghanistan said they would turn over Osama bin Laden if we would provide proof that he was responsible for 9/11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1551913.stm Bush told them to go Cheney themselves and now, three years later, Afghanistan is under the control of warlords, it's a haven for terrorists, and we still don't have a clue where Osama is. http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,1259689,00.html

So we have a choice. One choice is that we can send in military Special Forces and CIA agents to go specifically after the terrorists. Infiltrate the terrorist organizations. Discover their plans, discover where they're hiding. Capture or kill them. To do that, we need Arabic-speaking young men, preferably from the region who know the religion and the culture. But since 9/11, the United States has discharged people exactly like that -- for being gay. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2479777.stm

The other choice is to engage in wholesale bombing -- kill them all and let God sort it out. That's horribly irresponsible, and it doesn't do us any favors. People who are moderate or even sympathetic to the United States are ready to take up arms after the US bombs their houses, their businesses, and their families. When people lose everything they care about and have no reason to continue living, they have no problem with dying in efforts to take revenge, especially when their religion implies they will be rewarded for it (I would point out, so does Christianity). http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=NIV&passage=Deut.+20%3A12-18

I don't know of anyone who says that we should just let ourselves get attacked. But I do know that what we're doing right now is not only NOT working, it's actually making this world much more unsafe. http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/10/powell.terror.report.ap/

[wtmusic]

1. The fearmongers are back at work

As long as we run a national policy based on fear and not on justice, we're doomed.

Nice response, BTW. :thumbsup:

[Mistress Quickly]

2. Your rebuttal is good

but dismissing all the attacks as *** blah blah blah, terrorist attack, terrorist hijackings *** belittles those who were attacked or killed or hijacked etc etc.

There are terrorists out there, and they will kill people, in cold blood. bush may be fighting the wrong people in the wrong country in the wrong war, but that doesn't mean that there aren't others who have a long history of killings and kidnappings and hijackings.

[GiovanniC]

3. That's Not What I Was Doing

"but dismissing all the attacks as *** blah blah blah, terrorist attack, terrorist hijackings *** belittles those who were attacked or killed or hijacked etc etc."

No, I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression of what I was doing there. I was editing for space, nothing more. The dude that wrote the original piece listed every single attack, which is fine, but when he goes on like, "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..." he loses my attention and I figured most people wouldn't read this thread if the original post was some "War and Peace" of every terrorist attack ever perpetrated against America.

Not intending to "dismiss" the attacks, but the guy had a serious rambling problem (which is what the "blah blah blah" was about) and I figure most of us here are well aware of the terrorist attacks of the 80s and 90s.

[Mistress Quickly]

4. Ah I see

I thought maybe it was just a list, not some old man filling up bandwidth with his own musings.

"It was a cool fall day in November lol

[hermetic]

5. I am under the impression

that the 911 Commission has set forth a list of things the country should be doing about this very situation. And in response the Repubs have gone on vacation until Labor day and * is "in bed" in Crawford. Pelosi has called the Dems back into session to respond. So, yeah, someone damn well better wake up and get their lazy ass to work.

[librechik]

6. what if America were a convenience store

Once every three or four years (on average) some toughs from outside the neighborhood rush the store and shoplift various small amounts, compared to the inventory and business of the store.

Should we call in several tanks and armed security guards to strip search every customer?

Isn't the solution just to be more aware?

But you can't do that with armies.

So the Republicans CAN'T do it.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. I think your response was excellent and 'sane'......n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Swatting mosquitoes with a sledge hammer.

Has anyone noticed that the "terrorist" attacks have increased since our brave leader in the flight suit attacked Iraq?

Has anyone noticed how well Israel's "war on terror" has worked over the last 20 years?

[JHB]

9. "the only country...Saudi Arabia..."

NOT the only: they've had pals in Pakistan as well.

[GiovanniC]

10. Well, They're Our Allies Too

An oversight on my part, but the point still stands I think.

[JHB]

11. "we are still trying to bring these people to trial"

Some, but most have already been brought to trial and convicted, and the discovery process has been an instrumental part of collecting intelligence on Al Qeada's activities.

"These aren't crimes, they're acts of war!" may be a great macho-pose phrase, but getting at the people who are committing and organizing these acts means GUESS WHAT: detective work and intelligence collection. You know... CRIME FIGHTING SKILLs. Sure the military can be used as a super-SWAT team, but without the basic police work to give them the right target, it's like scratiching fleas with firecrackers. In the end, you'll hurt yourself more.

[GiovanniC]

12. Well Put

n/t