I'm not mad@ you, I just do not understand you. As I said What is the difference between the Viet Nam protestors, or Hanoi Jane for that matter, and the way you act?
Only Strong American Military and Homefront Determination Wins War Against Terrorism
Congressman Mac Collins
For 22 years up until 2001, a lack of a U.S. response to terrorist actions, built up the terrorists strength and got the United States into the mess that we are in today.Weakness and appeasement in foreign policy brings nothing but trouble and anguish, not only to Americans, but to freedom loving people everywhere in the world. Terrorists take advantage of those who are weak.
In 1979, the Shah of Iran, a good friend of the United States, was overthrown by Islamic fanatics led by Ayatollah Khomeini. Their battle cry was and remains ?Death to America?. In November of that year, a militant Islamic mob took over our embassy in Tehran and held Americans hostage for 444 days.
Those hostages were released on January 20,1981.
In April,1983, 17 Americans died when a suicide bomber in a pickup truck loaded with explosives rammed into the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Reagan administration officials at the time said the attack was carried out by Hezbollah operatives, an anti-American Lebanese militant Islamic group. Our government took no military response.
On the weekend of October 23, 1983, a suicide bomber detonated a truck full of explosives at the U.S. Marine barracks at Beirut?s International Airport. 242 Marines were killed in that attack and more than 100 others were wounded. Those Marines were part of a multinational force that was sent to Lebanon to separate the warring factions there.
Our government, again, took no military action.
On October 13, 1983, the Grenadian Army, controlled by former Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard, seized power in a bloody coup. The severity of the violence, coupled with Coard's hard-line Marxism, caused deep concern among neighboring Caribbean nations, as well as the United States. Also, the presence of nearly 1,000 American medical students in Grenada caused added concern.
In the early morning of October 25, 1983, the United States invaded the island of Grenada. By mid-December, U.S. combat forces went home and a pro-American government took power.
But, in December, 1983, the American embassy in Kuwait was bombed. Five Americans were killed.
Our government, again, took no military action.
On September 20, 1984, a truck bomb exploded at the U.S. Embassy Annex in Aukar,Lebanon, Northeast of Beirut. 24 people were killed, two of whom were American military personnel.
Again, our government took no military action.
In October, 1985, an Italian cruise ship, the ?Achille Lauro? was seized by four gunmen off the coast of Egypt. They were demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners in Egypt, Italy and other parts of the world. When their demands were not met, they threw 69-year-old Leon Klinghoffer, a disabled American tourist overboard, killing him.
This time, our government did take action. After the hijackers escaped the Achille Lauro and left Egypt by air, U.S. Navy fighter jets intercepted their plane and forced those hijackers to land in Italy where they were captured and later tried by an Italian court and imprisoned. One of the hijackers confessed to killing Klinghoffer.
Then on December 17, 1985, airports in Rome and Vienna were bombed. U.S. officials were able to link Libya to those bombings. The following January, America responded by sending the Navy and its warplanes to patrol the Gulf of Sidra.
Qadaffi decided to push the envelope further. U.S. Intelligence forces discovered that Libya was behind the bombing of a West Berlin discotheque, popular with off-duty American soldiers, killing one American serviceman, a Turkish woman and leaving 200 others wounded.
Retaliatory air strikes were ordered on Tripoli and Benghazi. One of Qadaffi?s residences was bombed. The French would not allow America to use its airspace for these air strikes.
A short time later, the bodies of three American University of Beirut employees were discovered near Beirut after authorities determined they had been shot to death. The Arab Revolutionary Cells, a pro-Libyan group of Palestinians affiliated with terrorist ?Abu Nadal?, claimed credit for the executions.
In December, 1988, a passenger jet, Pan Am Flight 103, was bombed by Muslim extremists over Lockerbie, Scotland. Our government did nothing.
On the morning of August 2, 1990, Iraq?s Saddam Hussein and units of the Iraqi Republican Guard invaded Kuwait and seized control of that country. That invasion triggered a United States response by our armed forces that became known as ?Operation Desert Storm.?
Iraq agreed to cease fire terms in March, 1991 and Kuwait?s legitimate government was restored.
In February, 1993, the World Trade Center in New York City was bombed by Muslim fanatics. Five people were killed and hundreds were injured. Our government did nothing.
In October, 1993, 18 American GI?s were killed in a firefight in Somalia. The body of one American was dragged through the streets of Mogadishu for the whole world to see. Somalians were cheering at the site of that dead American.
The U.S. responded by calling off the hunt for Mohammed Farrah Aidid, the leaders of the forces challenging both the United States and United Nations presence in that country. Our troops were also withdrawn from Somalia.
The terrorists actions continued???In November, 1995, five Americans were killed and several wounded when a car bomb set by Muslim extremists exploded in Saudi Arabia.
In June, 1996, a U.S. Air Force housing complex in Saudi Arabia was bombed. Our government did not take action. Later that same year, Saddam attacked Erbil, a Kurdish controlled city.
On August 7, 1998, U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by Muslim extremists. At least 252 people died, including 12 Americans, more than 5,000 were injured.
On August 20,1998, the United States launched missile strikes against training bases in Afghanistan used by groups allegedly affiliated with Osama bin Laden.
However, in 1999, a terrorist plot was foiled when a terrorist attempted to enter the United States from Canada armed with explosives at the British Columbia and Washington state border.
In October, 2000, the USS Cole was attacked by Muslim extremists and our government did nothing.
Before September 10, 2001, an estimated 800 Americans lost their lives because of terrorist attacks. On September 11, 3,000 Americans lost their lives because of terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
President Bush has taken decisive action. He was the first president to take the war on terrorism to the terrorists. He struck in Afghanistan where the Taliban had given home base to al Qaeda for many years. Because the Taliban chose defiance, the Americans and the coalition acted there to remove the terrorists.
Now, Afghanistan is our partner in the war against terror.
The record is there. It shows that the mistake began when Iranians assaulted the U.S. embassy in Iran and met with no resistance. If we had responded it would have signaled the terrorists that the United States meant business.
It took a strong leader like President Bush to face up to the world as it really is and commit ourselves to destroying these terrorist organizations. President Bush is determined to continue this fight. I support him. His critics should realize when it comes to foreign policy, partisan politics should stop at the waters edge.
Al Qaeda planned a second wave of attacks on the heels of September 11 targeting the west coast. Those plans were aborted, because of President Bush's decisive crackdown on terrorist threats. The President declared his intent to snuff out those terrorist organizations that had declared war on us. His bold and decisive response demonstrated that America would not unwillingly stand by and wait for another attack.
Terrorists are being rounded up, regimes that harbor and sponsor them have been defeated, and states pursuing weapons of mass destruction are getting the message.
Now that we have a base of operations in Iraq, we can convincingly offer the leaders of the Middle East: a representative government.
Congressman Mac Collins, a Republican, represents the Eighth Congressional District in Georgia. He serves on the House Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Ways and Means Committee.
Respect your views Eddie, but you remind me of the priest in War of the Worlds-Gene Barry version- who runs out to talk to the attacking Aliens w/bible in hand only to get vaporized. Not trying to be funny. Just don't see how to reason w/these sick M*ther F*ckers... And the revulsion from the rest of the Arab world?
:thinking:
