38 Years of Terrorism

For most Americans, it began 27 years ago on a rainy November 4th in 1979 when a group of Iranian students siezed our embassy in Teran. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days while an inept president futzed around.

Then things started going really bad. Some highlights:

• 1983: 241 Marines and service personel are killed in thier sleep when a truck drives into the Marine Barracks in Beirut -- the bloodiest day in Marine Corps history since the taking of Iwo Jima.
• 1985: The world is transfixed by the hijacking of TWA Flight 847.
• 1988: Pan Am Flight 103 bombed after taking off from Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270.
• 1993: Terrorism comes to US soil when Mir Aimal Kasi guns down 2 and wounds 3 outside of the CIA headquarters at Langley. Six die in the first World Trade Center bombing.
• 1996: 19 Americans killed and hundreds wounded in the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.
• 1998: Simultanious bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 and injuring more than 5,000.

There were, of course, many more events, large and small -- like the kidnapping, brutal torture and murder of Lt. Col. Richard Higgins by Hezbollah terrorists. Visit the Timeline of Terror for more.

Yet for some reason, America slept while the threat grew, while the violence escalated, while the body count mounted, while the terrorists solidified their base and established their lines of financing. Americans ignored the message that Islamic extremists wanted to destroy American, to kill all infidels, and to establish a global caliphate.

Then five years ago today Islamofacists clearly and unmistakeably showed us to what lengths they will go to make that happen. They demonstrated that we were no longer safe cradled in the arms of two oceans. They declared their hatred and intent with a message that could not be ignored.

And they awakened a sleeping giant.

And they had the bad fortune to awaken this giant when a man of resolve was president, a man that would insist that the country do that which must be done. They made it possible for a president,  standing atop a pile of rubble in the still-smoking ruins of the twin towers, to become a Leader. And he did.

We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.

America rediscovered its roots, the knowledge that freedom is never free and can only be won with the blood of patriots.

Americans rediscovered its heros, the men and women of uniform, domestic and abroad, those that rush into burning towers and those  that face down armed gunmen that use women and children as shields.

We watched in wonder as our senators put aside partisanship and spontaneously sang the national anthem on the steps of the capitol building.

We accepted the charge of fighting a global war on terror. For the war is far larger than the Middle East and forces us to confront many, many more than those of Hezbollah and al-Queda:

Five years ago terrorists slapped the face of the American collective.  As a result, the Taliban has been driven from power in Afghanistan, Saddam and Sons has permanently been put out of business, 50 million people have been freed from brutal regimes and the winds of change blow through the Arab world.

The president warned us:

Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen.  It may include dramatic strikes, visible on TV, and covert operations, secret even in success.  We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest.  And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism.

And most of us understood. The struggle to kill this evil will take many years, perhaps even decades. But the menance is so great, the foe so monstrous, the results of continuing to do nothing so dire, that we recognized that there was no choice except to confront the enemy whereever and however we could.

Some of us continue to understand that the evil has not gone away, that we are fighting those who would brutally behead any one of us if they could, who would gleefully torture our parents, who would rape and enslave our daughters, who would stone all homosexuals to death, who would return us to the Dark Ages of unenlightenment.

Donkelphant wonders if we have have lost because Pakistan has essentially surrendered the northern badlands to the Taliban, once again giving them a base of operations.

But no, that isn't when we lose.

We lose when the New York Times publishes image after image from Abu Ghraib but few of our heros and accuses the president of "politisizing terrorism".

We lose when the Washington Post pushes the idea that we are a "war-weary nation" and touts Bin Laden's victory.

We lose when senators accuse our bravest of the brave of committing war crimes in order to gain political power.

We lose when half our politicans begin calling for withdrawal before the job is done.

We lose when polls show lives have not changed because of 9/11 and the people have lost sight of why we must continue the fight.

We lose when reports of progress are not made, and when short-sighted media "pundits" do not have the intelligence to recognize the small but history-changing events that are taking place in Arab nations.

No, we will not lose the war because of the actions of the leader of another country. We will not lose because of the lies of the liberal media. We will not lose because of the indoctrination of our children by the liberal academia.

We will only lose if we do not remember why we fight.

After five years of learning the magnitude of the evil we face and the true intent of those we fight, why is it even a question?

In World War II, one of the elements that went into the decision to drop the bomb on Japan was that Americans were becoming war weary, having sacrificed much and lost so terribly many of its young. It was believed that the public would not stand for a bloody invasion of Japan, and after Iwo we knew the terribly high cost that such an invasion would entail.

Our leaders knew that the only other alternative was a conditional surrender, leaving the monsters that drove the Japanese war machine in power. They knew that such an outcome would be capitualation on our part, and would cause us trouble again in the future.

They knew unconditional surrender was the only choice. And they were right.

One would hope that American civilians are made of sterner stuff today. We have not had shoe rationing nor is there a national draft. The country has not been put on a "war footing" and our economy is booming in spite of the drain of the war.

This is a complex war that consists of backroom diplomacy as much as boots on the ground.

But it is important to remember that the enemy is determined, the enemy is patient, and the enemy wants to destroy everything we stand for and kill anyone who does not "convert" to Islam. This is a fight that must be fought.

It is a fight that can be won. It is a fight that must be won.

And with the grace of God, we will be victorious.

Blog post #6248 in category War on Islamofascism
posted 11 September 06

Posted by AlphaPatriot on Wednesday at 8:50 PM