Category Archives: War On Terror

Economy, Media, Pensacola, Politics, War On Terror

Remembering 9/11

Reflecting back on the 9/11 attack is easy for me, because I’ve never forgotten it or the aftermath. The prayers and sympathy for the victims and their families goes without saying.

I remember vividly how that horrific attack galvanized America as one unit focused on helping the victims and, at the same time, finally fighting back at those who had been killing Americans for years.

 

Our enemy had a good day. Aside from killing innocent Americans, they hurt our economy so badly that it took years to recover.

Feeling eerily uncomfortable with pro-American unity in both political parties, Sen. Ted Kennedy must have felt his party was threatened to minority party status for decades unless he could do something to stop it. Sadly, I remember how America’s unity ended when Sen. Ted Kennedy made the false accusation that the Bush administration believed Saddam Hussein had “planned the 9/11 attack.” I remember how quickly the political Left ate that up, buttressed by a willing media. It was the ‘lion of the senate’ who politicized what was called the ‘war on terror.’ For that strategy alone, Ted Kennedy deserves credit for being the one person most responsible for prolonging the war to a tenth anniversary, and counting. That’s what I remember.

The reason I’ll never forget it goes to survival. Because the people in charge of the war on terror now, all Ted Kennedy acolytes, want to give the enemy our constitutional protections, lowering the bar to a criminal matter. They want to scrap the ‘war on terror’ and the most effective parts of the ‘Patriot Act,’ calling it an ‘overseas contingency operation.’ And we have Ted Kennedy to thank for it.

There’s a saying, “what goes around comes around.” This applies to Sen. Ted Kennedy too. He went from the lion of the senate to a maggot in hell. A small consolation in the fight that continues to this day.

Link: Schneider: Tell us what you remember, why you will never forget  | Media Research Center video

Update 9/11/2011: This is a repost from August 14, 2011. Didn’t make the cut for today’s edition of the Pensacola News Journal. And so it is that the political aspect of the aftermath will only be found here. Just added a video “Tribute To The Media” put together by the Media Research Center.

Media, Politics, War On Terror

Remembering 9/11

Reflecting back on the 9/11 attack is easy for me, because I’ve never forgotten it or the aftermath. The prayers and sympathy for the victims and their families goes without saying.

I remember vividly how that horrific attack galvanized America as one unit focused on helping the victims and, at the same time, finally fighting back at those who had been killing Americans for years.

Our enemy had a good day. Aside from killing innocent Americans, they hurt our economy so badly that it took years to recover.

Feeling eerily uncomfortable with pro-American unity in both political parties, Sen. Ted Kennedy must have felt his party was threatened to minority party status for decades unless he could do something to stop it. Sadly, I remember how America’s unity ended when Sen. Ted Kennedy made the false accusation that the Bush administration believed Saddam Hussein had “planned the 9/11 attack.” I remember how quickly the political Left ate that up, buttressed by a willing media. It was the ‘lion of the senate’ who politicized what was called the ‘war on terror.’ For that strategy alone, Ted Kennedy deserves credit for being the one person most responsible for prolonging the war to a tenth anniversary, and counting. That’s what I remember.

The reason I’ll never forget it goes to survival. Because the people in charge of the war on terror now, all Ted Kennedy acolytes, want to give the enemy our constitutional protections, lowering the bar to a criminal matter. They want to scrap the ‘war on terror’ and the most effective parts of the ‘Patriot Act,’ calling it an ‘overseas contingency operation.’ And we have Ted Kennedy to thank for it.

There’s a saying, “what goes around comes around.” This applies to Sen. Ted Kennedy too. He went from the lion of the senate to a maggot in hell. A small consolation in the fight that continues to this day.

Link: Schneider: Tell us what you remember, why you will never forget

Iran, Media, Middle East, War On Terror

Iraq Down, Iran Up

Guess whats been happening in Iraq and Iran? Haven’t you heard?

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says Iran is increasingly being involved in supporting attacks on the U.S. military in Iraq.

During a surprise visit to Baghdad on July 11, Panetta blamed Iran for the spike in Shi’ite militia attacks on the U.S. military. Panetta said the U.S. military would act without Iraq Army approval to stop what he termed the Iranian campaign against American troops, Middle East Newsline reported.

In June, 14 American soldiers were killed in the deadliest month for the U.S. military since 2008 amid what officials said marked intensified Iranian training of Shi’ite proxies.

And Iraq is facing the prospect of secession by its minority Sunni community. The Iraq government “has lost control over much of the Sunni community,” particularly in the western province of Anbar.

Looks like the ‘debt ceiling’ and ‘default’ hysteria has succeeded in keeping the new trouble in the Middle East from being reported. And there is no one in the Obama administration, including the Commander-in-Chief himself, talking about it.

Economy, Media, Politics, War On Terror

Putting Country Over Party

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Listening to the storyline of Democrats in the House of Representatives over the budget and debt ceiling debate, you might think there is some message coordination going on.

If you want a government that does not spend more than it has, you must be a terrorist. If you reject the growth in government and government policies that are not economically sustainable, then you must be a terrorist. Jeff Foxworthy could do a bit on this.

Referring to an opinion piece in Politico by William Yeomans, Rush said . . .

It has become commonplace to call the Tea Party faction in the House ‘hostage takers.’ But they have now become full-blown terrorists. They have joined the villains of American history who have been sufficiently craven to inflict massive harm on innocent victims to achieve their political goals.” This is William Yeomans writing. Mr. Yeomans, what in the name of Sam Hill do you think Barack Obama is?

Look at this array of examples of how the elected Democrats portray Republicans, and tea party folks specifically. Below are some quotes from the house floor . . .

STENY HOYER: (rotunda noise) The Republicans are holding hostage the credit of the United States of America.

DEBBIE “BLABBERMOUTH” SCHULTZ: …our Republican colleagues to hold our economy hostage.

DINGY HARRY: The Republican Party is holding our economy hostage.

CHUCK-U SCHUMER: (rotunda noise) It didn’t say, “Hold America hostage.”

LOUISE SLAUGHTER: …hold the debt ceiling hostage.

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE: One party is holding the country hostage.

JOHN OLVER: The debt limit has never before been held hostage.

BARBARA LEE: Republicans are holding our economy hostage.

EARL BLUMENAUER: …willing to take hostage the debt ceiling.

JASON ALTMIRE: Stop holding America’s credit rating hostage.

ROSA DeLAURO: The Republican majority continues to hold the American economy hostage.

CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: Let’s not hold the entire American economy hostage.

JOHN LARSON: …ideological HOSTAGE situation…

LLOYD DOGGETT: The only belt they’re really tightening is right around the neck of those hostages.

JAMES CLYBURN: Holding the American economy hostage.

JESSE JACKSON, JR.: This President is being treated differently!

SPEAKER PRO-TEM: (gavel banging)

JACKSON: No other President has been stuck up, shook down, or held hostage!

 Limbaugh continues . . .

We’re not holding anybody hostage. We are the hostages! We are equal time. We are paying the ransom all the time. We are the hostages. Our country has been kidnapped, and you’re asking a ransom from us in the form of higher taxes and less liberty and less freedom each and every day — and you dare to write pieces calling us terrorists! We don’t fly jet planes into buildings. We’re not killing people. We’re not putting people out of work. We’re not taking their money. We’re not destroying their savings. We’re not taking over the oil companies. We’re not taking over the car companies. We are not the ones in the process of destroying the U.S. healthcare system.

Bottom line. We’ve seen and heard this kind of rhetoric from Democrats before. It is still name-calling, only now we are being compared to Hamas, Hezbollah, and al-Qaeda.

Limbaugh continues . . .

I don’t want to hear any more crap from Democrats about “civility.” I don’t want to be preached to one more time by these holier-than-thou, better-than-everybody-else, smarter-than-everybody-else craven villains about “civility.” I have to tell you, folks (and I know that I am not alone): I am mad as all get out. The Democrats and their cohorts and the Drive-Bys have collectively ratcheted up this divisive, uncivil, reactionary language to trash the Tea Party — and, by extension, conservatives. We’re not terrorists! We’re not killing people. We are Americans who disagree with you! We’re Americans who disagree with statism. We are Americans who disagree with socialism, communism and liberalism.

Consideringstand-by-country what the Obama administration has done to “remake America,” you and I, the American people, are the real hostages. Ironically, it is the tea party people who have followed Obama’s advice to “put country over party.”

Link: Media Reality Check: During Debt Talks, Liberal Media Savaged Tea Party as Ignorant, Irrational Terrorists

Religion, War On Terror

Civilians Killed In Pakistan

At least six civilians have been killed in a bomb blast outside the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar. This time it is not from a drone strike on a Taliban hideout. This is Muslim on Muslim terrorism.

No word on whether any Korans were also blown up. There would be hell to pay for that.

So far there are no fatwas ordered on the perpetrators. And why is that you ask? Probably because Islam is the religion of peace and Allah is all-knowing.

Link: Deadly bomb kills six near Peshawar.

Politics, War On Terror

Shock And Awe?

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You see the stories every year about the sacrifices our people have made, on our behalf, for serving in the military.

That we owe our very existence to those brave and patriotic men and women is not even debatable. The families they left behind should not be forgotten either.

While you can, please thank those in uniform for what they do on your behalf. Not just today, but every day. Reach your hand out and thank them for their service.

The strain on the families for their loss is one thing. But what about the strain of protracted wars on the families and the soldiers who decide to make military service a career?

Have you noticed that wars nowadays seem to be longer? Casualties are less in numbers than they once were, but the strain of a 10 year (and counting) war on the soldier and their families are nothing short of extraordinary.

We have seen political correctness dictate a lot of how we fight our wars in the last few decades. The only problem is that our enemies don’t share that same mindset. Our enemies today are unaffected by political correctness and, in fact, use it against us to their advantage.

It’s about time we re-evaluate how we conduct a war, once it is obvious we are in one. Fighting wars that seem to never end is not a winning strategy. After ten years in the Afghan/Iraq war, everybody except our enemy is growing weary. That includes our soldiers and their families doing all the heavy lifting.

Perhaps it is time to take another look at how we will fight a war? What I’m suggesting is committing enough assets to obliterate an enemy in short order, no matter which side of whoever’s border they are on. Once the world wakes up to that ‘new world order,’ the world will be a more peaceful place.

Politics, War On Terror

bin Laden’s Parting Shot

UPDATE 5/7/2011: Here is a picture of Usama bin Laden at room temperature.

Despite President Obama’s political calculations, pictures of the dead bin Laden are starting to come out. To think that releasing the culmination of this part of the war would stir up more enemies is ridiculous. They already are our enemy because we are theirs. Not showing them will not change that nor will it change their desire to kill us all anyway.

And this, from the same guy that demanded the release of the Abu Ghraib prisoner pics. Let’s see them all Mr. President. Let our people and our enemy know what happens when the U.S. gets attacked.

After all, what is a pictorial of the bin Laden years without his parting shot?

Oh that’s right. The picture has not been released. Yet! That won’t happen until  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney tells us just how transparent an administration they are. And the longer we wait, the weaker we look. In so many ways.

Politics, War On Terror

bin Laden Dead, Bush’s Fault?

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It was president Obama’s scant reference giving credit to the CIA, Navy Seals, and other agencies that did the heavy work in closing this chapter in the War on Terror that I was compelled to give the proper credit due to them. Just filling the void left by the Commander In Chief. In his “I” “we” and “my” speech yesterday from The White House, this only mention is totally inadequate.

We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country.  And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.

I also thought it odd that the previous administration was given no credit. Obama said this . . .

Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort. We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.+

It’s funny that President Obama missed a golden opportunity to once again blame Bush and Cheney for making it all possible. Obama gets the credit for not scrapping the plan and for supporting all the war protocols that were set-up and approved during the Bush administration including, harsh interrogation, using Gitmo, and using rendition. All of which played a role in killing Usama bin Laden. Obama gets a big Atta-Boy for that.

But that he ignored the role of his predecessor shows how “no-class” he still is.

War On Terror

O Happy Day!

Great job to the Navy Seals that sent bin Ladin right past his 70 virgins (with beards). That’s what I’m talking about! A bullet in his head, chest, arm, foot, knee, leg, hand, his other leg, knee, foot, arm, and hand. Next clip.

Looking back, it makes me wonder if the suicide bombing in December 2009 was part of the trail that led up to today’s news. It certainly was a good day for CIA director Leon Panetta.

On December 30, 2009 Hammam Kahlil Abu-Aulal al-Balawi detonated a bomb strapped to himself at the Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khwost, Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.

Two other CIA operatives were ambushed and killed in 2003 under then CIA director George J. Tenet.

They did not die in vain. NONE of our fighting men and women died in vain.

I’m a little more low-key than some about the news that bin Laden was brought to room temperature. It no doubt brought a sense of justice to the residents of the D.C. and New York areas to take to the streets like they did.

I’d say good. He’s dead. Wouldn’t you like to see his head held up, about 5 feet from his body? I mean, if you want to relate to this enemy, you have to learn to speak their language. I think they understand beheadings.