Don't know if you've seen this before -- if not, it is outstanding.
Sending it to you folks is probably like "preaching to the choir".
US 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.
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. This seizure was an outright attack on
American soil; it was an attack that held the world's most powerful country
hostage and paralyzed a Presidency. The attack on this sovereign U. S. embassy
set the stage for events to follow for the next 25 years.
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 down sized/right sized since the
end of the Vietnam War. A poorly trained, poorly equ! ipped 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.
In April of 1983 a large vehicle packed with high explosives was driven
into the US Embassy compound in Beirut When it explodes, it kills 63 people. The
alarm went off again and America hit the Snooze Button once more.
Then just six short months later in 1983 a large truck heavily laden down
with over 2500 pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the US Marine
Corps headquarters in Beirut and 241 US servicemen are killed. America mourns
her dead and hit the Snooze Button once more.
Two months later in December 1983, another truck loaded with explosives is
driven into the US Embassy in Kuwait, and America continues her slumber.
The following year, in September 1984, another va! n was driven into the
gate of the US Embassy in Beirut and America slept.
Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe. In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a
restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid.
Then in August 1985 a Volkswagen loaded with explosives is driven into the
main gate of the US Air Force Base at Rhein-Main, 22 are killed and the snooze
alarm is buzzing louder and louder as US interests are continually attacked.
Fifty-nine days later in 1985 a cruise ship, the Achille Lauro is hijacked
and we watched as an American in a wheelchair is singled out of the passenger
list and executed.
The terrorists then shift their tactics to bombing civilian airliners when
they bomb TWA Flight 840 in April of
1986 that killed 4 and the most tragic bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 over
Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 259.
Clinton treated these terrorist acts as crimes; in fact we are still
trying to bring these people to trial. These are acts of war.
The wake up alarm is getting louder and louder.
The terrorists decide to bring the fight to America. In January 1993, two
CIA agents are shot and killed as they enter CIA headquarters in Langley,
Virginia.
The following month, February 1993, a group of terrorists are arrested
after a rented van packed with explosives is driven into the underground parking
garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people are killed and
over 1000 are injured. Still this is a crime and not an act of war? The Snooze
alarm is depressed again.
Then in November 1995 a car bomb explodes at a US military complex in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia killing seven service men and women.
A few months later in June of 1996, another truck bomb explodes only 35
yards from the US military compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It destroys the
Khobar Towers, a US Air Force barracks, killing 19 and injuring over 500. The
terrorists are getting braver and smarter as they see that America does not
respond decisively.
They move to coordinate their attacks in a simultaneous attack on two US
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.. These attacks were planned with precision.
They kill 224. America responds with cruise missile attacks and goes back to
sleep.
The USS Cole was docked in the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling on 12
October 2000, when a small craft pulled along side the ship and exploded killing
17 US Navy Sailors. Attacking a US War Ship is an act of war, but we sent the
FBI to investigate the crime and went back to sleep.
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
official 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 25 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.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamamoto said "... it seems all
we have done is awakened a sleeping giant." This is the message we need to
disseminate to terrorists around the world.
Support Our Troops and support President Bush for having the courage,
political or militarily, to address what so many who preceded him didn't have
the backbone to do, both Democrat and Republican. 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.
If you believe in this please forward it 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. If you don't
believe it, just delete it and go back to sleep.
Sending it to you folks is probably like "preaching to the choir".
US 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.
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. This seizure was an outright attack on
American soil; it was an attack that held the world's most powerful country
hostage and paralyzed a Presidency. The attack on this sovereign U. S. embassy
set the stage for events to follow for the next 25 years.
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 down sized/right sized since the
end of the Vietnam War. A poorly trained, poorly equ! ipped 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.
In April of 1983 a large vehicle packed with high explosives was driven
into the US Embassy compound in Beirut When it explodes, it kills 63 people. The
alarm went off again and America hit the Snooze Button once more.
Then just six short months later in 1983 a large truck heavily laden down
with over 2500 pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the US Marine
Corps headquarters in Beirut and 241 US servicemen are killed. America mourns
her dead and hit the Snooze Button once more.
Two months later in December 1983, another truck loaded with explosives is
driven into the US Embassy in Kuwait, and America continues her slumber.
The following year, in September 1984, another va! n was driven into the
gate of the US Embassy in Beirut and America slept.
Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe. In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a
restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid.
Then in August 1985 a Volkswagen loaded with explosives is driven into the
main gate of the US Air Force Base at Rhein-Main, 22 are killed and the snooze
alarm is buzzing louder and louder as US interests are continually attacked.
Fifty-nine days later in 1985 a cruise ship, the Achille Lauro is hijacked
and we watched as an American in a wheelchair is singled out of the passenger
list and executed.
The terrorists then shift their tactics to bombing civilian airliners when
they bomb TWA Flight 840 in April of
1986 that killed 4 and the most tragic bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 over
Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 259.
Clinton treated these terrorist acts as crimes; in fact we are still
trying to bring these people to trial. These are acts of war.
The wake up alarm is getting louder and louder.
The terrorists decide to bring the fight to America. In January 1993, two
CIA agents are shot and killed as they enter CIA headquarters in Langley,
Virginia.
The following month, February 1993, a group of terrorists are arrested
after a rented van packed with explosives is driven into the underground parking
garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people are killed and
over 1000 are injured. Still this is a crime and not an act of war? The Snooze
alarm is depressed again.
Then in November 1995 a car bomb explodes at a US military complex in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia killing seven service men and women.
A few months later in June of 1996, another truck bomb explodes only 35
yards from the US military compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It destroys the
Khobar Towers, a US Air Force barracks, killing 19 and injuring over 500. The
terrorists are getting braver and smarter as they see that America does not
respond decisively.
They move to coordinate their attacks in a simultaneous attack on two US
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.. These attacks were planned with precision.
They kill 224. America responds with cruise missile attacks and goes back to
sleep.
The USS Cole was docked in the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling on 12
October 2000, when a small craft pulled along side the ship and exploded killing
17 US Navy Sailors. Attacking a US War Ship is an act of war, but we sent the
FBI to investigate the crime and went back to sleep.
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
official 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 25 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.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamamoto said "... it seems all
we have done is awakened a sleeping giant." This is the message we need to
disseminate to terrorists around the world.
Support Our Troops and support President Bush for having the courage,
political or militarily, to address what so many who preceded him didn't have
the backbone to do, both Democrat and Republican. 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.
If you believe in this please forward it 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. If you don't
believe it, just delete it and go back to sleep.
What's with you today?
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