The reason that I started this Thread, I was surprised to see this in the Media, it was soon glossed over using terms like "degraded old Weapons that were no longer dangerous. BS. I have a friend of mine who has a daughter in a Marine detachment that has been handling some of these as far back as two years ago. Yes, these 500 mortar and artillery shells were pre '91, and a lot of them were in bad shape being stored in bad environmental conditions like 100+ degree desert heat. But some of them weren't, some were used by insurgents in their "improvised explosive devices". I know a lot of military folks, and it is strongly believed that 1000 tons of two different types of nerve gas were moved into Syria by Russian technicians while the U.S. wasted time trying to go through the United Nations before the invasion.
Old Chemical Weapons aren't dangerous? You have got to be kidding. I live downwind of the U.S. Army's Chemical Weapons School in Anniston Alabama. There was a big stink raised around here when they started incinerating WW 11 era weapons three years ago. A lot of Chemical Weapons are binary, meaning they don't work until two different parts are mixed together. Our country produced vast quantities of these things for years, but now the shell and bomb casings are so old they leak and are being destroyed at several sites over the country as per international treaty.
The real point that I would like people to think about is this: Why is it that the Radical Muslims hate our Society? When did this start?
The reason I think they hate us is because of the way we are perceived overseas in a completely different culture. They have never had the freedom we have, they don't have a clue about electing their own government. Women are considered property, meaning half their population has no right to contribute their ideas and talents. You have conflict between different tribes and religious factions. A big part of the problem is the garbage we export overseas in our music, cinema, TV, and now the internet. Their society is really still in the dark ages.
When did this start? I think in 1979 when the Shaw of Iran was overthrown by the radicals there. I have a man I deliver to by the name of Col. Charles Scott. He was in the US Embassy in Tehran as an Army advisor, and was held captive along with 65 others the last 444 days of Jimmy Carter's Presidency. The US has been attacked many times since, the following speech somebody sent me in an e-mail pretty much says it all:
World War III Began In 1979
This is not very long, but very informative 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 reset 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.
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 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.
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 van 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 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.
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.
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.
Tomorrow, the Fourth of July, I am going to spend with a new friend of mine. He is a Gulf War One Veteran, a US Army Major who has been to Iraq twice. Last Sunday in my Methodist Church, We gave a standing ovation to a couple of our members who have made it back. I hope that all of you will remember to thank these guys and gals in uniform, our Freedom we take for granted has been paid for with a dear price.
