September 11th Outrage- Again!

 

Where were you when the World stopped turning that September day?  The title of the great Alan Jackson song about the terrorist attacks on September 11^th, 2001. I’m like everyone else in that I will never forget the way that day affected me. I mourned that day more than I did for the loss of my parents. Never have I felt the urge to wring my hands and cry out, “what did we do wrong?”, rather I have always been more prone to cry, “Let’s get the b……..”  In addition to writing and amateur political blog and a few unpublished novels I have written lyrics to a couple of dozen gospel songs. (Southern Gospel, 4 part harmony, aka the good stuff) but I never wrote one about 9/11 for one simple reason, you can’t put profanity into a gospel song. The Evil of radical terrorism that befell our nation 11 years ago should inspire unrepentant anger. I settle for giving an amen to Toby Keith’s lyric “We’ll put a boot in you’re a.., it’s the American way.” If anger has no place in the Christian life than I read my Bible wrong. While God does not desire us to seek personal vengeance, we should be angry at the murder of innocents done in the name of Allah. We should be angry when we see the oppression and suffering of the people of the Middle East and the persecution of Christians and anyone who refuses to accept not only Islam but a particular sect of Islam. 

 

Following the September 11^th attacks America went to war. President Bush did not make every decision correctly, (what successful wartime president has? Roosevelt? Wilson? Lincoln? Of course not) but success is measured in results. In spite of dealing with a political party that was willing to undermine the US military in the field to harm the president politically, the war on terror from 2001 until 20012 was unquestionably successful. There were no more successful terror attacks in the US mainland, two crucial safe havens were  lost to the radicals ,Afghanistan and the ruling Taliban were first, than Iraq and its support of terror and capacity to manufacture weapons of mass destruction.  (Stockpiles that the world universally agreed that they had were not found but camps dedicated to training Al-Qaida affiliated groups in their use were found along with remnants of chemical weapons) Iran briefly stopped its nuclear program seeing that the US meant business, Libya disarmed, and the entire force of Al-Qaida was dedicated to trying to stall the US victories in those aforementioned nations. When Iraq was finally lost to them, they continued to stir up trouble in Afghanistan finding hiding places in Pakistan. Osama Bin Laden survived but being the number two man at Al-Qaida became the job with the shortest life expectancy in the world. God only knows how many special ops raids  went off without the public ever knowing.  Meanwhile the US ran political interference for Isreal so they could deal with Hamas in Lebanon,   a successful venture that would have been an overwhelming victory if not for Prime Minister Omert’s lack of decisiveness. Bin Laden’s “paper tiger” was devouring his cause while he hid out in his Pakistani complex.

 

• Enter Barack Hussein Obama. Quote:

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I truly believe that the day I'm inaugurated not only does the country look at itself differently, but the whole world looks at America differently.

If I'm reaching out to the Muslim world they understand that I've lived in a Muslim country, and I may be a Christian, but I understand their point of view.

My sister is half Indonesian. I traveled there all the way through my college years so I am intimately concerned with what happens in these countries and the cultures and perspectives these folks have.

And these are powerful tools for us to be able to reach out to the world, and when you combine that with my work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on everything from immigration to issues of genocide, then I think the world will have confidence that I am listening to them and that our future and our security is (sic) tied up with our ability to work with other countries of the world.

And that will ultimately make us safer. And that's something that this administration [Bush] has failed to understand.

What arrogance! What naivety! Obama’s foreign policy is based on the belief that the evil people who murdered 2,753 Americans are going to like us now because Barak Obama likes them!  Thanks to an intelligence trail that began with the Bush administration (largely gathered by methods and programs Obama opposed) Bin Laden is dead- but Al-Qaida is alive! Now they have two new countries to stage in, Egypt and Libya. Prior to the Arab Spring Hosni Mubarak ruled in Egypt. According to Vice President Biden:” Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things and he's been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interests in the region: Middle East peace efforts, the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing the relationship with Israel. … I would not refer to him as a dictator”. Of course Obama through Mubarak overboard like a racist white grandmother as soon as public opinion went against him, and now Egypt is in the hand of the Muslim Brotherhood, granddaddy of all Islamist terror groups. I am sure that other world leaders who might be on the fence will think twice about allying with us after that.  Libya was worse, as Obama committed American military forces to aid in the overthrow of the malevolent but controlled Momar Gadhafi without the slightest clue of who we were giving the country to.  This decision is directly responsible for the attacks on our embassy that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. While these attacks were planned well in advance a cheesy you-tube video was used to whip up the frenzied crowd which provided cover for the military assault that killed our men, but more importantly caused Obama to delay a fund raising trip by one hour. Obama’s response?  “Too bad about Stevens sorry to have offended you folks with that movie, maybe we can get you-tube to take it down”. Of course there was some nonspecific reference to bringing the killers to justice, just as Bill Clinton did with the bombing of the USS Cole.

 

I have more to say but I found someone to say it better, here is the “controversial” statement by Mitt Romney. “Good morning. Americans woke up this morning with tragic news and felt heavy hearts. As they consider that individuals that served in our diplomatic core were brutally murdered across the world.

This attack on American individuals and embassies is outrageous. It’s disgusting. It breaks the heart of all of us who think of these people who have served during their lives the cause of freedom and justice and honor. We mourn their loss. And join together in prayer that the spirit of the Almighty might comfort the families of those who have been so brutally slain.

Four diplomats lost their life. Including the US Ambassador, Jay Christopher Stevens, in the attack on our embassy at Benghazi, Libya. And of course, with these words, I extend my condolences to the grieving loved ones who have left behind as a result of these who have lost their lives in the service of our nation. And I know that people across America are grateful for their service. And we mourn their sacrifice.

America will not tolerate attacks against our citizens and against our embassies. We’ll defend, also, our constitutional rights of speech and assembly and religion. We have confidence in our cause in America. We respect our constitution. We stand for the principles our constitution protects. We encourage other nations to understand and respect the principles of our constitution. Because we recognize that these principles are the ultimate source of freedom for individuals around the world.

I also believe the administration was wrong to stand by a statement sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt instead of condemning their actions. It’s never too early for the United States government to condemn attacks on Americans and to defend our values.

The White House distanced itself last night from the statement saying it wasn’t cleared by Washington. That reflects the mixed signals they’re sending to the world.

The attacks in Libya and Egypt underscore that the world remains a dangerous place. And American leadership is still sorely needed. In the face of this violence, America cannot shrink from the responsibility to lead. American leadership is necessary to ensure that events in the region don’t spin out of control. We cannot hesitate to use our influence in the region to support those who share our values and our interests.

Over the last several years, we stood witness to an Arab Spring that presents an opportunity for a more peaceful and prosperous region. But it also poses the potential for peril if the forces of extremism and violence are allowed to control the course of events. We must strive to ensure that the Arab Spring does not become an Arab Winter. With that, I’m happy to take any question you may have. Steve?”

Reporter: [beginning inaudible] … statement you referred was very toughly worded statement last night. Do you regret the tone at all given what we know now?

Romney: The embassy in Cairo put out a statement after their grounds had been breached. Protesters were inside the grounds. They reiterated that statement after the breach. I think it’s a terrible course for America to stand in apology for our values. That instead when our grounds are being attacked and being breached that the first response by the United States must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation. An apology for America’s values is never the right course."

I know I can only vote once (not being an illegal immigrant or dead Chicago Democrat) and I have always intended to vote against Obama, but with this statement I have changed my mind: I now intend to vote FOR Mitt Romney!

 

You see I don’t think it was inappropriate at all for Romney to act presidential in the midst of this crisis, after all someone had to.

Until next time, keep on the firing line!