Why do we call it terrorism when it is really a war?
Some random thoughts on a sad day.
9/11/2001
What can we do? We cannot stop it from happening again. Thousands of aircraft constantly fly over our cities everyday. When was the last EL AL flight hijacked? From reports the hijackers took over the planes with knives. It has also been reported that the FAA will change the weak policy on knives so no knives of any size or type will be allowed on flights. Steel or plastic doesn’t matter, no knives at all. That is the EXACT response I thought would happen. It has happened with guns for years now, someone commits a crime with an AK-47 and we outlaw AK-47's. Just think what a little .38 so called "Saturday Night Special" would have done in the hands of the pilot on those flights? We would be patching a few holes in the plane and issuing free travel vouchers to the LIVING passengers! Armed Air Marshal’s are a good idea but 100 armed passengers on those flights would have been much better. Our "official" response was the predictable one, Ban Knives!
I could never be the President of the United States, other then for the obvious reasons that nobody would vote for me! While watching the news coverage, I was struck by the passive tones all of our elected official were taking. I would have been on the television screaming that I would seek out the responsible scumbags, their wives, their children, their parents, brothers, sisters and any other known associates and friends and have them skinned alive and then have that video transferred over the Internet to the entire world. Not once, in hours of listening, did I hear anyone express anger, grief yes, but no real anger. There was a lot of talk of tracking down bin Laden or whoever was responsible and bringing them to justice. That just isn’t good enough for me. So called "Terrorism Experts" spoke of months of investigation to find who was responsible. My ass, we should know who was responsible in a week, then unleash the dogs in the most massive strike this country could put out. I mean bone jarring, teeth rattling B-52 strikes that would put the fear of GOD, ALLAH, or whomever into those meager few that survived. The four remaining battleships should be parked off the coast and rain down on these people for a month. Thank God I am not in that position to make those calls. I have heard dozens of reporters talking about counseling and how our children needed support or they would be scarred for life, but I have not heard any talk of massive retaliation. I think our children could hold their heads a little bit higher and not worry about therapy if the country of Libya or whomever sponsored this attack ceased to exist. I mean turn it into nothing but dirt and stones, bulldoze what is left, salt the earth so it would not sustain any plant life and occupy it as the newest largest U.S. military base in the world. The Marine Corps could then own Tripoli instead of just singing about it. Yes, I do have somewhat of a temper, but it takes a lot to piss me off.
Our elected officials all over the tube talk of "a cowardly act of terrorism." It wasn’t cowardly by my standards, dastardly or despicable yes but not cowardly. We as a country have given out the Medal Of Honor over the years to men who have thrown their selves on grenades to save the lives of their fellow troops, men who have charged machine guns to gain ground or closed flooding hatches on submarines while sacrificing their own lives. These brave men believed in the cause and willingly sacrificed themselves for the cause. Just because the shoe is now on the other foot does not change the fact that these were highly trained brave men who pulled off these attacks. While I certainly do not agree with what they did I do indeed think of them as brave. Filling a truck with explosives and setting a fuse then running away to leave it kill hundreds of unarmed men, women and children is a cowardly act. That act was committed by an American. Methodically planning out and hijacking a commercial aircraft then driving it into a building isn't cowardly. I certainly would not do it on purpose! This might well rank up there as one of the bravest acts I have ever witnessed, right along with that Chinese Student who stood in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square. That kid knew he was facing certain death but his dedication at such a young age really moved me. What it really takes is dedication to the cause, one thing we have long forgotten as a country for a plethora of reasons. Life is just too easy here. The so called "terrorists" or "soldiers" depending upon who you listen to, used real ingenuity to come up with the weapons they fought with. They did not have planes of their own to do this with so the stole a few. "Improvised, Adapted and Overcame." That is not a cowards creed. Let’s face it, these folks really did have their shit together. Tom Clancy had the target as the White House in his novel when the hijacked plane was crash landed, these folks went for maximum lives and took on the twin towers.
In the beginning I mentioned EL AL airlines, it was for a reason. When the Israelis are attacked they make a massive response hoping for about a twenty to one body count but the cycle still continues. This alone is not the answer. We need to go further in foreign policy then eliminating a place on the map. We have to fight them as they fight us, with intelligence. We need to think as they do. How could a little nation like Vietnam fight the great Satan of the United States and come out the victor? How could the little nation of Afghanistan fight the Evil Empire of the Soviet Union and come out the victor? We have forgotten how to win and the commitment it takes to stay the course. We have grown fat and happy. In fighting the Moslems in the Philippines during the Insurrection it took determination to stop the fanatics. We threw away the .38 caliber revolver in exchange for the .45, a lesson we forgot with the change back to the 9mm. (Most of the Special Ops types units are switching back to the .45, maybe somebody does read their history?) What we also forgot is much less reported, one low profile unit in that turn of the century Army made sure that every Moslem enemy body recovered after the battles would be wrapped in a pigs skin for burial. Every bullet was lubricated with rendered pig fat grease. It was a propaganda coup, word spread through the jungles quickly, they would never get to Allah. They weren’t in such a hurry to die from that point on. Now maybe we couldn’t wrap them all in pig skins but we need to rethink the way we fight back. As Sun Tzu said "Know Your Enemy And Know Yourself; In A Hundred Battles You Will Never Be In Peril." All Moslem’s are not our enemies and I am not suggesting they are but we do need to identify the enemy and gather together against them. We think of the 241 Marines killed in Beirut, the hostages taken by Iran, the war with Iraq, the bombing of the Cole, the bombings of the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the Saudi barracks, etc., etc. as individual crimes, they are not, they are a concerted effort against the common enemy, America. It is a war, we just haven’t acknowledged it yet.
Did the sight of a united congress singing "God Bless America" perplex you as it did me? I normally get a chill down my spine every time I hear that song, this time it didn't have that effect. They did it to mug for the camera and to me that isn't patriotism it was all about getting votes. They stood tall after the "All Clear" sign was lit but you couldn't find them in the morning when the country was looking for leadership! Next time prayer in school comes up on the floor let's see how many of them sing about God then! Seems like quite a group of hypocrites to me. The real heroes ran INTO the building that morning to save lives, the fire fighters, the police and Father Mike giving Last Rights when he was killed on the spot, those are my heroes. Hey what do I know, I just call 'em like I see 'em.
Soap Box Off