United Airlines Flight 93: September 11, 2001
A group of average Americans, who had never met, organized themselves and took a vote.
“During his 15-minute call to his wife, Jeremy Glick told her that they had taken a vote and they were going after the terrorists. After telling her he loved her, JerÂemy said, “Hold the phone, and I’ll be back.”
“September 11 was a great day when we made America weep and rubbed America’s face in the dirt,” the 50-year-old bearded militant, his legs chained, shouted from inside the caged dock of the court.
Jordanian militants hail September 11 attacks at trial – Yahoo! News
“The House yesterday passed an anodyne resolution commemorating the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. It extended sympathy to the victims and survivors; honored the military, first responders, and others who helped; thanked foreign leaders for their support; declared that America is not waging war “on any people or any faith”; reaffirmed a commitment to the global war on terrorism; and vowed “never [to] forget the sacrifices made” on 9/11 or to “bow to terrorist demands.”
No one could disagree with that, right? Not quite. The House vote for the resolution was 402-6; here are the six far-left Democrats who voted “no”:”
John Conyers (Mich.)
Barbara Lee (Calif.)
Jim McDermott (Wash.)
Cynthia McKinney (Ga.)
Pete Stark (Calif.)
Lynn Woolsey (Calif.)
From: Best of the Web Today – September 9, 2005
By JAMES TARANTO
“In 1998 Osama bin Laden explained his war aims to ABC News: “Allah ordered us in this religion to purify Muslim land of all non-believers.” As The New Republic’s Peter Beinart commented, bin Laden is not a crusader for social justice but “an ethnic cleanser on a scale far greater than the Hutus and the Serbs, a scale that has only one true Twentieth Century parallel.”
In the 1990s, America mobilized its military power to go to the rescue of Muslims in the Balkans who were being ethnically cleansed by Serbian communists. This counted for nothing in al-Qaeda’s calculations, any more than did America’s support for Muslim peasants in Afghanistan fighting for their freedom against Red Army invaders in the 1980s. The war against radical Islam is not about what America has done, but about what America is. As bin Laden told the world on October 7, the day America began its military response, the war is between those of the faith and those outside the faith, between those who submit to the believers’ law and those infidels who do not.”
Excerpt from:
How the Left Undermined America’s Security Before 9/11
By David Horowitz
FrontPageMagazine.com | September 9, 2005
http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=19427
I’m still digging around in Michael Yon’s blog and finding gold. You have to read this stuff. This below is about the Zarqawi-letter. I included this in the “Bill of Rights” category because of a growing concern (mine) that the “Media” is manipulating the outcome of this event(the war on terror). More later on that later.
“Even CNN couldn’t grasp the importance of the letter. They ended up giving more coverage to the impending E-Bay auction of Jennifer Aniston’s old love letters than to the missive in which the top Al Queda leader in Mosul writes to the second most wanted man in the world, and describes in amazing detail the weaknesses and impending collapse of the terrorist network in Mosul and surrounds. Only then, did the military ask if I wanted to write about the letter.
Every one, even a “higher up” deserves the benefit of the doubt, and should be entitled to one mistake. But how many times, and how many major stories have to be mangled into meaninglessness before someone connects the cables and lets the information flow in a direction other than down the mainstream media drain?”
The following text excerpts and photos are from Michael Yon : Online Magazine Thursday, August 25, 2005
“Shots were fired behind us but around a corner to the left.
Both the young 2nd lieutenant and the young specialist were inside a shop when a close-quarters firefight broke out, and they ran outside. Not knowing how many men they were fighting, they wanted backup. LTC Kurilla began running in the direction of the shooting. He passed by me and I chased, Kurilla leading the way.
There was a quick and heavy volume of fire. And then LTC Kurilla was shot.
Three bullets reach flesh: One snaps his thigh bone in half.
Both legs and an arm are shot.”
Read the rest at Michael Yon : Online Magazine
This guy is in Iraq and funding his disaptches himself and through donations.
From his About Me:
Michael Yon, author of “Danger Close,” is currently in Iraq. Email: MichaelYonIraq@hotmail.com Michael Yon is an independent, informed observer chronicling the monumentally important events in the efforts to stabilize Iraq. His dispatches have the benefit of his life experiences without drawbacks based on deadlines or demands of marketplace. The cost of these dispatches is borne solely by Michael. Readers who enjoy these dispatches and want to support Michael’s mission in Iraq, can make a contribution using the PayPal links which are activated when the “support the next dispatch” button is clicked. Donations can also be sent to Michael Yon P O Box 416 Westport Pt MA 02791
For at least 20 years, since my days as a beat cop, people have accused me of thinking dark. I have been called a pessimist and often heard things like, “How can you live your life always expecting something bad to happen?†I don’t bother to argue and I often just smile and reply “Sometimes paranoia is just smart thinking” One day I pointed out what I saw as an obviously dangerous way of thinking, to a friend. He thought a moment and said “You know, I’m not paranoid but it’s nice to know someone who is.”
I learned a long time ago that the world is an incredibly dangerous place. I stay optimistic but I am prepared for the worst. For instance, if someone should attack my city with a dirty bomb, or biological or chemical weapon of mass destruction, I have in my car all the stuff I need to get safely home to my children, decontaminate myself and take care of my family so we can all survive together. Is that thinking dark? Yes. Is it smart? I think so.
Peggy Noonan wrote this today in the WSJ.
PEGGY NOONAN
Think Dark
Don’t close those military bases. We may need them someday soon.
The federal government is doing something right now that is exactly the opposite of what it should be doing. It is forgetting to think dark. It is forgetting to imagine the unimaginable.
Governments deal in data. People in government see a collection of data as something to be used, manipulated or ignored, but whatever they do with it, it’s real. It’s numbers on a page. You can point to them.
To think dark, on the other hand, takes imagination–and something more.
As adults living in the world, we know some things. As Murphy taught us, if it can go wrong, it will go wrong. As the journalist Harrison Salisbury said, in summing up what he’d learned in a lifetime observing history, “Expect the unexpected.” As JFK taught us, “There’s always some poor son of a bitch who doesn’t get the word”–someone in the field who doesn’t know what’s going on and does exactly the wrong thing. As Ronald Reagan once said in conversation, man has never invented a weapon he didn’t ultimately use. And as life has taught us since 9/11, we live in a dangerous age and the dangers aren’t over, if they will ever be.
When you think dark, you’re often and inescapably thinking with your gut, a vulgar way of referring to a certainty that lives somewhere between your spirit, soul and intellect. Your gut knows things your brain can’t assert as fact because they’re not facts, not yet. It can take guts to listen to your gut.
It’s a typical morning at Camp Anaconda, the giant US military base 50 miles north of Baghdad – light breeze, temperatures heading to 100 degrees, scattered mortar fire. Ryan Lackey is getting ready for today’s assignment: installing a pair of satellite Internet connections at Camp Warhorse about 30 miles away.
Lackey, 26, is founder and CTO of Blue Iraq, a war zone startup that has operated out of Anaconda since December. It’s a bootstrap operation – three employees, tent accommodations, Army chow – that has been profitable from its first day. “The military’s a great market,” he says. “They have lots of money, and they know what they want.” His customers are mostly base commanders and DOD contractors, plus the occasional group of soldiers who chip in to get Internet access.
Army speeds high-tech tools to soldiers | CNET News.com
The U.S. Army is playing up its ability to get high-tech tools to soldiers in the field more quickly and more affordably.
Rather than weapons, the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force is focusing on devices such as surveillance systems for searching out explosives, or handheld computers with voice recognition that carry a stockpile of phrases in Arabic. The goal isn’t to devise the gadgets from scratch; instead, the unit looks for commercial products or items already in the production pipeline.
General Aviation is NOT A ‘WEAPON OF MASS EFFECT,’ AOPA SAYS
AOPA made it clear to yet another government agency last week that general aviation airplanes are not so-called weapons of mass effect. AOPA was invited to address the Homeland Security Advisory Council Weapons of Mass Effect Prevention Task Force. The group is charged with designing defenses to prevent large-scale weapons (such as large bombs or nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons) from entering the United States. AOPA educated the task force about general aviation, using facts, figures, and graphics from the association’s GA Serving America Web site ( http://www.gaservingamerica.org ). “I explained again that most general aviation aircraft don’t have the size or carrying capacity to make an effective weapon,” said Andy Cebula, AOPA senior vice president of government and technical affairs. “And I reiterated all of the steps we’ve taken since 9/11 to improve the security of our aircraft and airports.”
Clearly stating how a lot of us feel.
According to Snopes, this is not shown to be a hoax. They show the status as “Research in Progress†as of 14 June 2005
This “Letter of Apology” was written by Lieutenant General Chuck Pitman, US Marine Corps, Retired:
“For good and ill, the Iraqi prisoner abuse mess will remain an issue. On the one hand, right thinking Americans will abhor the stupidity of the actions while on the other hand, political glee will take control and fashion this minor event into some modern day massacre.
I humbly offer my opinion here:
I am sorry that the last seven times we Americans took up arms and sacrificed the blood of our youth, it was in the defense of Muslims (Bosnia, Kosovo, Gulf War 1, Kuwait, etc.).
I am sorry that no such call for an apology upon the extremists came after 9/11.
I am sorry that all of the murderers on 9/11 were Islamic Arabs.
I am sorry that most Arabs and Muslims have to live in squalor under savage dictatorships.
I am sorry that their leaders squander their wealth.
I am sorry that their governments breed hate for the US in their religious schools, mosques, and government-controlled media.
I am sorry that Yassar Arafat was kicked out of every Arab country and high-jacked the Palestinian “cause.”
I am sorry that no other Arab country will take in or offer more than a token amount of financial help to those same Palestinians.
I am sorry that the USA has to step in and be the biggest financial supporter of poverty stricken Arabs while the insanely wealthy Arabs blame the USA for all their problems.
I am sorry that our own left wing, our media, and our own brainwashed masses do not understand any of this (from the misleading vocal elements of our society like radical professors, CNN and the NY TIMES).
PARAMETERS, US Army War College Quarterly – Summer 2004
Counterinsurgency Lessons from Vietnam
I Saw It All. Then I Saw Nothing.
BY DANIEL HENNINGER
Tuesday, April 9, 2002 12:01 a.m. EDT
(This article originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 12, 2001. It was among 10 articles that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting.)
I saw the airliner at the instant it hit the north tower of the World Trade Center. A little later I saw the flames burst out of the south tower when the second airliner hit it. I saw people fall from the top of the World Trade Center. I saw the south tower fall down. A little later, I saw the north tower fall down. I have, in the past several hours, looked into lower Manhattan, and each time, where the World Trade Center stood, there is absolutely nothing.
The Command Post – Global War On Terror – Guantanamo GI’s Blast Visiting Home State Democrats
Soldiers from Massachusetts and Hawaii who work at the U.S. military detention facility at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, gave visiting home-state senators a piece of their mind last week. Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, and Daniel K. Akaka, Hawaii Democrat, met with several soldiers during a visit led by Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John W. Warner, Virginia Republican.
Pentagon officials said soldiers criticized the harsh comments made recently by Senate Democrats.
Wired News: Terror Forum Sows Seeds of Jihad
A popular pro-jihadist, London-registered message board — Tajdeed.org.uk — is under scrutiny as the fallout from the London terror attack continues.
“In general, I think we’re getting used to cameras. Hey, that’s just the way the world is”
No, Orwellian civilizations will never happen. It’s just fiction. NOT!
Four more Islamo-fascists tried to blow four bombs in London today. We need to stop being so damn politically correct. Britain appeased the terrorists by passing a religous hate act which I don’t believe will have any impact and look what it got them, more attacks. America went directly to Afghanistan after 9/11. While Britain can’t do that they need to start cracking down on mosques and do it now. If muslims in the western world will not provide the information that we need to catch these people then we are not far from all muslims being rounded up to catch the few that would do us harm. If the governments of the United States of America and Great Britain are not going to respond more vigoroulsy to the fascists then the people must take it upon themselves to do something.
“…Governments are instituded among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…”
This insanity reported by Gandalf23.
How best to blow up people on a bus – the chilling video circulating on terrorist websites
The 26-minute tape gives a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to pack the belt with shrapnel and high explosive, and then detonate it on board for maximum loss of life.
