"do Not Forget" By A Us Marine

[CL60]

"DO NOT FORGET"

I sat in a movie theater watching "Schindler's List," asked myself, "Why didn't the Jews fight back?"

Now I know why.

I sat in a movie theater, watching "Pearl Harbor" and asked myself, "Why weren't we prepared?"

Now I know why.

Civilized people cannot fathom, much less predict, the actions of evil people.

On September 11, dozens of capable airplane passengers allowed themselves to be overpowered by a handful of poorly armed terrorists because they did not comprehend the depth of hatred that motivated their captors.

On September 11, thousands of innocent people were murdered because too many Americans naively reject the reality that some nations are dedicated to the dominance of others. Many political pundits, pacifists and media personnel want us to forget the carnage. They say we must focus on the bravery of the rescuers and ignore the cowardice of the killers. They implore us to understand the motivation of the perpetrators. Major television stations have announced they will assist the healing process by not replaying devastating footage of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers.

I will not be manipulated.

I will not pretend to understand.

I will not forget.

I will not forget the liberal media who abused freedom of the press to kick our country when it was vulnerable and hurting.

I will not forget that CBS anchor Dan Rather preceded President Bush's address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel about him, he is still our president."

I will not forget that ABC TV anchor Peter Jennings questioned President Bush's motives for not returning immediately to Washington, DC and commented, "We're all pretty skeptical and cynical about Washington."

And I will not forget that ABC's Mark Halperin warned if reporters weren't informed of every little detail of this war, they aren't "likely -- nor should they be expected -- to show deference."

I will not isolate myself from my fellow Americans by pretending an attack on the USS Cole in Yemen was not an attack on the United States of America.

I will not forget the Clinton administration equipped Islamic terrorists and their supporters with the world's most sophisticated telecommunications equipment and encryption technology, thereby compromising America's ability to trace terrorist radio, cell phone, land lines, faxes and modem communications.

I will not be appeased with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like those perfected by the previous administration.

I will not be comforted by "feel-good, do nothing" regulations like the silly "Have your bags been under your control?" question at the airport.

I will not be influenced by so called,"antiwar demonstrators" who exploit the right of _expression to chant anti-American obscenities.

I will not forget the moral victory handed the North Vietnamese by American war protesters who reviled and spat upon the returning Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines.

I will not be softened by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose reassurance over reality.

I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told Labor Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it?

There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must!"

I will force myself to:


-hear the weeping
-feel the helplessness
-imagine the terror
-sense the panic
-smell the burning flesh
- experience the loss
- remember the hatred.

I sat in a movie theater, watching "Private Ryan" and asked myself, "Where did they find the courage?"

Now I know.

We have no choice. Living without liberty is not living.

-- Ed Evans, MGySgt., USMC (Ret.)
Not as lean, Not as mean, But still a Marine.

Keep this going until every living American has read it and memorized it so we don't make the same mistake again.

 

[Rush Limbaugh]

Great post...

I sat through "Schindler's List" asking "is this movie EVER going to end?"

I sat through "Pearl Harbor" asking "why didn't they tell me this was a chick flick BEFORE I wasted $14?"

 

[larry]

Boy was I mad too! I was expecting a blow-em-up where eagles dare the black sheep squadrum airplane movie. But instead I got a bunch of crap about love and feelings. Ughhhh

 

[festus]

CL60 Great Post!

 

[pegasus]

CL60; this needs to be read, not just by Americans, but by all those who believe in freedom and liberty (nice to see the quote from Tony!).

This is outstanding work.

Brit by birth and now American by heart.

 

[Typhoon1244]

I will not forget the Clinton administration equipped Islamic terrorists and their supporters with the world's most sophisticated telecommunications equipment and encryption technology, thereby compromising America's ability to trace terrorist radio, cell phone, land lines, faxes and modem communications.

I'm not going to sit here and try to tell anyone that Bill C. was the greatest president of all time...but let's all remember that long before he "equipped" Islamic terrorists, the Iranians had F-14 Tomcats and the Iraqis had Hawk missiles. We were sending Stinger SAM's to Afghanistan, too. Do we all want to pretend they didn't end up in the Taliban's hands?

We've been making deals with the Devil for a long time...we just didn't always know it was him.

How to respond to September 11th...pacifists like Howard Zinn would have us strive for peace at all costs. Veterans like Gunny Evans would have us turn everything from Amman to Kuwait City into one big smoking hole. The answer probably lies somewhere in between.

How we should respond to the attack is a question nobody can really answer.

The only thing that is certain is that we must not let it happen again.

 

[avbug]

We've been making deals with the Devil for a long time...we just didn't always know it was him.

Oh, we knew. We just thought that our aims were more important, and worth the cost. It's no different, today. It won't change tomorrow.

 

[Chunk]

Re: Re: "do Not Forget" By A Us Marine

I'm not going to sit here and try to tell anyone that Bill C. was the greatest president of all time...but let's all remember that long before he "equipped" Islamic terrorists, the Iranians had F-14 Tomcats and the Iraqis had Hawk missiles. We were sending Stinger SAM's to Afghanistan, too. Do we all want to pretend they didn't end up in the Taliban's hands?
[/I]

The F-14's went to Iran when the Shah was in power...in fact, a few were being prepared to be exported when the revolution took place, the aircraft ended up in the US inventory. Not sure how we were supposed to know a revolution was on the way.

The stingers were sent long before there was such a thing as the Taliban. Again, I don't think we own a crystal ball.

However, here is an indesputable fact: the NSA was tracking UBL's location via his satphone until a Clinton staffer leaked it to the press and he stopped using it. We haven't been able to track him ever since...hence Clinton bombing an aspirin factory. Way to go!

Chunk

 

[Typhoon1244]

All true...but not exactly my point. The Middle East is not one of the most stable political regions on the planet. Why would anyone in the U.S. even consider sending such advanced systems to a Middle Eastern country? The '14 had--at the time--the most advanced aircraft radar we'd developed...and we shipped them to a region where who-knows-who would have them a decade later?

We can't seem to get involved with the Middle East without getting burned.

Now, I'm intrigued that this thread is turning inot a political discussion...exactly what the good Gunny warned us about. I want to vomit when I see our "leaders" turning 9/11 into a political chess piece. (Yes, even George II is getting into the act; the invasion of Iraq should be called "Operation Second-Term.")

I sense that most Americans, when they replay in their minds the images of airliners slashing into buildings, just want revenge. Period. And you can't seek revenge from an attacker who willfuly destroys himself during the attack.

So who do we direct our anger at? Osama Bin Laden? The Muslim faith? All Middle Easterners? Israel?

Whether any of us like it or not, 9/11 was ultimately caused by Muslim fanaticism and U.S. involvement in the M/E. Take either one of those away, and it wouldn't have happened. How many times does our country have to stick its finger in a light socket before we wise up?

 

[DIRT]

Typhoon1244

I have read numerous post from you trying to defend your liberal point of view so now I will put in my .o2. In the end it is liberals like you that will so vehemently oppose action against Hussein and others like him but in turn you and liberals like yourself will be the first ones to question our leadership when Hussein or someone like him detonates a nuclear device or unleashes a biological attack against Americans. And as for your statemen suggesting the U.S. should not intervene in Middle Eastern affairs I believe some people had the same notion about the Germans and the Japanese Dec. 6 1941 but history shows us we were not then and are no longer protected by the vast oceans that served as our protection us for hundreds of years.

Also, something most of you liberals will never understand is foreign policy to say the least is very fluid, the country that is your ally today you may very well be in a conflict with tomorrow

 

[CL60]

Good points by all but the underlying "never forget" theme and the patriotic attitude of MGySgt. Evans is what moved me to paste his thoughts on this board.

I'm not one for too much political debate either but one word can best describe our interests in the ME region. Oil. Without it, who knows what would happen to our society? They want to sell it to us and we want to buy it from them. There is only one problem, without outside help, they cannot maintain stability in their region on their own. Their long history of war has proven that without a doubt.

I believe we are doing, and have done our best to maintain this stability, while trying to maintain good relations with our friends over there, while at the same time keeping our own interests in mind. It is a tough, unforgiving, and thankless job for the thousands of diplomats, politicians, and warriors out there. They have my support and gratitude.

Never forget,

 

[Typhoon1244]

Re: Typhoon1244

I have read numerous post from you trying to defend your liberal point of view...

You evidently haven't read my posts very carefully. I've been trying to defend my liberal and conservative points of view. You want to hear my conservative side again, since apparently you missed it the first time? Fine.

Yeah, I think we should get out of the Middle East...but on the way out, let's get rid of Mecca. Give everybody twenty-four hours to get out, then put a couple BGM-109's into the place. They want to attack the heart of our culture (D.C. and New York)? Fine. Let's retaliate against the heart of theirs.

You say the people living in Mecca are innocent? Really? What were the people in New York and Washington so guilty of? The Israelis have been carrying out retaliations like this for years. What are we pus_y-footing around for?

In the end it is liberals like you that will so vehemently oppose action against Hussein and others like him...

Dead wrong. I think Saddam needs to be cancelled. Let's make him go away. Having him and his regime around is like having a knife hanging over our heads...but it needed to be done twelve years ago! Instead, George I left him in power so that future presidents could go rough him up whenever their popularity numbers start going down hill. (No, I'm sure that was not really George's intent...but that's the way it worked out.) Action against Saddam is and has been necessary, but the way George II is going about it is hypocritical at best. If he really felt this strongly about Saddam, he should have begun the attack after his first day in office.

Somebody mentioned oil. As I've said before (again, you weren't reading very carefully) Russia is capable of more than matching the flow of oil we receive from the M/E. I'll bet if we made a credible threat of ceasing our consumption of Middle Eastern oil, the Saudis would put a stop to Muslim terrorism really quick.

In the end, I am a bleeding-heart Liberal who says we should stop screwing around in the Middle East. I am also a hard-core Conservative who feels like our reaction to 9/11 has been weak and ineffectual. In the end, I am an American who was stunned by last year's attack, but remains mature enough to grasp several points of view.

I'm frightened by people like Dirt (interesting handle, by the way...) who are so simple-minded that they can only see one side of any issue. Before you go flaming me for a view I've expressed and start slapping labels on me, get to know all my views, okay?

"Never forget." I think too many of us already have. Go get one of the tapes that are coming out now (HBO's In Memoriam New York is the best) and sit down and watch it. Remember how you felt when you saw a twin-engined, wide-bodied expression of our country's superiority smashed into a building. Every time a political discussion like this one rages out of control, watch it.

It's important to remember.

 

[chawbein]

"George II" was talking about regime change in iraq during the 2000 election. Watch the debates again, especially the one in St. Louis. This is no surprise if your memory is longer then a year (not meant to be a slam towards typhoon).

 

[DIRT]

Typhoon1244

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the end, I am a bleeding-heart Liberal who says we should stop screwing around in the Middle East.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well I say we all sit around oblivious to the rest of the world and wait for the next attack.

 

[StaySeated]

Not a huge deal but...

Master Gunnery Seargant is not referred to as "Gunney". If you do shorten it, "Master Guns" is more appropriate. The rank contains three stripes up and four stripes down, with a bursting bomb in the middle and looks as bad as the few people that earn the right to wear it. It is the highest achievable enlisted rank in the USMC, equal to a Sgt. Major. The above post is excellent and I am not trying to get off track or rip on anybody, just felt the need to mention the difference.

 

[Typhoon1244]

Re: Not a huge deal but...

Originally posted by StaySeated
Master Gunnery Seargant is not referred to as "Gunney."

That's embarassing; I was trying to sound "salty." I guess you can tell I was never a Marine. Thanks for the correction; I'll try to remember that.

Originally posted by chawbien
"George II" was talking about regime change in iraq during the 2000 election...

The key phrase being "during the election." He didn't do much about Iraq between his inauguration and 9/11, did he? (He's not alone; President Clinton didn't either.)

Originally posted by DIRT
Well I say we all sit around oblivious to the rest of the world and wait for the next attack.

Ending our dependence on Middle Eastern oil does not mean isolating ourselves from the world. We had men and equipment (aircraft carriers, A.F. fighters, etc.) all over the Middle East on September 11th. I didn't notice that it made a h_ll of a lot of difference in New York and Washington.

There are basically two "sides" in the Middle East: Israel, and everybody else. The U.S. has been maintaining relations with both sides for fifty years! What would we have thought of a country that traded openly with us and Japan between '41 and '45? Am I the only one who sees how foolish this is?

Here, again, is my point: our Middle East policies have been fouled up since Israel was established, and 9/11 is just one consequence of this state of affairs.

(DIRT, I really don't think you're reading my posts. Oh, and I liked the way you chose one random sentence in my reply and used it out of context to make me look like a fool. Nice job! You must have graduated from the Rush Limbaugh school of debate.)

 

[DIRT]

Typhoon

Ok you caught me I'm just pushing your buttons since you referred to me as "simple minded" but our reliance on Middle Eastern oil is not going to end nor will our support of Isreal, well I take that back our support of Isreal will end as soon as Arabs begin to contribute more money to our politicians political campaigns then our allegiances will change. Right now our politicians (both republicans and democrats) go to the highest bidders.

Rush Limbaugh...... my hero.

 

[p3jacobs]

Keep this going until every living American has read it and memorized it so we don't make the same mistake again.

I'd like to bag on Jane Fonda, but here's the old text from LtCol North's testimony to the Senate.

"Did you not recently spend close to $60,000 for a
home security system?"
Oliver replied, "Yes I did, Sir."
The senator continued, trying to get a laugh out of the audience, "Isn't this just a little excessive?"
"No sir," continued Oliver.
"No. And why not?"
"Because the life of my family and I were threatened."
"Threatened? By who."
"By a terrorist, sir."
"Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare you that much?"
"His name is OSAMA bin Laden."
At this point the senator tried to repeat the name, but couldn't pronounce it. A couple of people laughed at the attempt. Then the senator continued.
"Why are you so afraid of this man?"
"Because sir, he is the most evil person alive that I know of."
"And what do you recommend we do about him?"
"If it were me I would recommend an assassin team be formed to eliminate him and his men from the face of the earth."
The senator disagreed with this approach and that was all they showed of the clip.
It's scary when you think 15 years ago the government was aware of bin Laden and his potential threat to the security of the world. I guess like all great tyrants they start small but if left untended spread like the virus they truly are.

 

[Chunk]

Sorry...

This is an urban legend....It wasn't UBL, it was Abu Nidal. Here is the snopes.com link to the actually story including an email from Ollie himself about the matter:

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/north.htm


Gotta love snopes....

Not trying to burst bubbles, just setting the record straight,

Chunk

 

[Typhoon1244]

Re: Typhoon

Ok you caught me I'm just pushing your buttons since you referred to me as "simple minded"...

Well, you are a pilot, right? I apologize, but let's make a deal. You stop using the word "liberal" as if it were an epithet, and I'll stop calling you simple-minded."

Right now our politicians (both Republicans and Democrats) go to the highest bidders.

At least we agree on something....

Rush Limbaugh...my hero.

See? I knew you were simple minded! (Just kidding...)

 

[Rush Limbaugh]

Rush Limbaugh is my hero too.

 

[p3jacobs]

Not the first time I was corrected by somebody in the back. Thanks for the verification....no bubbles here to burst.

 

[Chunk]

What's that I hear? History in the making...an FE admitting that an AW has been right from time to time....

 

[waka]

Sorry MGySgt Evans, ideas cannot be defeated by force. Your (although possibly well intentioned) pseudo-patriotic stupor has blinded you to the fact that problems need to be attacked at the cause, not the symptoms.