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| How 9-11 happened (Op-Ed by Ann Coulter) |
| 2004-04-02 |
| (Long (sorry) but a neat summary to what lead up to 9/11....) How 9-11 happened We don’t need a "commission" to find out how 9-11 happened. The truth is in the timeline: PRESIDENT CARTER, DEMOCRAT In 1979, President Jimmy Carter allowed the Shah of Iran to be deposed by a mob of Islamic fanatics. A few months later, Muslims stormed the U.S. Embassy in Iran and took American Embassy staff hostage. Carter retaliated by canceling Iranian visas. He eventually ordered a disastrous and humiliating rescue attempt, crashing helicopters in the desert. PRESIDENT REAGAN, REPUBLICAN The day of Reagan’s inauguration, the hostages were released. In 1982, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut was bombed by Muslim extremists. President Reagan sent U.S. Marines to Beirut. In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut were blown up by Muslim extremists. Reagan said the U.S. would not surrender, but Democrats threw a hissy fit, introducing a resolution demanding that our troops be withdrawn. Reagan caved in to Democrat caterwauling in an election year and withdrew our troops — bombing Syrian-controlled areas on the way out. Democrats complained about that, too. In 1985 an Italian cruise ship, the Achille Lauro, was seized and a 69-year-old American was shot and thrown overboard by Muslim extremists. Reagan ordered a heart-stopping mission to capture the hijackers after "the allies" promised them safe passage. In a daring operation, American fighter pilots captured the hijackers and turned them over to the Italians — who then released them to safe harbor in Iraq. On April 5, 1986, a West Berlin discotheque frequented by U.S. servicemen was bombed by Muslim extremists from the Libyan Embassy in East Berlin, killing an American. Ten days later, Reagan bombed Libya, despite our dear ally France refusing the use of their airspace. Americans bombed Qaddafi’s residence, killing his daughter, and dropped a bomb on the French Embassy "by mistake." Oops! Reagan also stoked a long, bloody war between heinous regimes in Iran and Iraq. All this was while winning a final victory over Soviet totalitarianism. PRESIDENT BUSH I, MODERATE REPUBLICAN President-elect George Bush claimed he would continue Reagan’s policy of retaliating against terrorism, but did not. Without Reagan to gin her up, even Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher went wobbly, saying there would be no revenge for the bombing. In 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. In early 1991, Bush went to war with Iraq. A majority of Democrats opposed the war, and later complained that Bush didn’t "finish off the job" with Saddam. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, DEMOCRAT And his wife Hillary.... In February 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed by Muslim fanatics, killing five people and injuring hundreds. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing. In October 1993, 18 American troops were killed in a savage firefight in Somalia. The body of one American was dragged through the streets of Mogadishu as the Somalian hordes cheered. Clinton responded by calling off the hunt for Mohammed Farrah Aidid and ordering our troops home. Osama bin Laden later told ABC News: "The youth ... realized more than before that the American soldier was a paper tiger and after a few blows ran in defeat." Thanks Clinton! In November 1995, five Americans were killed and 30 wounded by a car bomb in Saudi Arabia set by Muslim extremists. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing. In June 1996, a U.S. Air Force housing complex in Saudi Arabia was bombed by Muslim extremists. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing. Do I detect a pattern here??? Months later, Saddam attacked the Kurdish-controlled city of Erbil. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, lobbed some bombs into Iraq hundreds of miles from Saddam’s forces. In November 1997, Iraq refused to allow U.N. weapons inspections to do their jobs and threatened to shoot down a U.S. U-2 spy plane. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing. In February 1998, Clinton threatened to bomb Iraq, but called it off when the United Nations said no. On Aug. 7, 1998, U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by Muslim extremists. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing. On Aug. 20, Monica Lewinsky appeared for the second time to testify before the grand jury. Clinton responded by bombing Afghanistan and Sudan, severely damaging a camel and an aspirin factory. On Dec. 16, the House of Representatives prepared to impeach Clinton the next day. Clinton retaliated by ordering major air strikes against Iraq, described by The New York Times as "by far the largest military action in Iraq since the end of the Gulf War in 1991." Does it look like Clinton did this to distract people from his troubles at home?? The only time Clinton decided to go to war with anyone in the vicinity of Muslim fanatics was in 1999 — when Clinton attacked Serbians who were fighting Islamic fanatics. In October 2000, our warship, the USS Cole, was attacked by Muslim extremists. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing. PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH, REPUBLICAN Bush came into office telling his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, he was "tired of swatting flies" — he wanted to eliminate al-Qaida. On Sept. 11, 2001, when Bush had been in office for barely seven months, 3,000 Americans were murdered in a savage terrorist attack on U.S. soil by Muslim extremists. Since then, Bush has won two wars against countries that harbored Muslim fanatics, captured Saddam Hussein, immobilized Osama bin Laden, destroyed al-Qaida’s base, and begun to create the only functioning democracy in the Middle East other than Israel. Democrats opposed it all — except their phony support for war with Afghanistan, which they immediately complained about and said would be a Vietnam quagmire. And now they claim to be outraged that in the months before 9-11, Bush did not do everything Democrats opposed doing after 9-11. What a surprise. |
| Posted by:CrazyFool |
| #17 That you refer to President Bush as "shrub" demonstrates you are either schizophrenic or duplicitous. In either case, your posts strike me as a parody of buffoonery - done too well to be accidental. I find your now well-documented tough guy stance on terrorism incompatible with the wholesale denigation of the one man with the stones to wield America's might to fight it - and apparently hinging your judgement upon one word -- now that is truly stupid. Such sensitivity is clearly unhealthy and unbalanced. From this, I must conclude your words are wasted and empty gestures. To have the alternative, Gore, as President today would simply be a disaster of the first order. Make that a series of disasters. Regards Bush, love him or hate him - but disrespect him? To arrive at your position requires you to be an idiotarian and / or intellectually dishonest ass, also of the first order. "The WoT must be fought on ethical terms alone without the least hint of theological overtones. To approach it otherwise merely contributes undeserved momentum to the jihadists and not much else. It speaks rather ill for your perception of reality that you seem unable to appreciate this." You obviously know less about Islam and Islamists, particularly Wahhabists, than you pretend. And, in that vein, I believe pretense is your main feature and contribution. Ponderous musings that, when distilled, yield precious little substance. I have no automatic bias against any poster - their posts determine my reaction. You fucked up, Dumpster, on this thread and the Ann Coulter Op-Ed thread - betraying your duplicitous and asinine true nature. Whatever else you may be, even including your claim of dedicated foe of terrorism, you're a self-defeating moron - polished posts notwithstanding. Give me a semi-literate but honest man or woman - those of your specious ilk can simply piss off. You want to claim the high ground. Fine - I'm sure it will help you sleep well. You are easily the best and most perfect buffoon of hypocrisy I've ever encountered. You should eschew Rantburg and start your own blog. I'm sure you'd be a massive success. You have such a uniquely offensive, arrogant "voice of God", yet smarmy style. What a draw you'd be. Best of luck. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-03 10:18:49 PM |
| #16 .com, if you need an explanation of why calling the WoT a "Crusade" demonstrates an IQ equal to dirt, then you need to look in the mirror while you spew your bile. That one monumental "gaff" has been paraded ad nauseam by bin Laden and instantly served to polarize the WoT into religious terms. Shrub has done little enough to disspell this notion by continuing to paint pluralistic America as a Christian nation. The WoT must be fought on ethical terms alone without the least hint of theological overtones. To approach it otherwise merely contributes undeserved momentum to the jihadists and not much else. It speaks rather ill for your perception of reality that you seem unable to appreciate this. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-03 1:03:39 PM |
| #15 Dumpster - Just as I thought. You're simply a pretentious asshole. Nothing more, nothing less. You've demonstrated with that one statement that you have no vision, no comprehension, no original thought, nothing to offer here. You're a spell checker applied to a vaccuum of pseudo-anti-terror rhetoric; an idiotarian. So do fuck off, fucktard. You've overstayed your welcome. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-03 1:25:42 AM |
| #14 .com, are you referring to this statement? "Try Shrub's opening salvo of a "Crusade on Terrorism." That gaff died out right quick now, didn't it?" Without wishing to seem too incredulous, does this really need elucidation? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-03 12:34:16 AM |
| #13 .com, when you get over your sophomoric insinuations, let me know. Feel free to ask your questions in the thread where they arose. ---------------------- Raj, I'm the last to claim that the United States is utterly blameless in all of this. However, in no way imaginable did we deserve or merit the 9-11 atrocity. I just happen to see terrorism as such an ultimate evil and overarching threat to the entire globe that its agenda is completely nullified by their means. Please do not hesitate going into detail on this, as you seem to be a reasonable person. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-03 12:18:22 AM |
| #12 There just happens to be some real sinkholes of illiterate fundamentalism where bilious imams can still whip up a shitstorm of anti-Western fervor. So it seems the problm lies with them, not us, unless one is a 'projection' theorist, prone to blame one's problems on everyone but themselves. |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-04-02 9:07:57 PM |
| #11 You know I love Ann! She nailed all of it! As for 'them' hating us, Phil is correct. They don't hate us as much as they envy us. The is especially true in the Arab street. If you offered green cards to every Palistian, the Gaza and West Bank would be ghost towns. Same for any other Arab 'paradises'. The exception might be Kuwait and Qatar. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2004-04-02 9:07:30 PM |
| #10 Come, come, Zenster - respond. You're all over the map playing the droll... or is that a misspelling? I assure you, in case you're suffering from some identity crisis, that Touchstone you are not. So address my questions to you. I long to be taught the error of my ways and you clearly implied you were more discerning and in possession of superior views. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-02 8:11:22 PM |
| #9 Speaking as a non-American who has probably lived in more countries on more continents than the average Rantburger. If you went to any of these countries that supposedly hate America and started handing out green cards at random, then you would find a lot of people who would happily leave for America. The problem at its root is the losers resenting the winners especially the so called chattering classes. Whether that be a French film maker or a Saudi Iman. This is compounded by ideologies that say 'if you believe in this stuff you will be the winner'. And again this applies just as well to a Euro-socialist as a Wahabi muslims (and this is why they make common cause. They see the same reality and and are both in denial about it). Just watch the BBC for 20 minutes and you will see this thinking at work. 'America didn't win, isn't winning, can't win, and we have to stop them winning!' The great divide in this world is between pragmatists and ideologues. Twas always thus! |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-04-02 7:12:22 PM |
| #8 "And I'm fed up to the back teeth with the "Why does the Arab street hate us?" crap. They love us." ------------------------- Yeah, especially in Fallujah. You're preaching to the choir. Nearly everyone I've met in my travels around the world love America and want to move here too. There just happens to be some real sinkholes of illiterate fundamentalism where bilious imams can still whip up a shitstorm of anti-Western fervor. Education is the key, but time does not permit dropping books instead of bombs right now. The sooner we can get the world back on a peaceful track, the faster this sort of blind hatred can be overcome. Sadly (for the terrorists, that is), we will probably be obliged to exterminate every single Islamist fanatic before getting back to that more benign agenda. (And you gotta know that just rips my heart out.) |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-02 6:52:26 PM |
| #7 Our President is named George W. Bush. You're not Molly Evil--Thank God--and calling Bush "Shrub" didn't stop her from putting a straw in her gin bottle! And I'm fed up to the back teeth with the "Why does the Arab street hate us?" crap. They love us. Ask around. I've travelled all over the world, including the (former) Soviet Union, Red China, the Middle East and Egypt--we are loved and admired everywhere. Most peoples' thoughts about the USA are "How can I get to live there instead of the shithole I seem doomed to live in here?". |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-04-02 6:16:44 PM |
| #6 And who, pray tell are you? Parade your expertise so I may be instructed. Obviously you believe this is merely a PR failure regards Islam. Fascinating. Explain you statement regards Bush, please, I don't speak DU. I believe you are fact, history, and timeline challenged. But don't let my doubts dissuade you from expounding upon the underlying logic of your statements. As I said, I'm rather behind the curve on DU Talking points. Please, enlighten us all. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-02 6:14:55 PM |
| #5 "Bad Press! The root of Islamist anti-Americanism." ---------------------- If you ever obtain a clue about the dependence of Islamist fanaticism upon propaganda to influence a largely uneducated populace, you might have a glimmer of understanding how America has come to be so roundly hated in the Middle East. You might want to read Lederer and Burdick's "The Ugly American" sometime. Try Shrub's opening salvo of a "Crusade on Terrorism." That gaff died out right quick now, didn't it? Until then, you're free to think that all this anti-Americanism is written out plain right there in the Qu'ran. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-02 6:08:28 PM |
| #4 Geez, why didn't I think of that? Of course! You've nailed it, Dumpster! Bad Press! The root of Islamist anti-Americanism. *slaps forehead* |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-02 5:36:25 PM |
| #3 "Reagan also stoked a long, bloody war between heinous regimes in Iran and Iraq." -------------------- Do ya think that just maybe this might have gotten us a lot of bad press in other more moderate Arabian countries? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-02 5:32:58 PM |
| #2 I love Ann, too! Preach it, sister! |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-04-02 5:32:34 PM |
| #1 Lol! Damn, she's righteous! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-02 5:30:19 PM |