A Soldier's Perspective

Warnings of Bin Laden

Why do so many people feel like they have to beat up on President Bush (I suppose this post will further validate the opinion of some that I've been brainwashed because I'll be criticizing their poster child president)?The State Department says that it warned former President Clinton in 1996 that Bin Laden's move to Afghanistan would prove to be more dangerous in the long term for US interests. According to the New York Times today, "Osama bin Laden's move to Afghanistan would give him an even more dangerous haven as he sought to expand radical Islam" to other Arab nations besides the Middle East. The Clinton administration chose to ignore this.

In 1993, after terrorists first hit the World Trade Center, Clinton was quoted as saying, "I would plead with the American people and the good people of New York to keep your courage up and go on about your lives. I would discourage the American people from overreacting to this." I can't recall any huge Michael Moore movies being made about the President's unwillingness to act. When President Bush was told that the WTC had been attacked in 2001, he took a few minutes to gather his thoughts before addressing the nation. The hesitation made Michael Moore a household name for the Bush-hating camp. Bush's responses to this threat were in stark constrast to those of Clinton.

Instead of sitting around and urging people not to overreact, Bush said, "The search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts. I've directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice." The American people NEEDED to overreact to this. Clinton said that he would implement a policy of "continued monitoring" while Bush policy directed that "we will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them." In other words, action versus words.

Then in 1995, Timothy McVeigh hit Oklahoma City. It wasn't until two later when Newsweek and Time asked if President Clinton was still "relevant" that he finally took a stand. 168 people, most government officials, were killed that day. Did any of those mothers protest in Arkansas asking for answers to why their sons and daughters had died? Nope.

In 1996, he Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia were hit by terrrorists when they drove a car bomb right up to the barracks and detonated. 19 servicemen were killed in the attack. Clinton talked a lot of hype about America "taking care of its own" but did nothing. The terrorists were permitted to gloat in their successes and continue planning for the next strike. Did 19 sets of mothers and fathers protest outside Clinton's Arkansas home? Nope.

The next strike took place in 1998 when our Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were attacked, killing 258 people and wounding thousands. Apparently, the attacks were perpetrated by terrorists with drug co-dependencies because Clinton finally took action by launching cruise missiles against a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan. I guess the good thing about this is that when President Bush finally decided to really take action, the terrorists wouldn't be able to medicate themselves to health? Oh yeah, there were some token hits against training camps in Afghanistan. That's akin to kicking dirt over an anthill, thinking that all the ants inside will suffocate only to find out later that the ant hill is still there instead of just pouring gas in the hole and lighting a match. Did 258 families establish a weeklong vigil demanding answers from Clinton? Nope.

In 2000, Clinton's focus on his sex life was more evident as yet another terrorist attack targetted the USS Cole, killing 17 sailors and injured hundreds. Did we learn our lesson? Not really. Clinton directed the troops in theater to step up their security and sent in a few ships, but they weren't told to do anything. Did these 17 sailors' moms seek to benefit from their son's death with media coverage protesting this barbaric act of terrorism? Nuh uh.

And yet, when President Bush takes office and is still getting settled, we are attacked again. Instead of urging calm (though he did that ALSO), he took action. He IMMEDIATELY sent troops to Afghanistan to finish a mission Clinton should have. Had Clinton done this instead of sent someone to kick dirt over an anthill, Sep 11 may not have happened and Cindy Sheehan would never get publicity on THIS site.

Then we took out Saddam. People say there was no reason to go into Iraq because there was no WMD and no link to terrorism. Yet people seem to forget many undisputed acts of terrorism supported by Saddam Hussein. Every family of a Palestinian suicide bomber was given a $25,000 check by Saddam as a gift for their martyrdom. These suicide attacks didn't just affect Isreal, Americans died in some of these attacks.

I personally saw, WITH MY OWN EYES, glorified paintings of planes hitting the WTC in Iraqi GOVERNMENT OFFICES. How many of you bought huge paintings of this atrocity and openly display it in your homes and offices?

Abu Abbas, who hijacked an Italian oceanliner and executed a Jewish passenger then dumped him in the Mediterranean, possessed a diplomatic passport from…Iraq!! He then hijacked a Egyptian airliner, but was set free and allowed to live comfortably under Saddam's protection in Baghdad. His embassy secretary in Manila made phone calls to leadership in Abu Sayyaf (think Al-Qaeda in the Phillipines) just hours before they executed an attack in which an American soldier was killed. Abdul Rahman Yasin returned to Iraq after the 1993 WTC bombing and was confirmed to be moving freely in Baghdad prior to the war. Hopefully, we killed his sorry donkey while we were there.

So, I again defy anyone telling me that we were misled into going to war with Iraq. Personally, I'll partially admit defeat that we may have had false intelligence or faulty intelligence with respect to the whole WMD thing, but I doubt it. We have found and continue to find numerous chemical factories throughout Iraq. We found many components used to put together WMD, though in the early stages. But I submit that that's when I want them to be found, not after they've killed someone. If Saddam can bury a squadron of fighter jets, he can hide WMD.