No, Captain Dan Ouimette is not the XO of NAS Pensacola. He's the commander of Training Air Wing 1. And he didn't give this speech last month. He gave it on February 19th, 2003. In case your mathematical skill is as deficient as your reading comprehension, that was seven years ago.When WW III Started - 1979
This is not very long, but very informative. You have to read the catalog of events in this brief piece. Then, ask yourself how anyone can take the position that all we have to do is bring our troops home from Iraq, reset the snooze alarm, go back to sleep, and no one will ever bother us again. In case you missed it, World War III began in November 1979...
U.S. Navy Captain Ouimette is the Executive Officer at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida. Here is a copy of the speech he gave last month. It is an accurate account of why we are in so much trouble today and why this action is so necessary.
AMERICA NEEDS TO WAKE UP!
I AM TYPING IN ALL CAPS SO I MUST BE RIGHT!
The Middle East is not American soil. The outrage of the Iranian citizenry was from US support of the Shah. You fail to mention how the US would then put a spare parts embargo on Iran that grounded most of its Air force, and even gave funds and technical assistance to Khomeini's enemies. We even helped Saddam Hussein when he was invading Iran. Forgot that little detail didn't you? We might not have done enough, but we did do something.That's what we think we heard on the 11th of September 2001 (When more than 3,000 Americans were killed) and maybe it was, but I think it should have been 'Get Out of Bed!' In fact, the alarm clock has been buzzing since 1979, and we have continued to hit the snooze button and roll over for a few more minutes of peaceful sleep since then.
It was a cool fall day in November 1979 in a country going through a religious and political upheaval when a group of Iranian students attacked and seized the American Embassy in Tehran. This seizure was an outright attack on American soil; it was an attack that held the world's most powerful country hostage and paralyzed a presidency. The attack on this sovereign U.S. Embassy set the stage for events to follow for the next 25 years.
America was still reeling from the aftermath of the Vietnam experience and had a serious threat from the Soviet Union when then President Carter, had to do something. He chose to conduct a clandestine raid in the desert. The ill-fated mission ended in ruin, but stood as a symbol of America's inability to deal with terrorism.
America's military had been decimated and downsized since the end of the Vietnam War. A poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly organized military was called on to execute a complex mission that was doomed from the start.
Shortly after the Tehran experience, Americans began to be kidnapped and killed throughout the Middle East. America could do little to protect her citizens living and working abroad. The attacks against US soil continued.
We're still busy combating Hezbollah. The problem is that Israel's oppressive policies towards the Palestinians means that Hezbollah has no shortage of recruits. But I don't expect whoever wrote this letter to understand that. Their lack of research skills and hamfisted rhetoric are so obvious a blind man could see them.In April of 1983 a large vehicle packed with high explosives was driven into the US Embassy compound in Beirut. When it explodes, it kills 63 people. The alarm went off again and America hit the Snooze Button once more.
Then, just six short months later in 1983 a large truck heavily laden down with over 2500 pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the US Marine Corps headquarters in Beirut and 241 US servicemen are killed. America mourns her dead and hits the Snooze Button once more.
"Blah blah blah Slumber slept slumber slept snooze button." Really, don't be so damned repetitive when you write. And how the hell does taking military and police actions against terrorist groups count as "sleeping?" Are you some kind of freakish insomniac who understands sleep only as a distant and obscure memory?Two months later in December 1983, another truck loaded with explosives is driven into the US Embassy in Kuwait, and America continues her slumber.
The following year, in September 1984, another van was driven into the gate of the US Embassy in Beirut and America slept.
I notice you conveniently ignored how the people who died in the March bombing were all Spaniards. No Americans died, and you don't seem to care about non-WASPs.Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe. In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid.
That was done by the Red Army Faction. Does that sound like a radical Islamic group to you? Do you have some kind of allergy to research? Do you honestly believe that America made no efforts to fight Communism?Then in August 1985 a Volkswagen loaded with explosives is driven into the main gate of the US Air Force Base at Rheine-Main, 22 are killed and the snooze alarm is buzzing louder and louder as US interests are continually attacked.
Tell me, what was his name?Fifty-nine days later in 1985 a cruise ship, the Achille Lauro is hijacked and we watched as an American in a wheelchair is singled out of the passenger list and executed.
I know it, because I actually bothered to do research. But I find it hard to believe that you really cared about Leon Klinghoffer when you didn't even mention his name.
The terrorists then shift their tactics to bombing civilian airliners when they bomb TWA Flight 840 in April of 1986 that killed 4 and the most tragic bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 259.
Flight 840 was bombed by the Abu Nidal organization. Know what happened to Abu Nidal? Saddam Hussein killed him. Why don't you get it into your head that these terrorist groups are not like some Evil Empire out of Star Wars. They are varied groups with varied goals, but this distinction is lost on whoever spammed this chain letter.
The Lockerbie bombers were sponsored by Qadaffi, not Al Qaeda. He's probably the only person you mentioned who has actually used State terrorism as a weapon. His default response to any threat is the diplomatic equivalent of kissing someone's feet and begging them not to hurt him. His invasion of Chad was repelled by armed Toyota pickup trucks. Just because he got lucky once doesn't mean he's a threat.
And we caught the man who did it, gave him a trial, and executed him. What's the problem?The wake up alarm is getting louder and louder.
The terrorists decide to bring the fight to America. In January 1993, two CIA agents are shot and killed as they enter CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
War with who? Terrorist groups usually don't have the backing of nation states. It's not war, it's police action. Also, you neglected to mention that in 1994, four of the terrorists were caught and sentenced to life imprisonment. Or did that not count because a Democrat was in the White House then?The following month, February 1993, a group of terrorists are arrested after a rented van packed with explosives is driven into the underground parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people are killed and over 1000 are injured. Still this is a crime and not an act of war? The Snooze alarm is depressed again.
Then, in November 1995 a car bomb explodes at a US military complex in Riyadh Saudi Arabia killing seven service men and women.
A few months later in June of 1996, another truck bomb explodes only 35 yards from the US military compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It destroys the Khobar Towers, a US Air Force barracks, killing 19 and injuring over 500. The terrorists are getting braver and smarter as they see that America does not respond decisively.
America can't respond decisively because the oil industry is buddy buddy with the Saudi Government. The same Saudi government that let the Wahabbist sect of Islam run their entire school system for sixty five years and counting. The same sect that is preaching hatred for everything Western, but the oil lobbyists don't want to risk their profits. They'd rather see oceans of blood shed then lose a single dollar off their paychecks.
You neglect to mention how out of 21 terrorists involved, 13 are either dead or in prison. Why should I have to tell you this stuff? Are you incapable of doing research? When more then half of those responsible have been killed or jailed, how can you claim we're "sleeping?" It's not like this was something long ago, either. A lot of those people died in 2009 or 2010, but I suppose making a Democrat look bad is more important then actually fighting Terrorism.They move to coordinate their attacks in a simultaneous attack on two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. These attacks were planned with precision. They kill 224. America responds with cruise missile attacks and goes back to sleep.
I know about the USS Cole. We changed our rules of engagement because of the USS Cole. I trained with damage control tools developed after the USS Cole bombing.The USS Cole was docked in the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling on 12 October 2000, when a small craft pulled along side the ship and exploded killing 17 US Navy sailors. Attacking a US War Ship is an act of war, but we sent the FBI to investigate the crime and went back to sleep.
If the Yemeni government had attacked our warship, it would be an act of war. A terrorist group, however, is a matter for an investigation, not an invasion. Furthermore, this investigation showed how Sudan was responsible for the attack. Al Qaeda wouldn't have been able to launch the attack if Sudanese officials hadn't helped them. It's almost like they wanted to draw our attention away from Sudan and towards Yemen, and if everyone in America were as stupid as you, it would have worked.
And I suppose imprisoning them, giving them trials, executing the ones responsible, and paying the victims with the funds that otherwise would have gone to more attacks just isn't doing it?And of course you know the events of 11 September 2001. Most Americans think this was the first attack against US soil or in America. How wrong they are. America has been under a constant attack since 1979, and we chose to hit the snooze alarm and roll over and go back to sleep.
In the news lately we have seen lots of finger pointing from every high official in government over what they knew and what they didn't know. But, if you've read the papers and paid a little attention I think you can see exactly what they knew. You don't have to be in the FBI or CIA or on the National Security Council to see the pattern that has been developing since 1979.
I think we have been in a war for the past 25 years, and it will continue until we as a people decide enough is enough. America needs to 'Get out of Bed' and act decisively now. America has been changed forever. We have to be ready to pay the price and make the sacrifice to ensure our way of life continues. We cannot afford to keep hitting the snooze button again and again and roll over and go back to sleep.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamamoto said '... it seems all we have done is awakened a sleeping giant.' This is the message we need to disseminate to terrorists around the world.
If it's not a political thing, why do you ignore how our government has responded to them? Be honest if you can't be right. This whole message is entirely politically motivated.This is not a political thing to be hashed over in an election year, this is an AMERICAN thing. This is about our Freedom and the Freedom of our children in years to come.
I never dozed off in History class, but you clearly did. Otherwise you might have learned something about the underlying causes of these conflicts.If you believe in this, please forward it to as many people as you can, ... especially to the young people and all those who dozed off in history class and who seem so quick to protest such a necessary military action. If you don't believe it, just delete it and go back to sleep.
