This is not very long, but very informative You have to read the
catalogue 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...
US Navy Captain Ouimette is the Executive Officer at Naval Air Station,
Pensacola , Florida . Here is a copy of the speech he gave last month (2004).
It is an accurate account of why we are in so much trouble today and why
this action is so necessary.
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.
November 1979
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 down sized 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.
April of 1983
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.
October 1983
Then just six short months later in 1983 a large truck heavily laden
down with over 25 00 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 hit the Snooze Button once more.
December 1983
Two months later in December 1983, another truck loaded with explosives
is driven into the US Embassy in Kuwait , and America continues her
slumber.
September 1984
The following year, in September 1984, another van was driven into the
gate of the US Embassy in Beirut and America slept.
April 1985
Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe . In April 1985 a bomb explodes in
a restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid
August 1985
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.
November 1985
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.
April of 1986
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.
The wake up alarm is getting louder and louder.
January 1993
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
February 1993
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.
November 1995
Then in November 1995 a car bomb explodes at a US military complex in
Riyadh Saudi Arabia killing seven service men and women.
June of 1996
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.
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.
12 October 2000
The USS Cole was docked in the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling on 12
October 2000 , when a small craft pulled alongside 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.
11 September 2001
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 31 years (as of 2010) 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.
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.
Arthur Jay Mott
PO BOX 86
Brooker, FL 32622-0086
352-485-3598
