(Great guest post by our friend, and veteran, Tony, I have edited it a bit for clarity – P13)
I was working in the Pentagon as a Department of the Army Civilian on 9/11 and lost two friends and know a retired army officer who is now a legislator in Texas who was severely burned that day. I also know:
1. that Osama bin laden (from Saudi Arabia) was behind these attacks. In fact as I was evacuating the Pentagon I heard two Army officers say that “Osama did this”.
2. that President G.W. Bush said that we wanted Osama “Dead or Alive” as they used to say in the Wild West. (but never could catch him)
3. that somehow Osama got away from us in the Tora-Bora region of Afghanistan.
5. that Osama had no connection with Sadaam of Iraq but for whatever reason we attacked Iraq and lost thousands of troops dead or wounded/mentally and physically.
6. that we have spent trillions of dollars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
7. that I am proud to have been a member of the military and that the SEALS were outstanding!
8. that President Obama made the right call NOT to release pictures of a dead Osama. It serves no useful purpose and could incite those misguided folks who support Osama to riot in the streets or attack us or our allies. It is enough to know that Justice has been done and fulfilled President Bush’s promise to bring Justice to the Terrorists (As President Bush said after 9/11 “We will bring the Terrorists to Justice or Justice to the Terrorists”).
9. that our current president, Barack Obama, has what it takes to be a leader and our Commander-in-Chief.
10. that we need to THANK our Department of Defense and our commander-In-Chief for keeping our promises.
Now if we could only get Congress to sing God Bless America on the steps of the Capitol as they did after 9/11!
While we all want out of Afghanistan and Iraq, hopefully we can all agree that the President is a true leader. Very cool and gutsy move killing Osama. I am also very grateful for his intervention in Libya. It was overdue; but done. Can’t imagine how many would have died were it not for his action and the efforts by NATO. Can’t imagine the hit on our claim of being humanitarians if we had not done it. Too bad some don’t understand the value of the move.
To the extent Bin Laden is a terrorist, might one label the U.S. to be a terrorist, too? Al Qaeda may have a casual disregard for American life (about 3,000 died in New York), but so does the U.S. have a disregard for Muslim life (110,000 civilian deaths in Iraq, 9,000 civilian death in Afghanistan). Is the coalition a terrorist body?
Those that “profess” that, are guilty of “false analogy”. So without entering into a lengthy forensic analysis, here are the major points of difference:
# Al Qiada INSTIGATED terrorist actions for religious/political purposes.
# The US Admin RESPONDED militarily, to protect non-military personnel.
# AQ continues to instigate & remains un-remorseful and vows endless action.
# The US is and remains, reluctant to continue, unnecessarily.
# OBL’s group TARGETS indiscriminate murder of as many unarmed civilians as possible.
# The US TARGETS terrorist groups only and AVOIDS civilians (albeit somewhat unsuccessfully).
# AQ TARGETS all nationalities (even Muslims), of all ages, in all countries.
# The Coalition TARGETS ONLY the sources of terrorists hotspots.
# AQ operates virtually unilaterally to no rules of engagement.
# The US operates within UN (world body) approved guidelines.
# AQ utilizes largely militarily untrained personnel and happily “sacrifices” them.
# The Coalition utilizes only trained military forces, and lovingly “protects” them.
# AQ’s aim is attention-seeking through mass murder.
# America’s aim is world order, through policing.
# AQ’s aim is dictatorial world domination through harsh Sharia law.
# The US aim is freedom for all men, including Muslims.
# AQ respects martyrdom through death.
# America respects the sanctity of life.
This list is in no way, exhaustive, but I hope shows that your argument compares apples to pine-apples. Great post however, and thanks for letting me share.
What surprises me, in fact impresses me, is that Obama happily utilizes the word “Kill” in favor of such sanitized, politically correct terms as “eliminate” or “terminate” or “eradicate” or even “execute”. Certainly this must have been intensely argued out in high circles. To me this indicates a certain candidness and honesty and forthrightness in his administration.
On the other hand the word “assassinate” is strictly verboten. Very, very interesting, no?
All the best of British luck to you.
Love the representation of your site, by the way. In the infamous words of our beloved Mr Schwarzenegger, “I’ll be back” (if you’ll have me)
🙂