French police in anti-terror raids

Poor French cops were duped into thinking they were raiding a Jewish terrorist group, more than likely...

But of course, it could have been a Methodist who just happened to be named Mohammed.

HILARIOUS!

I have an atheist friend, he and I were talking about some jihadi attack. He said, "Religion is the problem."

I said, yeah, those Hare Krishnas murdereing tourists in the Philippines, the Quakers of Saudi Arabia funding the madrassas in Pakistan, the Jehovahs Witnesses in Iran, the Scientologists rioting in northern Nigeria... they are all religious. Too bad we can't narrow that down a little, eh?

Thanks for reminding me about the Quakers. My brother is marrying one in September, and I need to start buying oatmeal as a wedding present...

As for the Scientologists...

Do you think we could accurately drop Tom Cruise from a B-52 at 50,000 feet and hit Osama?

Or would that be Mission: Impossible?

If you were a member of the Defense du Territoire what would you think of Muslims being made part of that institution, or even rising in the ranks? Would it worry you -- just a bit? Even if they seemed perfectly acclimatized to Western ways, even if they insisted that they were on your side, even if they had their own reasons (a relative killed by the FIS in Algeria, say) for wanting to hunt down Muslim terrorists -- would you rest easy? And would you remain easy if that same seemingly trustworthy Muslim colleague nonetheless insisted to one and all that the people who were being pursued were not "real" Muslims and that Islam itself was an entirely inoffensive religion? And what if that colleague were found to be urging others to look into Islam, were found to be conducting sub rosa a departmental da'wa that had managed to interest some of the more impressionable younger people, and one had already converted? Would your equanimity remain because, of course, your colleague was against "violent Jihad" and indeed had been quite effective in helping to uncover such cells -- or would, at the back of your mind, there remain a certain unease, a certain wariness? On what would that unease, that wariness, be based? On the belief that perhaps it was not just the violent Jihadists who were a threat, but Islam itself, and all those who subscribed to it? Might that be the reason? Would that be reasonable, given what you knew about Islam and about its effect on its adherents, or entirely unreasonable?

These are things that cannot be ignored. They must be discussed -- and discussed without Muslims being present, even nice, kind, friendly, "moderate" Muslims whose very presence, I'm afraid, will help to inhibit real discussion. Fear of offending Muslims, especially those who may prove of value in this or that investigation or prosecution, Muslims who in all outward respects seem to conform to our ideas of the entirely trustworthy, can prove to be suicidal. This is an entirely unprecedented situation -- it cannot be likened to dealing with Communists, for we did not have the category of "trustworthy" and "moderate" Communists who were allowed to rise in the security services and the government. But with Islam it is a different matter. Should it be?

Subject: WWW III - While we snooze

: WW III

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, sit back, re-set 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... that alarm has been ringing for years.

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!

That's what we think we heard on the 11th of September 2001 (When more than 3,000 Americans were killed -AD) and maybe it was, but I think it should have been "Get Out of Bed!" In fact, I think 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 23 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/right 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.

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 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 hit the Snooze Button once more.

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 gates of the US Embassy in Beirut and America slept.

Soon the terrorism spreads to Europe. In April 1985 a bomb explodes in a restaurant frequented by US soldiers in Madrid.

Then in August a Volkswagen loaded with explosives is driven into the main gate of the US Air Force Base at Rhein-Main, 22 are killed and the snooze alarm is buzzing louder and louder as US interests are continually attacked.

Fifty-nine days later 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.

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.

Clinton treated these terrorist acts as crimes; in fact we are still trying to bring these people to trial. These are acts of war.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 officials 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.

The President is right on when he says we are engaged in a war. I think we have been in a war for the past 23 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.

Support Our Troops and support President Bush for having the courage, political or militarily, to address what so many who preceded him didn't have the backbone to do both Democrat and Republican. 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.

Please forward this 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.

Is it really necessary to copy and paste the same content on multiple threads? This applies to those who post entire news articles as well.

Post a link so we can read it if we want to, but don't force us to scroll through things that we don't want to read, and often don't have any direct connection to what we are discussing.

Thanks