Images of 9/11

News Footage of 9/11 As it Happened -video

American Boots Hit the Ground in Somalia After Drone Attacks

Somalia is now the sixth country over which the United States is flying attack drones. Last month, the same Special Operations Command unit currently operating in Yemen carried out an attack on two leaders of the Somali militant group al-Shabab in a June 23 mission. The Washington Post reported the attack on Wednesday, and on Friday, Somalia's defense minister says that American military forces touched down to collect the bodies of the insurgents. Al-Shabab has carried out attacks on the Somali government, and while the government is calling on more American drone missions, they say they were not aware of the first drone attack. "But we are not complaining about that. Absolutely not. We welcome it," Defense Minister Mohamoud Haji Faqi told the Associated Press. "We understand the U.S.'s need to quickly act on its intelligence on the ground."

Six countries? I'm thinking if the "Peace Prize" president can have "kinetic military actions" in six countries, just think how much Bush could have accomplished, if they'd only given him the "Peace Prize"?

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Obama's "Poker Face"

Michael Ramirez hitting the nail squarely on the head, as usual.

H/T Gina Cobb

Obama Announces Troop Drawdown in Afghanistan

I just listened to Obama's announcement for a troop drawdown in Afghanistan. Someone had suggested a drinking game...take a shot whenever Obama mentioned bin Laden. (Six times by my count). You folks please wait an hour before driving.

His pronunciation of Taliban as "Tollyban" was as bit jarring. I wanted to take a shot every time I heard that. (Lost count.)

Obama's choosing a rapid drawdown, as opposed to what his generals recommend, suggests political rather than strategic or security considerations.

NYT:

General Petraeus, who helped write the Army’s field manual on counterinsurgency policy, did not endorse the decision, said another official, though both Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton both accepted it, albeit with reservations. General Petraeus had recommended limiting withdrawals to 5,000 troops this year and another 5,000 over the winter, deferring the drawdown of the rest of the surge force through next year’s fighting season.

He and other military commanders argued that the 18 months since Mr. Obama announced the troop increase did not allow for enough time for the Americans to consolidate the fragile gains that they had made in Helmand and other provinces. Troops have succeeded in clearing many towns and cities of insurgents, and then keeping them safe so that markets reopened and girls were able to go to school, for example.

His goal "America, it is time to focus on nation building here at home" sounds like more of the typical Democrat mantra of domestic spending over defense. Obama was definitely looking to the 2012 elections in this speech.

A full transcript of his remarks can be found here.

More at Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Obama took SIXTEEN HOURS to Make up his Mind about Bin Laden Mission

"Obama took SIXTEEN HOURS to make up his mind about Bin Laden mission"

Monday morning, I had a quote queued up by Jay Leno:

"Donald Trump says he’s President Obama’s worst nightmare. That’s not true. Having to make a decision is Obama’s worst nightmare.”

And I felt a little bad about that, seeing as how he must have made a decision over the take down of bin Laden, right? That quote seems almost prescient, according to the Daily Mail:

Barack Obama kept military commanders hanging by declaring he would 'sleep on it' before taking 16 hours to give the go-ahead to raid Bin Laden's compound.

Hit squads of specialist Navy Seals - who were not even told who they were preparing to capture - had practised the mission at two reconstructions of the terror chiefs sprawling compound.

The mission looked set to be given the all clear last Thursday when analysts confirmed beyond doubt that Bin Laden was in busy town of Abbottabad in northern Pakistan.

"Mr. President, we need a decision."

"Lemme think about it and get back to you!"

But the president stunned officials when he told a national security meeting that he wanted more time to think - and disappeared out of the room.

'I'm not going to tell you what my decision is now - I'm going to go back and think about it some more,' said Obama, according to the New York Times. He then added 'I'm going to make a decision soon.'

The head of the CIA and other senior intelligence officers who were keen to proceed were left tense as they waited for the president's decision.

But the next morning after 16 hours, Obama summoned four top aides to the White House Diplomatic Room. Before they could speak, the president put his fist on the table and declared 'It's a go'.

Catch that decisiveness? Sixteen hours after he was asked, and with special forces poised to go, he finally is able to pound his fist on his desk, as if he'd just made a leadership decision, rather than what was in all likelihood a consensus of his real advisers!

Whether it was Michelle, or Jeremiah Wright, or Bill Ayers or whom,ever else he trusts, when he left that room to "sleep on it", he demonstrated a variation of "When the going gets tough, the President gets going!" I think Barry wanted to get a consensus of how this would affect him personally and politically.

And did you hear the self serving bit of claptrap from one of Obama's staff? John Brennan, Obama's counter-terrorism adviser:

"We were able to monitor [the operation] in a real-time basis. It was probably one of the most anxiety-filled times in the lives of the people gathered [in the White House] yesterday. The minutes seemed like days."

Poor babies! While men of honor put their lives on the line, a handful of policy wonks sat in cushy chairs in the White House and probably had to subsist on only the White House mess for coffee instead of Starbucks. Such privation! And "the minutes seemed like days."

Now, I want you to compare the remarks of John Brennan to the experience of the men trained, staged and ready to go into battle:

"The minutes seemed like days" to wonks in their comfy chairs. What do you think the minutes felt like for SIXTEEN HOURS while the fighting men who were ready to go at a moments notice, were faced with the reality that the worse thing they were going to encounter was not a traffic jam on the beltway home, but maybe a longer trip in a flag draped coffin?

Funny how Obama never mentioned the sixteen hours it took for him to make a decision, in his "Look at Me, Ain't I wonderful, I got Obama" speech?

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Update on "A Tale of Two Buses": Student Dies from Injuries

An update to our story of ten days ago.

Daniel Viflic, 16, was critically injured when the school bus he was riding on was directly hit by an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza Strip.

The 16-year-old boy who was injured in the anti-tank missile attack on a school bus in the Negev by Hamas terrorists 10 days ago, died on Sunday after a steady decline to critical condition.

Viflic suffered severe head trauma and was artificially respirated at the scene after the bus sustained a direct hit by a missile. He was rushed to Soroka University Medical Center Hospital in Beersheba, where his family has been holding vigil for the past ten days. On April 12, the severity of his condition was upgraded to extremely critical and doctors expressed concern that he had suffered irreparable brain damage.

The anti-tank missile hit the bus moments after most of the children got off, while it was traveling near Kibbutz Sa’ad, about 2.5 km. from the Gaza Strip. Just two people were on onboard when it was hit – the driver, who was lightly injured, and the boy, who was en route to visit his grandmother.

Our prayers are with Daniel's family.

H/T The Jawa Report

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Who Is the Libyan Jefferson Davis?

As bad as Mubarak and Qaddafi have been, one of the things that have bothered me about this administration's rush to remove Egyptian and Libyan dictators, is the uncertainty of who or what would be replacing them. I believe that part of the reticence to take out Saddam during the first Gulf War, was not knowing who would fill the vacuum of his passing. Better the devil you know...

And now, it appears that some of the "rebels" in Libya have Al-Qaeda connections. What's to prevent a radical Muslim takeover or either Egypt or Libya (or both)? The terrorist group Hamas was "democratically" elected to govern the Gaza strip. Merely holding an election is not enough to institute the democratic reforms needed to sustain a Jeffersonian democracy (or a democratic republic, if you will.)

What if a coalition of the great nations had intervened on behalf of our rebels a hundred and fifty years ago? Since there is a possibility of us backing the "wrong rebels", I offer the following:

Dateline Paris, 1862:

Tonight, I’d like to update the French people on the international effort that we have led in the United States –- what we’ve done, what we plan to do, and why this matters to us.

I want to begin by paying tribute to our men and women in uniform who, once again, have acted with courage, professionalism and patriotism. They have moved with incredible speed and strength. Because of them and our dedicated diplomats, a coalition has been forged and countless lives have been saved.

Meanwhile, as we speak, our troops are also fighting in Mexico. For generations, France has played a unique role as an anchor of global security and as an advocate for human freedom. Mindful of the risks and costs of military action, we are naturally reluctant to use force to solve the world’s many challenges. But when our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act. That’s what happened in the United States over the course of these last six weeks.

The American people are been ruled by Abraham Lincoln, who has denied his people freedom and exploited their wealth. He began attacking and killing his own people. I made it clear that Lincoln had lost the confidence of his people and the legitimacy to lead, and I said that he needed to step down from power.

Confronted by this brutal repression and a looming humanitarian crisis, I ordered warships into American waters. European allies, Britain and Spain declared their willingness to commit resources to stop the killing. We have instituted a blockade...a "no float zone" if you will, outside northern American ports.

We struck regime forces approaching Atlanta to save that city and the people within it. We targeted military assets that had been choking off towns and cities, and we cut off much of their source of supply.

It’s true that France cannot use our military wherever repression occurs. And given the costs and risks of intervention, we must always measure our interests against the need for action. But that cannot be an argument for never acting on behalf of what’s right. In this particular country -– the United States — at this particular moment, we were faced with the prospect of violence on a horrific scale. More Americans have died during this conflict than at any other time in their history.

I believe that this movement of change cannot be turned back, and that we must stand alongside those who believe in the same core principles that have guided us through many storms: our opposition to violence directed at one’s own people; our support for a set of universal rights, including the freedom for people to express themselves and choose their leaders; our support for governments that are ultimately responsive to the aspirations of the people.

For these reasons and more, we support Jefferson Davis and those "rebels" and their adherence to the right of self determination.

Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the newly formed Confederate States of America.

Oops.



Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Man Fired for Putting Wife on Terror Watch List

Dear Abby: My husband put me on a terrorist watch list and kept me out of the country for three years. Should I apologize for not being home on time to make his supper? Signed - Perplexed in Pakistan

An immigration officer tried to rid himself of his wife by adding her name to a list of terrorist suspects. He used his access to security databases to include his wife on a watch list of people banned from boarding flights into Britain because their presence in the country is 'not conducive to the public good'.

As a result the woman was unable for three years to return from Pakistan after traveling to the county to visit family. The tampering went undetected until the immigration officer was selected for promotion and his wife's name was found on the suspects' list during a vetting inquiry. The Home Office confirmed today that the officer has been sacked for gross misconduct.

Some say keep the government out of the bedroom? This was the government keeping her out of the bedroom!

H/T Mrs. Crankipants, who suggests that there's either a divorce or some red hot make-up sex in her future. But, what about his needs, Mrs. C???

Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in AZ Desert

I know a lot of focus is on Egypt these days, but this story has definitely been under-reported.


From those wonderful people who think this is a good idea...

Jan 27: A book celebrating suicide bombers has been found in the Arizona desert just north of the U.S.- Mexican border, authorities tell Fox News.

The book, "In Memory of Our Martyrs," was spotted Tuesday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent out of the Casa Grande substation who was patrolling a route known for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs.

Published in Iran, it consists of short biographies of Islamic suicide bombers and other Islamic militants who died carrying out attacks.

According to internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection documents, "The book also includes letters from suicide attackers to their families, as well as some of their last wills and testaments." Each biographical page contains "the terrorist's name, date of death, and how they died."

Agents also say that the book appears to have been exposed to weather in the desert "for at least several days or weeks."

Hmm. I wonder which of the good people of Mexico simply yearning for more economic freedom in the states, looking to do the jobs Americans won't do, and looking for a better life may have dropped that one?

"At this time, DHS does not have any credible information on terrorist groups operating along the Southwest border," a Department of Homeland Security official said in a statement. "We work closely with our partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities and as a matter of due diligence and law enforcement best practice, report anything found, no matter how significant or insignificant it may seem."

I think the operative words here are "does not have information" and "credible".

Statements from U.S. officials, including FBI director Robert Mueller, have raised serious concerns in recent years over "OTMs" -- or illegal immigrants other than Mexicans -- who have crossed the southwest border at alarming rates.

Mueller testified before the House Appropriations Committee in March 2005 that "there are individuals from countries with known Al Qaeda connections who are changing their Islamic surnames to Hispanic-sounding names and obtaining false Hispanic identities, learning to speak Spanish and pretending to be Hispanic."

Just last year, the Department of Homeland Security had in custody thousands of detainees from Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. U.S. Border Patrol statistics indicate that there were 108,025 OTMs detained in 2006, compared to 165,178 in 2005 and 44,614 in 2004.

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

More here: Fox News.com

TSA Reaches Out to End Private Screening Program

You know... the one they were "neutral" about? The alternative to the pat downs that Obama joked about in his STFU WTF SOTU?

Washington (CNN) -- A program that allows airports to replace government screeners with private screeners is being brought to a standstill, just a month after the Transportation Security Administration said it was "neutral" on the program.

TSA chief John Pistole said Friday he has decided not to expand the program beyond the current 16 airports, saying he does not see any advantage to it.

Though little known, the Screening Partnership Program allowed airports to replace government screeners with private contractors who wear TSA-like uniforms, meet TSA standards and work under TSA oversight. Among the airports that have "opted out" of government screening are San Francisco and Kansas City.

Isn't that just like the Obamanites? Hold out some small hope of relief from the bureaucratic excesses of the TSA only to snatch it away again.

And if you think the TSA wouldn't be in charge of security for high speed rail as Obama implied, then I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

H/T Memeorandum

Snakes on a Plane II: The Bagel Connection

You've seen "Snakes on a Plane"? The Sequel, "Bagels on a Plane" is coming soon to a theater near you!

Passengers claimed man had suspicious package in the overhead compartment. A Florida professor was arrested and removed from a plane Monday after his fellow passengers alerted crew members they thought he had a suspicious package in the overhead compartment.

That "suspicious package" turned out to be keys, a bagel with cream cheese and a hat.

Ognjen Milatovic, 35, was flying from Boston to Washington D.C. on US Airways when he was escorted off the plane for disorderly conduct following the incident.

"Can't I just finish my waffles?" came the man's plaintive cry! No, wait! That was that other guy!

Passengers reported hearing strange noises coming from a plastic bag. State police said later that the bag contained a set of keys, a bagel with cream cheese, some other small food items, a hat and a wallet.

When confronted by the US Airways crew about his "suspicious package," Milatovic got on his cell phone. The crew asked him to hang it up and sit down. When he refused, he was cuffed.

Milatovic was also charged with interfering with the operation of an aircraft.

He probably just forgot to turn off his cell phone and tried to answer it. He should have complied with the crew, though, when asked to turn it off. For this, he probably gets what he deserved.

Too bad he wasn't flying out of LOX! (Little LAX humor for you on the Left Coast!)

H/T Memeorandum
Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

"The New Humane: Killing Terrorists instead of Capturing Them

Ed Morrissey:

Over the years, I have warned that the attempts to shoehorn wartime operations against terrorists through criminal courts would produce distorted decisions on fighting, especially on the desirability of capturing terrorists. By treating terrorists captured abroad (as opposed to arrested in the US) the same as criminals arrested in the US, the government and the courts turn military and intelligence personnel into cops, and in doing so put at risk both the personnel and the tactics used to find, capture, and interrogate terrorists. It sets all of the incentives towards killing terrorists rather than capturing them, which not only results in higher collateral casualties but also denies the US critical intelligence on other terrorists.

I must admit that there is at least a bit of a disconnect that says sending someone to Gitmo with three hots and a cot, plus the religious text of your choice, plus medical care is far worse than sending a Predator missile through his kitchen window. Yet, the Obama administration that campaigned on closing Gitmo down, has little to no compulsion against firing missiles at suspected terrorists, even with the collateral damage that must needs accompany it.

But then, no one ever accused the Obama administration of being consistent...

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR.

Woman in Wheelchair Gawked at in Bra and Panties Waiting to go Through Airport Security

I certainly feel a lot safer now, don't you???


H/T Pirates Cove

Two Things Made Flying Safer - The Rest is Security Theater

In "A Waste of Money and Time", security technologist Bruce Schneier speaks plainly about the problem with airline security. They say that generals are often guilty of preparing to fight the last war. Airport security seems to follow that same pattern:

A short history of airport security: We screen for guns and bombs, so the terrorists use box cutters. We confiscate box cutters and corkscrews, so they put explosives in their sneakers. We screen footwear, so they try to use liquids. We confiscate liquids, so they put PETN bombs in their underwear. We roll out full-body scanners, even though they wouldn’t have caught the Underwear Bomber, so they put a bomb in a printer cartridge. We ban printer cartridges over 16 ounces — the level of magical thinking here is amazing — and they’re going to do something else.

Otherwise known as reactive measures. What are needed are proactive measures, which need to be directed at the bombers and not the bombs.

...Our security measures only work if we happen to guess the plot correctly. If we get it wrong, we’ve wasted our money. This isn’t security; it’s security theater.

Security theater. Playing a part to make people feel safer about flying, when in fact, very little of the efforts actually make anyone safer.

...Exactly two things have made airplane travel safer since 9/11: reinforcing the cockpit door, and convincing passengers they need to fight back. Everything else has been a waste of money. Add screening of checked bags and airport workers and we’re done. Take all the rest of the money and spend it on investigation and intelligence.

Read the whole thing. Think about what tremendous amounts of money we waste for minimal gains. Then, think of the erosion of rights and dignity it costs us in addition to our treasure. Then consider letting your elected officials know what you really think.

H/T Say Anything

19 Yr. Old Somali Born Man Apprehended in Portland Bomb Plot

But don't even think about ever profiling guys like this!
BTW, That's not a Star of David, that's the Multnomah Co. Sheriff's star!

The FBI thwarted an attempted terrorist bombing in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square before the city's annual tree-lighting Friday night, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon.

A Corvallis man, thinking he was going to ignite a bomb, drove a van to the corner of the square at Southwest Yamhill Street and Sixth Avenue and attempted to detonate it.

However, the supposed explosive was a dummy that FBI operatives supplied to him, according to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint signed Friday night by U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta.

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, a Somali-born U.S. citizen, was arrested at 5:42 p.m., 18 minutes before the tree lighting was to occur, on an accusation of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

My first thought, when I heard about a plot to blow up a tree lighting ceremony in Portland was "a disgruntled Lutheran choir boy". Then I considered elderly "Nuns with Guns". Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was a 19 yr. old, Somali born man with two forms of the name "Muhammad" in his name!

And to top it off, he is apparently one of the Osmond brothers! FBI agents are descending on Salt Lake City even as we speak!

H/T memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR.

"TSA Agents Singled Me Out For My Breasts"

TSA agent on the right

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The head of the Transportation Security Administration said the agency will look further into allegations that two male TSA workers picked a woman for additional screening because of her breasts.

Eliana Sutherland recently flew from Orlando International Airport and told Local 6 she felt the two male TSA workers were staring at her breasts and chose her for additional screening because of their size.

"It was pretty obvious. One of the guys that was staring me up and down was the one who pulled me over," said Sutherland. "Not a comfortable feeling."

I'm afraid that a combination of the sexual aspects and the distaste shown by passengers and TSA agents alike over getting down and personal with the passengers is causing everyone to lose focus on the real issue of security. If TSA agents are focusing on the size of some girl's hooters or alternately being repulsed by the excess flab and hygiene issues of others, is it still possible to remember why they were doing it in the first place? There's a bit of video out with one of the guys from Mythbusters who went the the full body grope, only to board his flight with two twelve inch razor blades. How's that Grope and Change working out for you?

When was the last time you saw a caper movie/cop movie/war movie/buddy movie where in order to get something done, they "needed a diversion"? Distractions work as well as diversions. If you're not paying full attention, you're not paying attention.
Time to end the distractions.

Stock and trade of the illusionist is misdirection: Look over here so you won't see what I'm doing over there. With everyone focused on the thighs and crotches of the traveling public, I'm afraid the next "rabbit pulled out of the hat" will result in tragedy.

H/T Threedonia

Krauthammer on the Folly of Trials of Terrorists in Civilian Courts

Krauthammer speaks of the "high protection" afforded to American citizens under the Constitution. These protections were never intended to be extended to illegal combatants who kill Americans and attempt to undermine our nation.

Anyone else get the impression that choosing Eric Holder, who once worked for a law firm providing pro bono defense for terrorists, to prosecute the terrorists, might not have been the best judgment here?


Video via American Glob

September 11th - The Reason

by guest blogger Andrew Roman

-------------------------------

Two years ago, during the presidential campaign season, as the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approached, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann demonstrated yet again why he is not only one of America’s most colossal jackasses, but an undisciplined dullard. (The extraordinarily obvious is sometimes more beneficial than the simply obvious). Olbermann's repulsive on-air reaction to a video played at the Republican National Convention paying tribute to the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks was beyond the pale, even for him. When the video was finished, Olbermann hoisted his holier-than-thou head and had the unadulterated nerve to apologize to the viewers for the network's decision to broadcast the segment. To Keith, and others of his leftist strain, this was a tasteless exploitation by Republicans. To others, it was counterfeit indignation wrapped in political expediency. As one blogger to the Olbermannwatch.com website commented, “His outrage is always so phony, it's hard to believe anyone could buy into it.”

Phony or not, Olbermann's outrage at the mere mention of anything related to the September 11th attacks by anyone other than conspiracists, Bush-haters and film documentarians is not exactly uncommon. I used to believe it was confined only to the fringe left, but I was mistaken. Almost all Democrats instinctively believe that Republicans only mention the attacks as a means of procuring a political advantage. The fact that the main-stream media is, at worst, sympathetic to the American left helps explain why September 11, 2001 is the enormous elephant in this country’s living room.

It's another example of how the American left truly believes that it simply isn't possible for any of us on the right to simply disagree with liberals without having sinister motives. It isn't possible for conservatives to simply think differently from liberals without being some form of bigot or xenophobe. It isn't possible for us to oppose someone like Barack Obama without being a hater of some sort. It isn't possible to pay tribute and honor the heroes and victims of the worst terrorist attack on this country without trying to score political points.

We are not only wrong, we're bad.

You'll also recall last year the date of September 11th was being hailed as America's "first day of service" - a day to volunteer and "encourage and facilitate community service across the country." As "Greater DC Cares" said on its website, it was to be a day for cleaning parks, serving meals to the hungry, restoring our national monuments, and much more.

As I wrote four years ago, there is a peculiarly conspicuous gap in our cultural landscape when it comes to horrific events of September 11, 2001. It is almost as if the images of that fateful day have all but been purged from our societal canvas. The sights and sounds of September 11th - save for the occasional scene of the burning towers in a random news story - are almost entirely tucked away from the American public’s senses by purveyors of news and information, in a way that’s almost conspiratorial. The result is that Americans in large numbers have almost forgotten how it felt on that morning to witness the murder and destruction that unfolded before our eyes, on live television. It’s almost as if it never really happened, or that it occurred so long ago as not to be relevant anymore. In a culture where barely-watched, insipid sitcoms of the 1970s and 1980’s merit their own DVD boxed sets, the images of that morning remain practically hidden.

Consider, for example, how the American people for several years were peppered daily with images of bombed-out vehicles in Iraq, the remnants of body parts and ambushed convoys from road-side bombs, the wreckage of mangled helicopters and images of burning buildings in busy Baghdad neighborhoods. It was a veritable brochure of How-to-do-it terrorism furnished by the mainstream media to illustrate the horrors of what happens while American forces continue to “occupy” a foreign land. But go ahead and try to find anything that depicts the savage murder of civilians in this country by fanatics, and you might as well be looking for Republicans on the New York City Council.

Today, it has been nine years since the horrific attacks that claimed nearly three thousand innocents. Regrettably, the very event that forever changed the course of the world has dissolved into our daily lexicon as two innocuous numbers spoken in succession: nine, eleven. How detached we’ve become to the sheer brutality; it has become a hyphenated four-syllable point of reference without visual reinforcement. In this fantastic age of image stimuli, where everything is instantaneous and accessible, it is criminal that the defining event of this generation – and arguably in our nation’s history – has slipped from our ever-shrinking attention spans.

True, often times we cannot go a single day - sometimes hours - without hearing those two words in some context: nine, eleven. But its impact has diminished. And while it is perfectly natural for the raw emotions of that day to wane, we’re still at war. Unbelievably, only nine years after the fact, the images of 9/11 are less vivid than the faces of rejected American Idol contestants. It is an injustice of the highest order to the victims and a profound disservice to those who serve in harm’s way.

I fully appreciate that there are many who don’t wish to see the horrific footage of that Tuesday morning ever again – especially those directly affected by the attacks and aftermath. Indeed, I have a friend who spent many days at Ground Zero in the days following the attacks, digging through the rubble and remains of the pulverized World Trade Center. He’s told me that he personally could go the rest of his life without ever seeing those pictures again. However, he was quick to add that America should revisit that day, even if only once in a while, to remember why this war continues to be fought.

The people of this nation must be reminded over and over again exactly why we are fighting, with whom we are fighting and what these brutal unconscionable killers have done to us – and what they will do to us if given the opportunity. The harrowing images of the evil that is terrorism – such as those desperate souls leaping from the burning towers - should never leave us. We owe it to the victims of the September 11th attacks, to all those who have sacrificed to defeat this enemy, and to future generations to not only defeat terrorism wherever it is but to understand precisely why we’re doing it.

For many like me, the memories of that day have not dissipated, nor should they for any American.

Unfortunately, for many it has, and with it, that sense of urgency to pursue and eliminate those who did this to us before they can do it again.

Would there even be a debate about opening an Islamic cultural center and mosque at Ground Zero if it hadn't?

America today, more so than at any time in her history, is a visual society. We crave stimuli at an incessant pace. We’ve evolved into a seeing-is-believing culture where almost anything on God’s green earth is a mere click away. Images serve as our prime validators. Additionally, we are a people easily distracted and quickly-bored. Out-of-sight, out of mind. We are a culture of channel surfers pulling our dinners from microwave ovens. We keep in touch with friends and loved ones via instant-messaging and broadband internet connections. We can take pictures, download files, zap e-mails and balance our check books on a cell phone.

But we are not a heartless society. We are, without a doubt, a most forgiving people. And it is specifically that otherwise admirable quality I fear has begun to take hold across the map before its time. Now is not the moment to forgive the enemy. They still exist. Inasmuch as we have to be reminded exactly what they did to us, with troops in harm's way, and terrorists continually plotting to hit us, it is perfectly reasonable to those of us who fully appreciate the scope of the war to be utterly disgusted with images of road-side bomb craters and other negative stories about our forces while an almost purposeful effort is made to shield us from the 9/11 attacks - like we might actually rally around the war effort.

Am I talking about the need for establishing a 24-hour 9/11 satellite channel?
Of course not.

But how about an actual clip of one of the twin towers collapsing into the streets of Manhattan the next time a news story about the 9/11 attacks hits the air? Or how about that second plane slamming into the south tower when a story about the War on Terror and terrorism in the United States plays? After all, it did happen, despite the attempts of the American Leftocracy to pretend it didn't.

In anecdotal terms, the video images of the September 11th attacks are powerful weapons. I have watched the faces of those who hadn't seen the "as-it-happened" accounts of that day for years, and it is a profound experience. (You'll recall that a video documentary I produced chronicling the events of that day was roundly criticized by a New York Times columnist recently as "rhetoric"). Those of us who were paying attention eight years ago obviously haven’t forgotten the event. Indeed, we all have our own memories of that terrible morning, just as we have memories of anything that occurred in our past. But actually affording one’s self the chance to relive that particular Tuesday morning by seeing the events unfold once again conjures up a different type of "memory" – one seeded in an indescribable kind of outrage and violation, of inexplicable horror and seething anger – the kind of “memory” this nation needs to hold on to while American men and women serve in harm’s way. Indeed, after viewing the tapes of that morning with a selected gathering of people, my closest friend turned to me and said, "I forgot how horrible it was."

That's what I mean. He obviously remembers the day as we all do … but images speak volumes.

To the great credit of MSNBC, that network has rebroadcast its original coverage of the 9/11 attacks, as it happened nine years ago today.

For those of us who do not need to be alloted a specific day by the government as a time for service - those of us who view everyday as a day to do onto our neighbors as we would have them do onto us - I choose to remember September 11th as the day evil revealed itself with stunning clarity on our home turf, wiping nearly three thousand innocent lives from the face of the Earth. I choose to remember it as a day wrought with unspeakable horror and unparalled heroism. I choose not to diminish its incalculable impact on all of our lives, nor dishonor the dead and their family members, by attempting to purge it from American consciousness.

September 11th is the day I remind myself of how fortunate I am to live as a free man in the greatest country on the planet - and how quickly everything we take for granted can be taken away.

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Barack Obama: Leadership Under Whelming

Barack Obama is back, hawking his "National Day of Service and Remembrance". Why do I get the impression that he would like it to be a "National Day of Service, Forget the Remembrance"?

From Obama's weekly address (He generally addresses the nation weakly) :

That is why we mark September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. For if there is a lesson to be drawn on this anniversary, it is this: we are one nation – one people – bound not only by grief, but by a set of common ideals. And that by giving back to our communities, by serving people in need, we reaffirm our ideals – in defiance of those who would do us grave harm. We prove that the sense of responsibility that we felt for one another was not a fleeting passion – but a lasting virtue.

"If there is a lesson"??? Is cluelessness a prerequisite for the modern presidency?
"If there is a lesson"? And then, the "lesson" he expounds is not one of standing up to our enemies to preserve freedom, it's to "give back to your community".

Imagine: It's Poland, 1939. Obama's message to the Poles is: Sure, you've been invaded by Nazi Germany. But, consider how much satisfaction can be had by reaching out to others in your community! Reaffirm your ideals – in defiance of those who would do you grave harm. Think of what that would say about you as a people!

Or Dec. 8, 1941, from the Oval Office: "My fellow Americans, if there is a lesson to be learned from Pearl Harbor, it is this: we are one nation – one people – bound not only by grief, but by a set of common ideals. And that by giving back to our communities, by serving people in need, we reaffirm our ideals – in defiance of those who would do us grave harm. We prove that the sense of responsibility that we felt for one another was not a fleeting passion – but a lasting virtue."

To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen: "Mr. Obama, we knew FDR, FDR was a friend of this country. He envisioned social change but did not shy away from defending this country and our freedom when it became necessary.
Mr. Obama, you're no FDR."


Is there a lesson? Is there only one lesson?? One of the lessons of Pearl Harbor was "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition"!

I get the impression that either Obama isn't sure what those lessons are, or that foreign policy, foreign wars and the global war on terror are simply distractions to Obama, keeping him from all the domestic programs he'd like to use to remake America.

H/T Gateway Pundit
Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel, Say Anything