Why Us? No Easy Answer, July 23, 2006

EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, someone will ask me: "Why do the Muslim extremist hate America so much?" Generally, my answer is something along the lines of ..."Well, they just don't like our way of life." And while at the core that is a true statement, it is also true that the whole answer is a bit more complicated than that.

To truly understand Muslim extremism, you have to go back to the death of the Prophet Muhammed. After living a long life of 61 years Muhammed died in 632 AD. His death was the catalyst for the creation of the extremism we see today. His death also marked the beginning of a century of battles and conquests that included parts of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Northern Africa, parts of Asia, Afghanistan, Iberia any a few other nations/territorys that the muslims viewed as weak and evil. This string of battles and conquests ended almost 100 years later with a stinging defeat near Tours, France.

These "conquests", which included the basic destruction of the Roman and Persian Empires, didn't come without a cost though. During the battles and the years that followed, different sects of the overall religion began to drift in different directions based on their individual interpetations of the Koran. Some became more peaceful and others became more militant, hateful, and violent. Any nation or society that didn't follow the views and ways of the extremists were considered infidels and not worthy of continued existence.

Fast forward to the early to mid 20th century.....After a minor involvement in WWI & WWII and the creation of the nation of Israel, the Muslim extremist had found their new enemy. The nation of Israel and any country who supported her was going to be in for a rough time when dealing with Islam. This is where the United States really began to draw the attention of the extremists. Our support for Israel though is but only one of several reasons for their utter contempt for America. They consider us an evil immoral society with a way of life that totally goes against everything in their extreme interpretation of the Koran. But even more than that, they consider us a weak people and thus an excellent target for domination by extreme Islam. This image of weakness, while totally untrue, has been perpetuated by more than one U.S. administration thus encouraging even more attacks by these religious terrorists.

A couple of years ago, Ann Coulter wrote an excellent piece that illustrates precisely huge mistakes made by former admistrations that have led us to the place we are today in the war on terror.

How 9/11 Happened By Ann Coulter
We don't need a "commission" to find out how 9-11 happened. The truth is in the timeline:

PRESIDENT CARTER, DEMOCRAT.....In 1979, President Jimmy Carter allowed the Shah of Iran to be deposed by a mob of Islamic fanatics. A few months later, Muslims stormed the U.S. Embassy in Iran and took American Embassy staff hostage.Carter retaliated by canceling Iranian visas. He eventually ordered a disastrous and humiliating rescue attempt, crashing helicopters in the desert.

PRESIDENT REAGAN, REPUBLICAN ....The day of Reagan's inauguration, the hostages were released. In 1982, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut was bombed by Muslim extremists. President Reagan sent U.S. Marines to Beirut. In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut were blown up by Muslim extremists. Reagan said the U.S. would not surrender, but Democrats threw a hissy fit, introducing a resolution demanding that our troops be withdrawn. Reagan caved in to Democrat caterwauling in an election year and withdrew our troops – bombing Syrian-controlled areas on the way out. Democrats complained about that, too. In 1985, an Italian cruise ship, the Achille Lauro, was seized and a 69-year-old American was shot and thrown overboard by Muslim extremists. Reagan ordered a heart-stopping mission to capture the hijackers after "the allies" promised them safe passage. In a daring operation, American fighter pilots captured the hijackers and turned them over to the Italians – who then released them to safe harbor in Iraq. On April 5, 1986, a West Berlin discotheque frequented by U.S. servicemen was bombed by Muslim extremists from the Libyan Embassy in East Berlin, killing an American. Ten days later, Reagan bombed Libya, despite our dear ally France refusing the use of their airspace. Americans bombed Gadhafi's residence, killing his daughter, and dropped a bomb on the French Embassy "by mistake." Reagan also stoked a long, bloody war between heinous regimes in Iran and Iraq. All this was while winning a final victory over Soviet totalitarianism.

PRESIDENT BUSH I, MODERATE REPUBLICAN ....In December 1988, a passenger jet, Pan Am Flight 103, was bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland, by Muslim extremists. President-elect George Bush claimed he would continue Reagan's policy of retaliating against terrorism, but did not. Without Reagan to gin her up, even Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher went wobbly, saying there would be no revenge for the bombing. In 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. In early 1991, Bush went to war with Iraq. A majority of Democrats opposed the war, and later complained that Bush didn't "finish off the job" with Saddam.

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, DEMOCRAT .....In February 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed by Muslim fanatics, killing five people and injuring hundreds. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing. In October 1993, 18 American troops were killed in a savage firefight in Somalia. The body of one American was dragged through the streets of Mogadishu as the Somalian hordes cheered. Clinton responded by calling off the hunt for Mohammed Farrah Aidid and ordering our troops home. Osama bin Laden later told ABC News: "The youth ... realized more than before that the American soldier was a paper tiger and after a few blows ran in defeat." In November 1995, five Americans were killed and 30 wounded by a car bomb in Saudi Arabia set by Muslim extremists. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing. In June 1996, a U.S. Air Force housing complex in Saudi Arabia was bombed by Muslim extremists. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing. Months later, Saddam attacked the Kurdish-controlled city of Erbil. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, lobbed some bombs into Iraq hundreds of miles from Saddam's forces. In November 1997, Iraq refused to allow U.N. weapons inspections to do their jobs and threatened to shoot down a U.S. U-2 spy plane. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing. In February 1998, Clinton threatened to bomb Iraq, but called it off when the United Nations said no. On Aug. 7, 1998, U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by Muslim extremists. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing. On Aug. 20, Monica Lewinsky appeared for the second time to testify before the grand jury. Clinton responded by bombing Afghanistan and Sudan, severely damaging a camel and an aspirin factory. On Dec. 16, the House of Representatives prepared to impeach Clinton the next day. Clinton retaliated by ordering major air strikes against Iraq, described by the New York Times as "by far the largest military action in Iraq since the end of the Gulf War in 1991." The only time Clinton decided to go to war with anyone in the vicinity of Muslim fanatics was in 1999 – when Clinton attacked Serbians who were fighting Islamic fanatics. In October 2000, our warship, the USS Cole, was attacked by Muslim extremists. Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing.

PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH, REPUBLICAN ....Bush came into office telling his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, he was "tired of swatting flies" – he wanted to eliminate al-Qaida. On Sept. 11, 2001, when Bush had been in office for barely seven months, 3,000 Americans were murdered in a savage terrorist attack on U.S. soil by Muslim extremists. Since then, Bush has won two wars against countries that harbored Muslim fanatics, captured Saddam Hussein, immobilized Osama bin Laden, destroyed al-Qaida's base, and begun to create the only functioning democracy in the Middle East other than Israel. Democrats opposed it all – except their phony support for war with Afghanistan, which they immediately complained about and said would be a Vietnam quagmire. And now they claim to be outraged that in the months before 9-11, Bush did not do everything Democrats opposed doing after 9-11.......What a surprise.

While Coulter tends to be a bit over the top on some issues, this column is a clear demonstration as to why Islamic extremists see us as weak and evil. Bottom line, We have the terrorists attention now. They won't stop until they destroy us OR we destroy them. Personally, I choose the latter. The United States has spent way too much time being politically correct (IE WEAK). We need to pound these people relentlessly. We need to be more aggressive in our pursuit of them. We need to fight these guys with the same unity and determination that we fought WWII with. Defeat is not an option for America and her allies in this War on Terror. But after the last 20 years of politcally correct non decisive action on Muslim issues and more than one missed opportunity to deal with terrorist leadership, it's time for the United States to take well planned, well supplied, and well executed decisive action against these terrorist without the constant interference of the socialist liberal element in America, at the UN, and around the world. Then and only then will we be able to put an end to questions like "Why Us?"

How do you think the U.S. has dealt with Muslim extremists? (closed poll)

Too Harsh 0

Not Harsh Enough 12

Just Right 0

(originally posted 7-23-06 on Yahoo 360)