[I saw this on another site and thought Id share it here as well.<br>Rich]<br><br>The Waking Up of America<br>An Email We received from a listener to highlight a letter written by the Commander of the Naval Air Station Pensacola. <br> <br> <br> <br>Subject: U.S. Navy Capt<br><br>U.S. Navy Capt. Ouimette is the XO of NAS, Pensacola. Here is a copy of the speech he gave earlier this month. A wonderful and accurate account of why we are in trouble today.<br><br>America WAKE UP!<br><br>That's what we think we heard on the 11th of September 2001 and maybe it was, but I think it should have been &quot;Get Out of Bed!&quot;<br><br>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.<br><br>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 US embassy set the stage for the events to follow for the next 23 years.<br><br>America was still reeling from the aftermath of the Viet Nam 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<br>stood as a symbol of America's inability to deal with terrorism.<br><br>America's military had been decimated and downsized / right sized since the end of the Viet Nam war. A poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly organized military was called on to execute a complex mission that was doomed from the start.<br><br>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. <br><br>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. <br><br>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. 241 US servicemen are killed.<br><br>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. <br><br>The following year, in September 1984, another van was driven into the gates of the US Embassy in Beirut and America slept.<br><br>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 soil is continually<br>attacked. <br><br>Fifty-nine days later a cruise ship, the Achilles' 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. America wants to treat these terrorist acts as crimes; in fact we are still trying to bring these people to trial. These are acts of war. <br><br>The Wake Up alarm is louder and louder.<br><br>The terrorists decide to bring the fight to America. In January 1993,<br>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.<br><br>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<br>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.<br><br>The terrorists are getting braver and smarter as they see that America<br>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.<br><br>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<br>act of war, but we sent the FBI to investigate the crime and went back to sleep.<br><br>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<br>1979 and we chose to hit the snooze alarm and roll over and go back to sleep.<br><br>In the news lately we have seen lots of finger pointing from every high<br>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. 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.<br><br>America has to &quot;Get out of Bed&quot; and act decisively now. America has<br>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 hit the Snooze Button again and roll over and go back to sleep. We have to make the terrorists know that in the words of Admiral Yamamoto after the attack on Pearl Harbor &quot;that all they have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.&quot;<br><br>Thank you very much.<br><br>Dan Ouimette<br>Pensacola Civitan<br>19 Feb 2003<br><br> <br>

 

Nice speech. As a Coast Guard Reserve activated since September 16, 2001, I can tell you that a lot of people, both civilian and military want to hit the snooze and catch a few more winks before taking any action. From &quot;it costs too much&quot; to &quot;we just don't have the people&quot;, I hear it every day.

 

This speech should have been delivered to our congress. Maybe to a session of Canadian Parliament as well. <br><br>~Dave

 

I say we send this to Congress.

 

As I read this and all your comments I was reminded of something I read some time ago. Had to do some digging to find it but here it is. Could the following have a hand in the the problems America is having now? Should the contents of the following be used as a wake up call or just be ignored?<br><br> Here are a few words everyone should think about.<br><br>Billy Graham's daughter was being interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her &quot;How could God let something like this happen?&quot; Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said &quot;I believe that God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of government and to get out of our lives. Being the gentleman that He is, I believe that He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give<br>us His blessing and His protection if we demand that He leave us alone?&quot;<br><br>I know there's been a lot of email going around in regards to 9/11/01, but this really makes you think. If you don't have time, at least skim through it, but the bottom line is something to think about....<br><br>In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. Let's see, I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body was found recently) complained she didn't want any prayer in our schools, and we said OK.<br><br>Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in school... the Bible that says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said, OK.<br><br>Then, Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide) and we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we said OK.<br><br>Then, someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued (There's big difference between disciplining and touching, beating, smacking, humiliating, kicking, etc.) And we said, OK.<br><br>Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, OK.<br><br>Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want, they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said, OK.<br><br>Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.<br>And then someone said let's print magazines with pictures of nude women and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the female body. And we said, OK.<br><br>And then someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by making them available on the Internet. And we said OK; they're entitled to their free speech.<br><br>And then the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex. And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes. And we said it's just entertainment, it has no adverse effect, and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.<br><br>Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with &quot;WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.&quot;<br><br>Dear God, Why didn't you save the little girl killed in her classroom?&quot;<br>Sincerely, Concerned Student...<br><br>AND THE REPLY<br>&quot;Dear Concerned Student,<br>I am not allowed in schools&quot;. Sincerely, God.<br><br>Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.<br><br>Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.<br><br>Funny how someone can say &quot;I believe in God&quot; but still follow Satan who, by the way, also &quot;believes&quot; in God.<br><br>Funny how we are quick to judge but not to be judged.<br><br>Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.<br><br>Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.<br><br>Funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.<br><br>Are you laughing?<br><br>Funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them. Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.<br><br>Are you thinking?<br><br>Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it....no one will know that you did. But, if you discard this thought process, then don't sit back and complain about what a bad shape the world is in!<br><br><br><br><br><br>

 

It would have to come from an eastern Canadian to be heard if at all. Hope Y'all know our priminister does not speak for all of us. Canada has been shipping these guys arms for years, the agency is called &quot;retail sales&quot; - multiculturalism allows us to ship presents home to the father land without hinderence- but were not involved in terrorism either ask Mr.Chretian. Snooze button why not just be commotose like us maybe it will all just go away! PK