Thursday - October 23, 2008
Remembering The Past But Forgetting It’s Lessons
Twenty five years ago, 241 US Service members, including 220 Marines were murdered in their beds by the very people they were in Lebanon trying to protect. In one of the worst mistakes of the Reagan years, 1600 Marines were sent into a war zone to be a buffer between the forces fighting there, but they themselves were not allowed to fight. Or even really allowed to protect themselves. And then the hotel they were sleeping in was truck bombed, and the few who got out of that were cut down by machine gun ambush. By Hezbollah. And the PLO. And those terrorist groups still exist today, even after a full seven years of fighting a Global War On Terror.
Bless the memories of these brave men who died trying to stop a war. Never again let our troops be used as an expendable cushion between opposing forces; instead stand with the just side and lay utter and unrelenting waste to the enemy. And if you can’t figure out which is the just side and which side is the enemy, then stay home.
Debbie Schlussel writes a very strong essay on this today, showing the horror and pain suffered then, and pointing out the weakness in our country’s foreign policy that allowed this kind of atrocity to happen again and again and again for nearly 20 years, and is still weak today. I call it required reading.
They were there as peacekeepers--to protect Palestinian Sunni Muslims who invaded Lebanon from Israeli forces who were trying to clean up Lebanon from these Palestinian terrorists, who raped Shi’ite daughters and murdered Shi’ite sons in front of their parents. The mass-murdered Marines were there to protect Muslim barbarians from Maronite Christians who were trying to hold on to their fragile majority in the country and control of its government so their country wouldn’t turn into the extremist hellhole it has now become.
Then read this article, which Debbie links to
The Beirut bombing “cut a hole in the soul of the Marine Corps,” says Jack Matthews, a retired lieutenant colonel who commanded the Marine battalion before the bombing and later wrote a doctoral dissertation about it.
It gave a boost to terrorism. “That’s where the bad guys in the world today got their first bragging rights,” says Eric Hammel, author of The Root: The Marines in Beirut, a history of the bombing.
It changed the way leaders thought about power:
• In a speech in 1984, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who had opposed the Beirut mission, enunciated the lesson he drew from Lebanon: Don’t commit insufficient military forces to an ill-defined mission with no clear national interest or exit strategy.
Weinberger gave the speech at the National Press Club nine months after President Reagan — who had said after the barracks bombing that the United States would never back down from terrorists — withdrew the Marines from Lebanon.
Weinberger’s warning did not prevent a similar debacle nine years later in Somalia, where U.S. forces had been sent in support of a United Nations humanitarian mission. After two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by Somali militias, U.S. forces were withdrawn.
I can not understand how it is that Hezbollah yet lives. I can not understand why we have not laid waste to Palestine. And Syria. And Yemen. And Somalia. And at least embargoed Iran to the point that it’s government collapses. Even if we must fight this war with one hand tied behind us, why does the free hand have to be covered in a soft fluffy mitten so that it can not wield a sword?
Posted by Drew458
on 10/23/2008 at 09:53 AM
Filed Under: • War On Terror •
• Comments (0)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Five Most Recent Trackbacks:
Once Again, The One And Only Post
(4 total trackbacks)
Tracked at iHaan.org
Thｅ advantage to having a guide with you is thɑt an expert will haѵe very first hand experience dealing and navigating the river with гegional wildlife. Tһomas, there are great…
On: 07/28/23 10:37
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We've Been Waiting For
(3 total trackbacks)
Tracked at head to the Momarms site
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We’ve Been Waiting For
On: 03/14/23 11:20
Vietnam Homecoming
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at 广告专题配音 专业从事中文配音跟外文配音制造，北京名传天下配音公司
专业从事中文配音和外文配音制作，北京名传天下配音公司 北京名传天下专业配音公司成破于2006年12月，是专业从事中 中文配音 文配音跟外文配音的音频制造公司，幻想飞腾配音网领 配音制作 有海内外优良专业配音职员已达500多位，可供给一流的外语配音，长年服务于国内中心级各大媒体、各省市电台电视台，能满意不同客户的各种需要。电话：010-83265555 北京名传天下专业配音公司…
On: 03/20/21 07:00
meaningless marching orders for a thousand travellers ... strife ahead ..
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at Casual Blog
[...] RTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPL [...]
On: 07/17/17 04:28
a small explanation
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at yerba mate gourd
Find here top quality how to prepare yerba mate without a gourd that's available in addition at the best price. Get it now!
On: 07/09/17 03:07
DISCLAIMER
THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.
Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
- Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
- Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
- Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
- Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.
Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner
Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
RSS 2.0 
Atom 
