Amateurs - NOT; All Terror Plots Are Serious
By Rich Lowry
BEFORE the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, al Qaeda targeted another U.S. destroyer. It wanted to hit the USS The Sullivans. But as recounted in Lawrence Wright's Pulitzer Prize-winning book "The Looming Tower," the terror operatives overloaded their skiff with C-4 explosives, causing it to sink harmlessly into the surf.
They had to shoo away Yemeni locals who discovered the boat and started throwing the C-4 bricks around. Anyone discovering the operatives at that moment would have concluded that they were buffoons whose ambition to sink an American ship of war far exceeded their capabilities. Of course, nine months later, they nearly succeeded, blowing a 40 feet by 40 feet hole in the Cole, killing 17 sailors.
Foiled terror plots often will seem ridiculous and unlikely, especially when they are pre-empted. What could be stupider than Ahmed Ressam, "a petty thief," according to Wright, running from border guards in Washington state after explosives were discovered in the trunk of his car? He wouldn't have seemed so risible if he had exploded his bomb at Los Angeles International Airport. If the 9/11 plot had been disrupted at its very inception - with jihadis playing flight-simulator games in Afghanistan - it would have seemed laughable.
This is why even foiled plots deserve to be taken seriously.
This is why even foiled plots deserve to be taken seriously.
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posted by VerityINK at 6:54 AM
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11 Comments:
I remember the Sullivan family; they lost all 5 brothers in WWII... Thanks for putting this up, Donal. Maybe it'll remind some lefty that this is NOT a bumper sticker war.
Phandancer
The Fighting Sullivans was a great movie and should be an inspiration to all families...not that we should lose all of our children, but the ultimate devotion to country displayed by those young men.
Obviously, WWII was a very different type of war than we are fighting now. That does not mean that this war os any less important.
The choice is ours....The American Dream or Shari'a.
Imagine if that particular ship went down to terror? What an awful metaphor and cautionery tale it would be? After such sacrifice caused its naming.
I know, Z, I would've felt terrible if the The Sullivan had went down...
Phandancer
Off topic...but did not take long for the progressive, peaceful denizens of DU to pray for Cheney's death.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2873992
What the heck is wrong with these people?
Phandancer..
OK..my ability to post links is rather weak. Just go to DU (if you have a strong stomach) to see this hate filled crap.
Have a great weekend, friends.
Jeez, Phan--I went and read that swill; you're right in asking what is wrong with those people?
What a sewer!
The left has forever been the most undisciplined, foul-mouthed, hateful breed, the very embodiment of the phrase "ragtag and bobtail". The leaders of the movement perpetuate the movement to soak up more fame and monies, while the lower classes are kept lower class so that the elite may have a problem to solve. Why did the plight of the Russian peasantry never improve even after more than fifty years of communism? (And please note that Kruschef, Lenin, and Stalin all believed that they were implementing communism and did the best of their ability to do so.) The reason is the very same that 30+ years of the "War on Poverty" has not eliminated poverty, and neither have the governments of Sweden or France eliminated want.
Phan,can't go to du very often. The swill and slop makes me too sick. Those people are a mess.
About the Sullivans, I hope that everyone knows the story of these five young men and their family. It's the true story of what America is all about.
The Sullivan brothers all served together on the same ship. I believe it was the cruiser U.S.S Quincy, which went down in Nov.1942 in the Pacific,off Guadalcanal in a battle that was known as "Ironbottom Sound''. It was not a proud moment in US Naval history. We basically got our tails shot off. Most of the Sullivan brothers were killed out right while the youngest, I believe his name was George lingured in a life raft deliriously calling for his brothers until he died. It is the reason why today the military will not allow family members to serve together in the same unit. In their honor, during WW2 the Navy commisioned a new class of destroyer called the "Sullivan'' class. God Bless the Sullivan brothers and may they sleep forever in Gods care. J'Mac.
Thanks for the update, J'Mac--you ARE my site historian!
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