Why Did We Forget?
Today is November 9, 2009. I’m sitting here trying to figure out how our country has gotten to this point. The tragedies on Thursday at Fort Hood, Texas, should remind all Americans what we’re up against.
There are people out there that want all of us dead. Make no mistake about it. Let me just refresh your memory:
November 4, 1979 – Tehran, Iran: Iranian radical students seized the U.S. embassy, taking 66 hostages. 14 were later released. The remaining 52 were freed after 444 days on the day of President Reagan’s inauguration.
1982-1991 – Lebanon: Thirty US and other Western hostages kidnapped in Lebanon by Hezbollah. Some were killed, some died in captivity, and some were eventually released. Terry Anderson was held for 2,454 days.
December 21, 1988 – Lockerbie, Scotland: N.Y.-bound Pan-Am Boeing 747 exploded in flight from a terrorist bomb and crashed into Scottish village, killing all 259 aboard and 11 on the ground. Passengers included 35 Syracuse University students and many U.S. military personnel. Libya formally admitted responsibility 15 years later (Aug. 2003) and offered $2.7 billion compensation to victims’ families.
February 26, 1993 – New York City, New York: Bomb exploded in the basement garage of the World Trade Center, killing 6 and injuring more than one thousand others. Militant Islamist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and nine others were convicted of conspiracy. In 1998, Ramzi Yousef – the mastermind – was convicted. Al-Qaeda is suspected of being behind the bombing.
June 25, 1996 – Dhahran, Saudi Arabia: A truck bomb explodes outside of the Khobar Towers, which housed U.S. military members. 19 servicemen were killed. 13 Saudis and 1 Lebanese, all believed to be part of Hezbollah, were indicted on charges in June 2001.
August 7, 1998 – Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Truck bombs exploded almost simultaneously outside the U.S. embassies in the African capital cities, killing 224 and injuring about 4,500. Four men connected with Al-Qaeda were convicted of the bombings in May 2001 and sentenced to life in prison.
October 12, 2000 – Aden, Yemen: U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) was heavily damaged when a small boat loaded with explosives slammed into the hull. Seventeen sailors were killed.
September 11, 2001 – New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania: Islamists hijack four passenger planes and crash two of them into the World Trade Center’s North and South Towers and one into the Pentagon . The fourth crashes in a remote field southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 2,992 are killed. Al-Qaeda is blamed for the attacks.
May 12, 2003 – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Suicide bombers kill 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for westerners. Al-Qaeda suspected.
November 9, 2005 – Amman, Jordan: Suicide bombers hit three American hotels, Radisson, Grand Hyatt, and Days Inn, killing 57. Al-Qaeda claims responsibility.
November 5, 2009 – Fort Hood, Texas: Major Nadal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, goes on a shooting rampage at the Army base, killing 13 and wounding 29. Nasan previously “served” at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Since the attack, it has been reported that Hasan attended the Dar al Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia (his mother’s funeral was held there). 9/11 hijackers Nawaf Al-Hazmi, Khalid al-Mihdar, and Hani Hanjour all attended this mosque in early April 2001.
Wake up, America.
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