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 Editorial opinions & musings of 18FWA
President - Bud Biteman
As you read this, it will have been just over three months, since the day
our known civilized world almost stopped turning ... on that dastardly day
of infamy, the date we now abbreviate as Nine - One - One - Oh One.
As a long-time Air Force Veteran, I am very pleased at the preponderant
display of newly-purchased American flags and the novelty of obviously
sincere, but too-long hidden, or new-found patriotism amongst younger
generations who have never been forced to endure, nor even to personally
observe the pains, pangs, terror or tears of war.
In the days and weeks since September 11, 2001, we have seen actions and
activities by government officials at all levels who have made us proud -
and many who have made us shudder at the ineptitude of their shortsighted
decisions which too often produced confusion - not security.
And whether it be politically correct or not - I am personally very
thankful for the riddance of the self-centered regime which for too long
has been more concerned with the sexual and social intermingling of our
armed forces than with their war-fighting capabilities. May we never, ever
again have a Commander-in-Chief who states under oath his failure to
understand the meaning of the simple word "is", nor a Congress
who would abide such flagrant twisting of basic honesty and truth.
I recognize that my personal, and seemingly slanted impressions may carry
little weight, but I have collected a few supportive comments of national
interest which you may not yet have seen:
"Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not
end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has
been found, stopped and defeated."
-- President George Bush, 9/20/01
"..the era of antiseptic warfare - planes dropping bombs from 20,000
feet, cruise missiles flying off in the night, no one getting hurt on the
United States or the coalition side - that will not work with this enemy -
let there be no doubt... "
-- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense,
9/17/01
"Terrorism has become an act of war. The question is, do the American
people have the stomach for [ fighting ] it?"
-- Tim Roemer,(D-Ind) Member of House
Intelligence Committee, 9/17/01
"If the country is really at war, it must fight by wartime rules.
That means killing the enemy without the demands of Due Process or a
Permission Slip from the World Court."
-- Editor, Wall Street Journal, 9/13/01
"We have received a wake-up call from Hell. Now the question is
simple: Do we rally to defeat this evil, while there is still time, or do
we press a collective 'snooze button' and go back to business as usual?
The time for action is now. We must fight terror wherever and whenever it
appears. We must make all states play by the same rules. We must declare
terrorism a crime against humanity, and we must consider the terrorists
enemies of mankind, to be given no quarter and no consideration for their
purported grievances."
-- Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, 9/21/01
While statesmen and journalists espoused their warnings, and heroic
firemen and police rescuers searched for thousands of human remains at New
York's World Trade Center, our former Commander in Chief was exposing his
own deep beliefs for the benefit of hundreds of Georgetown University
students: He opined that al-Qaeda's terrorist attacks in New York and
Washington were 'partly justified' - His implied rationale: "rich
land owners in the early United States had been slave
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[This report was begun in early November - the following Letter to the
Editor, was printed in the Mesa, Arizona, Tribune, on Nov. 8, 2001]
VETERAN'S DAY
'Veteran's Day means we need to appreciate and respect the people who made
it possible for us to live our lives as we do.
Veterans of past wars gave us the right to whine about waiting in line at
the grocery store and complain about why there aren't enough checkers,
instead of not having grocery stores full of food. We have so much food
available to buy, unlike many other countries'; remember the Depression
and bread lines.
They gave us the right to complain about the noise of jets over our homes,
instead of not having homes or air travel anywhere in our country.
Remember the strange silence when the planes weren't flying.
They gave us the right to gripe about the way our neighbor's yard looks,
instead of living in any available empty shelter. We choose where and how
we live in a free country. We can pack up and move our family over 4000
miles if we want to - without permits or permission from anyone - and
we'll still be in America.
They gave us the right to state our objections to the president without
hiding our face from the camera and the police. We don't fear death of
ourselves or our families for stating an unpopular opinion about our
government.
They gave us the right to take a chance on happiness and success. We have
to make it happen for each of us. The opportunity is here in this country.
Remember how our country started: People wanted to think and be free
without someone telling us what is proper and right. Veterans served and
died for our rights.
Do not forget their sacrifice, because the way the world looks now we will
have to stand up for America again and tell the world that we are free and
intend to stay that way for the next 200 years. We may have two
generations who do not remember non-TV wartime, but we will have the
strength to do as our fathers and grandfathers have done to preserve the
life all Americans live today."
-- Annette Powell Edwards, Mesa, AZ
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