Thirteen Years Later...

The war on terror continues. Great words from Daniel Henninger on fighting ISIS and the leadership we deserve.

If Mr. Obama still thinks he's better than Susan Rice, John Kerry, Chuck Hagel andJohn Brennan, then he and the nation supporting his anti-ISIS effort are being poorly served. He should fire them all and bring in people who know more about fighting terrorists than he does. Barack Obama admires Abraham Lincoln. Act like him. Appoint the best people and let them win it.

Winning would also require a president willing to confront the political correctness that has undermined the U.S.'s battle against terror.

No more sophistry about whether a Benghazi qualifies as terrorism. After the videotaped beheadings of James Foley and Steven Sotloff, is anyone still lying awake at night worrying that their iPhone number is among millions of others in the National Security Agency's data mines?

Closing Gitmo goes on the backburner. "Boots on the ground"—kill that too. It has become code for boots going nowhere, as Mr. Obama's airpower-only campaign made clear Wednesday evening.

It has taken 13 years to this day, September 11, for the reality of global Islamic terrorism to finally sink in—here in the U.S. and everywhere else, including the ever-equivocal capitals of the Middle East.

In the years after 9/11 came London, Madrid, the Boston Marathon, multiple failed attempts to bomb New York City, Mumbai, Kenya, Boko Haram, the re-rocketing of Tel Aviv, Christian holy places destroyed, thousands of Arabs blown up in the act of daily life. That's the short list. ISIS is just the tip of the world's unstable iceberg. We're all living on the Titanic.

Now a reluctant progressive president goes to war without admitting it is war. It's even money at best that he or the Left will stay the course if the going gets tough beyond Iraq's borders.

Disgusted

The bombing that killed our US Ambassador in Libya was a hideous, disgusting act of cowardice, explicitly designed to attack our country on the anniversary of 9/11.  Just because the media forgot the anniversary, it does not mean the terrorists did. The attack was planned and certainly with the cooperation of al Qaeda.

And yeah, all of the media cares about is Mitt Romney's supposedly bungled response. Unbelievable. Because Obama never questioned George W. Bush's conduct in the war against terrorism, did he? Oh, wait...the war on terror is over? Come again?

It is unfortunate, and that is putting it mildly, that foreign policy has been put on the backburner recently. In light of the murder of an ambassador, a president who can't be bothered with attending daily intelligence briefings during the anniversary week of the worst terrorist attack in our country's history, and in light of continued protests in the Middle East, well, I hope that is reevaluated. And soon. And the blathering about Romney's response needs to end. A response I entirely agree with, by the way. Especially this:

America will not tolerate attacks against our citizens and against our embassies. We’ll defend also our constitutional rights of speech and assembly and religion.

It makes all of this ridiculousness over contraception even more absurd. I should have told that to the Planned Parenthood lackeys outside Starbucks.

This should not surprise me...

Our country is utterly unprepared in the event of an attack by WMD, biochemical weapons, nuclear weapons, etc. Peggy Noonan's column is a must-read.

She mentions the "failure of imagination" that the government fell victim to in the pre-9/11 mindset. Now, nearly nine years later, enough time has passed that we have forgotten what is was like in those days, to be completely unprepared and taken off guard by something beyond our imagination. But if the Taliban can kill a seven year old, there is all sorts of evil in their minds that could translate into something even far worse than 9/11. The election of Barack Obama didn't change the minds of the Taliban and al Qaeda; it only weakened our resolve, apparently.

The weather outside is frightful...

And I'm getting spiteful.
I have no place to go.
No more snow, no more snow, no more snow.

UGH. And it is starting again.

Though here's one piece vindicating Dick Cheney.

As long as George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were responsible for keeping Americans safe, Democrats could pander to the U.S. and European left's anti-antiterror views at little political cost. But now that they are responsible, American voters are able to see what the left really has in mind, and they are saying loud and clear that they prefer the Cheney method.

Yup.

Remembering

I will never forget the morning of September 11, with the beautiful blue sky, the sun shining, the absolutely clearness and beauty of a late summer day. I remember chattering about U2 concerts and a recent trip to Florida and absolutely nothing of any relevance that morning. It is hard to believe it has already been eight years now, since that pre-September 11 mindset kicked in.

I remember sitting at my desk, Doug coming in and telling me that a plane hit the World Trade Center. I remember clicking on ABCnews.com, that graphic struggling to upload of a picture of a tiny plane hitting a tall tower. I remember turning on the radio, hearing the crazy rumors of car bombs on the mall and Rosslyn on fire. I remember Jenny scared about her friends' siblings in NYC, and I remember wondering why in the hell Steve was not answering his phone. I remember that rush of a crowd, every man and woman for themselves, going in no particular direction and talking to no particular person. It was the last time I was without a cell phone. I remember getting the news about Barbara, and I remember sitting outside at Laurial Plaza with that eclectic group of people, just wondering what in the hell was going on and why there were armed men patrolling the streets. And I remember wearing the same dress I wore to my college graduation and have never worn since, though I will always keep it. I remember a lot from that day.

Eight years ago today, the world was captivated by shallow things that don't really seem to matter much in the greater scheme of things. It's a miracle, but not one unaffected by the work of the Bush Administration, that there were no further attacks in the interim.

It seems strange to be celebrating a wedding this weekend, but life and love do go on and endure in a way that befits that date. Terrorists don't win these games. But gosh, it is still so hard to let a summer day mesmerize you in September and NOT think of that September 11. I am glad it is cloudy, and it might rain today. I am glad it is cool and not that perfect late-summer temperature. And I am glad that so many people part of my life that day are still part of my life. Very lucky and blessed, indeed. More later...

More Scary Obama Policies

Powerful piece in the WSJ this morning regarding the Obama Administration acquiescing to shoe-bomber Richard Reid's ridiculous free speech/religion demands.

Mr. Obama has repeatedly suggested that the security challenge of bringing more than 100 trained and dangerous terrorists onto U.S. soil can be solved by simply installing them in an impenetrable fortress. This view is either disingenuous or naïve. The militant Islamists at Guantanamo too dangerous to release believe that their resistance behind the wire is a continuation of holy war. There is every reason to believe they will continue their jihad once they have been transported to U.S. soil where certain federal judges have signaled a willingness to confer upon them even more rights.

The position of civil rights activists with regard to these prisoners is plain. “If they cannot be convicted,” says ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer, “then you release them.”

Meanwhile, in order to appease political constituencies both here and abroad, the Obama administration is moving full steam ahead, operating on the false premise that giving more civil liberties to religious fanatics bent on destroying Western civilization will make a difference in the Muslim world. In a letter sent to his father as he began his hunger strike, Reid provided a preview of how he will exercise his newly enlarged free speech rights, calling Mr. Obama a “hypocrite” who is “no better than George Bush.” His lawsuit remains active while the Department of Justice works out a settlement that satisfies the man who declared, “I am at war with America.”

Obama can't decide what to do with Gitmo, first wanting it close, and then basically following President Bush's policy. He lets the human rights for terrorists lobby decide for him, but he needles his way through the policy to create just enough of a loophole so he couldn't be held accountable if, God forbid, there is another attack on this country. It's been eight years since 9/11, but I don't think for a second that the possible for another one has evaporated in those years. Yes, thanks to President Bush and his policies, we haven't had another attack on our soil. But I'm afraid if the rights of these evil men are placed above those of the rest of us, the chances of another one will only increase.

Obama Meltdown

Hee hee.

I can't recall a similarly disastrous start in a half-century (far worse than Bill Clinton's initial slips). Obama immediately must lower the hope-and-change rhetoric, ignore Reid/Pelosi, drop the therapy, and accept the tragic view that the world abroad is not misunderstood but quite dangerous. And he must listen on foreign policy to his National Security Advisor, Billary, and the Secretary of Defense. If he doesn't quit the messianic style and perpetual campaign mode, and begin humbly governing, then he will devolve into Carterism—angry that the once-fawning press betrayed him while we the people, due to our American malaise, are to blame.

Seriously, I did enjoy the Tom Daschle meltdown. Seriously, the guy owed how much in taxes, and no, he would never have paid or done anything about it whatsoever if it weren't for his (pending) nomination. The stimulus is debt upon debt.

On a more serious note, this was a fantastic column, and an important reminder that people do hate Americans.

Those around the world who mourned for Danny in 2002 genuinely hoped that Danny's murder would be a turning point in the history of man's inhumanity to man, and that the targeting of innocents to transmit political messages would quickly become, like slavery and human sacrifice, an embarrassing relic of a bygone era.

But somehow, barbarism, often cloaked in the language of "resistance," has gained acceptance in the most elite circles of our society. The words "war on terror" cannot be uttered today without fear of offense. Civilized society, so it seems, is so numbed by violence that it has lost its gift to be disgusted by evil.