Have a Pepsi and Pass the Ammunition.
The torch has been passed to a new gender and a new generation at the Coast Guard Academy. By extension, that torch has also been passed to the Coast Guard. That has consequences for America and the world.
You know, when I see videos of young Muslim men slicing their heads with straight razors in a frenzied jihadic pep rally, and then I see videos of our young pimps and thugs, or our Queer Eyed for Straight Guy males, I get a real bad feeling. It’s the feeling that if our civilian teens/twentysomethings were ever to go toe to toe with post-pubertal Islamic terrorists that our young folks would get creamed like a beer drinker at one of Admiral Van Sice's backyard beer busts.
Our soft and stupid culture is setting us up to be no match for these Muslim youth who are being wet nursed in Islamic death cults, being fueled with Muslim madness in a land with zero economic opportunity and are feasting feverishly on a steady diet of Anti-American disdain.
Though it no longer seems real to far too many citizens of America, and Great Britain the terrorist threat facing us has not gone away, and has, on repeated occasions, shown itself in, largely thwarted, plots against us.
Yep, all things being equal, I believe they will eventually clean our kid’s clock if we don’t get a pro-American, kiss-my-butt attitude back into our warp and woof. These Muslim boys who currently reside across the sea (and some across your street) are not your normal young men.
This is sort of a problem for me. Why? Well, once again, Muslim young men dig jihad, and our youth love hair gel, teeth grills and blue jeans that are 17 sizes too big. Al Qaeda operative Maulana Inyadullah put it succinctly, “[Americans] love Pepsi, and we love death.” This is not some moody, PMS phase Islam is currently going through. This is their MO.
I believe that if we, as a nation (especially young adults), don’t toughen up a bit—and do it quick—that we’re not going to have the long-term stuff to cudgel off these persistent zealots. As I begin to stare at my grand kids and try to see down the road regarding the land my girls and their kids will inherit, I begin to shake like a leaf on a tree at the real possibility of the end of this great American experiment.
I believe our increasingly effeminate culture doesn’t stand a long-term chance in hell against Muslim mayhem—unless we beef up a bunch and get back some of the now-endangered American resolve. And that goes for every American—whatever your politics, sexual bent and musical taste. If we don’t recognize and realign spiritually, physically and politically to stave off these death dealers, then within 50+/- years we will be another head on Muhammad’s trophy room wall.
Don’t believe me? Look across the pond. Europe is history as far as their heyday goes. Also, a plot came to light just last week in the Birmingham area a few miles north of London, where nine Muslim men, of combined British and Pakistani origin, were arrested in a nationwide operation. The plot contrived by these terrorists was to abduct a British soldier off the streets of Birmingham in broad daylight. The captive was to be filmed being tortured and begging both for his life. Intelligence recovered from the arrest sites revealed a list of no fewer that thirty targets for abduction.
The horrific, videotaped abductions, torturings, and beheadings of civilians and soldiers alike in Iraq have long demonstrated Islamic terrorists’ diabolical nature. The enemy – declared to be so by their actions, not by our whim – has shown again and again that they have the will to fight on, against soldiers and civilians alike, as long as it takes to wear down and defeat us. The existence of this plot should reinforce to all of us, whether in Britain or in the United States, the very real and current threat posed by radical Islamists who still, five years after 9/11, wish to kill us all. Despite the best intentions of the peace-first crowd, concessions will not work. The only currency known to our enemy is strength, and any other recourse will not be seen as an act of good faith, but as an act of supreme weakness – and will not bring about a peaceful end, but will encourage more violence on the part of those who oppose us.
With diminishing birth rates and a thinning of skin, it won’t be too long before the EU is Islam’s prison chick . . . mop head wig, lipstick and all.
Having run out of analogies, adjectives and time, let me put this to you in a song I wrote (to be sung to the tune of “Imagine,” by John Lennon).
Imagine there's no America
It's easy if you try
Just a big Muslim mess
No Stars and Stripes to fly
Imagine all our people
Living as Islamic slaves.
Imagine there's no Country and Western
It isn't hard to do
No baseball or hot dogs
as far a freedom goes, we’re screwed
Imagine all our pretty girls
wearing black little sheets.
You may say that I'm a doom-n-gloomer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll wake the heck up
And our nation will still be strong.
Imagine there’s no possessions
That’s the Muslim plan
No need for Ford or Chevy
A veritable Suckistan
Imagine all our people
Losing all we have.
You may say that I'm a doom-n-gloomer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll wake the heck up
And our nation will still be strong.
From Doug Giles, TownHall writer)
Labels: The Last Crusade.
posted by ichbinalj at 1:59 PM
11 Comments:
Quo Vadis? Whither goesth thou, Western Civilization?
European nations protesting Saddam Hussein's death sentence, as they protested against forcing secrets out of captured terrorists, should tell us all we need to know about the internal degeneration of western society, where so many confuse squeamishness with morality.
Two generations of being insulated from the reality of the international jungle, of not having to defend their own survival because they have been living under the protection of the American nuclear umbrella, have allowed too many Europeans to grow soft and indulge themselves in illusions about brutal realities and dangers.
The very means of their salvation have been demonized for decades in anti-nuclear movements and protesters calling themselves "anti-war." But there is a huge difference between being anti-war in words and being anti-war in deeds.
How many times, in its thousands of years of history, has Europe gone 60 years without a major war, as it has since World War II? That peace has been due to American nuclear weapons, which was all that could deter the Soviet Union's armies from marching right across Europe to the Atlantic Ocean.
Having overwhelming military force on your side, and letting your enemies know that you have the guts to use it, is being genuinely anti-war. Chamberlain's appeasement brought on World War II and Reagan's military buildup ended the Cold War.
The famous Roman peace of ancient times did not come from negotiations, cease-fires, or pretty talk. It came from the Roman Empire's crushing defeat and annihilation of Carthage, which served as a warning to anyone else who might have had any bright ideas about messing with Rome.
Only after the Roman Empire began to lose its own internal cohesion, patriotism and fighting spirit over the centuries did it begin to succumb to its external enemies and finally collapse.
That seems to be where western civilization is heading today.
Internal cohesion? Not only does much of today's generation in western societies have a "do your own thing" attitude, defying rules and flouting authority are glorified and Balkanization through "multiculturalism" has become dogma.
Patriotism? Not only is patriotism disdained, the very basis for pride in one's country and culture is systematically undermined in our educational institutions at all levels.
The achievements of western civilization are buried in histories that portray every human sin found here as if they were peculiarities of the west.
The classic example is slavery, which existed all over the world for thousands of years and yet is incessantly depicted as if it was a peculiarity of Europeans enslaving Africans. Barbary pirates alone brought twice as many enslaved Europeans to North Africa as there were Africans brought in bondage to the United States and the American colonies from which it was formed.
How many schools and colleges are going to teach that, going against political correctness and undermining white guilt?
How many people have any inkling that it was precisely western civilization which eventually turned against slavery and began stamping it out when non-western societies still saw nothing wrong with it?
How can a generation be expected to fight for the survival of a culture or a civilization that has been trashed in its own institutions, taught to tolerate even the intolerance of other cultures brought into its own midst, and conditioned to regard any instinct to fight for its own survival as being a "cowboy"?
Western nations that show any signs of standing up for self-preservation are rare exceptions. The United States and Israel are the only western nations which have no choice but to rely on self-defense -- and both are demonized, not only by our enemies but also by many in other western nations.
Australia recently told its Muslim population that, if they want to live under Islamic law, then they should leave Australia. That makes three western nations that have not yet completely succumbed to the corrosive and suicidal trends of our times.
If and when we all succumb, will the epitaph of western civilization say that we had the power to annihilate our enemies but were so paralyzed by confusion that we ended up being annihilated ourselves?
(By Thomas Sowell, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute)
Monday, February 12, 2007
Could it be that Christian Jihad is the only way to stop the blood-seeking radical, Islamic movement? A revival of bedrock Christianity, such as the brand of faith seen in the book of Acts, is our only hope of stopping the advance of violent anti-west radicals. This Christian response may require the mobilization of Christian missionaries that are willing to risk their lives for the cause of Christ.
Most Americans are only starting to wake up to the fact that modern Islam is planning a sinister plot to take over the world during the next two decades. The term “jihad” is used for their aspirations. It has two meanings to Muslims:
• An individual's striving for spiritual, self-perfection,
• A Muslim holy war or spiritual struggle against infidels.
Fortunately, most dictionaries give a third meaning to this Islamic word. The definition, found in the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, essentially calls any crusade or struggle a “jihad” – with the idea that this war carries with it great intensity and focus. It some ways, Christians must fight radical Islam with their brand of bold Christianity. Simply put, we must return to our roots!
An understanding of democratic freedom, personal rights, and the Judeo-Christian system of law are all apart of the gift that Christianity contributes to every society that accepts it. In other words, Christian evangelism and foreign missions must penetrate Islamic or “veiled” nations if lasting, cultural change is going to occur. Last week, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council wrote a persuasive article putting forth the thesis that lasting social change in Iraq may be impossible without the change of worldview that Christianity and its missionaries could bring to the people.
Ironically, an article written last week by Graeme Wilson for London's Daily Telegraph reported that younger Muslim Britons are becoming more radical in terms of an anti-west mindset. This proves Dr. Perkins’ point. According to the article, older Muslims in the UK have been proud to assimilate into the warp and woof of the society. Unfortunately, second generation UK citizens and younger immigrants have embraced a worldview that pits their faith against all western nations. Growing numbers of radical young Muslims celebrate Al Quaeda and want to set up self-ruling enclaves within the UK where Sharia law would supersede the laws of England.
If English Muslims can reject the freedoms of England, how much more might the concept of democracy be rejected as the attractive democratic concept is fleshed out in practical terms.
The events I have just described beg the question “Is Islam really a religion of peace, or are there two faces of Islam?"
I would like to suggest that the average westerner has not fully understood both the violence and the complexity of the Islamic worldview. Politics and faith are inextricably connected in the mind of an Islamic radical. There is no comparison with the conservative Christian involvement in American politics. In Christianity, governments are charged with waging wars, while individuals are called to a lifestyle of personal peace and non-violence. Conversely, many Muslims have taken up the call to personal violence as an act of their faith. Therefore, suicide bombing, rioting, persecution of non-believers, and other atrocities are all part of personal choices that radical Muslims make.
Many people in the U.S. and the UK have not yet come to grips with the idea that many of their Muslim neighbors have not caught the vision of freedom that our nation espouses. Growing numbers of Muslims residing inour homelands do not share our views on women's rights, social justice, or racial tolerance.
So what do we do? How do Christian nations conduct their own jihad? We should draw a line in the sand – defining our unique national cultures, while resisting the encroachment of unbending, imperialistic Muslims.
More specifically, we need to understand that we are conducting an ideological, spiritual battle. I am not suggesting that Christians arm themselves physically or become suicide bombers. Quite the contrary! I am recommending that we recognize our enemy and fight ideologically before we get embroiled in direct physical conflict.
In the West, we must avoid backing down from the intimidation of radical Islamic groups. Freedom of religion is a major tenet of our nation which should not be violated. On the other hand, we must resist the attempts of one group to dominate the cultural landscape of nations which have given them refuge.
In third world nations, where Islam is just starting to make inroads, we need to send aid and Christian missionaries. The gospel of Jesus Christ must be preached once again without compromise. The statistics say that large numbers of Muslims are converting to Christianity all over the world (perhaps the greatest conversion rates since the religion’s conception in the 7th century). With their conversion, former Muslims are dropping the notions of physical jihad and violent attack of infidels.
How do we win this fight? We must focus upon elevating the poor. Remember that at the core of Christianity the gospel offers good news to the poor. Most modern mission efforts reflect this core value by serving targeted communities with practical solutions to economic, health, or environmental problems. A final word of practical advice is appropriate here. Churches and denominations should attempt to dovetail their efforts as much as possible with the huge aid packages that western nations are giving around the world. This coordination could multiply the impact of our efforts.
In summation, it’s time for Christian nations to unashamedly preach the gospel. We need to strengthen Christian commitment within our own countries, while sending missionaries to foreign lands. This non-violent jihad must be won all around the world. Let’s roll!
So says Harry R. Jackson, Jr.
Monday, February 12, 2007
West Point Center Aims to Know the Enemy
By MICHAEL HILL, AP.
Fri Feb 16, 2007
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Jarret Brachman recently told a class of West Point cadets that many Americans had an unsophisticated image of Islamic terrorists _ that they live in caves, "you know, beating the women over their heads." On the contrary, the U.S. is fighting a far more technologically savvy enemy _ one adept at both propaganda and Power Point _ said Brachman, the director of research at the United States Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center.
"This is a war of information," he said.
The enemy distributes video games in which players shoot down American soldiers with President Bush's face, he said. The enemy also produces the "Mujahedeen World Cup" for the Web, complete with a U.S. troop vehicle exploding as announcer shouts: "Goooaaalll!"
When they are not teaching cadets, the small group of academics at the Combating Terrorism Center, known as the CTC, publish analytical papers on al-Qaida and other terror networks that have landed on newspaper front pages and the desks of U.S. policy makers.
The group's central tenet is as old as war itself: Know your enemy.
"We have not been focused on the power of ideas, or been as sensitive to the power of ideas as much as they have," said Brachman, a former CIA analyst. "So how do we move forward from that? It starts with knowing who our enemy is, what they're saying."
Brachman's reading list touches on everything from the Quran to captured al-Qaida documents to angry postings on jihadi Web sites. Such readings are grist for CTC reports that interpret the operations and intentions of terror networks.
In November, for instance, CTC fellow William McCants edited the Militant Ideology Atlas, which ranks the most influential thinkers in the jihadi movement.
The most cited figure is not Osama bin Laden, but Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian executed in 1966 who is a sort of intellectual godfather to modern terrorists. The list is rounded out by other thinkers, many of them not well known to the public.
This sort of opposition research is already done by jihadists, who have studied U.S. homeland security bureaucracy down to the number of FBI branch offices and special agents.
The CTC's research portrays the jihadi movement as rife with internal fractures and intellectual inconsistency. Brachman said the question for the U.S. is how to expose the internal fractures.
The CTC's report "Stealing Al-Qa'ida's Playbook" argues that direct engagement with the U.S. has been good for the jihadi movement because it rallies locals and drains American resources.
The report, written by Brachman and McCants, suggests the U.S. work indirectly through groups with more credibility in the Middle East. The government could, for example, fund a media campaign that broadcasts images of attacks that killed Muslim children.
There is some evidence that the information war is at least on the radar in Washington.
The Iraq Study Group chided the government in its report last year for not doing enough to "understand the people who fabricate, plant and explode" the bombs killing U.S. troops.
Bruce Hoffman, a Georgetown University terrorism expert and senior fellow at the CTC, said there also was recognition of the issue in the Bush administration's National Strategy for Combating Terrorism released last fall.
Meanwhile, Brachman can take solace in making an impression on the West Point cadets who will soon lead patrols in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"In Iraq, it's not about kicking doors down," senior cadet Matthew Hubbard said after a recent class. "It's about seeing the same faces day after day."
The CTC has captured the attention of terrorists. Brachman said one jihadi site warned that the center was compiling "a frightening amount of information."
A paper by the CTC's Brian Fishman on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was posted on a Web site in Arabic, along with Fishman's picture and a description of him as a "cursed infidel."
"I took it as a compliment," Fishman said.
31 to Stand Trial in CIA Kidnapping Case
By COLLEEN BARRY, AP Writer
MILAN, Italy - A judge Friday indicted 26 Americans and five Italians in the abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect on a Milan street in what would be the first criminal trial stemming from the CIA's extraordinary rendition program.
The judge set a trial date for June 8, although the Americans, who have all left the country, almost certainly will not be returned to Italy.
Prosecutors allege that five Italian intelligence officials worked with the Americans to seize Muslim cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr on Feb. 17, 2003.
Nasr was allegedly transferred by vehicle to the Aviano Air Base near Venice, then by air to the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, and on to Egypt, where his lawyer says he was tortured. Nasr was freed earlier this week by an Egyptian court that found his four years of detention in Egypt "unfounded," and he is at a family home in Alexandria.
All but one of the Americans have been identified as CIA agents, including the former Milan station chief Robert Seldon Lady and former Rome station chief Jeffrey Castelli. The other is Air Force Lt. Col. Joseph L. Romano III, who was stationed at the time at Aviano. Prosecutors believe many of the other American names in the indictment are aliases.
Among the Italians indicted by Judge Caterina Interlandi was the former chief of military intelligence, Nicolo Pollari, and his former deputy, Marco Mancini.
Pollari, the only defendant who appeared at the preliminary hearing, has insisted that Italian intelligence played no role in the alleged abduction, and told the judge he was unable to defend himself properly because documents clarifying his position had been excluded from the proceedings because they contain state secrets.
The CIA declined to comment Friday on the case, which has put an uncomfortable spotlight on its operations.
Prosecutors are pressing the Italian government to seek the extradition of the Americans. The previous government of Silvio Berlusconi refused, and Premier Romano Prodi's center-left government has yet to make its decision.
Even if a request is made for their extradition _ a move bound to further strain U.S.-Italian relations _ it was unlikely that the CIA agents would be turned over for trial abroad.
The proceedings could be suspended by Italy's Constitutional Court, which has been asked by the government to rule on whether prosecutors overstepped their bounds by ordering wiretaps of Italian agents' phone calls.
All of the U.S. agents have court-appointed lawyers, who have acknowledged having no contact with their clients. In Italy, defendants can be tried in absentia.
Alessia Sorgato, a lawyer who represents three Americans, said she has not been able to talk to her clients.
"I'm happy because I will be able to fully argue the case," Sorgato said after the ruling. Sorgato and Guido Meroni, who represents six Americans, have argued that the evidence connecting their clients to Nasr's disappearance was circumstantial, based on phone records and their presence in locations in Italy during the period before the abduction.
During the proceedings, two other Italians reached plea bargains. A police officer who admitted stopping Nasr and asking for his identity papers during the course of the abduction was given a suspended sentence of one year, nine months and a day. A former reporter accused as an accessory was given six months, which was converted to a fine.
Two other Italian intelligence agents also were indicted on lesser charges as accessories.
Prosecutors say the alleged kidnapping operation was a breach of Italian sovereignty that compromised Italy's own anti-terrorism efforts.
According to Italian officials, Nasr fought in Afghanistan and Bosnia and was suspected of recruiting fighters for radical Islamic causes. But his lawyer, Montasser al-Zayat, said Nasr had only traveled to Jordan, Yemen, Albania and Germany before entering Italy illegally in 1997.
No charges have ever been brought against Nasr. He was under investigation for terrorism-related activities at the time of his abduction, and Milan prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest more than two years after he disappeared, while he was in Egyptian custody. Italy and Egypt do not have an extradition treaty.
Nasr's lawyer in Egypt told Italian state TV that he wants to return to Italy, where he had been granted the status of political refugee.
Prosecutors elsewhere in Europe are moving ahead with cases aimed at the CIA program.
This week, the Swiss government approved prosecutors' plans to investigate the flight that allegedly took Nasr over Swiss airspace from Italy to Germany.
A Munich prosecutor recently issued arrest warrants for 13 people in another alleged CIA-orchestrated kidnapping, that of a German citizen who says he was seized in December 2003 at the Serbian-Macedonia border and flown to Afghanistan.
Chilling Letter from Delta Pilot:
Pat Gilmore is a Delta pilot retiree..
I haven't seen the movie (UAL 93), yet, but I intend to when I get the
chance. Retirement has made me busier than ever, and I haven't had the chance to see many movies lately.
As a Delta B-767 captain myself at the time of the attacks on 9/11, I was in crew rest in Orlando that morning. I had just turned on the TV in my hotel room only to see the WTC tower on fire, then saw the second airplane hit the other tower. My immediate reaction was "Terrorists. We're at war,"followed by the realization that we airline crewmembers had all dodged a bullet; it could have been any one of us flying those planes.
As soon as the news stations flashed the first pictures of the
terrorists I knew just how close and personal the bullet I dodged was.
There, on the screen for all to see, was a man who had sat in my jump seat the previous July. His name was Mohammad Atta, the leader of the terrorist hijackers. Atta had boarded my flight from Baltimore to Atlanta on July 26, 2001 wearing an American Airlines first officer uniform He had the
corresponding AA company ID identifying him as a pilot, not to mention the required FAA pilot license and medical certificate that he was required to show me as proof of his aircrew status for access to my jump seat. An airline pilot riding a cockpit jump seat is a long established protocol
among the airlines of the world, a courtesy extended by the management and captains of one airline to pilots and flight attendants of other airlines
in recognition of their aircrew status. My admission of Mohammad Atta to my cockpit jump seat that day was merely a routine exercise of this protocol.
Chilling Letter from Delta Pilot:
Pat Gilmore (continues):
Something seemed a bit different about this jump seat rider, though, because in my usual course of conversation with him as we reached cruise altitude he avoided all my questions about his personal life and focused very intently upon the cockpit instruments and our operation of the aircraft. I asked him what he flew at American and he said, "These", but he asked incessant questions about how we did this or why we did that. I said, "This is a 767. They all operate the same way." But he said, "No, we operate them differently at American" That seemed very strange, because I
knew better. I asked him about his background, and he admitted he was from Saudi Arabia. I asked him when he came over to this country and he said "A couple of years ago", to which I asked, "Are you a US citizen?" He said no. I also found that very strange because I know that in order to have an
Airline Transport Pilot rating, the rating required to be an airline captain, one has to be a US citizen, and knowing the US airlines and their hiring processes as I do, I found it hard to believe that American Airlines
would hire a non-US citizen who couldn't upgrade to captain when the time came. He said, "The rules have changed.", which I also knew to be untrue. Besides, he was just, shall I say, "Creepy"? My copilot and I were both glad to get rid of this guy when we got to Atlanta.
There was nothing to indicate, though, that he was anything other than who or what he said he was, because he had the documentation to prove who he was In retrospect, we now know his uniform was stolen and his documents were forged.
Information later came to light as to how this was done. It seems that Mohammad Atta and his cronies had possibly stolen pilot uniforms and credentials from hotel rooms during the previous year. We had many security alerts at the airline to watch out for our personal items in hotel rooms because these were mysteriously disappearing, but nobody knew why. Atta and his men used these to make dry runs prior to their actual hijackings on 9/11. How do I know? I called the FBI as soon as I saw his face on the TV
that day, and the agent on the other end of the line took my information and told me I'd hear back from them when all the dust settled.
Chilling Letter from Delta Pilot:
Pat Gilmore (continues):
A few weeks later I got a letter from the Bureau saying that my call was one of at least half a dozen calls that day from other pilots who had had the same experience. Flights were being selected at random to make test
runs for accessing the cockpit. It seems we had all dodged bullets. Over the years my attitude towards the War Against Terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been known to be on the red neck, warmongering, rah-rah-shoot-em-up side of things. I've been known to lose my patience with those who say the war in Iraq or anywhere else in the Muslim world is wrong, or who say we shouldn't become involved in that area of the world
for political correctness reasons. Maybe it's because I dodged the bullet so closely back in 2001 that I feel this way. I have very little patience for political rhetoric or debate against this war because for a couple of hours back in July 2001, when I was engaged in conversation with a major perpetrator in this war, I came so close to being one of its victims that I can think in no other terms.
I don't mind admitting that one of the reasons I retired early from Delta last May, other than to protect my disappearing company retirement, was because it became harder and harder for me to go to work every day knowing that the war wasn't being taken seriously by the general public. The worst offenders were the Liberal detractors to the present
administration, and right or wrong, this administration is at least taking the bull by the horns and fighting our enemies, which is something concrete that I can appreciate. Nobody was taking this war seriously, and it seems
everyone found fault with the US government rather than with those who attacked us. I found that incomprehensible I also found myself being scrutinized by TSA screeners more and more every day when I went to work, and suffered the humiliating indignity of being identified about half the time for body searches in front of the general flying public who looked at the entire process as being ludicrous. "They don't even trust their own pilots!" Accompanied by an unbelieving snicker was the usual response. Here I was, a retired USAF officer who had been entrusted to fly nuclear weapons
around the world, who had been granted a Top Secret clearance and had been on missions over the course of 21 years in the military that I still can't talk about without fear of prosecution by the DOD, who was being scanned by
a flunkie TSA screener looking for any sign of a pen knife or nail file on my person.
Chilling Letter from Delta Pilot:
Pat Gilmore (continues):
It wasn't until six months after my retirement when my wife and I
flew to Key West, FL last November that I was finally able to rid myself of the visage of Mohammad Atta sitting behind me on my jump seat, watching my every action in the cockpit and willing to slit my throat at the slightest provocation. I missed being a headline by a mere 47 days, and could very well have been among the aircrew casualties on 9/11 had one of my flights on my monthly schedule been a transcontinental flight from Boston or New York to the west coast on the 11th of September. Very few people know that, while only four airliners crashed that day, four more were targeted, and two of them were Delta flights. The only reason these four weren't involved
is because they either had minor maintenance problems which delayed them at the gate or they were scheduled to depart after the FAA decided to ground all flights Theirs are the pilots and flight attendants who REALLY dodged
the bullet that day, and my faith in a higher power is restored as a
result.
I will see United 93 when I get the chance, and I will probably enjoy the movie for its realness and historical significance, but forgive me if I do not embrace the Muslim world for the rest of my life. The Islamic world is no friend of the West, and although we may be able to get along with
their governments in the future, the stated goal of Islam is world conquest through Jihad and it is the extremist Jihadists, backed and funded by "friendly" Moslem governments, whom we have to fear the most. We must have a presence in the Middle East, and we must have friends in the Middle East,
even if we have to fight wars to get them. Only someone who has dodged a bullet can fully appreciate that fact.
Best to all,
Pat Gilmore
Chilling Letter from Delta Pilot:
Pat Gilmore (continues):
post script:
I assure you this letter is true. As to the fact that I wrote that a
holder of an Airline Transport Pilot rating (ATP) must be a US citizen, I admit that I was mistaken here. I had always assumed so, because that's what I had heard, so I looked up the requirements for an ATP just now.
There is nothing that says that US citizenship is required. Okay, I'll bite the bullet on that one. I received my ATP back in 1975 and now that I think of it I do not remember having to prove my citizenship. However, the rest of the story is true.
As for my airline career, I worked for Western Airlines (who merged with Delta in 1987), Jet America Airlines (who was bought by Alaska Airlines in 1988), and Delta Airlines, as well as a few "fly by night" cargo airlines during my furlough period from Western from 1981-1985. I also flew in Vietnam as a transport pilot and retired from the USAF Reserve in 1991 after the Gulf War. I have 21,500+ flight hours in T-41, T-37, T-38, C-141/L-300, CE-500, CV-440, MD-80/82, B-727, B-737, B-757, and B-767 aircraft, all logged between 1970 and 2005 when I retired from Delta. Trust
me, folks, this was real.
I must admit I am quite surprised that my letter made it this far on the internet. The letter was nothing more than am innocent reply to a group of friends, one of whom sent me a similar letter from another Delta pilot who had been flying the morning of 9/11 and who had experienced the flying that day for himself. His letter had detailed his thoughts as he viewed the movie "United 93", and he also told in detail how he had been diverted to Knoxville when the FAA shut down the airspace. My friend had asked me if I had known of any other similar experiences, so I wrote him what I had encountered myself a few months before. This was my letter to him. Another retired Delta captain contacted me yesterday after reading this blog and related an experience his wife had on a flight from Portland,
> >OR to Atlanta in August 2001, just a week or so after my experience with Atta. She was riding on a company pass and seated in First Class. A person of "Middle Eastern" descent had sought permission to sit on the cockpit jump seat, but was denied access by the captain because he did not have an FAA Medical certificate. She said he ranted and raved because he couldn't
ride the cockpit jump seat, even though there were three empty seats in First Class, which the captain offered him. What pilot in his right mind would refuse a First Class seat over a cramped cockpit jump seat? He stormed off the aircraft and they left him at the gate.
You see? Mine wasn't the only experience leading up to 9/11.
Delta Airlines Corporate Security even contacted me a few days ago to ask if I had, indeed, written this letter. I wrote them back that I had. They were worried that someone was using my name without my knowledge. I assured them I was the author.
Keep the faith, and don't let the bastards get you down.
Pat Gilmore
A Marine With a Sense of Humor.
With Democrats in charge of Congress and Non-Binding Resolutions to Force a Withdrawal of troops from Iraq or face a cut-off of funds for the troops, Congress women and certain vascillating female senators are not very highly thought of by the men and women in uniform.
Last Tuesday, as President Bush returning from Arkansas got off the helicopter in front of the White House; he was Carrying a baby piglet under each arm.
The squared away Marine guard snaps to attention, Salutes, and says: "Nice pigs, sir."
The President replies "These are not pigs these are authentic Arkansas Razorback Hogs. I got one for Senator Hillary Clinton and I got one for Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi."
The squared away Marine again snaps to attention, Salutes, and says,
"Excellent trade, sir."
Blogger gets 4 years for insulting Islam
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD
22 Feb 2007. AP.
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt -- An Egyptian blogger was convicted Thursday and sentenced to four years in prison for insulting Islam, the Prophet Muhammad and Egypt's president, sending a chill through fellow Internet writers who fear a government crackdown.
Abdel Kareem Nabil, a 22-year-old former student at Egypt's Al-Azhar University, an Islamic institution, was a vocal secularist and sharp critic of conservative Muslims in his blog. He also lashed out often at Al-Azhar - the most prominent religious center in Sunni Islam - calling it "the university of terrorism" and accusing it of encouraging extremism.
His conviction brought a flood of condemnations from Amnesty International and other international and Egyptian rights group and stunned fellow bloggers.
"I am shocked," said Wael Abbas, a blogger who writes frequently about police abuses and other human rights violations in Egypt. "This is a terrible message to anyone who intends to express his opinion and to bloggers in particular."
Judge Ayman al-Akazi issued the verdict in a brief, five-minute session in a court in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. He sentenced Nabil to three years in prison for insulting Islam and the prophet and inciting sectarian strife and another year for insulting President Hosni Mubarak.
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