Posted on 09/13/2001 11:07:40 AM PDT by Pay now bill Clinton
Yesterday, millions of Americans awakened to find the nation at war, attacked by barbarians who targeted innocent civilians. This senseless slaughter of human life was reprehensible, and must be denounced by all civilized peoples. For the moment, we can only share our grief and our condolences with those who lost family and friends.
In our grief, we must remember our responsibilities. Congress has an obligation in this constitutional republic to preserve freedom and provide for national security. Sadly, our security measures were not adequate to prevent yesterday's tragedy. We must be willing to honestly examine our policies, and change those that weaken our national security.
When we retaliate for this horror we have suffered, we must be certain that we punish only those who are guilty. There is an understandable sense of urgency in the nation, a sense that Congress should take action immediately. However, we must not kill innocent civilians in our rush to retaliate against those truly responsible.
Times of tragedy and war naturally bring our strong emotions in all of us. Yet we must be careful to preserve personal liberty and privacy rights in the months ahead. Sometimes the people are only too anxious to sacrifice their constitutional liberties during a crisis, hoping to gain some measure of security. Yet nothing would please the terrorists more than if we willingly gave up some of our cherished liberties because of their actions.
We can all pray for peace and ask for God's guidance during these troubling times. I know that our President, our congressional leaders, and all Americans possess the wisdom and compassion required to resolve this devastating crisis.
I don't mean to be flippant, but the fact is that ANY civilization that tolerates terrorists such as this is NOT "innocent." Those people smiling and firing guns in the air in Palestine did this every bit as much as the nuts who flew into the WTC. The Afghans are as guilty for CONSISTENLY harboring Bin Laden and others as is Bin Laden himself.
So is the Congressman willing to tolerate "collateral damage" to those who supported the act, but did not "pull the trigger?"
So, was it important we protect those innocent civilians at Hamburg, Dresden, and Cologne when we bombed them to stop the Nazis?
By the time the Allies bombed innocent Germans by the hundreds of thousands the Nazis were already beaten, bonehead. It was revenge, pure and simple, but revenge against those who were the innocents. If this is what you support, you are no better than those who bombed us Tuesday.
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