Heads up

When Hackworth talks, it pays to listen. Our most decorated living soldier, including 7 purple hearts. His first assignment was post-WW II Balkans, then Korean War, and several tours in Viet Nam. Plenty of his wit and wisdom at:

http://www.sftt.org

Mornin', John. Hack's got it right....FRegards

Mornin', gonzo =^)

The good Colonel is absolutely right. He was on Hannity & Colmes this evening.

FReegards

When Hackworth talks, it pays to listen.

Amen.

So, we've got all these "sleepers" here and they're all gonzo gung'ho fanatics. No, I don't believe that for a moment. The probability that 'all' are still on board the martyr express hurtling towards the fiery finale is kind of thin in my estimation.

Let's look at this real good, folks. Some of these people may have discovered that they actually like this country.

Maybe some have fallen in love with an 'infidel', have that dream job, or maybe some have had chilren in the meantime and are really, really satisfied with their lives. And ... well, you get my picture.

The coming World War III is going to f**k up their lives thoroughly. But how to come in from the cold. [That's old fashioned spy talk ;)]

Let's hope the pointy heads in gummint have thoughts along these lines. It can produce wondrous amounts of intelligence, not to mention double agents.

On Hannity and Colmes show last night, Hack said that Bush and his experienced team had done "everything" just right so far!!

This from Hacks latest.

-------------------

WE ARE ALL NEW YORKERS

by DAVID H. HACKWORTH

For too many years, I've been a voice in the wilderness trying to warn the American people and the military-industrial-congressional complex that we've entered a new era of war. Even after World Trade Center I, the embassy attacks and the savaging of the USS Cole, most people didn't want to know the truth. Nor, tragically, did our leaders in government -- probably because it's hard to think out of the box, especially when there's all that pork out there for the easy picking.

Five years ago, my wife decided to take me seriously. We were walking in Central Park when a car backfired. Several seconds after I'd thrown her to the ground and rolled with her under a bush, she asked shakily, "What's going on?"

So I told her that New York was at the top of the terrorist hit list. As a student and survivor of many wars, I could see it all coming down as clearly as I saw and warned the top brass in 1966 that we'd lose in Vietnam unless we fought that war with the correct guerrilla tactics rather than refighting World War II.

My wife loves New York City more than anyone I know. But within the year, at her insistence, we'd left the vibrant Big Apple to live in Connecticut.

Today, of course, much as I wish my predictions had been off-target, nobody rolls their eyes any longer when I carry on about how terrorism has become this country's biggest threat.

But we can't all move to Connecticut -- in fact, nowhere we go can ever be far enough from either the threat or the physical and emotional fallout. There's no longer any safe spot for Americans except what we mindfully make for ourselves.

We are all New Yorkers. We are all the target, all under a shared siege, all bonded in spirit and in blood. Each and every American was hit last week -- and now we must take the hard steps necessary to protect our democratic way of life from an enemy with absolutely no respect for life, even his own.

This means instituting a level of security we've never known and having the unwavering commitment to an unconditional frontless war against an enemy who strikes at unarmed civilians from the shadows with increasingly more unthinkable weapons.

Our very survival depends upon our no longer allowing the MICC to keep trying to fight today's battles with yesterday's war machine. We must instead quickly punch into the basics of counterterrorism and common sense and stop fantasizing about the supposedly miraculous, all-protective Missile Defense Shield.

We must set aside our unilateralism and not-infrequent national arrogance and forge the alliances necessary to close down any terrorist sanctuaries and cut off all support. We must make clear that the friend of our terrorist foe is our enemy and will be treated accordingly: Any state harboring terrorists will get what Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany got after Pearl Harbor. And then we must move in a global effort of civilized nations to bring these monsters to justice -- either in the courtroom or by doing unto them as they've done unto us.

But in order to succeed, we need to act, not react. We must strike only when we are truly ready, only when we know where our enemies are and only at the times and places we select. And our weapons should not only be the sledgehammer we wielded in Serbia and Vietnam, but the pre-emptive scalpel the FBI used so effectively at the beginning of this millennium to prevent terrorist strikes in Times Square and Seattle.

We need to get smart as much as we need to get even -- to put in the time and the bucks to do whatever it takes to make our anti-terrorism defense shield permanently proactive. Just as our New York cousins set a daily example with their courage as they clean up and carry on, so must we all come together as a nation to let the world know loudly and clearly, "Never again."

Terrorists such as Osama bin Laden and sponsors of terrorism like Iraq's Saddam Hussein will soon learn that a fine line separates fear from rage and rage from revenge.

******* (c) 2001 David H. Hackworth Distributed by King Features Syndicate Inc.

I caught that! Great interview. He said he would spare the Bush administration no criticism had it made any mistakes -- but he had nothing but praise for the way the Team Bush has handled this crisis thus far.

I found this of interest this morning: Gerald Posner, former drum beater for Gore admits "I Was Wrong About Bush"

(http:opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=95001212)

Thanks JH2. I watched the good Col. last night on Hannity and that other guy, and he was preaching the same message. I lifted a few of his more notable points.

"Now that we're under siege, every citizen must stay minefield alert.

...

And we must never underestimate our foes again. The fiends we're up against are dedicated fanatics – often well educated – who hate our country and what it stands for with every fiber of their twisted souls. They'll continue to go after us as tenaciously as Japan's World War II suicide soldiers, whom we had to burn and blast one by one out of caves from Guadalcanal to Okinawa.

...

Once again, our very survival is at stake. And real patriotism won't be about waving a flag or singing a song. It will be having the courage and commitment to stay with this war until dawn's early light, even after we're long weary of the slow-going and the sacrifice."

The greatest fear I have and have had is that ever since the beginning (91101)I have wondered, will a sufficient number of Americans maintain the resolve to see this though?

Will we, as a united people keep "the courage and commitment to stay with this war until dawn's early light, even after we're long weary of the slow-going and the sacrifice"?

I hope I am wrong but ever since our experience in RVN I have had the growing concern that Americans no longer have the "right stuff".

Time will tell.

God Bless America!

You're welcome, my friend.

Re: the American public's resolve, the uniqueness of the circumstances -- the slaughter of thousands of innocent American civilians in cold blood at the hands of foreign terrorists -- guarantees the people's resolve will be very long lasting.

Time will tell, of course, but I'm convinced Bin Laden and his putrid scum of the earth have, once again, awakened the sleeping giant.

Thank you for this. It's encouraging to see his assessment of the Bush team. I value Hackworth's opinion.

bump

September 25, 2001
HACK ON CNBC TONITE
See Hack on the CNBC Rivera Live show at 9:00pm ET today

September 26, 2001
HACK ON FOX NEWS TONIGHT
Hack will be a guest on the Fox News The O'Reilly Factor show tonight at 8pm ET.