The Clinton War On Terror

The recent killings of Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki coupled with the tenth anniversary of the September 11^th terrorist attacks created a flood of political and media focus on the presidency of George W. Bush. There was a common thread attached to the discourse; President Bush had somehow been derelict in assessing the potential impact al-Queda could have upon the American homeland.

The now popular myth is that the war on terror began on George W. Bush’s’ watch and that he was ineffective in its prosecution.

This is not a defense of his administration or its policies, but the now accepted mythology must be addressed.

The first acknowledgement is that his decisions brought us to the point that, a decade later, allows us to be in a position to evaluate our recent history. In the aftermath of 9/11 our future was uncertain; the potential unknown of further attacks and greater devastation was a very real possibility. His leadership in this area must be commended.

This week will mark the eleventh anniversary of the commencement of the war on terror and as such is an appropriate time to clarify the record and correct the accepted perception on how we arrived at this point in history.

The war on terror began on October 12^th, 2000 with a direct assault on our military.

A 35-foot boat laden with the explosives RDX and TNT with two bombers on board rammed the USS Cole port amidships while it was refueling in the Aden, Yemen harbor, ripping a 32-foot by 36-foot hole in the hull and causing extensive internal damage.

It cannot be argued with any degree of seriousness that a direct attack on a nation’s active-duty military is not an act of war. The Clinton administration and President William Jefferson Clinton specifically, however, attempted to make that very argument. Their stance was that the perpetrators of this attack would be brought to justice under the principle that this was a legal issue that needed to be resolved within the court system of the United States.

There was no reciprocal military retribution taken by the Clinton administration, and no legal prosecution evolved.

Declining action after active duty personnel were murdered can best be described as giving aid and comfort to the enemy. The legal construct of that argument is the definition of treason. The political reality of that path is best described as nothing less than cowardice.

The question now is that after a specific, unanswered  attack on an United States naval vessel, what must have been the mind set of al-Queda; that America would not fight back. At that point, the 9/11 attacks were inevitable.

President George Bush did not let the terror attacks go unanswered.

We were not attacked again during his administration.

The historians will make the decision on the Bush administration policies and decisions, but we must not allow the fog of history to cloud the reality of history.

We must never forget.

To that end, herein are the names of the first seventeen heroes lost in the war on terror:

Petty Officer 2nd Class Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, 21, a hull maintenance technician from Mechanicsville, Va.;

* Chief Petty Officer Richard Costelow, 35, an electronics technician from Morrisville, Pa.;

*Seaman Lakeina Monique Francis, 19, a mess management specialist from Woodleaf, N.C.;

* Seaman Timothy Lee Gauna, 21, an information systems technician from Rice, Texas;

* Seaman Cherone Louis Gunn, 22, a signalman from Rex, Ga.;

* Seaman James Rodrick McDaniels, 19, of Norfolk, Va.;

* Petty Officer 2nd Class Marc Ian Nieto, 24, an engineman from Fond du Lac, Wis.;

* Petty Officer 2nd Class Ronald Scott Owens, 24, an electronics warfare technician from Vero Beach, Fla.;

* Seaman Lakiba Nicole Palmer, 22, of San Diego, Calif.;

* Seaman Joshua Langdon Parlett, 19, an engine room fireman from Churchville, Md.;

* Seaman Patrick Howard Roy, 19, a fireman from Cornwall on Hudson, N.Y.;

* Petty Officer 1st Class Kevin Shawn Rux, 30, an electronic warfare technician from Portland, N.D.;

* Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronchester Manangan Santiago, 22, a mess management specialist from Kingsville, Texas.;

* Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy Lamont Saunders, 32, an operations specialist from Ringgold, Va.;

* Seaman Gary Graham Swenchonis Jr., 26, a fireman from Rockport, Texas;

* Ensign Andrew Triplett, 31, of Macon, Miss.; and

* Seaman Craig Bryan Wibberley, 19, of Williamsport, Md.

Their deaths must be answered for, lest we lose our sense of national self.