The Attack On Our Embassies

Eleven years to the day after the attack on the World Trade Center, American embassies in Libya and Cairo were brutally assaulted, resulting in the death of U.S. ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and several others. Despite warnings 48 hours in advance of last week’s attacks on our embassies, nothing was done to protect American diplomats, military, and civilian personnel.

   It must be remembered that the 9/11/01 attack was the second attempt to destroy the Twin Towers.  On February 26, 1993, these buildings were targeted by the same al Qaeda forces that later succeeded, eight years later. That try, using a van full of explosives in a parking garage below the WTC, didn’t succeed in collapsing the towers, but it did manage to kill six people and injure one thousand. 

   Unlike the invasion of Afghanistan ordered by President Bush after 9/11, President Clinton’s response to the 1993 attack was minor and ineffective.  Al Qaeda gained the confidence that it could engage in a direct assault on the American homeland without suffering a significant counter-attack.  Osama Bin Laden believed he could bring massive destruction to the U.S. and have a possible chance of keeping his organization intact. Seven years later, the USS Cole, docked in Yemen’s Aden harbor for refueling, was bombed.

   After 9/11, however, the forceful response by the Bush Administration, the heroism of our armed forces, and the constant vigilance of the NYPD and federal counterintelligence forces prevented the additional massive attacks that all feared would follow.

   Thanks to the decade-long effort initiated by President Bush and completed with the heroism of the Navy Seals, with the approval of President Obama, Bin Laden is finally dead. But is Washington again sending signals of weakness, encouraging those who wish harm to America and its allies? 

   The answer is unsettling. President Obama ordered a withdrawal of most U.S. forces from Iraq before taking steps to counter influence from Iran.  The delay by the White House in implementing strict sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program has brought both the U.S. and Israel to the very brink of a holocaust.

   The danger exceeds just the Middle East or Al Qaeda.  The vacillation of the Obama Administration to Moscow in the ABM issue further enhances an image of an America in full retreat, as does the White House’s approval of the New Start treaty which gives Moscow a permanent advantage in nuclear weapons.  One hideous example: Russia now has a ten-to-one advantage over the U.S. in tactical nuclear weapons.

   Nor is the weakness confined to Europe and the Middle East.  In the Pacific, China has engaged in outright aggression against the Philippines, thanks to its massively enlarged navy. Beijing’s warships literally invaded and now occupy a resource-rich area belonging to Manila. The assault remains unanswered by Washington, despite America’s treaty obligations to our ally. 

   Russia, China, and Iran have sharply increased their military budgets, and all three have a significant presence in the Caribbean and throughout Latin America, a dangerous threat ignored by the White House. Russian nuclear capable bombers have patroled our west coast, and enemy nuclear subs have cruised under the waters of our Eastern and Southern coasts.

   Despite these vast and still growing dangers, our defense budget is being cut, and there are plans to further slash it drastically in the very near future.  This weakness breeds extraordinary danger to America, just as Britain’s weakness encouraged Nazi Germany to launch the Second World War in Europe.

      Those who lost their lives have left a permanent hole in our hearts. Cancers and other enduring injuries still linger in those who were there but survived. Now, we must add additional names to the roster of those lost to terrorists who sensed American weakness.