"So what did we do, we launced a preemptive imperialist strike...."
Main Entry: pre·emp·tive
Function: adjective
.....4 : marked by the seizing of the initiative :
initiated by oneself <a preemptive attack>
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Some historic perspective on who's preemptive.......
November 4, 1979 - Iranian radicals seized the U.S. embassy
in Tehran and took 66 American diplomats hostage. Thirteen
hostages were soon released, but the remaining 53 were held
until their release on January 20, 1981.
April 18, 1983 - Terrorist bombing of U.S. Embassy in
Beirut, Sixty-three people, including the CIA's Middle
East director, were killed, and 120 were injured in a 400-
pound suicide truck-bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in
Beirut, Lebanon. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
Oct. 23, 1983 - Beirut Marine Barracks terrorist suicide
bombing.
April 12, 1984 - Hizballah Restaurant terrorist bombing,
Eighteen U.S. servicemen were killed, and 83 people were
injured in a bomb attack on a restaurant near a U.S. Air
Force Base in Torrejon, Spain. Responsibility was claimed
by Hizballah.
June 14, 1985 - TWA flight 847 Hijacking en route to Rome
from Athens by two Lebanese Hizballah terrorists.
June 23, 1985 - Air India Bombing, A bomb destroyed an Air
India Boeing 747 over the Atlantic, killing all 329 people
aboard. Both Sikh and Kashmiri terrorists were blamed for
the attack.
October 7, 1985 - Achille Lauro Hijacking, Four Palestinian
Liberation Front terrorists seized the Italian cruise liner
in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, taking more than 700
hostages.
November 23, 1985 - Egyptair Flight 648 carrying several
U.S. citizens was hijacked by the Palestinian terrorist
group Abu Nidal.
March 30, 1986 - A Palestinian splinter group detonated a
bomb as TWA Flight 840 approached Athens Airport, killing
four U.S. citizens.
April 5, 1986 - Two U.S. soldiers were killed, and 79
American servicemen were injured in a Libyan bomb attack on
a nightclub in West Berlin, West Germany.
April 24, 1987 - Sixteen U.S. servicemen riding in a Greek
Air Force bus near Athens were injured in an apparent
bombing attack, carried out by the terrorist revolutionary
organization known as 17 November.
August 1988 - after eight years of horrific violence, the
Iran-Iraq war ended.
August 25, 1988 - Shortly after the ceasefire that ended
the Iran-Iraq war, the government of Saddam Hussein
launched a major military offensive against the Kurds in
northern Iraq, sending tens of thousand of refugees who
either witnessed or showed physical symptoms of chemical
weapons attacks. Iraqi use of Chemical Weapons on Kurds
kills thousands of men, women & children.
December 21, 1988 - Pan Am 103 explodes over Lockerbie,
Scotland in a terrorist bombing by Libyan terrorists. All
259 people on board were killed.
January 15, 1990 - U.S. Embassy Bombed in Lima, Peru by the
Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.
Aug. 2, 1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait
January 16, 1991 Operation Desert Storm began when all
diplomatic attempts to get Saddam Hussein to withdraw from
Kuwait fail.
January 18-19, 1991 - Attempted Iraqi Attacks on U.S.
Posts, Iraqi agents planted bombs at the U.S. Ambassador to
Indonesia's home residence and at the USIS library in
Manila.
<font size=5>April 9, 1991 - Gulf War cease-fire agreement was signed. It included the complete destruction of all offensive weapons, including ALL WMD's. Iraq agrees to the terms of this cease fire agreement<font size=3>
The brutality, war crimes & atrocities committed against
Kuwait's are horrific.
An environmental disaster of epoch proportions was caused
by Saddam's retreating forces. More than 600 Kuwaiti oil
wells were set on fire More than 10 million barrels of oil
were poured into the sea, more than 1 billion barrels of
oil went up in flames. Kuwait and much of the Persian Gulf
was engulfed in a poisonous smoke. The burning oil fields
released nearly a half-billion tons of carbon dioxide.
Spills of 60 million barrels of oil in the desert formed
huge oil lakes and percolated into aquifers.
"The first Gulf War was the biggest environmental disaster
in recent history," said Gar Smith, former editor of Earth
Island Journal .
February 26, 1993 - World Trade Center terrorist attack
when a car bomb planted by Islamic terrorists explodes in
an underground garage. The bomb left six people dead and
1,000 injured. The men carrying out the attack were
followers of Umar Abd al-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric who
preached in the New York City area.
April 13, 1993 - an assassination attempt against former
President Bush <Sr.> by the Iraqi intelligence service is
foiled.
September 13, 1995 - U.S. Embassy in Moscow, A rocket-
propelled grenade was fired through the window of the U.S.
Embassy in Moscow, ostensibly in retaliation for U.S.
strikes on Serb positions in Bosnia.
June 25, 1996 - Khobar Towers Bombing, A fuel truck
carrying a bomb exploded outside the U.S. military's Khobar
Towers housing facility in Dhahran, killing 19 U.S.
military personnel and wounding 515 persons, including 240
U.S. personnel. Several terrorist groups claimed
responsibility for the attack.
February 23, 1997 - Empire State Building Sniper Attack, A
Palestinian gunman opened fire on tourists at an
observation deck atop the Empire State Building in New York
City, killing a Danish national and wounding visitors from
the United States, Argentina, Switzerland, and France
before turning the gun on himself. A handwritten note
carried by the gunman claimed this was a punishment attack
against the "enemies of Palestine."
August 7, 1998 - U.S. Embassy terrorist Bombing in Nairobi.
A bomb exploded at the rear entrance of the U.S. embassy in
Nairobi, Kenya, killing 12 U.S. citizens, 32 Foreign
Service Nationals (FSNs), and 247 Kenyan citizens. About
5,000 Kenyans, six U.S. citizens, and 13 FSNs were injured.
The U.S. embassy building sustained extensive structural
damage. The U.S. Government held Usama Bin Ladin
responsible.
August 7, 1998 - U.S. Embassy terrorist Bombing in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania, killing seven FSNs and three Tanzanian
citizens, and injuring one U.S. citizen and 76 Tanzanians.
The explosion caused major structural damage to the U.S.
embassy facility. The U.S. Government held Usama Bin Ladin
responsible.
October 12, 2000 - USS Cole terrorist bombing in Aden,
Yemen. A small dingy carrying explosives rammed the
destroyer U.S.S. Cole, killing 17 sailors and injuring 39
others. Supporters of Usama Bin Ladin were suspected.
September 11, 2001 - Two hijacked airliners crashed into
the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Soon thereafter,
the Pentagon was struck by a third hijacked plane. A fourth
hijacked plane, suspected to be bound for a high-profile
target in Washington, crashed into a field in southern
Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 U.S. citizens and other
nationals were killed as a result of these acts. President
Bush and Cabinet officials indicated that Usama Bin Laden
was the prime suspect and that they considered the United
States in a state of war with international terrorism. In
the aftermath of the worst terrorist attack in history, the
United States formed the Global Coalition Against
Terrorism.
<font size=4>November 6, 2001 - President Bush said, "There is no room
for neutrality in the war against terrorism, and the
international coalition against terror will "fight this
evil and fight until we are rid of it,"........ Over time
it's going to be important for nations to know they will be
held accountable for inactivity," he said. "You're either
with us or against us in the fight against terror."
November 8, 2002 - Resolution 1441 passed. Iraq remains in
violation of the Gulf War cease fire agreement from April
1991, with no end in sight. This resolution demands
complete, immediate & unconditional compliance. It warns of
serious consequences for any material breeches of
Resolution 1441. Diplomacy continues & inspections resume.
US officials present evidence of Iraq's ties with terrorist
organizations (harboring, financing & training) including
the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), Ansar al-Islam, a
terrorist organization with known ties to al-Qaeda & Al
Qaeda, ET AL.
<font size=5>Multiple material breeches of Resolution 1441 occurred &
12 years of diplomacy utterly collapsed. Back stabbing by
France, Germany & Russia (ET AL) were primary reasons for
the failure of diplomacy because of their substantial
financial self interest & illegal arms sales, ET AL, would
be in jeopardy of being exposed if force were to be used.
March 19, 2003 - Operation Iraqi Freedom began.
Who preempted whom? These frequent allegations of a Bush
Doctrine of preemptive war depends on which facts one
wishes to include in their decision making. The above list
is evidence that the term preemptive war no longer has any
credibility IMVHO. |
