Remember the Cole

Blast Kills 17 Sailors on USS Cole in Yemen October 12, 2000 (New York Times photo)

"Today is the fifth anniversary of the USS Cole bombing," writes Michelle Malkin, calling on bloggers of the right to hold their fire in the Miers Wars and "take a moment to note the event on your blogs today if you have a chance. Stars and Stripes pays tribute to the 17 sailors killed in the terrorist attack, the dozens wounded, the survivors and the families affected":

I hope and believe we still stand together as stalwart supporters of the war on Islamic terror at home and abroad. The MSM and the Left have failed miserably to learn the lesson of the Cole. Do what you can to make sure those American sailors murdered by al Qaeda did not die in vain.

President Clinton feels soldiers' and the nation's pain but fails to act decisively in response to the terrorist attack on the USS Cole (Photos from The Galvin Opinion's "Failing the USS Cole -- A Galvin Opinion Investigation")

We're with you on this one, Michelle, big time. Checking out our Cole-anniversary post from last year, we discovered Rudy Giuliani was sounding the same theme in a devastating analysis of "Candidate Kerry's failure to understand the terrorist threat":

This is so different from the President’s view and my own, which is in those days [before 9/11], when we were fooling ourselves about the danger of terrorism, we were actually in the greatest danger.

In fact, [Kerry's] comments are kind of extraordinary, particularly since he thinks we used to before September 11 live in a relatively safe world. He says we have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they’re a nuisance.

I’m wondering exactly when Senator Kerry thought they were just a nuisance. Maybe when they attacked the USS Cole? Or when they attacked the World Trade Center in 1993? Or when they slaughtered the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972? Or killed Leon Klinghoffer by throwing him overboard? Or the innumerable number of terrorist acts that they committed in the 70s, the 80s and the 90s, leading up to September 11?

Thanks, Michelle, for reminding us of what we bloggers on the right side of the aisle have in common. It's good to remember -- even as we may agree to disagree over specific aspects of the President's domestic agenda --  why we voted for George W. Bush and not his opponent last November.

Technorati tag:  USS Cole

Comments

[Progressive]

Clinton's reaction to the USS Cole bombing was one of his few true failings, and his lackluster response may well have made it easier for terrorist networks like al-Qaeida to mobilise against the United States. I run a political blog that's been offline for a while and I recently reactivated. You had left comments there before, and I hope that you will do so again as I could really use the feedback. Thanks a bunch, and I hope to hear from you on the issues.

[goomp]

The "it's all Bush's fault" MSM and IMs will either wake up to the war against the West which is being waged against us or they will be eliminated by the Jihad.

[Carmi]

I always have to laugh when people vilify the President - Clinton, Bush, Carter, whoever - as being at the center of one failing or another.

We clearly put too much confidence in the ability of one man (gender deliberate, for the U.S. still hasn't gotten around to having the guts to elect a woman to its highest office) to determine the fate of a nation.

The situation vis-a-vis terrorism wouldn't have been much different no matter who was in power.