AL'S RANTS
Supplemental to Vol. 4 ("An Unforgettable Day")
"Is The Worst Yet To Come?..."
Before I begin my rant as usual I want to thank the numerous amounts of people that replied to my initial rant concerning the tragic events of September 11, 2001. I am touched by everyone's concern for all our brothers and sisters than perished in New York City and the countless number of families of victims and volunteer workers that are still struggling to pull their lives back together. Second, I would like to give a big THANK YOU to my webteam which I will now dub my web goddesses, Laura Alber and Robin Fox-Higgs of Calla Web Designs for countless amount of hours sitting in front of their PCs. I hope you will join me in giving them a huge hurrah!
Wow, what a week I must say! Like many of you I was mostly glued to the television all week hoping, praying for some good news of possible survivors. Alas thus far no survivors have been found. The whole situation has left me feeling powerless and drained and most of all scared. Scared because our enemies don't fight on the field of honor and therefore don't care for the lives of innocents. Scared because we don't know who to trust, a lot of our enemies are right here in our backyard and we have no idea what their next target they have in mind. Scared because of all the lives I know are going to be lost abroad. Scared because of the hate crimes that will be committed out of fear and hatred. Scared because our assailants come like thieves in the night and then scamper back into the dark like vermin. Scared because I don't know how all of this will effect our economy.
The impending strike back against Osama Bin Laden seems imminent but when is it coming?
What shape is it going to take, will it be a direct assault like we are used to seeing on CNN? Will troops be sent in enforce? Will our nation's enlisted men and women be sent to the slaughter like sacrificial lambs? I mean if these people have no sanctity for human life, whose to say that they won't sacrifice themselves and take our armies with them in a sacrifice to Allah? What about the use of biological weapons? I could go on but it just seems like an endless scenario. Russian officials have been conferring with U.S. military minds in search of the most effective measure against these terrorist but if they were unsuccessful in taming Afghanistan for so many years what hope can we possibly have?
After the initial shock wore off I thought to myself, "My God the worst is yet to come."
What are we going to do when the United States eventually attacks Osama Bin Laden's stronghold? I mean he has made Afghanistan his home since he was exiled from Saudi Arabia and is no doubt currently in hiding. Another thing I personally have been wrestling with is how do you reason with a group of people that don't share the same fundamentals of life that we do? They claim to do everything in the name of Allah and it would be glorious to die for his cause, I don't know how we can negotiate with a person or peoples that would rather blow everything up then to come to any reasonable terms. Its' scary to think that people like this inhabit the same Earth as we do. I DO NOT advocate violence in any form but this of course applies to a person with a sensible mind, capable of reasonable thought. Our enemies are zealots, fanatics not capable of negotiating, with an insatiable hatred for The United States of America. We represent everything that is bad in the world, we are the decadent West that must be destroyed. For them to die in that cause would be the greatest testament to Allah. How can you deal with that?!!??! A lot of Arabs and Muslims that consider the U.S. their homes now consider their religious leaders and the Taliban terrorist brainwashers. The people just don't know any better, they have been raised to hate us for no logical reason other than the fact that we have a better life. So then what choice do we have? Our military says we have to hit them and hit them hard! And until I hear a better solution I believe that is all we can do, our backs are up against the wall, We have to retaliate or else we send the message that the The United States is ripe for a take over and our enemies will come one after the other to take away our way of life. If at the very least we must make an example of Bin Laden, and against any other terrorist that wants to attack our great nation! As Colin Powell said you can't come to our country attack us and get away with it. They have awoken a great giant and now they are running scared and rightfully so. America is mad and it will have justice!
Lastly I would just like to address something that I read that just made my stomach turn with disgust. Statements made by the reverend Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson of the 700 Club.
The so called "men of God", responsible religious leaders are making damaging statements, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are using this tragedy to further their own personal agendas!!! I would just like to say to these two gentlemen, HOW DARE YOU!!!! You make a mockery of the countless of men and women that lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and spit in the faces of their families and all the volunteer and rescue workers! I have personally always thought that these evangelist were wolves in sheep's clothing but now they have shown their true colors for all of us to see! "God Almighty is lifting his protection from us," Robertson told his audience of the Christian Broadcasting Network. "We have a court that has essentially stuck a finger in God's eye, we have insulted the highest level of our government. Then, we say, 'Why does this happen?'" He also said in his statements, "We have imagined ourselves invulnerable and have been consumed by the pursuit of ... health, wealth, pleasures and sexuality." Jerry Falwell stated that the United States was vulnerable to the terrorist's attacks because the nation has insulted God and lost divine protection. Falwell who is a practicing Baptist minister is also the chancellor of Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA., and went on further to say that he blames the attacks on pagans, abortionists, feminists, homosexuals, the American Civil Liberties Union and the People for the American Way. "God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve." He then added his own personal condemnation by saying, "All of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen." These statements have insulted myself and countless amount of Americans. The dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C., Bill Leonard was outraged. He said that the statements made by both Robertson and Falwell were like those made by the same militant Islamic leaders being condemned worldwide. He says, "It trivializes theology. It trivializes the dead." If you want to denounce these damaging statements please download this petition and pass it along.
http://www.petitiononline.com/falwell/petition.html
These aren't the only scum currently making a mockery of these awful times. I am sure a lot of you have heard about the scavengers picking up the rubble from ground zero in order to make a buck on ebay. I have to admit that the story I heard about a man slugging another in the face after watching him gather parts of what was once parts of the World Trade Center brought a smile to my face. Or how about people trying to rip off other would be do-gooders who want to add their donations to the victims. These are my words for you, beware of those that will try to capitalize on others in the midst of our vulnerable state. Like vultures circling above a fresh kill these dastardly subhumans try and take advantage of a situation for their own monetary gain. Give, and give with your heart just be aware of those lurking in the shadows...
May God Watch Over us All!
Albert L. Ortega
Your man in the Trenches.
