Wake Up Call

Unpublished - Wake Up Call, written by Alan Helvig immediately after the 9/11 attacks

Greetings to all.  In light of recent events, I have had a lot of people asking me about what is going on and what we can expect in the near future.  Having been so close to the fire for so long, as many of you were, I have a pretty good idea of what's coming.  Here is a brief editorial in response to some of the questions.

Who's behind this?  Osama bin Laden maybe the mastermind and the initiator of the attacks on New York and Washington D.C., but he most likely received significant financing and other types of support from countries like Iraq.  They have been planning this for months (over a year) and have been training and preparing for this day.  They had numerous connections here in the States and abroad.  Establishing and funding their support network, learning to fly jets, repeatedly flying on domestic flights to get the routine down, and countless rehearsals were just parts of the prelude to this attack.  This had been so well planned and well executed to the point that our intelligence community was unable to fully interpret the events that were about to unfold.

Why would someone do this to America?  We are the self-proclaimed defenders of democracy throughout the world.  In our quest to defend liberty and provide safety for countless people around the globe, we have made a number of enemies.  We go into other countries and tell their leadership what they can and cannot do on their own soil.  We implement embargoes, setup blockades and use force when necessary to uphold our position.  When confronted with a neighbor vs. neighbor situation, we pick a side to defend and attack the other.  In assuming our global position of authority, we have made ourselves targets for countless factions around the world.

Why us? Why now?  This is nothing new for America or Americans.  It isn't even new on American soil.  Our military lives with the threat of terrorist attacks every time they go abroad.  History has warned us that this day would come.  We were just too naive to see it coming.  Americans have been the targets of terrorism for decades.  Examples:

1970: Murder of American University of Beirut President, Malcolm Kerr, in Beirut, Lebanon.

September 1970: TWA #741 and Pan Am #93 hijacked by the PFLP and flown to Amman, Jordan.

March 1973: U.S. Ambassador Cleo Noel & DCM George Moore murdered in Khartoum, Sudan.

June 1976: U.S. Ambassador, Francis Meloy and two other Americans killed in Lebanon.

1979­1980: U.S. Embassy in Iran seized, embassy officials held hostage for 14 months.

April 1983: U.S. Embassy in Beirut attacked by Hezbollah suicide bomber; 49 killed, 120 wounded.

October 1983: Marine barracks in Beirut car­bombed; 241 U.S. Marines killed, hundreds injured.

June 1984: TWA #847 to Athens hijacked to Beirut; U.S. Navy diver, Robert Stethem murdered.

1980's: Several Americans in Beirut kidnapped and held hostage.

September 1984: William Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut, kidnapped, tortured and murdered.

September 1984: U.S. embassy annex in East Beirut bombed; 2 Americans killed.

October 1985: Achille Lauro hijacked; Leon Klinghoffer murdered.

September 1986: Pan Am #73 hijacked to Karachi, Pakistan; 17 people killed, 150 wounded.

February 1988: William Higgins kidnapped in Lebanon and murdered.

December 1988: Pan Am #103 bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland; 270 people killed.

February 1993: World Trade Center in New York bombed; six killed, hundreds injured.

March 1995: American employees of the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan killed in response to arrest of World Trade Center bombing suspect.

November 1995: U.S. troops attacked in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; five Americans killed.

June 1996: U.S. Marine barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia bombed; 19 Americans killed.

August 1998: U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania bombed;  223 killed, over 4700 injured.

It is hard for Americans to grasp the reality of what is going on around the world and relate it to what could happen here at home.  We live a sheltered life here and need to become better versed at what these kinds of events mean.

Why wasn't this prevented? Here in America, we have fought for the right to have due process.  We believe that everyone has the right to know everything.  We don't think that authorities should be allowed to search for criminals, terrorists or evidence without a search warrant.  If authorities do perform an "Illegal Search", we let the criminals go free on a "Technicality".  We want our freedom and unlimited liberties, but we don't want to have to pay for them.  We whine about having to wait for security at airports.  We protest the actions of our Government and local authorities.  We believe that people should have the right to burn our Nation's Flag.  We believe that the rights of the one outweigh the rights of the many.  We don't allow our military to walk our streets with weapons.  We fear authority instead of respect it.  We are in the middle of an open debate to allow illegal aliens to become legal citizens.  We think that illegal drugs should be legalized.  We don't treat criminals like criminals.  We attack the police every time they shoot someone.  We allow law suits against individual police officers and put our soldiers on trial for shooting suspects.  We don't honor or respect the law, especially if it means an inconvenience to ourselves.  We think that "Red Light" cameras are a violation of our civil rights, even though we get caught "on tape, in the act".  We allow our convicts to file law suits against law abiding citizens from the confines of their jail cells.  We believe that criminals should have the same rights as regular citizens.  We put our military in harms way without the means to properly defend themselves.  We believe that we can only fire upon our enemy if they first fire upon us.  Why wasn't this prevented?  Because we weren't willing to pay the price for security!  We aren't willing to make the necessary sacrifice!

What happens now?  Here in the country, we will have to allow our Government to heighten security.  We have to allow them to take the steps necessary to protect our citizens.  We have to allow them to exercise force when necessary.  We will have to endure realistic security checks at the airports and in government buildings.  We will need to learn about terrorist security measures and exercise them on a regular basis.  We will have to grow up and make some personal sacrifices.  We have to learn that liberty comes at a price and be willing to pay it.  We will have to gladly change our way of life.  This cannot be something we do for a couple of months, then slip back into the fold.

Anyone who has traveled to cities such as London knows that terrorist threats and heightened security are a part of daily life.  In walking through their airports, you will pass a number of armed soldiers, who are there to protect the facility and the people in it.  Their security checks are far more stringent than ours here in America.  They are not afraid to dig through baggage and check out anything that might pose a threat.  Most people accept these activities and even appreciate them.  Here in America, we would never stand for such a showing of authority.  We get offended every time someone accuses us or suspects us of doing something illegal.  We get offended when people in authority are just doing their jobs.  We get offended by the smallest of issues.

Our Government will need our support and the support of a number of allies to carry out what needs to be done in response to this terrorist attack.  The world needs to know that we will not tolerate this type of activity.  We need to rally behind our president, our leadership and our military.  We need to stand tall as Patriots and be strong as a Nation.  We need to let our military and our local authorities do their jobs without hearing America whine about how they do it.  We need to readdress our legal system and put the rights of the victims and potential victims before the rights of the suspects and the accused.  As a nation, we need to turn to God for guidance.  We need to put our faith in the Lord and allow Him to be our light.

Most of all, we need to reestablish ourselves as "ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL". 

Sincerely,

Alan