February 26, 1993: The First World Trade Center Bombing

A car bomb is detonated under a parking garage at the World Trade Center killing 6 and injuring 1042.  A group of conspirators lead by Ramzi Yousef and assisted by an Iraqi bomb maker open up a 30 meter wide hole through 4 sub-levels of concrete.  Yousef is advised and funded by his uncle, Kaled Sheik Mohammed, a high-ranking Al-Qaeda member who would later become the principal architect of the 9-11 attacks.  Their goal was to collapse the towers.  He wrote letters to various New York newspapers before the attacks indicating that this would be the first of many such attacks.

October 3, 1993: The Battle of Mogadishu

This engagement was depicted in the book and movie “Black Hawk Down”.  With a humanitarian crisis developing in Somalia, and powerful war lord Mohammed Farah Adid ordering violent attacks on U.S. and U.N. forces working to feed the hungry and stabilize the situation, U.S. troops undertake an operation to detain two high-level Adid operatives. The operation goes poorly as two Black Hawk helicopters are shot down with rocket propelled grenades and the surviving soldiers are trapped in an urban environment.  A rescue mission sent to lead the injured soldiers out fast finds itself engaged in violent street fighting.  The bodies of two deceased American Soldiers are dragged through the streets by cheering Somalian militants.  In the end, 18 American soldiers are killed and the United States pulls out of the region. Osama Bin Laden makes repeated claims that he supplied weapons and manpower to Adid.  He also repeatedly uses the battle as an example of America’s weak will to fight and claims that these events inspired his later attacks.

June 25, 1996: The Khobar Towers Bombing

The Khobar Towers is a complex in the city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia that houses foreign military personnel including American soldiers.  Members of the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah explode a fuel truck adjacent to building #131, an 8-story unit housing United States Air Force personnel.  19 U.S. servicemen are killed.  Iran is widely believed to be behind the authorization for the attacks, but both the 9-11 Commission and the Secretary of Defense at the time, William Perry, have gone on record implicating Al-Qaeda’s involvement.

August 7, 1998: U.S. Embassy Bombings in East Africa

The United States Embassies in the East African cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Nairobi and Kenya are simultaneously bombed.  212 people are killed and 4000 injured. United States Government Employees were the specified targets.  Local members of Al-Qaeda, headed by Bin Laden, are responsible.  This attack brought international attention to Bin Laden and put him on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List.

October 12, 2000: U.S.S Cole Bombing

While in the Yemeni port of Aden for a routine fuel stop, the U.S.S. Cole is approached by a small craft that explodes into its port side, ripping a 35x36 foot hole in the ship’s hull.  17 United States Servicemen are killed and 39 injured.  The Rules of Engagement dictated that the ship’s Sentries were not permitted to shoot until they were fired upon.  Petty Officer John Washak states: “with blood on my face, I was ordered to turn my gun away from a second small boat approaching.” Petty Officer Jennifer Kudrick said that if the Sentries had fired on the suicide craft: “we would have gotten in more trouble for shooting two foreigners than losing 17 American Sailors”.  It is widely believed that Al-Qaeda was behind the attack. The suspected mastermind is currently being held at Guantanomo Bay Detention Camp.

Conclusion:

These direct and audacious attacks on the United States were not met with a clear, sustained response, and each inspired the next.  It took the 9-11 Attacks to wake us up and make us realize the true nature of our enemies.  Al-Qaeda has systematically attacked us all over the world.  They will not stop.  Their only goal is to destroy us.  I am thankful that we have a President that recognizes the true nature of our enemies and despite sustained criticism from his political rivals, has the will to proactively engage them in the Middle East.  I am thankful that because of this proactive strategy, we have not been attacked since 9-11.  I am most thankful for the brave Americans that are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, and I only hope and pray that we do not succumb to the apathy that erodes the support for our troops and their mission.



...more columns by Todd A. Carges