Ten years ago today.....

BASEHEAD · Jun 25, 2006

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=250 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#ffffff>Family mourns airman's lost sacrifice
[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans serif]10 years after Khobar Towers attack, they desire closure, ponder his legacy[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE width=215 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Airman 1st Class Justin Wood was one of 19 Americans killed in a terrorist attack on Khobar Towers, a U.S. military housing facility in Saudi Arabia, on June 25, 1996.

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By ROGER W. HOSKINS
BEE STAFF WRITER</B>
Last Updated: June 25, 2006, 05:56:53 AM PDT

For parents Richard and Kathy as well as brother Shawn Wood, June 25, 1996, always will be a day of infamy.
That's when Airman 1st Class Justin Wood of Modesto was killed. Just a month before his 21st birthday, the Downey High School graduate was one of 19 Americans who died in a terrorist attack on Khobar Towers, a U.S. military housing facility in Saudi Arabia.
As his parents relive the worst night and day of their lives, Kathy's eyes fill with tears. Richard's posture stiffens. Justin's older brother, Shawn, watches his parents.
Justin wasn't supposed to be at Khobar Towers when the attack happened.
"He was on a mission (flight) but the plane had trouble and turned around," said Kathy said. "We heard the news and knew (the blast) was close (to where their son was stationed), but we thought with any luck he was either flying a mission or exercising or in the mess hall."
Richard continued the story.
"Later, we knew it happened right where Justin was," he said. "There was a number they kept flashing at the bottom of the screen (on CNN) for families to call.
"We kept calling and getting a busy signal. When we finally got through they told us that the survivors had been instructed to call home. We felt like idiots because we had kept the phone tied up all night."
They went to bed and slept. Sort of.
"It's like when you go to bed and your kids aren't home and you keep waiting for the door to open," Kathy said. "It wasn't a restful sleep."
At 4:45 a.m. their hopes crashed. There was a knock, and three uniformed military personnel were at the door. Before he answered the door, Richard told his wife, "We lost him."
After the visit every military parent dreads, they called their oldest son, Shawn. He was pursuing a music dream with his rock band in Seattle.
"I already knew," Shawn said, describing the gnawing, sinking feeling he had. He was 25 then.
"I sat down that night and I turned on the news," he said. "I never watch the news. And I knew it was where Justin was stationed."
'He taught me a lot about life'
The family gathered for the funeral in Modesto. There was a guest who added to the sense of loss. Justin's girlfriend, Joslin, arrived from New Mexico.
Richard always has harbored a most private wish.
"You know we believe you get married before you have kids," he said. "Well, now, we wished that Justin had … "
Justin's body was flown home from the Middle East. He was buried the week before the Fourth of July. In ceremonies that most Modestans have become familiar with, a flag-draped casket was set before a congregation at St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
There were funeral tributes from his alma mater, the military and family.
"All of us possess the ability to affect the lives of others," said former Downey High School Principal Joe Gregori in 1996. "… Justin was not student body president or captain of the basketball team. But he was somebody people wanted to be around."
Master Sgt. Walter Kueck, Justin's flight supervisor, said the young airman soared in the Air Force, and was the first airman ever to go directly from basic training to work as a rescue loadmaster. He said Justin had served twice in Saudi Arabia, flying 34 search-and-rescue missions, and helped save 10 lives.
Finally, Shawn Wood said his younger brother was a friend as well as a sibling.
"As an older brother, I was supposed to be the teacher, but I was often the student," he said. "He taught me a lot about life — about having fun — just by his energy and by wanting to have fun with his friends and his family."
The funeral procession was about 90 cars long, and Airman Wood became the first combat casualty buried in what was then the four-year-old San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery outside Santa Nella.
Justin had a final resting place, but he was one of a number of casualties that were in no man's land as far as history was concerned.
Were Justin and the 17 victims on the USS Cole, the ship that was bombed by al-Qaida operatives in a Yemen port in October 2000, the last victims of Desert Storm, a war that was declared over five years before? Or were they the first victims of the war on terrorism, a war that wouldn't start until five years later, after 9-11?
Family still wants justice
In looking for closure, the Woods listened to promises delivered by President Clinton. They were at the White House when Clinton vowed that he wouldn't rest "until those responsible were brought to justice."
Richard Wood almost laughed.
"And then (Clinton) forgot all about it," he said. "The only person who had the families in mind at all was Louis Freeh (then the head of the FBI)."
No one has been charged with setting the truck bomb. The government first indicated the suspects were disgruntled Saudis with links to Iran. The 9-11 commission noted that Osama bin Laden had been seen receiving congratulations the day after the bombing in 1996.
The Woods were part of a lawsuit seeking reparations from Iran through assets that had been frozen by the United States. It was dismissed but now is making its way through its first appeal.
It hurts that the people who killed their son might never face justice. It hurts even worse that their son's sacrifice seems to have gotten lost in the currents of world events.
"On Memorial Day, The Bee ran the pictures of those 16 soldiers we have lost on the front page," Kathy said. "Justin wasn't there. Do you know how much that hurt? He gave up his life for the same cause …"
A silver lining
If there was a silver lining in the future, Shawn, 35, provided it.
"(My wife) Chris and I got married because of what happened to Justin," he said. He has two daughters, ages 3 and 5.
But even in grandchildren, sometimes the moment is bittersweet. Kathy explained why.
"You always think Justin would love this or he would have enjoyed that," she said.
Coping is not what the Woods call their lives. Kathy buries herself in work so that when she's home, she is too tired to think.
Richard said he no longer smiles at much. He enjoys his time with Shawn and an occasional game of Texas Hold 'Em.
Kathy sums up her loss and outlook with resignation. "I just have to believe some good will come of it," she said. "I thought we'd do a better job protecting our boys and now we are in a war."

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Modbee.com

teazeman · Jun 25, 2006

Thank You Justin!

xpanda · Jun 25, 2006

So in another five years, when OBL is still running around lugging his kidney dialysis machine behind him, will you post 3,000 letters from families wondering why Bush didn't bring him to justice?

Just wondering.

BASEHEAD · Jun 25, 2006

X you are in the business of defending almost anyone.....I get it.Your analogy makes no sense.This is but one chapter in Clintons dynasty of impotence.This is an example how instead of ratcheting up the heat on terrorists and those that suuport them he looked the other way.Time and time again.Clinton blew it each and everytime.Hes the reason the world right now is the way it is.Damn girl get a clue.Yes its a little long.....read it, if the content suits what you determine to be debatable material.Just one of the many opportunities lost by Bill to commence a campaign against the terrorism that was most certainly on the rise against US interests.

Did you even know that AQ werent the main conspirators behing Khobar?

AT WAR

[FONT=Garamond, Times]Khobar Towers[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Times]The Clinton administration left many stones unturned.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Times]BY LOUIS J. FREEH[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Times]Sunday, June 25, 2006 12:01 a.m.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Times]Ten years ago today, acting under direct orders from senior Iranian government leaders, the Saudi Hezbollah detonated a 25,000-pound TNT bomb that killed 19 U.S. airmen in their dormitory at Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The blast wave destroyed Building 131 and grievously wounded hundreds of additional Air Force personnel. It also killed an unknown number of Saudi civilians in a nearby park. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Times]

The 19 Americans murdered were members of the 4,404th Wing, who were risking their lives to enforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq. This was a U.N.-mandated mission after the 1991 Gulf War to stop Saddam Hussein from killing his Shiite people. The Khobar victims, along with the courageous families and friends who mourn them this weekend in Washington, deserve our respect and honor. More importantly, they must be remembered, because American justice has still been denied.

Although a federal grand jury handed up indictments in June 2001--days before I left as FBI director and a week before some of the charges against 14 of the terrorists would have lapsed because of the statute of limitations--two of the primary leaders of the attack, Ahmed Ibrahim al-Mughassil and Abdel Hussein Mohamed al-Nasser, are living comfortably in Iran with about as much to fear from America as Osama bin Laden had prior to Sept. 11 (to wit, U.S. marshals showing up to serve warrants for their arrests).

The aftermath of the Khobar bombing is just one example of how successive U.S. governments have mishandled Iran. On June 25, 1996, President Clinton declared that "no stone would be left unturned" to find the bombers and bring them to "justice." Within hours, teams of FBI agents, and forensic and technical personnel, were en route to Khobar. The president told the Saudis and the 19 victims' families that I was responsible for the case. This assignment became very personal and solemn for me, as it meant that I was the one who dealt directly with the victims' survivors. These disciplined military families asked only one thing of me and their country: "Please find out who did this to our sons, husbands, brothers and fathers and bring them to justice."

It soon became clear that Mr. Clinton and his national security adviser, Sandy Berger, had no interest in confronting the fact that Iran had blown up the towers. This is astounding, considering that the Saudi Security Service had arrested six of the bombers after the attack. As FBI agents sifted through the remains of Building 131 in 115-degree heat, the bombers admitted they had been trained by the Iranian external security service (IRGC) in Lebanon's Beka Valley and received their passports at the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria, along with $250,000 cash for the operation from IRGC Gen. Ahmad Sharifi.

We later learned that senior members of the Iranian government, including Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Intelligence and Security and the Spiritual Leader's office had selected Khobar as their target and commissioned the Saudi Hezbollah to carry out the operation. The Saudi police told us that FBI agents had to interview the bombers in custody in order to make our case. To make this happen, however, the U.S. president would need to make a personal request to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.

So for 30 months, I wrote and rewrote the same set of simple talking points for the president, Mr. Berger, and others to press the FBI's request to go inside a Saudi prison and interview the Khobar bombers. And for 30 months nothing happened. The Saudis reported back to us that the president and Mr. Berger would either fail to raise the matter with the crown prince or raise it without making any request. On one such occasion, our commander in chief instead hit up Prince Abdullah for a contribution to his library. Mr. Berger never once, in the course of the five-year investigation which coincided with his tenure, even asked how the investigation was going.

In their only bungled attempt to support the FBI, a letter from the president intended for Iran's President Mohammad Khatami, asking for "help" on the Khobar case, was sent to the Omanis, who had direct access to Mr. Khatami. This was done without advising either the FBI or the Saudis who were exposed in the letter as providing help to the Americans. We only found out about the letter because it was misdelivered to the spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who then publicly denounced the U.S. This was an embarrassment for the Saudis who had been fully cooperating with the FBI by providing direct evidence of Iranian involvement. Both Saudi Prince Bandar and Interior Minister Prince Nayef, who had put themselves and their government at great risk to help the FBI, were now undermined by America's president.
The Clinton administration was set on "improving" relations with what it mistakenly perceived to be a moderate Iranian president. But it also wanted to accrue the political mileage of proclaiming to the world, and to the 19 survivor families, that America was aggressively pursuing the bombers. When I would tell Mr. Berger that we could close the investigation if it compromised the president's foreign policy, the answer was always: "Leave no stone unturned."

Meanwhile, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Mr. Clinton ordered the FBI to stop photographing and fingerprinting Iranian wrestlers and cultural delegations entering the U.S. because the Iranians were complaining about the identification procedure. Of course they were complaining. It made it more difficult for their intelligence agents and terrorist coordinators to infiltrate into America. I was overruled by an "angry" president and Mr. Berger who said the FBI was interfering with their rapprochement with Iran.

Finally, frustrated in my attempts to execute Mr. Clinton's "leave no stone unturned" order, I called former president George H.W. Bush. I had learned that he was about to meet Crown Prince Abdullah on another matter. After fully briefing Mr. Bush on the impasse and faxing him the talking points that I had now been working on for over two years, he personally asked the crown prince to allow FBI agents to interview the detained bombers.

After his Saturday meeting with now-King Abdullah, Mr. Bush called me to say that he made the request, and that the Saudis would be calling me. A few hours later, Prince Bandar, then the Saudi ambassador to Washington, asked me to come out to McLean, Va., on Monday to see Crown Prince Abdullah. When I met him with Wyche Fowler, our Saudi ambassador, and FBI counterterrorism chief Dale Watson, the crown prince was holding my talking points. He told me Mr. Bush had made the request for the FBI, which he granted, and told Prince Bandar to instruct Nayef to arrange for FBI agents to interview the prisoners.

Several weeks later, agents interviewed the co-conspirators. For the first time since the 1996 attack, we obtained direct evidence of Iran's complicity. What Mr. Clinton failed to do for three years was accomplished in minutes by his predecessor. This was the breakthrough we had been waiting for, and the attorney general and I immediately went to Mr. Berger with news of the Saudi prison interviews.

Upon being advised that our investigation now had proof that Iran blew up Khobar Towers, Mr. Berger's astounding response was: "Who knows about this?" His next, and wrong, comment was: "That's just hearsay." When I explained that under the Rules of Federal Evidence the detainees' comments were indeed more than "hearsay," for the first time ever he became interested--and alarmed--about the case. But this interest translated into nothing more than Washington "damage control" meetings held out of the fear that Congress, and ordinary Americans, would find out that Iran murdered our soldiers. After those meetings, neither the president, nor anyone else in the administration, was heard from again about Khobar.

Sadly, this fits into a larger pattern of U.S. governments sending the wrong message to Tehran. Almost 13 years before Iran committed its terrorist act of war against America at Khobar, it used its surrogates, the Lebanese Hezbollah, to murder 241 Marines in their Beirut barracks. The U.S. response to that 1983 outrage was to pull our military forces out of the region. Such timidity was not lost upon Tehran. As with Beirut, Tehran once again received loud and clear from the U.S. its consistent message that there would be no price to pay for its acts of war against America. As for the 19 dead warriors and their families, their commander in chief had deserted them, leaving only the FBI to carry on the fight.

The Khobar bombing case eventually led to indictments in 2001, thanks to the personal leadership of President George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice. But justice has been a long time coming. Only so much can be done, after all, with arrest warrants and judicial process. Bin Laden and his two separate pre-9/11 arrest warrants are a case in point.

Still, many stones remain unturned. It remains to be seen whether the Khobar case and its fugitives will make it onto the list of America's demands in "talks" with the Iranians. Or will we ultimately ignore justice and buy a separate peace with our enemy?
Mr. Freeh was FBI director from 1993 through 2001.
[/FONT]

JinnRikki · Jun 25, 2006

And Raygun armed Saddam and Bin Laden. Sold weapons to Iran illegally. and lets not forget this tidbit.

In 1985, Pakistan crossed the threshold of weapons-grade uranium production, and by 1986 it is thought to have produced enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon. Pakistan continued advancing its uranium enrichment program, and according to Pakistani sources, the nation acquired the ability to carry out a nuclear explosion in 1987.

What is your point???

JinnRikki · Jun 25, 2006

And from your own article.

Sadly, this fits into a larger pattern of U.S. governments sending the wrong message to Tehran. Almost 13 years before Iran committed its terrorist act of war against America at Khobar, it used its surrogates, the Lebanese Hezbollah, to murder 241 Marines in their Beirut barracks. The U.S. response to that 1983 outrage was to pull our military forces out of the region. Such timidity was not lost upon Tehran. As with Beirut, Tehran once again received loud and clear from the U.S. its consistent message that there would be no price to pay for its acts of war against America. As for the 19 dead warriors and their families, their commander in chief had deserted them, leaving only the FBI to carry on the fight.

But you find it all Clinton's fault. Whatever.

xpanda · Jun 25, 2006

Who did I defend, Base? Seems to me I'm just asking if your concern that this family wants to see justice brought for the death of their son (understandable) means you would also be equally concerned about justice being brought for the deaths of those on 9/11. So I'm just wondering if you'll be as understanding toward families in similar circumstances in five years' time when OBL is still hiding in caves in Pakistan.

Was a pretty simple question, kitten.

JinnRikki · Jun 25, 2006

Interesting how Clinton is condemned for not spending more time worrying about terrorism while he was overseeing one of the best economies the U.S. had ever known, fighting a war in the Balkins and dodging and weaving attempts by a Republican Congress to impeach him on the slimmest of evidence.
But today if any criticism at all is leveled against bush we are reminded he is the war fighter in chief and critics are just aiding the enemy. Was the Republican congress "aiding the enemy" when they tried to impeach a popular president?

teazeman · Jun 25, 2006

jinnrikki

:103631605

excellent post, very true.

BASEHEAD · Jun 26, 2006

xpanda said:
Who did I defend, Base? Seems to me I'm just asking if your concern that this family wants to see justice brought for the death of their son (understandable) means you would also be equally concerned about justice being brought for the deaths of those on 9/11. So I'm just wondering if you'll be as understanding toward families in similar circumstances in five years' time when OBL is still hiding in caves in Pakistan.

Was a pretty simple question, kitten.

X...Its this simple.....terrorists made the US the target of terrorists attacks on a multitude of occasions during his Presidency.Throughout the 90s when attacked Clinton didnt even talk tough....nevermind undertaking a concerted effort to end the obviously growning threat.Everytime.....a least 8 times on my count,we got attacked and then we got promises...then we got nothing.Then lets not forget Somalia.....which OBL himself credits with giving him the inspiration to take things to the next levels.Another classic example of PC leading to dire consequences.

911 happened...Bush went to war with terror.Didnt take 8 for Bush to decide that it needed to be dealt with in a big way.Bush took the country to war for the victims of 911.....didnt just make some promises that he never intended on keeping.We are making the terrorists pay everyday.

Ginn.....do you know anything about Clinton? Where to begin with your rationale....lol.

How about spending anytime worrying about terrorism? If hes not adept enough to worry about a host of issues at once while holding the office of President of the USA perhaps he wasnt really qualified to be President.He spent more money trying to stifle Microsoft than he spent on terrorism throughout the 90s'.Which do you reckon was really more important?

Its funny he had enough time to mess around with teenage interns but not enough worry about Americans (and many others) being killed by Islamic fundamentalists overseas.

If "overseeing" means taxing up huge profits from companies (many of which sold no actual products) that hit all the cylinders at the right time,youre right...he was a keen overseer.I suggest you have a closer look at the economy form the 90s again.

I am however beginning to see why you think the WOT we are currently engaged in is just too bloody.....you think the US was involved in a war during Clintons terms.The fact you even say this makes me worry about your US history.That was a "peacekeeping" mission that frankly Clinton got involved in at the very end.We still got a couple thousand troops over there Gin.....no calls to pull them out.

And finally Gin...."slimmest" of evidence????? Really.....did you type this with a straight face? Where I come from DNA evidence and an admission of guilty is pretty strong...lol.

Pray for Rwanda.....

Were sorry Bill...you were great.

JinnRikki · Jun 26, 2006

Your checks in the mail B Head.

BASEHEAD · Jun 26, 2006

JinnRikki said:
Your checks in the mail B Head.

LOL.....from who sportsbook.com or betcris?

JinnRikki · Jun 26, 2006

The Free Republic I suspect.

BASEHEAD · Jun 26, 2006

Oh boy...why because I know my history and my side if the story Gin?

Of the two of us....only one of us actually posts plays on this GAMBLING forum...the other, only involved in politcal discussion.Maybe youre the one taking the $$$$ to propagate leftist drabble....however whoever is paying you should request a refund.....youre not doing a very good job.

More conspiracy....lol.:toast:

Masxmenos · Jun 26, 2006

BASEHEAD said:
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="250"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#ffffff">Family mourns airman's lost sacrifice
[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans serif]10 years after Khobar Towers attack, they desire closure, ponder his legacy[/FONT]</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="right" border="0" width="215"><tbody><tr><td>


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</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" border="0"><tbody><tr><td>Airman 1st Class Justin Wood was one of 19 Americans killed in a terrorist attack on Khobar Towers, a U.S. military housing facility in Saudi Arabia, on June 25, 1996.

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By ROGER W. HOSKINS
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: June 25, 2006, 05:56:53 AM PDT

For parents Richard and Kathy as well as brother Shawn Wood, June 25, 1996, always will be a day of infamy.
That's when Airman 1st Class Justin Wood of Modesto was killed. Just a month before his 21st birthday, the Downey High School graduate was one of 19 Americans who died in a terrorist attack on Khobar Towers, a U.S. military housing facility in Saudi Arabia.
As his parents relive the worst night and day of their lives, Kathy's eyes fill with tears. Richard's posture stiffens. Justin's older brother, Shawn, watches his parents.
Justin wasn't supposed to be at Khobar Towers when the attack happened.
"He was on a mission (flight) but the plane had trouble and turned around," said Kathy said. "We heard the news and knew (the blast) was close (to where their son was stationed), but we thought with any luck he was either flying a mission or exercising or in the mess hall."
Richard continued the story.
"Later, we knew it happened right where Justin was," he said. "There was a number they kept flashing at the bottom of the screen (on CNN) for families to call.
"We kept calling and getting a busy signal. When we finally got through they told us that the survivors had been instructed to call home. We felt like idiots because we had kept the phone tied up all night."
They went to bed and slept. Sort of.
"It's like when you go to bed and your kids aren't home and you keep waiting for the door to open," Kathy said. "It wasn't a restful sleep."
At 4:45 a.m. their hopes crashed. There was a knock, and three uniformed military personnel were at the door. Before he answered the door, Richard told his wife, "We lost him."
After the visit every military parent dreads, they called their oldest son, Shawn. He was pursuing a music dream with his rock band in Seattle.
"I already knew," Shawn said, describing the gnawing, sinking feeling he had. He was 25 then.
"I sat down that night and I turned on the news," he said. "I never watch the news. And I knew it was where Justin was stationed."
'He taught me a lot about life'
The family gathered for the funeral in Modesto. There was a guest who added to the sense of loss. Justin's girlfriend, Joslin, arrived from New Mexico.
Richard always has harbored a most private wish.
"You know we believe you get married before you have kids," he said. "Well, now, we wished that Justin had … "
Justin's body was flown home from the Middle East. He was buried the week before the Fourth of July. In ceremonies that most Modestans have become familiar with, a flag-draped casket was set before a congregation at St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
There were funeral tributes from his alma mater, the military and family.
"All of us possess the ability to affect the lives of others," said former Downey High School Principal Joe Gregori in 1996. "… Justin was not student body president or captain of the basketball team. But he was somebody people wanted to be around."
Master Sgt. Walter Kueck, Justin's flight supervisor, said the young airman soared in the Air Force, and was the first airman ever to go directly from basic training to work as a rescue loadmaster. He said Justin had served twice in Saudi Arabia, flying 34 search-and-rescue missions, and helped save 10 lives.
Finally, Shawn Wood said his younger brother was a friend as well as a sibling.
"As an older brother, I was supposed to be the teacher, but I was often the student," he said. "He taught me a lot about life — about having fun — just by his energy and by wanting to have fun with his friends and his family."
The funeral procession was about 90 cars long, and Airman Wood became the first combat casualty buried in what was then the four-year-old San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery outside Santa Nella.
Justin had a final resting place, but he was one of a number of casualties that were in no man's land as far as history was concerned.
Were Justin and the 17 victims on the USS Cole, the ship that was bombed by al-Qaida operatives in a Yemen port in October 2000, the last victims of Desert Storm, a war that was declared over five years before? Or were they the first victims of the war on terrorism, a war that wouldn't start until five years later, after 9-11?
Family still wants justice
In looking for closure, the Woods listened to promises delivered by President Clinton. They were at the White House when Clinton vowed that he wouldn't rest "until those responsible were brought to justice."
Richard Wood almost laughed.
"And then (Clinton) forgot all about it," he said. "The only person who had the families in mind at all was Louis Freeh (then the head of the FBI)."
No one has been charged with setting the truck bomb. The government first indicated the suspects were disgruntled Saudis with links to Iran. The 9-11 commission noted that Osama bin Laden had been seen receiving congratulations the day after the bombing in 1996.
The Woods were part of a lawsuit seeking reparations from Iran through assets that had been frozen by the United States. It was dismissed but now is making its way through its first appeal.
It hurts that the people who killed their son might never face justice. It hurts even worse that their son's sacrifice seems to have gotten lost in the currents of world events.
"On Memorial Day, The Bee ran the pictures of those 16 soldiers we have lost on the front page," Kathy said. "Justin wasn't there. Do you know how much that hurt? He gave up his life for the same cause …"
A silver lining
If there was a silver lining in the future, Shawn, 35, provided it.
"(My wife) Chris and I got married because of what happened to Justin," he said. He has two daughters, ages 3 and 5.
But even in grandchildren, sometimes the moment is bittersweet. Kathy explained why.
"You always think Justin would love this or he would have enjoyed that," she said.
Coping is not what the Woods call their lives. Kathy buries herself in work so that when she's home, she is too tired to think.
Richard said he no longer smiles at much. He enjoys his time with Shawn and an occasional game of Texas Hold 'Em.
Kathy sums up her loss and outlook with resignation. "I just have to believe some good will come of it," she said. "I thought we'd do a better job protecting our boys and now we are in a war."

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Modbee.com

When stationed in Saudi Arabia I was fortunate enough to visit the tiny Khobar Towers Memorial on Prince Sultan Air Base. Very sad event, god bless these troops families and souls.

JinnRikki · Jun 26, 2006

We'll see when football season rolls around.
I've argued on this board for years ( before the sage known as basehead arrived). I've put forth all the arguments time and again. If you weren't here to see it, that's your problem.
You have no argument, I could dispose of your contentions easily enough, but to what end? You are entrenched in your ideas whether it be because of ideals or financial reasons we'll never really know.
But if I don't waste my time debating what you or I have no control over doesn't mean I can't. If I rehashed everything I've ever said for every noob on the board I'd have little time for anything else.
Keep postin' though basey, your doin' a heck of a job. LOL

xpanda · Jun 26, 2006

BASEHEAD said:
911 happened...Bush went to war with terror.Didnt take 8 for Bush to decide that it needed to be dealt with in a big way.Bush took the country to war for the victims of 911.....didnt just make some promises that he never intended on keeping.We are making the terrorists pay everyday.

I assume that you are insinuating that Clinton would not have invaded Afghanistan after 9/11? Can you assert that he would have been equally unsuccessful in capturing OBL? Would he also have gotten all chummy with Pakistan, despite knowing OBL was hiding there? And would he also have publicly stated that he's "not that concerned about him"?

And, should I assume that you also believe Clinton would not have invaded Iraq?

If he thinks like his warmongering wife, he most certainly would have. And it would have been just as misguided, just as immoral, and just as disastrous as it is now.

eek. · Jun 26, 2006

Clinton was miles too smart to invade Iraq.

Clinton reached the top the hard way and needed a brain, unlike the present incumbent who's just a silver spoon private school retard.

Ya get what ya deserve, ain't that the truth.

BASEHEAD · Jun 26, 2006

xpanda said:
I assume that you are insinuating that Clinton would not have invaded Afghanistan after 9/11? Can you assert that he would have been equally unsuccessful in capturing OBL? Would he also have gotten all chummy with Pakistan, despite knowing OBL was hiding there? And would he also have publicly stated that he's "not that concerned about him"?

And, should I assume that you also believe Clinton would not have invaded Iraq?

If he thinks like his warmongering wife, he most certainly would have. And it would have been just as misguided, just as immoral, and just as disastrous as it is now.

What precedent do you have to contradict such an assumption? The seeing eye missles he launched at Iraq in 98'? And why did he do that?

BASEHEAD · Jun 26, 2006

JinnRikki said:
We'll see when football season rolls around.
I've argued on this board for years ( before the sage known as basehead arrived). I've put forth all the arguments time and again. If you weren't here to see it, that's your problem.
You have no argument, I could dispose of your contentions easily enough, but to what end? You are entrenched in your ideas whether it be because of ideals or financial reasons we'll never really know.
But if I don't waste my time debating what you or I have no control over doesn't mean I can't. If I rehashed everything I've ever said for every noob on the board I'd have little time for anything else.
Keep postin' though basey, your doin' a heck of a job. LOL

"Your contentions".....lookey at the lib accusing me of something and then talking about disposing of MY CONTENTIONS...lol.

Of course you could Gin......why bother right?Its only a discussion forum why bother debating anyone? No wonder you yearn for the days of Doc.You just want your own little KOS.

Youre rich Ginny.