Terrorism

Terrorism:

As a former Special Forces operator, I have literally come face to face with the perpetrators of terrorism. In a dark room at a safe house in Afghanistan, I met face to face with an al-Qaeda operative of Chechen decent. He looked me in the eye, and through an interpreter, told me he was remembering my face so he could hunt me down and kill me and my family when he "escaped" U.S. custody.

It was at that point I realized just how fanatical this enemy was, and that they wouldn't rest until they destroyed our way of life, and imposed their imperialist, oppressive form of Islam.

As a member of Congress, I will use all my knowledge as a Special Forces Soldier who has fought in the war on terror; including my first hand experience hunting down the enemy, my background in military intelligence and my knowledge of complex military operations against an unconventional enemy. I will serve the people of Southern Arizona with the same dedication and veracity that I served my country in combat. I'll ensure our military has the resources it needs to accomplish its mission and the taxpayer's hard earned dollars are properly utilized in the process.

An aggressive prosecution of the war on terrorism is needed, not a passive one. The old cliché "The best defense is a good offense" couldn't be more true when dealing with this enemy. Osama Bin Laden and his followers were able to plan the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States in the safety of their Afghan training camps for years before executing them. Free from the worry of Special Forces knocking on their door or a well placed bomb from an American bomber smashing through the roof of their mud hut, the enemy took meticulous time planning to kill as many American civilians as possible.

This occurred even though we knew al-Qaeda was responsible for the bombing of the USS Cole and the U.S. Embassy Bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. We even knew that Bin Laden was in Afghanistan, yet we did nothing. This complacency and lack of resolve to confront an enemy that actually declared war on the United States in 1998, led to the tragedy of September 11th.

Now the enemy has chosen Iraq as their rallying point. Abandoning efforts to provide security in that fledgling democracy will allow the radical Islamists of the insurgency to convert Iraq to their radical form of Islam and make it the next launch pad for future attacks on the West. We need to continue to keep the enemy off balance and deny him opportunity to plan future attacks. [top]

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