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Opinions/Editorials Title: USS Cole commander: Rand Paul is ‘new form of Republican leadership’ on defense Kirk Lippold has seen national defense first hand – 12 and a half years ago, he was the commander of the USS Cole when she was attacked by al-Qaida. Looking at national security today, he says, Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s approach is the more realistic way to move forward, and the Sen. John McCain’s of the world are being left behind. Lippold’s book, “Frontburner: Al Qaeda’s Attack on the USS Cole,” comes out in paperback Thursday, and focuses on Oct. 12, 2000 — the day the USS Cole was attacked and how the crew dealt with it in the moment — and the immediate aftermath. “Looking back on it now,” he said, “it’s very apparent that we missed a clear signal as a nation because before 9/11, there was 10/12,” Lippold told The Daily Caller in a phone interview. “When you attack buildings and embassies, those are things that while they house and represent you as an interest, attacking a warship is fundamentally different because a warship defends our citizens and our interests around the world. And when you try to take away an nations ability to defend itself, it truly was an act of war … the nation paid a very tragic price because we did not react to that attack.” Nowadays, Lippold said, national defense should be more aligned with the thinking of Sen. Paul. “When it comes to defense, I think Rand Paul is representing a new form of Republican leadership that is basically looking at what are — that really asks — the hard question: What are our national security interests in getting engaged in any nation, and what is the best way to go about doing it?” Lippold said. “I think that John McCain, while he had some good opinions about things in the past, I think that these days the world is evolving and changing. And the fact that Rand Paul, for example, stood up and made the nation ask some very hard question regarding drones and drone usage was a fundamental shift in how the Republicans view the defense of the nation both here at home and abroad,” Lippold went on. “Because this president, in my opinion, has fundamentally undermined our ability to defend this nation by killing terrorists rather than capturing them and taking them to an intelligence facility like Guantanamo Bay and learning how these groups operate,” Lippold added. “And while the program appears on the face to have had great success, I think ultimately the drone program is setting us up for failure because for each high-level terrorist you kill, that is a high-level intelligence asset that is no longer available to exploit.” Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1. http://www.libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/postcomment.cgi?cgi=postcomment.cgi&an=34522&cn=0 FLASHBACK John O'Neill whose First Day at his new job after being framed, was his Death Day at the WTC.....;} John O'Neill was forbidden by the Jewish Amb to Yemen from interviewing Suspects of Cole Bombing.....;} The USS Cole Attack was never solved..... Tuesday, April 09, 2013 Ten Years On... April 9, 2013 marks ten years since the fall of Baghdad. Ten years since the invasion. Since the lives of millions of Iraqis changed forever. It’s difficult to believe. It feels like only yesterday I was sharing day to day activities with the world. I feel obliged today to put my thoughts down on the blog once again, probably for the last time. In 2003, we were counting our lives in days and weeks. Would we make it to next month? Would we make it through the summer? Some of us did and many of us didn't. Back in 2003, one year seemed like a lifetime ahead. The idiots said, “Things will improve immediately.” The optimists were giving our occupiers a year, or two… The realists said, “Things won’t improve for at least five years.” And the pessimists? The pessimists said, “It will take ten years. It will take a decade.” Looking back at the last ten years, what have our occupiers and their Iraqi governments given us in ten years? What have our puppets achieved in this last decade? What have we learned? We learned a lot. We learned that while life is not fair, death is even less fair- it takes the good people. Even in death you can be unlucky. Lucky ones die a ‘normal’ death… A familiar death of cancer, or a heart-attack, or stroke. Unlucky ones have to be collected in bits and pieces. Their families trying to bury what can be salvaged and scraped off of streets that have seen so much blood, it is a wonder they are not red. We learned that you can be floating on a sea of oil, but your people can be destitute. Your city can be an open sewer; your women and children can be eating out of trash dumps and begging for money in foreign lands. We learned that justice does not prevail in this day and age. Innocent people are persecuted and executed daily. Some of them in courts, some of them in streets, and some of them in the private torture chambers. We are learning that corruption is the way to go. You want a passport issued? Pay someone. You want a document ratified? Pay someone. You want someone dead? Pay someone. We learned that it’s not that difficult to make billions disappear. We are learning that those amenities we took for granted before 2003, you know- the luxuries – electricity, clean water from faucets, walkable streets, safe schools – those are for deserving populations. Those are for people who don’t allow occupiers into their country. We’re learning that the biggest fans of the occupation (you know who you are, you traitors) eventually leave abroad. And where do they go? The USA, most likely, with the UK a close second. If I were an American, I’d be outraged. After spending so much money and so many lives, I’d expect the minor Chalabis and Malikis and Hashimis of Iraq to, well, stay in Iraq. Invest in their country. I’d stand in passport control and ask them, “Weren’t you happy when we invaded your country? Weren’t you happy we liberated you? Go back. Go back to the country you’re so happy with because now, you’re free!”
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