Okay, I'm scared...

Note: the author makes certain assumptions regarding Army policy based on intuition. The author has no idea what, if anything, the Army might do about this situation.

There, that should keep the PC Police™ at bay. Now that the disclaimer's out of the way:

Terrorists spray busload of civilians with gunfire

At least, that's my take on it. I don't have a whole lot to add to the story (at least, not that a non-moonbat wouldn't think of himself) but since I live in Honduras right now I figured I should really pay attention to this.

Today is my one-month anniversary of residing in Honduras. Obviously (no offense to the Honduran people) this isn't exactly my choice of residence. The Army had a slot to fill here, and my name was at the top of the list.* I'd like to be with my family this Christmas (not to mention any other day, I have a wife I miss very much and my boys are growing up without me... grrr) but I'm in the Army, hooah.** I figured it beats the crap out of being in Iraq.

So I got on the plane and went. Now, actually, Honduras can be a very sought-after assignment (consider the alternatives: Korea or combat), and I'm not arguing that, but I'd still rather be with my family. Plus God never sends me anywhere He doesn't plan to use me.† So, one month ago today, I arrived in this country.

This country, may I add, is lovely. Although I have seen only a tiny portion of Honduras, it is a tropical paradise. Well, rainy season starts in a couple months, we'll see if my tone changes then. But yeah. I left snotty comments on IMAO yesterday laughing at y'all freezing your butts off in the snow. Mwheh. It's 80° and partly cloudy here, just like every other day. So I have no complaints (other than that I miss my wife- have I made that point yet?) But last week they took us off-post and showed us all the places we weren't allowed to go, because the crime here is unbelieveable. So I (concluding that I don't need local food that much) made the decision that I will only rarely venture outside the gate. Why put myself at risk? Concertina wire is my friend. Keeps me safe.

So. This morning, I was flipping through news channels, and I saw something about "28 people killed on a bus in Honduras". My first thought was, good grief, that's terrible. My second thought was, why am I finding this out from CNN and not my chain of command? As I learned more about the incident, I realized that Chamelecon is about as far away from here as you can get and still be in Honduras. (Educated guess: I was not able to find a location for Chamelecon but I think it's a suburb of the larger city of San Pedro Sula. Never been near there, sure ain't trying to go now.) So it wasn't necessarily a real threat to any soldiers or this base. But it's still scary.

So. Let's pick apart the situation, shall we?

Point Number One: These people are terrorists. Why hasn't the media labeled them as such?

They stopped a bus filled with Christmas shoppers and hosed it down, killing a gaggle of innocent civilians, including six KIDS. Now- who does that sound like to you?

That's right, Palestinian suicide bombers. But even that group of Darwin Award winners has the common courtesy to blow themselves up when they commit acts of atrocity. What kind of sick people would hose down a bus to prove a point? That perfectly fits the description of "terrorist". Someone willing to go to any demented lengths to prove whatever point they have. And- their extremely important point, worth killing a bus full of kids, is-

Point Number Two: They oppose the death penalty.

What?!

These freakin' wackos killed a bunch of people to show that they're opposed to death? I bet the ACLU is already on the phone with them trying to get them to represent Scott Peterson and Psycho Mommy-killing Baby-kidnapping Lady. I really don't know what to add to that... it is beyond comprehension. I would venture to guess (and this is nothing but a guess, nothing to indicate that it's true) that they got some buddies in jail, that if not for the current law, would be facing execution. And maybe they figure killing kids is a good way to keep Lobo Sosa from winning, and possibly executing their terrorist friends. Pure supposition, but it makes sense, doncha think? They have to know that terrorism works. Look who's President of Spain now. But I think they're missing a key point:

Point Number Three: Terrorists have an extremely short life expectancy. The suicide bombers seem to understand this and don't even bother trying to survive. The "insurgents" in Iraq haven't quite figured this out, and keep shooting back. Morons. I would guess (uh-oh, more supposition) that these "gang members" were trained by Palestinians, but figured, screw that bomb crap, let's try to stay alive. Okay, they're officially being called "gang members". That may be true, but when somebody does something like this, you stop calling them "gang members" and start calling them terrorists. And what do we do with terrorists?

Point Number Four: That's right, we track them down like dogs and kill them like swine.

"My government won't tolerate the kind of massacre that has the objective of threatening and scaring the people. ... We are reacting with force," [President Maduro] said.

I applaud him, and I hope he's the sort of man that can and will back up that statement. I didn't think such men existed in politics until I saw President Bush after 9/11... it can be done.

Point Number Five:

Earlier this year, Alvarez claimed Al-Qaeda was trying to recruit gang members to carry out terror attacks, but U.S. and other Central American officials have said there is no hard evidence to support that.

Not surprisingly, this is the first I've heard of this. I can't even make a guess as to whether or not it's true. Before I left the States, my first sergeant referred to Honduras as "not exactly the focal point in the War on Terror", and I agreed with him. My security brief consisted of "you probably won't see al-Qaeda but watch out for criminals". I agreed with that, too. I honestly can't say whether I think al-Qaeda operates here or not. But I now have to admit it's a possibility.

But anyway, regardless of an al-Qaeda connection, these people are terrorists. Since we have established that, and since the official U.S. policy on terrorism is to hunt them down, and if necessary, unplug them from their source of supply, well... let's go. (about to overstep bounds as a lowly E-5... heh...) Finding punks who kill kids for fun... and killing the punks for fun... is not at all my mission, but... Let's just say that if for any reason Uncle Sam calls me on this one, I'm ready.

*-it was a very short list. The only other person that was on it is currently in Iraq.
**-Army expression for compliance. Actually can mean anything and everything except "no".
†-I have found out that the Army doesn't get to send me anywhere without God's permission first. It's nice to know I'm taken care of.

UPDATE: Part II (Capturing terrorists and finding out they might in fact be connected to al-Qaeda) is here. Part III here.

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