Scott Tibbs
blog post
August 27th, 2005
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Another blogger brings up a little-remembered story about the father of a soldier killed in Somalia showing disgust for disgraced ex-President Clinton.
Herbert Shughart's son was killed in Somalia. When Clinton met him face to face and offered his hand to Shughart, the handshake was rebuffed and Shughart said to Clinton: "You are not fit to be president of the United States. The blame for my son's death rests with the White House and with you. You are not fit to command."
Randy Shughart, along with several other heroes, was slaughtered when terrorists ambushed them in Mogadishu. The corpses of these heroes were latter dragged naked through the streets of Mogadishu as Somali savages danced on a downed Black Hawk helicopter. It was a truly disgusting moment.
What did Clinton do in response? Absolutely nothing. The U.S. would later cut and run from Somalia, and the situation now continues to be horrific. Once could say that those heroes died for nothing, but the reality is worse. They died to soothe the consciences of American Leftists who had little stomach for actually following through and doing what was necessary to restore order in Somalia.
U.S. troops should never have been in Somalia. The U.S. armed forces is not an international Meals on Wheels and no American soldier should die in combat in a humanitarian mission such as this one. American soldiers should only be put in harm's way when there is a clear national security interest.
But once our troops were there, the Clinton Administration had a moral responsibility to back them up. A terrorist attack as despicable as the Mogadishu Massacre should have been met with a response of overwhelming force, unleashing a reign of fire on the warlords and terrorists responsible for it.
Clinton's failure to properly respond to these savages made America appear weak and encouraged further terrorist attacks throughout his presidency. The bombing of military barracks in 1996, the bombings of American embassies in 1998 and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 were a natural follow up to the Mogadishu Massacre. Finally, America reaped the destructive results of Clinton's lack of commitment to fighting terrorism on September 11, 2001.
Herbert Shughart was right. Had Clinton been more concerned with national security and less concerned with having sex with White House interns young enough to be his daughter, perhaps the World Trade Center would still be standing.