Like Columbine, like the D.C. sniper case, the tragic killing spree Thursday at Ft. Hood defies explanation. There really are no answers.
Major Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 and wounded over 30 other soldiers and civilians in a crazed act of violence.
Unfortunately, the fact that Hasan was a Muslim will give cause to the American wingnut fringe to further discriminate against American Muslims.
I'm sure that Hasan's wicked act will lead some Republicans, who are already beating the drum to open an investigation into CAIR for allegedly secretly installing Muslim spy-interns in Congress, to embarass themselves and the nation by making wildly irresponsible comments about this terrible tragedy. But I suppose that's to be expected.
Hasan had been harassed because of his Muslim faith….but was not an extremist.
Hasan denounced the war on terror as a war on Islam.
Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" before opening fire on Thursday.
Law enforcement officials said they are trying to confirm if Hasan wrote Internet postings that include his name about suicide bombings and other threats, equating suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the life of fellow soldiers. Link
There's still no confirmation that Hasan wrote the internet posting cited. I would also add that if Hasan actually said that suicide bombers find some equivalency with soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the life of fellow soldiers…….that isn't all that radical.
Hasan is a 39 year old Army psychiatrist who counseled soldiers returning from American wars in the middle east region.
Hasan is unmarried, kept to himself, and was not outspoken.
Hasan wanted out of the Army and had hired a lawyer to assist him in that effort. Hasan was willing to repay the government for the cost of his medical training.
Hasan was about to be deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan. He had made several personal farewells to the few people he regularly came in contact with.
His family members have openly denounced Hasan's despicable action.
Why did Hasan do what he did? I don't think there's any answer.
No question, Hasan did not want to go to Iraq or Afghanistan. Did he choose to slaughter other soldiers so he would be incarcerated, preventing him from being deployed? Did he expect to be killed in the violence he precipitated? Was he taking out his frustrations on being harassed as a Muslim… on fellow soldiers?
Mainstream media, to it's credit thus far, hasn't gone off the deep edge on this story. I'm positive that FOX will groundswell this tragedy into yet another wingnut meme, if they aren't doing so already……but I don't think that's appropriate for the situation and, for sure, it won't be helpful.
My personal opinion at this point is that this Army psychiatrist, outwardly calm and under control, inwardly was suffering from sever mental illness….the kind that is so unpredictable, and often results in bloodbaths of horrendous proportion.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I wonder what this post would be like if the fellow's name as Bubba Jones and he yelled "Jesus is Lord" during the murderous spree. Actually, I don't wonder at all.
This was a terror attack plain and simple. They knew he was a risk because of his beliefs. Obama did nothing about it. In fact he and his administration and homeland security advisor let this happen. Why wasn't this brought to Obama's attention so that he could make a decision on what to do before 43 people got shot. Our enemy could be all through or military, trojan horse style. This is a cover up of magnanomous proportion. However nothing will be done just like Clinton did nothing about the 1st WTC bombing.
Don't bury your heads on this one folks this has to do with your safety and the safety of your loved ones. I say try to keep him alive and got out the waterboard before anything happens to my family.
I'm just glad his name wasn't Bill Graham or something crazy like that.
I would have hoped that we could have found common ground in opposition to terror attacks.
About what I expected…..and I really took no position on the still-ongoing story.
Muslim extremists, just like American Talibangelical extremists, kill innocent people with random, difficult to predict, acts of violence. Are there warning signs with lone wolf-types? Were there warning signs befor Scott Roeder assassinated Dr. George Tiller? Maybe there were warning signs with Hasan. It appears that Hasan was not really much of a social guy. That leaves his family and his Army colleagues. I can't say who should have intervened.
average…you're off the rails here. Clinton brought the WTC bomber to justice. Clinton also targeted Bin Laden camps with rockets.
The POTUS isn't responsible for Army personnel. He's not the human resources administrator for the Army.
If the Virginia Tech shootup was a terrorist attack, then, yes, the Ft. Hood massacre is a terrorist attack too. They were very similar.
I don't necessarily agree that it's so plain and simple to label this as an Islamic attack. We need more information.
The POTUS is commander in chief, Reverend. He's responsible for everything in the army just like those greedy CEOs are responsible for all their departments.
He'll be partying it up at Camp David today though, while GWB tries to pick up the pieces and start the healing process at Fort Hood.
Let us not forget that war has been declared on the US.
If South Korea has declared war on us, that is news to me. This is what separates the Virginia Tech massacre.
You brought up the DC sniper, have you forgotten that he was a muslim as well? What about Yusef DeJarnettet, the Shaker Heights man who said he was acting under orders of God when he randomly shot white people from his bicycle in 2002. What about the soldier who rolled a grenade into a tent full of soldiers.
During World War 2, while we were at war with Germany, 4 Germans showed up on the Atlantic coast. It was later learned that they were dropped off by a submarine. It never even occurred to us to treat them as tourists. They were arrested and tried.
But we now have to be politically correct. It walks, looks and quacks like a duck, and people are falling over themselves to tell us to not consider that it may in fact be a duck.
We have to randomly check little old ladies at the airport, because we do not want to insult anyone. We have to tie our soldiers hands while they are fighting a war. Political correctness will be the end of us.
Apparently Clinton wasn't tough enough on al'kaida because they eventually accomplished their mission of blowing up and bringing down the towers.
bzzzzp is right con "This is what separates the Virginia Tech massacre." and this "Political correctness will be the end of us."
Isn't the POTUS briefed on potential enemies. Especially suspect enemies that are part of his army?
Pardon me while I brush the wingnut dust out of my eyes from those last three comments.
larry's dust….the greedy CEO's set the corporate policy, the POTUS sets the military policy. CEO's don't micromanage the human resources department…. they set the greedy policy. The POTUS doesn't micromanage the military's human resources department, nor should he. Maybe CEO's and POTUS's should clean the office bathrooms too?
bzzzp's dust…..especially dusty…..When an Italian American committs a crime, does that mean Italy is at war with the U.S.? When an Evangelical American committs a crime, does that mean that Evangelicals are at war with the U.S.?
And what in the hell has political correctness got to do with anything? Is it politically correct to hire Catholics, Jews, Protestants, or Hindus to work in government or the military?
average dust….Clinton's counterterrorism guy, Richard Clarke, did everything he could do to impress the Bushies that al-Qaeda would be the number one dangerous enemy….the Bushies demoted Clarke out of the principles meetings and never took up Islamic terrorism until Sept 4. 2001….7 days before the Bushies failed to protect the nation. Clinton tried….Bush let Americans die.
Hasan betrayed his colleagues in arms by turning his weapons on them. We must comfort and support the wounded and the families of the slain. But let us not submit to political correctness in our understanding of Hasan and his motivations.
We know several things: 1) Hasan is a Muslim: 2) Islam is a religion that preaches "work-based" salvation (Paradise is earned, either by doing enough good works, or dying as a martyr for the faith); 3) Hasan opposed the war: 4) He was scheduled to deploy to the war against his co-religionists: and 5) He shouted "Allah Akbar" before he killed his comrades in arms.
His actions differ little from those of suicide bombers. He is a terrorist. We should deal with him accordingly.
We also know that Hasan attended the same radical Islamic mosque as two of the 9/11 hijackers back in 2001, admired the radical cleric who spoke there, and that this cleric urges Muslims to strike back against Americans to this day.
Hasan shouting "allah akhbar" as he opened fire only leaves liberals like the Reverend wondering what his motivation could possibly have been. The rest of us are capable of thought.
What we should be wondering is why the military didn't catch any of the red flags that were flying all over the place with Hasan. Could it have been political correctness, a fear of offending Muslims ? If the military had intervened and taken action against Hasan, I bet liberals like the Reverend would be condemning the military for it's "racist" actions in violating his rights.
I guess this guy didn't watch Fox News otherwise the Rev would have called him a terrorist right away. When the killer is known the Rev can't create the phantom right wing crazy to fill in his narrative. The only terrorists the Rev sees are those that might listen to Rush or Glenn Beck.
Is there a reason why you aren't asking if the, "war" has begun this time Rev?
I often wonder if you believe some of the stuff you say.
"When an Italian American commits a crime, does that mean Italy is at war with the U.S.?" No, that is the point.
When someone who possesses all the requirements to be from a group that is at war with us, and then performs a war-like act, it makes much more sense to assume they are part of the conflict. That should be the default position. It is the only thing that makes sense.
Leftists in this country often have trouble differentiating between prosecuting criminals and prosecuting a war. The same rules do not apply.
What war? Who are we at war with? Please…tell me…..oh, great Empire patriots.
Yes, Hasan's act was influenced by his Muslim beliefs….yes, but simplistic equation-based appraisals like Quid's don't wash…
I know lots of Catholic Americans who belong to a "work based" salvation religion, who opposed the war, and pray devoutly to Yahweh and The Holy Mother for it to end. Would American Catholics, then, be 'people of interest' in most all domestic violence events?
What I find disingenuous is the claim that this whole ordeal could have been prevented except for liberals who don't want minorities, racial or religious or gender, to be held accountable for their behavior, allegedly because of some 'political correctness' ethic. That's bogus. It's an offensive mechanism tic that conservatives use whenever a minority is involved in a major crime.
Reverand,
You don't like my "simplistic equation-based appraisal". Is that because the simple straight-forward explanation leads to a conclusion that upsets your liberal pieties?
As bzzzzp states, try some reasoned differentiating. Some Catholics believe that salvation requires works. Catholic doctrine supports this belief. Catholics do not believe that killing Muslims makes them martyrs. So leave the Catholics out of your apologia for Hasan.
Finally, Reverand, if we are not at war, then please share this insight with the President. He believes we are at war -"the good war"- in Afghanistan.
To averagejoe5. Your first ask why didn't Obama do something about this and then you state it should have been bought to Obamas attention. How was he supposed to do something about it if no one bought it to his attention?
Not to mention those individual cases do not go to the president. The military is supposed to handle soldiers with problems and it was very obvious this man had many problems.
I wonder why he accepted the military money to become a doctor knowing darn well he could be sent to serve in a war against people who share his faith? Not very smart to think otherwise. Not to mention he has to know there will be some nuts in our country who will now have more ammunition against American Muslims who are trying to live peacefully but will see all of them as extremists.
Rev says, "[blaming liberals is] an offensive mechanism tic that conservatives use whenever a minority is involved in a major crime."
You might have more than zero credibility here if you didn't use the very same "offensive mechanism tic" in spades anytime there is an act of violence that might be attributable to a right-winger. You even dredge up specters of imaginary violence, as in the cases of the Tea Partiers and townhall meetings. As Roy said, where is your "has the war begun ?" post title now ?
If health care reform passes…a big if….the Baggers will go on a rampage. 2010 will be the Year of the Wingnut. I can see it all now on the cover of Time.
I don't know what came over me……….the swastikas, the Obama-Hitler posters, the "we came unarmed, this time" signs and semi-automatic toting patriots must have all been just figments of my liberal imagination.
Reverend's world – Do we worry about those who are actually at war with us, the jihadists, who have already perpetrated violence against us on many occasions ? No. Do we worry about Tea Party protesters, Americans who have engaged only in peaceful protest ? Yes.
There's nothing more to say. You're hopeless.
The Tea Partiers and the Islamic extremists are both equally drunk on their own fantastical and nonsensical narratives of reality.