Fort Hood: Crime or terrorism?
Do Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan's religious beliefs make his massacre some form of jihad?
A SWAT team at Fort Hood: The motive for the rampage remains unclear
(Reuters/Corbis/Ho)
The more we learn about Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the more questions arise. Hasan is an observant Muslim who didn’t want to deploy to Iraq. But Army colleagues also claim he made remarks supporting Muslim insurgents, and the FBI has been tracking Internet postings by a “Nidal Hasan” that spoke sympathetically of suicide bombers. Then there's the fact that Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is great!") before opening fire. As Power Line blogger John Hindraker asks, was this “a terrorist attack, or just a disgruntled soldier who snapped”? (Watch raw footage from the Fort Hood shootings)
Of course it’s Islamic terrorism: “The moment I first heard about the mass murders at Fort Hood,” says Phyllis Chesler at Pajamas Media, “I knew in my bones that the shooter or shooters were Muslims.” Go ahead and “call me ‘Islamophobic'... [but] we must connect the dots before it is too late. Islam now=jihad=hate propaganda=9/11=the tragedy at Ft. Hood.”
“The jihadist is always the victim”
Why compound this tragedy with “Islamophobia”? Yes, Hasan is Muslim, says John Nichols in The Nation. But he's also a stressed-out psychiatrist who was being deployed to Iraq—his reported worst nightmare. “To assume a follower of Islam who engages in violence is a jihadist” is as absurd as assuming that “every Christian who attacks others is a crusader.”
“Horror at Fort Hood inspires horribly predictable Islamophobia”
The non-Islam explanations don’t cut it: The Hasan-was-scared-of-deployment “explanation doesn’t pass muster,” says Marc Moore in PoliGazette, so “his motivations must have come from a deeply rooted personal sense of vengeance.” It may be "premature” to tie that urge to his “religious and social beliefs,” but the Islam connection “should be a primary line of inquiry, wherever it leads on the path to the heart of darkness.”
“Unanswered questions about Fort Hood madness”
Everybody take a deep breath: Hasan’s “motive might be ideological or religious anger,” says The Dallas Morning News in an editorial, but to jump to such a “furious and intemperate” conclusion is a huge disservice to the “roughly 3,000 American Muslims” serving loyally in the U.S. military. Let’s step back and let the FBI and military police do their job.
“Massacre at Fort Hood”
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SEE THE WEEK'S FULL COVERAGE OF FORT HOOD:
• Fort Hood: The Al-Qaeda question
• Fort Hood: What the world is saying
• Red flags at Fort Hood
• Sunday Talk Show Briefing: Religion's role in Fort Hood (Video)
• Fort Hood: Obama's "flippant" speech
• Who is Nidal Hasan: A timeline of the suspect's life
• What Kimberly Munley's heroism means
• Fort Hood: The combat stress debate
• Fort Hood: Breaking opinion
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1145 Comments
Posted by American, Friday, November 6, 2009, 12:04 pm Kick them all out of the Military and US.
Posted by TANNER & OLLEK, Friday, November 6, 2009, 12:05 pm It's crazy enought that we've done 2 deployments and back. Thinking hood is a safe place. We had one out of formation that couldn't be counted for now the brigade was nice enough to deliver a tragic news that we just lost a fellow buddy. SPC HUNT!!!!!!! our hearts go out to you foo. We gon' miss you bro!!!!... He was one of the quietest coolest dude, a newly wed who was fing ready for a deployment. Gladly he didn't die because he sure as hell got a lot of due's to pay. That will take him a freaking lifetime and you deserve it.
Posted by henry puyi, Friday, November 6, 2009, 12:09 pm The actions of Mr. Hasan are the clearly manifestations of his thoughts. He has been harboring a deep rooted hate against the U.S. or the U.S. military. He could very well be a member of a sleeper, or a deep penetration agent. One must bear in mind that he brought an automatic weapon and a pistol in a center where military personnel do not carry weapons. This is plain and simple terrorism.
Posted by Glen Moultrie, Friday, November 6, 2009, 12:09 pm I heard a comment that said the command of muslums is to kill infidels, any non muslim. Also that it is in their blood and can become reality at any unpredictible time, that it is not compatible with any other religion or system of government, and, like a wild animal, they cannot ever be retrained. Frightening thoughts considering that they are already embedded in this country.
Posted by Rafael G., Friday, November 6, 2009, 12:17 pm A sleeper is what he is. there was no dout in my mind he was cought representing the culture he loves. Secerets where out and he was radicated............Austin tx.
Posted by Matt, Friday, November 6, 2009, 12:19 pm The Army is reporting that this was to be Maj. Hasan's first deployment, so PTSD isn't exactly a likely motive. And the fact that he targetted soldiers being deployed, instead of killing himself, leads me to say he intended to disrupt the operations of a US Government agency. OR: to persuade the President to follow a course of action of Hasan's choosing. Terrorism, in either case, regardless of ideology. This is terrorism if it were committed by any person of any background.
Posted by Chuck, Friday, November 6, 2009, 12:19 pm When will people wake up and learn that PC run amok is killing people and will continue to kill them. All muslims need to be run out of our military and now! There was a muslim who fragged some offices in Iraq some years back. How many people have to die?!? Drag this treasonous SOB out of his hospital bed and hang him high!
Posted by Bill K, Friday, November 6, 2009, 12:21 pm Ya know it is a funny thing when we suffered during 9/11, Muslim professionals like doctors were cheering in ERs, Muslim business owners were cheering in their Seven Elevens and other concerns and nothing was ever done because of so called freedom of speech, yet they continue to reap the rewards of an AMERICAN lifestyle. Now one of them has committed mass murder and it will be reasoned away. During World War II, innocent Japanese/American citizens were locked in camps and they did nothing. WHERE IS THE JUSTICE? LOVE AMERICA OR LEAVE IT!!!
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