Less than three years after the Virginia campus massacre, another mass murderer strikes at the American heart, this time at a military base where the victims are troops preparing to fight in the Middle East.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, accused of yesterday’s mass shooting that killed at least 12 at Fort Hood, Texas, unlike the disturbed undergraduate Seung-Hui Cho who slaughtered 32 at Virginia Tech, ironically is a psychiatrist trained to treat veterans suffering from combat stress.
He spent most of his professional life at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, caring for trauma patients, yet he is reported to have spoken openly of his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and may have been motivated by anxiety over his imminent deployment.
In the coming days, his life and motives will be endlessly dissected, but such outbursts of violence on American soil are as disturbing as terrorist attacks and even less fathomable, creating even more anxiety for being totally unpredictable.
There will be blather about everything from his Muslim faith to the discrimination he may felt, but the sad truth is that nothing will explain why those innocents are dead or what we can do to keep it from happening again.
The only possible human response is to grieve.
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6 comments:
Considering that he made it clear that he was sympathetic to Muslim terrorists and that he was screaming "for Allah," I think it's pretty clear what his motivation is. And the solution is simple: it's time to stop the political correct train and start looking at radical and fundamentalist Muslims more closely. This man stated repeatedly that he thought Muslims should stand up against "the aggressor" (aka us) as was done (to his mind) in Little Rock. There is nothing unclear about this incident. We know through their deeds and words that Muslim extremists want us all dead, wiped, like Israel, off the pages of history and the face of the earth. They've said this. Clearly and often.
Does this mean that every Muslim is suspect? Of course not. But then, to libs, any suggestion that we need to look at Muslims with his record of anti-American sentiment is unfair. That's simply ludicrous. We know exactly what is going on, and we saw it played out yesterday.
On a similar note, this outstanding young blogger, Lindsay of Majikthise, warns against trafficking in innuendo with respect to the Fort Hood incident. These days, it seems, bloggers are practicing more journalistic integrity than the MSM. How sad.
It is sometimes strange how comment moderation juxtaposes certain reader responses, so let me clarify.
On a "similar note" to your original post, NOT the above comment:
What concerns me since yesterday, extremists will exploit this tragedy to inflame and incite public opinion against the media (i.e. read “liberal”), against Moslem Americans, and against President Obama most of all. Thus, I feel the need to separate myself from the above comment.
If I get time this weekend, I'll expand on this topic with a post of my own.
Well, thank goodness you spoke up and aligned yourself with the mass murderer at Fort Hood instead of with my comment. Whew, close call there, huh?
If you take my comment to be "extremist" despite the fact that I clearly stated that not every Muslim is suspect, then you really do need to get out more. The only extremist even tangentially related to this discussion is Hasan. Unless you think it's okay to kill in the name of your religion? Maybe I'm not clear on that point.
Furthermore, I did not mention BO or the media, so I'm not at all clear on what you think you're distancing yourself from. If it's clear-headed thinking and the rational application of logic, you did a good job of it.
Fuzzy Slippers: “ Well, thank goodness you spoke up and aligned yourself with the mass murderer at Fort Hood instead of with my comment.”
How thin-skinned you are, as the Carly Simon lyric goes, to think this comment is about you. All too often, journalistic accounts are based on incomplete and inaccurate information; and all too often, there are opinion makers all too willing to jump to conclusions and spin certitudes and platitudes before all facts are known. Examples of false reporting:
MSNBC: “At least three gunmen involved.”
CNN: “One gunman “neutralized” and one cornered.”
FOX: “Gunmen dressed in fatigues.”
All MSM: “One shooter dead, two in custody.”
FOX: “M-16s used.”
ABC: “Gunman was a convert to Islam.”
Twitter: “Hasan was handing out Korans before the shooting.”
There is this statement by Jerome Corsi, infamous author of infamous slander: “Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter in yesterday's massacre at Fort Hood, played a homeland security advisory role in President Barack Obama's transition into the White House, according to a key university policy institute document.” A decidedly false and inflammatory claim.
There is this interview of Dave Gaubatz who says: “Hasan had been taught the ideology that is being advocated by hundreds of Islamic scholars and Imams in the U.S. (…) How many more incidents similar to this that have been occurring in America does it take before even the media wants to report the truth?”
All the above are examples of pure fear-mongering and dangerous and dishonest journalism.
Now some blogger named Fuzzy Slippers accuses me of aligning myself “with the mass murderer at Fort Hood … ”
Let me clarify once more: You chose to insinuate yourself into this conversation and make offensive remarks to someone about whom you know nothing … questioning my patriotism and reasoning ability.
(Note: My daughter, a career military officer, was once stationed at Fort Hood. Deployed to Iraq 3 times, awarded 2 Bronze Stars, and now assigned to the Pentagon, she is training to become Lieutenant Colonel).
As my favorite comic, George Burns, once said just before his 100th birthday (paraphrase):
"I was brought up to always respect my elders. The problem at my age? There is no one left to respect anymore.”
Next time, Fuzzy Slippers, MIND YOUR MANNERS!
I finally found the time to post a few thoughts on this topic. There is a hat tip to you since I pulled a quote from this forum. Link here.
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