A Terrorist By Any Other Name

As is the case with everything that happens with regard to any governmental entity, the spin-doctors are at work satisfying their political agendas by using the Fort Hood massacre to make their points. The substantive facts are quite clear, to wit, that an army major of Arabic descent and a devout Muslim went on a rampage, killing 13 and wounding nearly 40 others, all unarmed and in the midst of completing paperwork or undergoing examinations and/or receiving the appropriate pre-deployment vaccinations.

The mainstream media, both print and electronic, will not handle the situation in the same way that the hard-nosed conservative media-types will. TIME has already called attention to Fort Hood as one of the army’s most stressed posts, using this terminology – “kindling was hiding in plain sight” – apparently to describe a psychological fire leading to some sort of rage. How something hides in plain sight is problematic, but the point was clear enough, namely, that the shooter simply was not responsible for what he did. He was simply driven to rage and, without saying it, TIME probably feels that George Bush caused it all

Newsweek claimed that Major Nidal Hasan was a symptom of a “military on the brink” and wondered if the massacre presented signals that the worst is yet to come. It added that the U.S. military could be reaching the breaking point if the president decides to send more troops to Afghanistan. The magazine’s point, of course, is perfectly obvious. The New York Times delivered itself of the opinion that Hasan was mortified about being deployed. Both far-left entities probably feel as they do about anything that disrupts what they consider normalcy, i.e., that nasty conservatives are responsible for it. They probably blame George Bush for what Hasan did.

On the basis of the facts that have been delivered to the media thus far, Hasan expected to die as the climax of his rampage, though not by his own hand; rather he meant to be martyred by an enemy, in this case anyone not Muslim. He was foiled in this and unless he is mortally wounded, which seems not to be the case, will stand trial. The reports indicate that he started his day by preparing to die, not to be deployed in even the week of his rampage, perhaps not for more weeks or months. He divested himself of perhaps most of his possessions, even copies of the Koran, his holy book, which, of course, requires the killing of infidels – in this case American non-Muslims – at every opportunity.

Political correctness or diversity-divinity rules the liberal press these days, and so it’s not surprising that the blame for Hasan’s actions will be placed on the body politic in much the same way that the public is faulted when one gang-member wastes another, the whole business being caused by societal neglect of some sort, usually by nasty conservatives who are insensitive to the “needs” of the products of single mothers, poverty, bad schools, etc. After all, Hasan is said to have complained of being harassed in the army after 9/11 because of who he is, Arab and Muslim.

The bullying may have been real or imagined. There are thousands of Muslims in the military, however, and no such other slaughters of innocent people have taken place, though a converted Muslim did kill a recruiter and wound another in Arkansas on 01 June. He was not Arabic, just an American Muslim doing his Islamic duty. Born in Tennessee, he had changed his name from Carlos Bledsoe to Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad and had studied jihad with an Islamic scholar in Yemen, according to Jihadwatch.org.

One could say that none of the above applies to drawing conclusions and that such must wait for the investigations(s) by the proper agencies. Fair enough! A defining factor, however, is the testimony of those involved that Hasan mounted a table or something similar and shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) as he began his assassinations, thus remarking his exercise as a religious effort. Suicide was his obvious goal and he could have achieved that without any harm to others. That probably would have negated his theologically certified trip to the virgins in Paradise, however, while being shot in the line of jihad-duty would have made him eligible, though it’s hard to believe a well-educated 39-year-old-man would believe such a thing.

It’s noteworthy that the Muslims creating havoc and planning more havoc in France and Britain currently are mostly young Muslims born in those countries. Hasan’s parents immigrated from the Middle East but Hasan was born in Virginia. He fired at least 100 rounds of ammunition and reportedly has claimed that he was a Muslim first and an American second. He could have done more damage if he had secured an “explosives belt” and simply set himself off in a restaurant, but such a procurement was most likely not possible in Texas. He did the next best thing and murdered as many as he could before finally starting his trip to the virgins, which he will probably not be making as soon as expected.

None of this is to be construed as a blanket condemnation of Muslims. Such would be untrue and unfair. It is to remark that the minute minority who practice jihad in the name of Allah are in American neighborhoods and/or are becoming converts to a belief system that adversely impacts non-Muslims...to the point of murder. They are terrorists, whether individually or sponsored by governments such as those in Afghanistan and Iran. They must be defeated.

And so it goes.

Jim Clark