Call Hasan What He Is: a Terrorist

While President Obama's initial response to the shootings at Fort Hood yesterday was both troubling and woefully inadequate, he is right in saying that we should wait for all of the facts to come in before we jump to conclusions about what happened. Maybe he actually learned something from the last time he made that mistake.

I find it unbelievable, however, that people like the Fort Hood commander, Lieutenant-General Robert Cone, would say that there's nothing to suggest that this was a terrorist attack.

Hasan complained about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and reportedly expressed support for those Muslims who attack U.S. troops with suicide bombs. He apparently posted on and frequented radical Islamic internet sites. He shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he began his attack. He clearly made preparations to die before he started shooting - whether by his own hand or at the hands of responding police, we may never know - indicative of a suicide attack. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck... well, you know.

Although terrorism may not have been the only factor in the attacks, Hasan's radical beliefs clearly played a major role. Maybe he didn't want to go to Afghanistan, but why shoot 50 people as protest? Maybe he was berated for being a Muslim but why punish those who hadn't offended him at all? Maybe he was disturbed and depressed by what he heard while counseling wounded soldiers - a serious problem among mental health professionals - but why punish the innocent for that? Hopefully, the ongoing investigation will yield some answers.

Finally, we must agree that the U.S. Army bureaucracy has one again failed our soldiers. How could this clearly troubled doctor, who was reportedly under surveillance by the FBI for the last six months, still be allowed to interact with some of our most vulnerable troops? How could we allow him to continue to espouse his anti-war views to our wounded, many of whom had just suffered catastrophic wounds and injuries, at the most critical time in their lives? This is completely inexcusable.

I also find it sadly ironic that the Army brass gave us a talk during one of the press conferences today about the strides we are making in treating our returning soldiers with PTSD. Are you fucking kidding me? How long has it been since we invaded Afghanistan? How long have the suicide and domestic abuse numbers been climbing? Better still, how long ago was the Vietnam War? And we still haven't learned those lessons? Shame on us and shame on the Army for sending these people off to fight and die, yet not doing everything we can to heal them when they return to us.

While Hasan's radical beliefs may not have been the only factor in yesterdays events, we certainly can't pretend that they aren't related. He hated the war, he hated our warriors and he made that hatred clear. Emotionally disturbed, clearly, but his planned attack was against those whom he hated most, American soldiers, and he clearly intended to die in the end. He offered a prayer to his God and then carried out the worst attack on a CONUS base in U.S. history.

Make no mistake, Hasan is a terrorist. Now let's set aside politics and hold him responsible for it.

Comments

[Flag Gazer]

Well said -
I am still stunned by this and the implications of it all. I have been 'reprimanded' for calling it terrorism, but I can see no other word to describe it.

[Mike]

It's astounding how many cowards are running this country these days. What ever happened to people with the courage to do the right thing?

[Flag Gazer]

Truth - Courage - Honor
Old Fashioned Words and Concepts.
But, being old-fashioned, they mean something to me.

[john]

This was an awful incident. The only question left now is are they...
A)Going to Disarm all troops on installations leaving them COMPLETELY DEFENSELESS.
B) Going to promote weapons w/ammo carry on installations and teach good handgun defense.
C) DO nothing and sweep under rug like never happened.

[Mike]

I hate to tell you this, but on installations in the U.S.all of our troops, except MP's, are unarmed and completely defenseless. The only time they are armed and carrying ammo is when they are physically on a live-fire range. And it looks like Lieberman will force their hand and demand an investigation, contrary to the FBI Director's claim that this wasn't terrorism. We shall see..

[Joseph Brown]

During SAC alerts, in the '50s we would report to a squadron armory in our hanger and draw our M1 carbine, pistol belt, first aid kit, gas mask, 10 pound piss pot and liner and 150 rounds of live ammo! This was only SAC or AF alerts. In the very early 60s the flightline motor pool supervisor, because of marital problems, went off on two young guys and unloaded a clip, killing both.
Unbelievably, after that, we would go to the armory, draw everything mentioned before, but instead of the ammo, we got a piece of paper stating we had been issued 150 rounds of live ammo!
A freaking IOU!!

[Joseph Brown]

Sorry, but my brain was faster than my typing finger in my last post, but that murder incident happened at Whiteman AFB.