Fort Hood, an army base in Texas was the scene of a terrible attack by a gunman that left 13 dead and countless injured. The gunman, Nidal Malik Hasan, is a member of the military, a psychiatrist who worked much of his professional life at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre. This despicable crime is a tragedy and we at LoonWatch mourn the victims alongside the rest of the nation and pray that they are given patience and comfort in this dark hour.
While we pause to remember them and question why such a random act of violence happened we also want to state that such aberrant and deranged actions should not provoke an emotional response that leads to or encourages violence. It is easy at this time,(already the anti-Muslim blogosphere is in a frenzy over this,) to project blame and innuendo on the whole American Muslim community. That would be a mistake, as thousands of Muslims serve proudly in the military with honor, and many have died in combat overseas.
We await to assess the motives of the gunman, information that will come out in the next few days, but preliminary reports show that there were signs indicating that the gunman was off his kilter and not in uniformity with his duties as a Major. He didn’t want to be deployed over seas, and told friends and family how he was distressed over what he heard from his patients who had been over seas; that and low marks on his performance charts should have been red flags warning his superiors that something was off base.
Again we first remember those who died in this senseless tragedy and we mourn and pray for them, we also pray that the hate that drove the shooter does not give birth to more hate.
Horror at Fort Hood Inspires Predictable Islamophobia
Thursday’s shootings at Fort Hood army base in Texas — which have left at least 11 people dead and 31 others wounded — were of course the “horrific outburst of violence” that President Obama bemoaned and condemned Thursday.
But, because a soldier identified as the gunman had a name that led to the presumption that he was Muslim, the incident inspired an all-too-predictable outbreak of Islamophobia.
News reports named the man who used two handguns in the assault on his fellow soldiers at a base that is a prime point of departure for troops headed to Iraq and Afghanistan as Major Malik Nidal Hasan. The major, who was wounded during the incident, was reportedly a psychiatrist who had served in the Department of Psychology at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Bethesda Naval Facility in Bethesda, Maryland, before his transfer to Fort Hood. Hours after the incident, and hours after news anchors and politicians cited his religion as an explanation for the shootings, a family member told reporters Major Hasan was indeed a Muslim.
But that was hardly the only relevant detail about the major.
For instance, according to Texas Senator Bailey Hutchison, preparing to deploy to Iraq. However, the senator said, “I do know that he has been known to have told people that he was upset about going (to Iraq).” Several new reports suggested that the major saw a deployment to Iraq as his “worst nightmare” and recounted how he had treated victims of combat-related stress and was upset about the war.
Military officials at the base and in Washington refused to speculate about motivations or intents. And Paul Sullivan, executive director of the group Veterans for Common Sense, noted that the incident might well be the latest in a series of stress-related homicides and suicides involving soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan or are being dispatched to those occupied lands.
No one knew on Thursday whether stress, fear, anger over mistreatment, mental illness or a warped understanding of his religion might have motivated Major Hasan. The point here is not to defend the soldier or his alleged actions. Rather, it is to question the rush to judgment regarding not just this one Muslim but all Muslims.
It should be understood that to assume a follower of Islam who engages in violence is a jihadist is every bit as absurd to assume that every follower of Christianity who attacks others is a crusader. The calculus makes no sense, and is rooted in a bigotry that everyone from George W. Bush to Pope Benedict XVI has condemned.
But that did not stop right-wing web sites from exploding with incendiary speculation about a “Jihad at Fort Hood?” and a “Terrorist Incident in Texas.”
Fox News host Shepard Smith asked Senator Hutchison on air: “The name tells us a lot, does it not, senator?”
Hutchinson’s response? “It does. It does, Shepard.”
Neither Smith nor Hutchison had any information to suggest that Major Hasan’s name offered even the slightest shred of information regarding the incident at Fort Hood.
What could Hutchinson have said that might have been more responsible response?
She could have emphasized that the investigation of the shooting spree has barely begun.
She might also have noted that thousands of Muslims serve honorably, indeed heroically, in the U.S. military; that American Muslim soldiers have died In Iraq and been buried at Arlington Cemetery; that some of the first condemnations of the slayings at Fort Hood came from Muslim veterans such as Robert Salaam.
“I’m sad for those killed and wounded by a traitor to both God and our country, and I regret that I even feel that I have to write something on the subject. Words cannot express my emotions and the instant headache I received when notified by my dear sister Sheila Musaji over at The American Muslim (TAM) concerning the alleged culprit,” wrote Salaam, who served in the Marine Corps, within minutes after learning the gunman’s name. “They have not yet released further details such as the motive but I will state for the record that no true Muslim could ever commit such a crime against humanity. As Muslims we are reminded that to take one innocent life is as if one killed all of mankind. Muslims are also commanded to keep their oaths when given.”
Salaam is not alone in regretting that, as a Muslim, he feels a need to respond to the incident with an explanation of his religion.
But the conversation between Fox’s Smith and Senator Hutchinson reminds us why it is necessary to respond.
And so Muslim groups have responded quickly and unequivocally.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, issued a statement that read: “We condemn this cowardly attack in the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators be punished to the full extent of the law. No religious or political ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence. The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured.”
Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, declared that, “Our entire organization extends its heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed as well as to those wounded and their loved ones. We stand in solidarity with law enforcement and the US military to maintain the safety and security of all Americans.”
Those are sentiments that are worth noting, especially by news anchors and senators who are in a position to inform the discussion of a horrific incident — rather than to inflame it.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
As a Muslim I am ready to cooperate with law intelligence in guiding people like this. Whether he did this in the name of Islam or not, he still needs to be as a Muslim taught the precious value of human life. It is sad to see Muslims behave in these barbaric ways, only for us to be left with the real blow. Right-wing pathetic losers have nothing else to say since there religion have never had extremists. Wait a second..
November 6th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
This is a terrible tragedy, and we should help the victims of the shootings as well as the family of Major Hasan
This had nothing to do with him being a Muslim, but the neo cons and right wing zionists are already salivating over this. They hope to use to further their “america against Islam” agenda. there is the harrasment of Muslims and other minorities in the army. Major Hasan was a victim of this, it’s one the many lead ups to this tragedy, another being that he was refused his request to leave service, and yet another that he didn’t want to go to Afghanistan where he was being stationed now.
November 6th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Very important article relating to the shooter Major Hassan and what he was suffering, maybe Loonwatch can get more publicity for this serious problem? Whilst condemning acts of violence this this one (the shooter should be punished) We need to galvanise the mainstream Muslim community and make them aware of groups like MRFF. At the same time we need to be aware of those who will exploit the tragedy, as MRFF warns.
The usual suspects, Pam Gellar, Robert spencer, Sultan Knish, Brigette Gabriel, are already doing that, like blind rats in the dark chasing each others tails.
Jason Leopold who also writes for the MRFF (Military Religious Freedom Foundation) has a very good piece about how Major Hasan was a victim of Christian fundamentalist harassment at Fort Hood, published at truthout.org. The MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein added his two cents worth. I have included excerpts below, and the link at the bottom.
Check it out, folks. Bloggers, link to it, and readers spread it around. CAIR would do well to include it in their weekly newsletters like they did with the Robert Spencer article.
———————
Shooting Suspect in Fort Hood Massacre Is Alive, Army Official Says
By Jason Leopold
MRFF Responds to Fort Hood Tragedy
Story Highlights:
• [MRFF] … has called attention to the fact that military personnel have sought to cast the war in Iraq and Afghanistan as a crusade between Christianity and Islam.
• MRFF Founder Mikey Weinstein: “Fort Hood is one of our worst hot spots of the nearly 1,000 US military installations scattered around the world in approximately 132 countries”
• Maj. Hasan, according to the New York Times, had allegedly been harassed by fellow soldiers because he was Muslim
Mikey Weinstein, the founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/ weighed in on the shooting rampage at Fort Hood.
Weinstein called upon President Obama to immediately issue a statement as Commander-in-Chief making it clear that there would be a zero tolerance policy against any member of the US military “inflicting harassments, retribution or reprisal against an Islamic member of the US military.”
Obama issued a statement earlier Thursday condemning the shootings.
Weinstein, whose civil rights organization was recently nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace prize, said Obama must state, unequivocally, that the US does not judge the worth of a “service member based on his or her religious faith.”
Weinstein’s group has exposed the meteroric rise of fundamentalist Christianity within the US military and has called attention to the fact that military personnel have sought to cast the war in Iraq and Afghanistan as a crusade between Christianity and Islam.
He said less than 24-hours before the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, he received a call from a cadet at the US Military Academy at West Point speaking on behalf of about 40 other cadets and staff at the Military Academy about “all but unbearable fundamentalist Christian pressure and persecution” at the school.
Weinstein noted that MRFF has about 18 active cases at Fort Hood involving soldiers who allege they have been subjected to non-stop fundamentalist Christian proselytization.
“Fort Hood is one of our worst hot spots of the nearly 1,000 US military installations scattered around the world in approximately 132 countries,” Weinstein said. “We’ve had a particular problem with the public elementary school that’s actually situated on the installation where children of soldiers have been continuously proselytized to.”
Maj. Hasan, according to the New York Times, had allegedly been harassed by fellow soldiers because he was Muslim.
“It’s obviously too early to know what all the salient facts are,” Weinstein said. “But MRFF is the only subject matter expert on planet earth that can speak authoritatively with regard to the effects that religious persecution has on members of the US military, particularly those of minority faiths like Islam. It would absolutely strain credulity to presume that this clearly sick perpetrator’s actions had nothing at all to do with the fact that his faith may possibly have been Islamic.”
http://www.truthout.org/topstories/110509vh09
November 7th, 2009 at 4:33 am
“…Major Hasan and what he was suffering“?? (Seductive)
“…this had nothing to do with him [sic] being a Muslim…” FromAdam…
What are you folks smoking?? What planet do you live on???
This guy was proselytizing Islam in Med school, went to the Mosque every day, spoke approvingly of suicide killings, gave away the Koran on the day of the shootings, wore Islamic garb to the massacre, and shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he emptied his guns into the infidels….
And we have to think about *his* “suffering”?
And we have to pretend it had nothing to do with Islam??
Perhaps you folks are so open-minded you brains have fallen out…
November 7th, 2009 at 8:30 am
The other Muslim families in Fort Hood have lived peacefully and experienced no discrimination “The mosque has about 75 families who have lived peacefully with their Christian neighbors.
“After 9/11, nothing happened here,” said Ajsaf Khan, who owns three convenience stores with his brother, Abdul Khan. “We are very cooperative.” That was from the NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/us/07muslim.html
Even if it was true that he was picked on for being Muslim, well so have countless Blacks, Latinos, Asians, women, people of other non-Christian religions, and homosexuals. They did not respond to being discrimination by committing mass murder against their fellow soldiers. Neither did the other the Muslim soldiers.
Being picked on for whatever aspect of yourself, is no justification for you committing mass murder. If he was picked on after 9-11 atrocities how is acting like the stereotype of a Muslim terrorist shouting God is Great before shooting helpful? How was that improving the image of Muslims?
No, this loser hurt the Muslim population in a way that only another Muslim could. Like the damage a bad cop does to the reputation of the police. I say the police has to go after the bad cops harder than even criminals because only the bad cops can taint the police force and make the police look no better than criminals.
This is true for any group. Telling non-Muslims that this is not what Islam is about is not enough. Muslims have to go after Muslims who you say misunderstand what Islam is about. Those Muslim misunderstanders of Islam are not going to listen to non-Muslims telling the they’re wrong.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Nidal Hasan was not above proselytizing about Islam:
“A source tells NPR’s Joseph Shapiro that Hasan was put on probation early in his postgraduate work at the Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. He was disciplined for proselytizing about his Muslim faith with patients and colleagues, according to the source, who worked with him at the time.” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120138496
November 7th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
This horrible shooting spree has given new life to a few of the counterjihadosphere luminaries, as I knew would happen the moment it was announce that the shooter was Muslim. They were merely saddened before, saddened and not posting on the shootings. Now they will use it FOREVER in their aim to spread bigotry against Muslims. Or, in other words, to convert others to being loons.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
I dont believe it was an act of “hate”,it was more like an act out of desperation, and a sense of being powerless. The outcome is bloody, but i dont believe he killed 14 people just “out of hate”.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
This shooting had nothing to do with religion. How disgusting that people are using it to spread hatred and intolerance.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
To all readers who want to help out with the Fort Hood shooting tragedy, you can give blood or donate to the relief fund. Details below:
———–
IF YOU’RE IN CENTRAL TEXAS, DONATE BLOOD
Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas, Contact the hospital at 254-724-4376 and donate to the Scott & White Blood Center in Room 115 next to the McLane Dining Room. The hospital is located at:
2401 S. 31st St.
Temple, TX 76508
Follow the Scott & White Twitter account http://twitter.com/SWHealthcare to stay updated on blood donation center needs.
DONATE TO FORT HOOD RELIEF FUNDS
Checks can be mailed to the Fort Hood Chapter of the Association of the U.S. Army , a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Soldiers and their families will receive 100 percent of all funds. Please write “Community Response to 11/5″ on the memo line of your check.
The Central Texas- Fort Hood Chapter
Association of the US Army
Attn: Community Response to 11/5
PO Box 10700
Killeen, TX 76547-0700
The United Service Organization is collecting “>donations to assist Fort Hood.
https://www.uso.org/donate/custom.aspx?id=1465&
November 7th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Yes, to those who observed, and left comments above,
the counterjihadies (read bigoted loons) have made no mention of the Orlando shooting, (a Christian) who is another deranged soul like Major Hasan, who had issues with his employer.
There are some parallels, and differences, in a way, both men had issues with their employers that helped contribute to their mental imbalance. It doesn’t excuse what they did of course, and both should be punished, but we have to seek out the reasons, why and what motivated them, as nobody just gets up and starts killing without a reason.
but if the Orlando killer had been a Muslim Geller, Spencer, Sultan Knish, Coulter, Savage, Horowitz, and the rest, immediately would have seized upon his religion instead of his grudge against his employer.
Brijitte Gabriel could n’t help sending out an email to her fellow fans crowing about Major Hasan being a Muslim, and how Obama was aiding the Jihad, but she had nothing to say about the Orlando killer.
The sickening thing about these loons is they use victims to further their own agenda, even though they don’t care one hoot for them. Their concern is fake.
ie. Everything Geller says about Muslims extremist being intolerant about Christians (to whip up support from Christians) can be applied to Jewish extremist in Israel, who are more anti Christian than the Muslims are.
Yet she never talks about the Jewish extremist hate against Christians.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
There was a shooting attack only a day after the Fort Hood incident, where one was killed and five injured. The shooter, Jason Rodriguez, 40, is alleged to have opened fire at an engineering company from which he was sacked more than two years ago. But did Fox report from his name, Rodriguez, that he is some fanatical catholic christian crusader or imply anything similar? Double Standards? Columbine, Virgina Tech or Waco? Christian Crusading Terrorist attacks inspired by the Old Testament?
November 8th, 2009 at 12:52 am
James Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
This shooting had nothing to do with religion. How disgusting that people are using it to spread hatred and intolerance.
James: in that case, how do you account for the fact that he was shouting “Allahu Akbar” at the time of the shootings?
November 8th, 2009 at 1:14 am
Have you seen this:
Jewish American Soldier refuses to fight for America
November 8th, 2009 at 5:37 am
Peter, I actually agree with you that there seems to be an element of religious extremism to it. However, there also seems to be an element of foreign policy in it too. He was being forced to fight in an unjust war against people he considers brothers in faith. So I think that if Islamophobes dump the blame on Islam, I think they should also not forget that the war mongering U.S. foreign policy is also a factor to consider. Violence begets violence.
Were his actions justified? Hell no.
And to be clear: I love American values. I just don’t think empire building is an American value. Our Founding Fathers built America to stay away from the empire building of Great Britain.
Sincerely,
Danios.
November 8th, 2009 at 5:49 am
So can any of you Islamic apologists explain WHY it’s not justified in Islam to commit this violent act?
I don’t see any of you use the Qu’ran and the hadith to explain why what this guy did is wrong and condemned in Islam?
Will he go to islamic heaven or hell for this act?
What is the punishment in Islam for murdering non-Muslim soldiers that occupy Muslim lands?
November 8th, 2009 at 6:22 am
Peter Forsythe,
Obviously you don’t have many Arab or Muslim friends:)
Otherwise you would be aware that we use the term “allah hu akbar” before we do anything. It’s almost an automatic term.
That and other devotional phrases.
The term means “God the greatest”.
The US military has many devoted Muslims who do not shoot each other. In fact i’ve heard of some who are more devotional than Major Hasan.
From all acocunts (and remember he may live to tell his story when he goes on trial if he lives) Major Hasan wanted to leave the army, even his own Mosque Imam was troubled by him, he saw problems, and his friends have reported that he felt “rejected” by the anti Muslim bigotry he was suffering from Christian Fundamentalists , who have ruined the US military.
No less an important figure than Mikey Weinstein (see report above about the MRFF) has affirmed that the Christian Fundamentalists are serious problem in the army. There are many Jewish and atheist groups and other religious group that fight this menace in the army as Mikey Weinsten reports, it’s now time there more Muslim ones, other than CAIR.
The US military has a serious Christian Taliban problem.
November 8th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Peter,
That’s an allegation, not a fact. Other reports say the gunman was completely silent. So we don’t know what happened exactly. In a stressful situation like this, it is possible that people’s minds start hearing things. I don’t think it had anything to do with religion. Why didn’t he do shooting earlier if it were about religion? Why wait all these years? Religion will have the same effect 10 years ago or 2 days ago. It’s obvious recent events affected his life that drove him to do this.
The Islam double standard: when a non-Muslim does something awful, it’s just one guy going postal. When a Muslim does something awful, it’s jihad.
November 8th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Rodriguez, Columbine, Virginia Tech - none of these guys committed mass murder in the name of whatever religion they belonged to. Rodriguez said it was because “they left him to rot” - it was about his being fired from his job. Those psycho Columbine and VT kids were outcasts in school.
As a physician and mental health professional he should have known better coping skills than the likes of Rodriguez and a bunch of unpopular kids.
No matter how they were treated, not one of them had the right to kill all those other people. When they committed such atrocities they stopped being a “victim” if they ever were that, and became traitors and vile murderers. Quit making excuses for them. They are criminals who should be held accountable in this life, who should be made to face their surviving victims and victim families. It is good that that traitor Hasan lived. Let this mass murdering American traitor be tried in court. Let his religion be neither held against him nor used as an excuse for his behavior.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
So the biggest concern is the possibility of a backlash. That’s your biggest concern.
So nobody in his community had any idea that this could happen? Even though he had complaints about his extremism at work? Shouldn’t that be a bigger concern? Exposing these elements in your own communities?
“Right-wing pathetic losers have nothing else to say since there religion have never had extremists.” Had. Operative word there. Muslims “Have” extremists. Do something about it.
November 8th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
James, can you link me to the reports where that say he was completely silent? Thanks.
November 9th, 2009 at 6:42 am
“He was being forced to fight in an unjust war against people he considers brothers in faith.”
Then he should have never volunteered for the military. There is no draft anymore. It is a VOLUNTEER army. Soldiers do not get to choose which wars they fight and against whom. Not ever. Everyone knows that from the get go. Christian soldiers do not get to choose to fight non-Chrisitians, Jews do not get to fight only non-Jews. So the same for soldiers of ALL other faiths.
If you don’t want Muslims to be treated any differently from other Americans, then don’t complain when they are treated no differently from other Americans. You cannot pick and choose when you get to be treated the same and when you get to be treated special.
Back in the 60’s when there was a draft and they had NO CHOICE, those who did not want to serve in the military burned their draft cards and went to prison or left the country for good to places like Canada. They did not harm anyone else just because they did not want to participate in what they believed was an unjust war. If they hurt anyone they hurt themselves.
Another alternative was to be a conscientious objector (CO). That is an option for soldiers. There were plenty of ways to not serve that did not involve hurting anyone else.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
You people are the loons, defending Islam, a death cult. If you’d bother to read the Quran you’d seem passage after passage that tells them to kill all the non-believers and smite their necks. It tells them it’s OK to have sex with young girls and to kill women who have been raped. Get an education before you defend these barbarians.
I look forward to the backlash against Muslims. In fact, I a leading it.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
“Then he should have never volunteered for the military. There is no draft anymore. It is a VOLUNTEER army.”
I agree with you. However, keep in mind that he signed up with the military long before the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He went to medical school long time ago, paid for by the military. In exchange, he promised to serve in the military for a certain number of years…and as some in military medicine have told me, they lock you in for a long time, which is why most of them warn against going the military medicine route.
But anyways, the government paid for Nidal Hasan’s education, so yes, he did owe them, and so yeah he is obligated to serve. Nonetheless, I think one can understand that back then he was a young man, and people change; furthermore, the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan didn’t exist back then. So he was trying to get out.
Again, I’m not defending what he did, which was despicable. Please see the article I wrote which was just published on LW. My only point in raising the point is to counter the argument that it was Islam itself which is to blame for what he did. I counter this by saying while there seems to be a religious component, there is a larger element of the unjust nature of the foreign policy which factored in.
“If you don’t want Muslims to be treated any differently from other Americans, then don’t complain when they are treated no differently from other Americans. You cannot pick and choose when you get to be treated the same and when you get to be treated special.”
Muslims *are* Americans, and they are no different than other Americans. You do not decide who is and who is not American, nor do you decide to grant Americanness to anyone. Please watch this clip here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l5kGWwHlbk
“Another alternative was to be a conscientious objector (CO). That is an option for soldiers. There were plenty of ways to not serve that did not involve hurting anyone else.”
I agree with you 1,000%.
Sincerely,
Danios.
November 9th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Bonni,
You are a bigot, a product of the Robert Spencer hate cult. Go away troll.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Bonni has clearly NEVER read Al-Quran….it is easy to hate someone when you are truly ignorant of who they are what they believe it and just add your own twisted assumptions.
Suddenly this one Muslim soldier is the ultimate representation of Muslims in the Army (and the US) but why aren’t the soldiers who have died for America given the same prominence as representing Islam and Muslims?
I’m glad there are still voices of common sense and fairness here are Loon Watch!
November 10th, 2009 at 6:57 am
“I agree with you. However, keep in mind that he signed up with the military long before the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.”
19 years ago, Bush 41 sent troops into Iraq. Hasan 39 now would have been 20 then. He choose to stay in the military all these years. The American military is sent to fight a war against whomever the civilian authorities decide, including Islamic countries. I do not believe that he was not aware of that. No soldier can predict the future and know what war will start where and when and if he’ll agree with it. There are probably many other soldiers who may not agree with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars - Muslim and other faiths alike. But they know they signed up for all possibilities, which is they agreed to fight when ordered.
[“If you don’t want Muslims to be treated any differently from other Americans, then don’t complain when they are treated no differently from other Americans. You cannot pick and choose when you get to be treated the same and when you get to be treated special.”
Muslims *are* Americans, and they are no different than other Americans. You do not decide who is and who is not American, nor do you decide to grant Americanness to anyone.]
If you re-read what I wrote that you quoted above, you’d see I wrote “from OTHER Americans.” It assumes Muslims are Americans too. I grew up with friends from all religious backgrounds and elasticities. They were and are Americans to me. So save your lecture.
It was Hasan who separated himself from OTHER Americans.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:58 am
Ethnicities not elasticities.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:26 am
re: mikeymike
pray tell how do you expose someone of a terrorist ilk? if they say they’re going to do it obviously that’s something to be concerned about and not left to yourself. but odds are if someone is plotting something sinistral they’re not going to keep the local community in the loop be they a Muslim or *anyone else* and more importantly probably will not be involved in their community to begin with.
but this isn’t terrorism. this is a crime. i am by no means trying to trivialize, justify, or defend it. but it’s the sort of thing that could be done by someone involved with their family, involved with their community, and noone would have been able to see it coming.
re: Bonni
Since we’re all inviting each other to learn and read I’m not going to send you to a far off land to do so
try this
http://www.loonwatch.com/2009/09/apostasy/
or if you really want to read the Qur’an for the purpose of getting to know it Muslims do not consider a translation of Qur’an as Qur’an.
one of my personal favorite references/tafsir is Maariful Qur’an, it has linguistic notes, historical context, commentaries, and then some all in English. the introduction even explains the challenges faced in explaining, translation the Qur’an and so forth. remarkable work.
http://www.islamibayanaat.com/EMQ.htm
November 11th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Obama didn’t hesitate to call Cambridge Police ’stupid’ after the arrest of a black professor. Maureen O’Dowd didn’t hesitate to paint Joe Wilson as a racist cracker for shouting ‘You Lie’ during Obama’s sacred speechifying, by adding the imaginary word ‘Boy’ to the end of his statement. Quotes were fabricated out of whole cloth in order to portray Rush Limbaugh as a bigot and prevent him from purchasing a football team. In each of these cases, no one in the media stepped forward and said ” we must be very cautious before we label anyone as a racist. We must wait until we gather all the evidence.” In all three cases evidence was either imagined or manufactured.
After the Oklohoma bombing, if you remember well, President Clinton took advantage of the podium in order to talk about ‘hate on the airwaves’ in an attempt to link Timothy McVeigh in a not so subtle fashion to Limbaugh and advance his view of ‘right wing extremism’. The Media never hesitated to jump to conclusions. They took the ball and labeled McVeigh a terrorist right away.
Yet apparently as a member of the US military you can parade around off duty in full Islamic garb, make inflamatory anti-American statements sympathetic to radical islamism, attempt to contact Al-Qaeda and terrorist affiliated imams, shout “ALLAH AQBAR” before shooting thirteen soldiers dead and wounding thirty others…..and have the entire media HESITATE TO JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS. (How can we be sure he was a terrorist? Won’t this heedless labeling upset other muslims?) Meanwhile, the public is sickened by the double standard.
Obama and the obamedia doesn’t want to acknowledge this as a terrorist attack because it makes them look bad, and it moves the focus away from health-care. Plain and simple.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
I S L A M I S T MUSLIM J I H A D I S T S will perish ASAP
IN JESUS CHRIST’s NAME I PRAY AMEN and not soon enough. Arrogant hate is self consuming and Americans have had enough of you as invaders.
We do not systemstically sacrificed our sons, daughters, motyhers, grandmothers and grandfathers as cowards as US TROOPS: yet JIHADISTs walk in the dark of the DEVIL in persistent and conswistent EVIL which cannot be hidden by your inability to adapt and respect our culture and others.
As an ll year old I was told by a radical Muslim-laughing proclaiming that ” we Muslims will breed and take over the world” I have not forgotten his glory at saying in the end we will kill all INFIDELS” as GOD our father our creator you will perish in HELL and …and not soon enough…your terrorism lives on…but not in me as a child of GOD who lives the TEN COMMANDMENTS and has a soul with a conscience
November 26th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
I thank you for this web site because we who believe iin GOD and Jesus as our Savior are to confront EVIL.
This is a minute opportunity..
Something has happened in over 30 years on USA soil because I was a College/University Counselor for International Students and I did interact most personally with middle eastern students as all others: we had some who were distinctively different in demanding and commanding: but few.
Most were respectful and were no threat: but that is no longer the case as those here now have their PLAN and EVILL is growing as the Bible has spoken of because those followers have taken it all for granted and
ONE NATION UNDER GOD
It makes me ill to think we have had each generation systematically sacrificed on foreign soil as US Troops our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers: for OPEN BORDERS USA CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADERS: heathen breeders entering the USA just in time to breed for auto welfare against the US CONST with their END PLAN in mind.
Drug runners; diseased; evil has entered by the hand too of
T R E A S O N or T R A I T O R S within Dual Citizenship and now a Kenyan President MUSLIM who proclaimed he wouldn’t wear a flag pin because it meant oppression to many around the globe. And his female disbared wife whom proclaimed this is the first time I have been pround of my naqtion! Now while both spend MILLIONS more than any other lst lady or President in expenses arrogant above the will of the people guiding and permitting EVIL…giving away something they never contributed to nor earned. My former overseas partner-worker lived in Obama’s neighborhood, so they know the truth and loathe how he got where he is… It will take all those who believe in the truth to Stop TREASON WITHIN and EVIL out.