On Hasan, Conclusions, and Political Correctness

For those who have been living in a cave: Last Thursday, a Muslim-American named Major Nidal Malik Hasan *allegedly* stood up on a desk at Fort Hood, TX, bowed his head, said "Allah Akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic), before firing off more than 100 rounds, murdering 12 soldiers, 1 civilian, and sending 28 others to the hospital. The emerging details of this tragic terrorist act, largely reported by the British press, have been difficult for me to swallow . . .

It's been reported that Hasan reached out to Al-Qaeda recruiters as many as 20 times; vociferously opposed the war; had close contact with a radical Anti-American cleric who has since praised Hasan as a hero; saw the current war not as one on terror, but a war on Islam; and gave radical Power Point lectures (at Walter Reed Hospital for crying out loud!) urging the audience to "fight those who do not believe in Allah;" that the "infidels should have boiling oil poured down their throats," and then "be lit on fire," and the list of red flags continues.

As shocking as these facts may seem, I am even more shocked to hear the mainstream media sympathize with Hasan and apologize for his actions - apparently hoping to ward off the inevitable anti-Muslim backlash from "the Right Wing hate machine." MSNBC's Chris Matthews asked: "so he tried to contact Al Qaeda - is that the point at which you say 'ok, this guy's dangerous?' It's not a crime to contact Al Qeada is it?" Others have said that it's "tragic" the Hasan was a Muslim. You hear that he was just a "stressed-out nut job" who was not a religious fanatic. Major news outlets initially did not even want to report Hasan's name. Janet Napolitano, the DHS Secretary, has promised to devote resources to "prevent [Muslims] from being painted with a broad brush."

Ironically, President Obama warned all of us to "not jump to conclusions." Hmmmm, sounds like "do as I say, not as I do." Didn't he hastily conclude that the Cambridge Police Dept. "acted stupidly" when a white cop arrested his black, elitist, college professor friend, and then had to awkwardly patch things up with the beer summit fiasco? Isn't that what he did immediately after the recent murder of the abortion doctor in Kansas, when he said "I am shocked and outraged at the murder of Doctor Tiller." The fact is this: Obama has no problems "jumping to conclusions" if an abortion doctor gets murdered, or an elite African-American Harvard Prof falls victim to what he concludes is racial profiling, but if a Muslim jihadist commits an act of terrorism, gunning down 13 people at an American Army Base, he is reticent, not wanting us to connect the dots. Coincidence?

Am I saying Obama is a Muslim terrorist? NO. Are all Muslims violent jihadists, hell-bent on killing innocent Americans? OF COURSE NOT. Do I have problems with peaceful Muslims serving in our military? NOPE. It is no secret that Obama is desperately trying to "repair" U.S. - Muslim relations, so I'm not the least bit surprised at his handling of the Fort Hood massacre. To his credit, I did appreciate his comments at the memorial service, "No just and loving God looks at these acts with approval." Well said, but notice that he is just implicitly admitting that these acts were indeed religiously motivated.

The main point I wanted to drive home is about political correctness. In a post-911 America, Muslims need not be wrongly targeted, profiled, or linked to terrorism. However, this does NOT mean that people at the Pentagon, FBI, or any other intelligence agency should simply look the other way, cross their fingers, knock on wood, and indulge a Muslim American who is simultaneously serving as an Army psychiatrist and ACTIVELY REACHING OUT TO AL-QAEDA!! It seems that fear of being politically incorrect or facing a frivolous lawsuit kept the higher-ups from discharging this ticking time bomb, even though they apparently knew about the red flags. 13 people are now dead. All I'm saying is that protecting American lives should trump political correctness. Talk about a double tragedy. Unbelievable. . . but hey, I don't want to "jump to any conclusions."