Before the facts could be sorted, before the world knew the weapons involved or even how many shooters were involved, while two Soldiers were still being detained and questioned, the FBI, barely on the scene had ruled out terrorism from the Fort Hood Shootings. The pundits on TV were assigning blame to PTSD and activists were calling for action to combat the callousness of the Army in not treating it in the unknown shooter. The same crowd bristled later when "racists jumped to conclusions" that a Major with an Islamic name may have been motivated to terrorism due to his claim to religion and Arab family.
But the more we learn, the more it appears that it was precisely that which the media still wishes to say it wasn't: Islamist Terrorism. And the PTSD crowd was right about one thing: it was avoidable. Major Hasan's background should have caused greater scrutiny. Not every Palestinian is a terrorist, not even all whose families arrived via Jordan.
But it was a Jordanian Palestinian that opened fire killing Americans in the former Yugoslavia. Jordanians apologized profusely that their screening process had failed, that someone wearing their uniform had murdered US Peacekeepers. His Palestinian background alone does not warrant that he should have been banned from US Military Service, but foreign ties require greater vetting.
The next clue was his opposition to the War in Afghanistan, as early as 9/12/2001. This alone is not sufficient to rule him a traitor, but one must ask why someone would pursue a US Military career at the same time they oppose the actions being taken by it.
It is unclear when it became known that he attended the same mosque at the same time as some of the 9/11 hi-jackers, but the imam was a known Islamist, mentioned by name in the 9/11 Commission Report. Surely, the intelligence services should have targeted the communications to that Imam, who is still free to preach his hatred, even if not in the US. Surely the investigators that contributed to the 9/11 Commission Report should have checked to see who else had fallen under that influence.
But it was his own words, his own interactions with fellow officers that should have sounded the alarm. When he praised suicide bombers as heroes even as he "treated" those wounded by them, red flags should have gone up across Washington DC. When he suggested that more Soldiers should be murdered at Recruiting Stations, the alarm bells should have rang across the military. Instead Army Officers cowered in fear, spurred not by the potential for violence from their peer, but legal action against noticing that an Arab Muslim presented a threat.
It is no secret that FT Dix was the target of a foiled plot by islamists who planned a similar attack, but without the advantage of a known insider. FT Dix was also the target of a plot by the Weather Underground during the Viet Nam war. Members of the IVAW ("Iraq Veterans" Against the War) have suggested that they should take violent action against the Military. The concept of a terrorist penetrating the military for the purpose of terrorist actions of sabotage is neither alien nor an unknown threat.
It is no secret that an Islamist Soldier attacked his fellow Troops in Kuwait with grenades. But Hasan breaks the mold that the left side of the aisle wishes to believe about terrorists. He's not poor. He's not uneducated. He's not grown up in a war-torn country. His exposure to combat action is limited to pictures, videos, and the aftermath of the worst terrorist attack in history: 9/11, when this Nation was attacked by Islamists, when nearly 3,000 Americans, nearly all civilians were murdered.
With that as a backdrop, when he handed out business cards with the acronym SOA, someone should have asked, what that meant. When he suppressed official records of his religion by declaring "No Religious Preference" while publicly declaring his oppression as a Muslim, someone should have asked why? When it became known that SOA stood for "Soldier of Allah," someone should have asked how that animosity towards the Military Mission mixed with his "loyalties."
As I sit here listening to the commentary on CNN, it strikes me that they knowthis was preventable. They have suggested as much, but still they ignore, purposely, stating these things. "Withhold judgment" is their buzzphrase even as they did not in assuming and propagandizing it was PTSD in the aftermath. Their only acknowledgment of Hasan's background is to remove suspicion that others might be as much of a threat.
Eight years into this war, talking heads still will not state the difference between Muslims and Islamists. They still echo the mantra of the enemy, that Muslims are being battled. Muslims are NOT the enemy but Islamists are. Muslims are speaking louder against Islamist Terrorism now but Islamists hide themselves within the Muslim cloak.
For 3 decades, we have tried to ignore an enemy that has hate as a motivation and power as a goal. This war did not begin on 9/11. The first battle was not fought in Afghanistan. We fought this enemy in Mogadishu, even if we did not admit it. Our nose was bloodied in Beirut in 1983 and we have yet to take on its sources: Iran & Sudan. We have allowed it to grow, to fester, to become bold that it could act with impunity, covered by the words of cowards and indecisiveness of politicians.
Whether discussing threats from within or the enemy abroad, we cannot overcome the threat if we will not identify the threat. Our Troops take great risks under great scrutiny to ensure they correctly identify threats without killing bystanders.
Our Politicians and our journalists oweOur Troops and Our Citizens a clear identification of the enemy. Our Veterans are not the enemy. Grandmothers carrying a bottle of water aboard a plane are not the enemy. Our enemy are Islamists, hiding within the Muslim community, recruiting the most violent amongst us in our jails, oppressing Muslims in Palestine, in Iran, in Sudan, and the mountains along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border.
Our Politicians owe Our Troops decisiveness and clarity, a recognition of whom the enemy is within and without. Our Politicians owe the American People clear reasoning of why Our Troops fight these wars and why we must commit to Supporting Our Troops, not only with magnets and words, but with letters and packages of care and more Warriors on the Battlefield.
Our Troops are fulfilling their part of the bargain. Our Troops are identifying friend from foe from bystander. It is time that leaders like General Casey, like Secretary Napolitano, like Eric Holder also identify the enemy, and afford this Nation the protections at home that Our Troops are fighting to provide overseas. Surely if our Troops can risk their lives then we can have the integrity to say that Hasan was a terrorist, acting on his Islamist ideology while hiding amongst Muslims.
Surely, the heads of the agencies in charge of protecting Our Citizens can give a definition of the enemy clear enough that those that implement that security need not detain more bystanders for search as it does potential threats. When will the media and politicians pull their collective heads out of the sand? When will political correctness have killed too many to remain mute? We cannot pretend we don't know who the enemy is anymore.
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