On Thursday, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly carried out the second deadliest Islamic terrorist attack on American soil since Sept. 11.
Leaving 13 dead and 29 wounded, the shooting at Fort Hood has one other disturbing facet – it could have been avoided.
First, it must be noted that any claims of post-traumatic stress disorder as a potential contributing factor must be immediately dismissed as an absurdity.’
Hasan, a graduate of Virginia Tech University, had served at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and moved to Fort Hood in July. Plainly speaking, this man never spent a day in a combat zone. If PTSD was the cause of this attack, it would be the first ever recorded case of pre-traumatic stress disorder.
The warning signs of Hasan’s attack were there, but the Army and law enforcement failed to investigate him, leading to the deaths of 13 Americans. According to Lt. Col. Val Finnell, Hasan’s classmate, Hasan told students in their class that he was ‘a Muslim first and an American second.’ Hasan later gave a presentation on why he considered the war on terror a ‘war on Islam.’
There is evidence that he may be the same ‘Nidal Hasan’ who wrote blogs praising suicide bombers. The FBI, which is scouring Hasan’s personal computer, has not released confirmation of this, but at least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement because of alarming Internet postings.
The night before Hasan allegedly carried out these attacks, he is reported to have told his friend Duane Reasoner Jr., ‘Muslims shouldn’t kill Muslims,’ signaling Hasan’s desire to not take part in the U.S. war on terror.
Finally, authorities said Hasan screamed ‘Allahu Akbar’ before he commenced his deadly assaults.
With all this evidence to point to his radical Islamic beliefs as a motive, why are we trying to sugar coat his intent?
What is most troubling is that this is not the first incident in which a Muslim serviceman has turned on his fellow soldiers.
In 2003, U.S. Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar threw three grenades into the tents of his fellow soldiers and fired his rifle into a group of his comrades at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait, killing two and wounding 14.
Given this past incident and the warning signs that brought Hasan to the FBI’s attention, why was he not thoroughly investigated?
The answer is that to investigate someone like Hasan in this current national climate would be politically unacceptable. Any in-depth investigation could have incurred a lawsuit and discrimination charges, something our all too politically correct military tries to avoid at all costs.
Have we learned nothing from Sept. 11? Like it or not, we are at war with an ideology that is a twisted version of Islam. The reality is that thousands of Muslims serve honorably in the armed services, but when red flags surface, they must be investigated to avoid further carnage.
A happy medium must be found because we need American Muslims to serve in the war on terror, a conflict where their knowledge and linguistic abilities are vital to achieve victory.
Three lessons can be learned from this incident. First, while we are not at war with Islam, there is still a radical faction of that religion that is at war with us. Second, we cannot let political correctness tie our hands in this conflict. Finally, we must continue to reach out to moderate Muslims who condemn acts like this massacre and remember that it is only a small minority of the practitioners of Islam that are susceptible to radicalization.
Timothy Mathis is a history senior and may be reached at [email protected]
