Why Can’t We Call Malik Nadal Hasan a Jihadist Terrorist?
I am constantly plagued by pop culture, the mainstream media, and political spin generally, and their efforts to shape the way that news is covered and to influence policy through controlling public sentiment. It is precisely what I mean when I refer to the Popular Rule. The story of Malik Nadal Hasan is one that is particularly troubling to me because it impacts a variety of fronts. For months, we have been hearing stories of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security uncovering one “terrorist” plot after another. We have been told of the accomplishments of these organizations as if we were supposed to sleep more pleasantly at night knowing that they were protecting us and keeping “the bad guys” off the streets. I have been skeptical about these reports as they appear to be nothing more than the PR machine of the White House working diligently to make the administration appear “tough on terror.”
When a situation as devastating as that which occurred last week at Fort Hood occurs, I am particularly intrigued how the story is reported. Even though the culprit, Malik Nadal Hasan, has all the tell-tale signs of a Jihadist hellbent on destruction of the American way of life, he has been reported as a “crazy” and “conscientious objector” by much of the mass media as if he simply lost his marbles or was somehow morally opposed to American engagement in the Middle East. He has been painted by some as a victim of a lifetime spent serving our nation’s military against his will and his conscience and has been given an affirmative defense that his actions resulted because of the daily grind of listening to the horror stories of American service men and women as a military psychiatrist. It saddens me that even as much of Hasan’s past is coming to light that the Popular Rule is still making every effort to call this man anything short of a fundamentalist Islamic terrorist.
Now that much has been / is being revealed about the life of Malik Nadal Hasan, I wonder how the tone of the reporting will change. Will it continue on its current course of explaining away this crime, or will it take on a more accurate posture and expose this heinous act for the Jihadist terror plot that it truly was? I am certain that it will stay on the same apologist, empathetic path that it has already started down, and onlookers such as myself will be labeled as Right-Wing nutjobs and racists for drawing opposing conclusions. That being said, I am perfectly content with such labels if they result from my shedding any real light on this story.
Let’s just look at recent events and compare them to that which occurred at Fort Hood last week. Najibullah Zazi was arrested less than two months ago for “engaging in terrorist activities” and it was widely reported that he was attempting to obtain the necessary materials to commit “acts of terror” in New York City. He was recorded days before his arrest shopping and carrying out his business, and was later arrested and exposed as being part of a greater attempt to bring the objectives of Al Qaeda to American soil. We were told about his crimes and we were supposed to sleep better at night knowing that the government was hot on the trail of suspected terrorists.
Then we had the case of Tarek Mehanna who was arrested for attempting to unleash carnage on a shopping mall in Boston. He reportedly had links to terrorist activity in Yemen and had been refused admission to terrorist training facilities in the Middle East. He was charged with attempting to commit “acts of terrorism” on US soil. Preceding Mehanna were the cases of Michael C. Finton (Talib Islam) and Hosam Maher Husein Smadi who were arrested and charged with “domestic terror crimes” for attempting to commit acts of terror in Springfield, Illinois and Dallas, Texas respectively. They were paraded in front of television news cameras and vilified as “fundamental religious extremists” and “terrorists.”
Illinois Department of Corrections and Dallas County Sheriff via AP
Now we come to the story of Malik Nadal Hasan. He has had a career marked with incidents that could easily be tied to his fundamentalist roots; he was only stationed at Fort Hood because he made inappropriate comments to patients regarding American policy in the Middle East; he at one time shared a mosque with three of the 911 terrorists; he participated in Jihadist Internet websites; he shot and killed 13 American citizens/soldiers and injured many more; and he reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he did it. Tell me please why this man is not being viewed as a Jihadist terrorist? Is it because we failed to catch him before he committed this act? Had his plot been uncovered before it came to fruition, would this administration be using Hasan as yet another example of how it is tough on terror? Would they have been using his capture as yet another reason to pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan?
I have no doubt that Malik Nadal Hasan is recieving the benefit of his own success here. He was able to commit this heinous act without being stopped in the planning stages as the other “domestic terrorists” were, and he is simply being rewarded for his successes by being labeled as a looney toon rather than a fundamentalist terrorist. Political correctness may have played a major role in his actions not being exposed for what they truly were before this act was committed, but to hide behind PC at this point is to do a disservice to those who have lost their lives.
I have watched countless interviews since this tragedy occurred last week, and I have heard dozens of politicians and pundits dance around this issue in the name of political correctness. Even those with the rare courage to call this a terrorist act feel the need to offer a disclaimer, “I want to thank the many Muslim men and women serving honorably in the US military.” Even adding that is part of the problem; and frankly, is the root of why morons label as racist those who label this as terrorism. The fact is that it says nothing about the “honorable Muslim” soldiers to call Hasan a terrorist. I guarantee you that they are twice as angry with him as the rest of us. To think otherwise ignores the fact that individuals such as Hasan are “extremists.” They are not the norm. Hasan going off the reservation and adopting this misguided view of Islam is no different than a fundamentalist Christian committing a similar act. We don’t feel the need to apologize or make clear that we don’t intend to mean all “Christians” when we criticize one misguided individual, so why do we feel the need here? It is not an indictment of an entire religion just because one man is delusional and misguided; and that is precisely what Malik Nadal Hasan truly was. He was misguided; he was a Muslim; he was a fundamentalist; and he is a terrorist. Why is that so difficult to comprehend?
So why can’t we call this guy a Jihadist?
Telegraph UK and Allahpundit have exposed more of true storyof Malik Nadal Hasan.
The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.
Hasan’s eyes “lit up” when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki’s teachings, according to a fellow Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas, the scene of Thursday’s horrific shooting spree.
Both of the aforementioned posts attributed part of their stories to a piece by Asri Q. Nomani. She interviewed a number of Husan’s fellow mosque members and took a deeper look into his background. I have included a few excerpts from her piece, but you should really read the whole thing. I have posted links to it below.
The young doctor responded. “That’s not a correct interpretation. Jihad means holy war. When your religion isn’t safe, you have to fight for it. If someone attacks you, you must fight them. That is jihad. You can kill someone who is harming you.”
The conversation would be just another theological debate, interesting but irrelevant, except that the doctor was Maj. Nidal Hasan, 39, the gunman in the tragic Fort Hood rampage. After being posted to Walter Reed Hospital as a psychiatrist, Hasan called the Muslim Community Center his local mosque. It’s just a short drive away from Walter Reed.
Asra Q. Nomani – read her article here… and again, you should read the full article…
Here is a video of Hasan shopping in Muslim garb just hours before he went on a rampage… Definitive evidence that he is a jihadist – no, but would we be looking at this case differently if we had heard of him committing this act in urban Chicago, downtown Dallas, or New York City? I think not.
College Friend Says Hasan was Hostile toward US positions abroad.
A U.S. Army hospital spokesman confirms Hasan is conscious and able to talk.
Hospital spokeswoman Maria Gallegos says Hasan is in critical but stable condition.
Dewey Mitchell, a spokesman at Brooke Army Medical Center, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Hood, says Hasan has been awake and able to talk since he was taken off a ventilator Saturday.
Hasan, 39, was shot during an exchange of gunfire during Thursday’s attack.
Of the 29 people wounded in Thursday’s attack, 16 remain in local Texas hospitals, with seven in intensive care.
Army spokesman Col. John Rossi expressed his condolences for the families of the victims on Sunday, telling reporters that the Army base is “expanding its capacity to meet the needs of all.”
The base is providing “spriritual, emotional, physical support,” Rossi said. “We’re offering and encouraging anyone who thinks they need it … to please seek it.”
Rossi told reporters he had visited with Fort Hood heroes Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley and her partner Sgt. Mark Todd in the hospital, where they remain in stable condition.
“I would use two words to describe them,” Rossi told reporters about the first responders who exchanged gunfire with Hasan. “Strong, the term Army strong, it’s not just a motto, it’s them,” Rossi said.
“And selfless — I cannot tell you how many times they reiterated to me, this is not about them. They are not interested in notoriety,” Rossi said. “They just want to move on, and they’re so proud of their teammates.”
Rossi told reporters that Munley, and others who acted quickly to stop the shooter, saved lives.
“Soldiers are trained to respond, to care for wounded, to move the wounded,” Rossi added. “Their training kicked in.”
“The surprising aspect, and the concerning one is it didn’t happen in Iraq or Afghanistan, it happened in our house.”
The bodies of the men and women killed in Thursday’s massacre are currently in Dover, Del., Rossi said. The process of treatment and burial of the bodies will be “the same process as for those soldiers who will be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.”
Rossi thanked local medical professionals, local businesses and local clergy for their assistance to all those living and serving at Fort Hood.
“Fort Hood is a community and family that will continue to focus on healing, while focusing on and preparing for our mission,” Rossi said.
Suspected gunman Hasan raised eyebrows in the months leading to Thursday’s shooting spree, with comments that the war on terror was “a war on Islam” and admissions that he wrestled with what to tell fellow Muslim solders who had their doubts about fighting in Islamic countries.
Military criminal investigators continue to refer to Hasan as the only suspect in the shootings but won’t say when charges would be filed. “We have not established a motive for the shootings at this time,” said Army Criminal Investigative Command spokesman Chris Grey.
A government official speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the case said an initial review of Hasan’s computer use has found no evidence of links to terror groups, or anyone who might have helped plan or push him toward the shooting attack. The review of Hasan’s computer is continuing and more evidence could emerge, the source said.
Hasan likely would face military justice rather than federal criminal charges if investigators determine the violence was the work of just one person.
Hasan’s family described a man incapable of the attack, calling him a devoted doctor and devout Muslim who showed no signs that he might lash out.
“I’ve known my brother Nidal to be a peaceful, loving and compassionate person who has shown great interest in the medical field and in helping others,” said his brother, Eyad Hasan, of Sterling, Virginia, in a statement. “He has never committed an act of violence and was always known to be a good, law-abiding citizen.”
Still, in the days since authorities believe Hasan fired more than 100 rounds in a soldier processing center at Fort Hood in the worst mass shooting on a military facility in the U.S., a picture has emerged of a man who was forcefully opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was trying to elude his pending deployment to Afghanistan and had struggled professionally in his work as an Army psychiatrist.
“I told him, `There’s something wrong with you,”‘ Osman Danquah, co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, told The Associated Press on Saturday. “I didn’t get the feeling he was talking for himself, but something just didn’t seem right.”
Danquah assumed the military’s chain of command knew about Hasan’s doubts, which had been known for more than a year to classmates at the Maryland graduate military medical program. His fellow students complained to the faculty about Hasan’s “anti-American propaganda,” but said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim student kept officers from filing a formal complaint.
Others recalled a pleasant neighbor who forgave a fellow soldier charged with tearing up his “Allah is Love” bumper sticker. Kimberly Kesling, a superior officer at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood has said Hasan was quiet with a strong work ethic who provided excellent care for his patients.
Twice this summer, Danquah said, Hasan asked him what to tell soldiers who expressed misgivings about fighting fellow Muslims. The retired Army first sergeant and Gulf War veteran said he reminded Hasan that these soldiers had volunteered to fight, and that Muslims were fighting each other in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories.
“But what if a person gets in and feels that it’s just not right?” Danquah recalled Hasan asking him.
“I’d give him my response. It didn’t seem settled, you know. It didn’t seem to satisfy,” he said. “It would be like a person playing the devil’s advocate … I said, ‘Look. I’m not impressed by you.”‘
Danquah said he was disturbed by Hasan’s persistent questioning but never told anyone at the sprawling Army post about the talks, because Hasan never expressed anger toward the Army or indicated any plans for violence.
“If I had an inkling that he had this type of inclination or intentions, definitely I would have brought it to their attention,” he said.
Hasan was promoted from captain to major in 2008, the same year he graduated from the master’s program. Bernard Rostker, a military personnel expert at the Rand Corp., said a shortage of officers and psychiatrists meant Hasan’s advancement was all but certain absent a serious blemish on his record, such as a DUI or a drug charge.
Hasan reportedly jumped up on a desk and shouted “Allahu akbar!” — Arabic for “God is great!” — at the start of Thursday’s attack.
“Hopefully, they can put together the pieces and find out what in the world was in his mind and why he went crazy,” Danquah said. “Aaaaah, it’s sad. Those soldiers could have been my soldiers.”
Here the Judge describes how the Patriot Act may have impacted potential investigations into Hasan’s past. He describes how the Act works. Essentially, under the act, intelligence agencies are required to share information with one another, but there is no requirement that they share said information with the military.
He is a terrorist and he is a fundamentalist. This was terrorism anyway they try to spin it.
I have never had hate in my heart but after watching that memorial hours ago, I now hate that man and want him to be punished to the fullest extend of the law.
Jihadist, Jihadist, Jihadist!! Give him his Due Process and then hang him!!
ohh