Fort Hood Massacre
By Parrothead Jeff, on 7 November 2009
I’m still trying to think of what to say and how to say it. I’m shocked, appalled, and very angry at what happened and at the person who committed this act. I can’t find the words to express my sympathy for the families, friends, and colleagues of those we lost as well as those who were themselves injured.
Much will be said about how we shouldn’t look too deeply at the assailant’s religion. I’m personally sick and tired of this. Yes, there are many more Muslims who don’t want to do harm to innocent people and we need to keep in mind that America is a nation which embraces freedom of religion. That said, we need to face a cold, hard fact. The person who committed mass murder at Fort Hood is a Muslim who is reported to have shouted “Allahu Akbar” or “God is great” before he commenced with the slaughter.
We’re not fighting a religion, but I don’t see anyone who isn’t a member of a particular religion fighting us. We don’t see anyone else committing suicide to kill many others. We don’t see anyone else preaching that it’s a good idea to wage physical war on a grand scale in the name of their religion and carrying that out.
The things that disturb me the most about this incident are the things that were missed. Yes, it’s hindsight, but how else can we learn?
The person who carried out this atrocity posted his sympathies for our enemies online, said that he was a Muslim first and an American second. This type of behavior needs to be further investigated in the future.
One other thing that I personally think needs to be revisited is the prohibition of anyone except military police from carrying a firearm on a military installation. I’m not saying that every Tom, Dick, and Harry who comes on the base. Due to the intrinsic nature of a military base, this wouldn’t be the greatest idea. But what about the officers? Why shouldn’t active duty military officers be allowed to either carry firearms openly or concealed? They would augment the security force and might have minimized this incident if they couldn’t prevent it.
I’ll leave you with some of the reactions from a few of the authors on my blogroll and a request that we all pray for everyone who has been affected by this incident.
From Neptunus Lex:
It’s late, and I’m tired and enduringly appalled – not to mention outraged – by the vicious murders committed upon US soldiers by a man whose paid work it was to care for them. It may not help that I’m fortified by an evening’s dose of Hendricks and tonic, with just a slice of cucumber in it, as is the custom.
Color it truth serum.
But it’s this profile in Bloomberg that set me off:
Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people and wounding 30 others at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas, regularly described the war on terror as “a war against Islam,” according to a doctor who was in a graduate program with him.
To the extent that radical Islamic terrorists constitute a murderous threat to innocent Americans, Hasan had it exactly right. To the extent that the vast majority of Muslims want only to live their lives in peace, pay their taxes, send their kids to college and mow their lawns he had it exactly wrong. It’s a little more than ironic that Hasan became that which he believed others took him for – a weak dick coward more willing to gun down unarmed American soldiers than care for them in a combat zone.
Perhaps if Hasan had been willing to sacrifice his principles just a smidge and marry a nice Muslim girl who would be happy enough to raise his children for him but didn’t want to sit in the back room under a burkha like chattel, he’d have found more reasons for living than killing. Perhaps.
Of course, finding that perfect woman would have eventually resulted in having to, you know: Get dirty with the fiddly bits. With a woman.
Far better to stew in your resentments.
From Nutnfancy:
Once again we see the need for the Sheepdog with the Ft Hood incident: always vigilant, always armed, always ready to protect. And again, as I mentioned in my video above, the DoD’s asinine policy of disarming CCW permit holders on base (not allowing carriage on the installation) killed people. This policy has done this before (FAFB, WA as I mentioned) and DoD still insists on political correctness. The Sheepdog sometimes will have to go armed regardless of these “protectionist” regulations. That way the bad guy might have a surprise in these free fire zones these laws create. Thanks all.
From The Armorer at Castle Argghhh!
Absent some stunning twist, it’s clear Major Hasan betrayed his oath. There’s a reason that the oath includes the terms “without mental reservation or purpose of evasion.” He can’t claim a religious exemption. I’m sure he’s going to try – but that, frankly, shouldn’t prevent us from strapping him to a gurney and putting him down like a dog, if that’s what a courts-martial directs.
From Blackfive:
Officer Kimberly Munley is a warrior. When the murderous bastard at Ft. Hood started killing she stopped him and God bless her for that.
I have avoided writing anything about this as my thoughts ought not to be paraded in public. This is a time to honor the dead, care for their families and give our thoughts and prayers to the wounded.
I will only say I’m glad the son of a bitch lived and we get to kill him properly. Do we still have firing squads?
See also the pictures here.
From Digitarii at Pernicious Critters (Army Veteran):
My tears and prayers go out for those at Fort Hood.
For the shooter, I have nothing but contempt. The men and women you hurt and killed will haunt you for the rest of your damned life. You violated your oath as a soldier and as a doctor.
For thy actions, I damn thee as an Oathbreaker. May thy soul be forsaken and imprisoned in ice up to thy rotten nose for thine traitorous actions.
From SwampWoman at A1A South:
From news interviews, the Major was upset and said that muslims should “stand up”. Muslims should not be fighting muslims. He did not want to get deployed. This was reported by his coworkers, but apparently the politically correct military chain of command didn’t want to shake the boat.
Anybody that puts religious ideology above duty to the U.S. should not be in uniform.
See, here’s the problem with those quotes, Jeff. They assume feelings of guilt or remorse based in Judeo-Christian – AMERICAN – ethics. This dirtbag has none of that. He’s died-in-the-wool Muslim, with Muslim sensibilities and ‘codes.’ The dead and wounded will not haunt him. He will not burn in Muslim hell for murder, he will bask in Paradise for ridding the world of an infidel or two. What he did was not wrong in his world.
Reminds me of people who get all touchy-feely about wolves and eagles and cougars and coyotes…beautiful as we may think they are, they are not the cute little puppies and kitties and birdies city folks see on television and in movies or plastered all over a t-shirt. They are ANIMALS, and they KILL other animals. They are predators.
Jihad is not carried out by people who feel remorse for killing. The scumbag is a PIG, and I mean that in the most insulting and vile way any follower of Mohammed is willing to take it. With apologies to the farm animal.
The frustration of these people being killed by this man — it’s terrible. And even that doesn’t really express how I feel.
It’s the pebble in the pond theory — that each event has ripples that go further than you can see. These killings will touch so many people, some close, some far. And I just can’t believe any good — any understanding, any sympathy for him or any cause that he may believe he had — will come of it. Certainly not from me.
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