In September 2002, had a Muslim man posted anti-American rhetoric on the Web, sold all of his possessions the previous day and screamed “Allah is Great” in Arabic while killing 13 and wounding more than 30 people on an Army base, I don’t believe any news source, regardless of how liberal it was, would leave out the possibility the man might be a terrorist. I don’t believe any newspaper or news source whatsoever would fail to speculate the man might have planned the attack. And I doubt anyone in his or her right mind would say this soldier, who had never seen combat and never been overseas, was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
But that’s exactly what happened when Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan decided to shoot up Fort Hood last week. Every person shot was someone’s brother, sister, mother, father, wife, husband. Some of those killed were just about to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan to fight for our country’s freedom and protect us from those who would want our country taken down.
But if you listen to most left-wing news, including the news magazine Newsweek and several news networks, there is hardly reverence or honest, critical thought about the situation. In fact, even my last statement about our soldiers fighting for our freedom and protecting us from terrorists is fair game for criticism in those media outlets. If forced to acknowledge their existence, they don’t want to label them Muslim, because they don’t want to offend non-terrorist Muslims. Political correctness poses more of a problem to our society than a bunch of whining liberals who manufacture offense whenever they get the chance. This kind of “political correctness” that we see in the news represents a genuine threat to our national security.
It would be fine to speculate that because of Hasan’s opinion about the war, his orders to deploy set him off. It would be fine to argue that when he received a bad review from the people he expressly disagreed with on policy issues, he was irked. But it is absolutely inexcusable and traitorous to America’s security to argue this man’s Muslim views did not enter into his psyche when he was shooting up this Army base.
I won’t bother to argue Muslim terrorists do exist, they are in our country and abroad and they want to destroy America. I won’t bother to argue they will gladly kill themselves and others so they can get to heaven and make their lives worthwhile. I won’t even begin to answer the ridiculous claims that if we just got these terrorists out of poverty, their worldview would change. And there’s no way if we just let them see how wonderful we were and brought them democracy, they would automatically convert to the light side and stop killing innocent civilians all over the world.
I am ashamed and insulted by the news media’s failure to accurately report this incident. The front-page story of The Chicago Tribune failed to mention Hasan was a Muslim. The Newsweek story tried to claim post-traumatic stress disorder was the reason he snapped. It wasn’t until 24 hours later that most major news networks decided to report the man had shouted “Allah is Great” while shooting. And FOX News, as much as my peers may hate it, seemed to be the only ones who presented all of the known facts. They interviewed a retired Army colonel who said this may have been “the biggest terrorist attack since 9/11” and the ridiculous and dangerous political correctness in this situation “makes (him) want to puke.”
This has people pretty mad. When I say “people,” I mean the men and women who fight for our country’s freedom, whether in the military, in the media, in their businesses or in their homes. The men and women who want all the facts presented, want to protect America from terrorists such as Hasan and don’t shy away from the facts because they might hurt their agenda.
I only pray President Obama, the American news media and American citizens can face the facts before something like this happens again, taking us by surprise because we had our heads in the sand. It is so reminiscent of pre-9/11 thinking under Clinton and Bush that it is scary. Take a step back, and think about what is more important: not offending people of “protected race” (and who would have thought such a thing would ever happen in a country that views all men are created equal), or protecting American citizens?
— Morgan Gilmour
McCormick senior
Member, College Republicans
Let me replay the question and (your) answer just so you can read it over:Q:1. Explain how the putative failure to immediately report Nidal Malik Hasan's religion concretely threatens national securityA: I don't think this is what he said, but the man's religion is clearly relevant here and knowledge of it helps to understand motive, because his beliefs seem to have helped lead to his rampage. Understanding that fact would help to prevent future occurences, which is a matter of national security.You are saying that by reporting the shooter was a Muslim, it would prevent future occurrences. How so? In the hours following the shooting, should all of the Muslim soldiers been detained because their religion can lead to rampages? Should we get our pitchforks? Media outlets did not report Seung-Hui Cho's religion after the VT massacre, did that threaten national security? No. Both shootings were carried out by individuals with extremely troubled minds who acted on their own accord. I think everyone in America knows that recent acts of terrorism have been committed by Muslims. However, you simply cannot lump the entire Muslim population of the world into the Terrorist camp. Furthermore, all crime committed by Muslims cannot be considered terrorism. Muslim crime is becoming synonymous with terrorism which is factually INCORRECT.Enough with the fear mongering, racism, stereotyping, and political spin. Lives were lost. Soldiers who were trying to defend this country are dead. It is terrible, but why does it have to be political? Mourn the fallen and figure out what led to the killings, just as in any murder. Just stop with all the nonsense.
I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery. And she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards - Purple Heart, Bronze Star; showed that he died in Iraq; gave his date of birth, date of death. He was twenty years old. And then at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross. It didn't have a Star of David. It had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Karim Rashad Sultan Kahn. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey, he was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11 and he waited until he could go serve his country and he gave his life.-Colin Powell
-Alex Kemmler, WCAS '07
-Alex Kemmler, WCAS '07