printThat’s pretty much what I heard, live, come out of the mouth of Commander-In-Chief Barack Obama, pursuant to a shooting on an army base, during which 12 soldiers were killed and 31 injured. [Update: 13 are now dead.]
The president was hanging with leaders of the Native American tribal nations when the news broke. His response: “What an extraordinary gathering… I thank the extraordinary people who made this extraordinary convention possible … we’re gonna do right by you extraordinary people, yada, yada, yada. Oh, and by the way, some soldiers got shot.”
“The suspected gunman was identified by ABC News as Major Malik Nadal Hasan. Fort Hood, on which this shooting spree occurred, “has suffered more deaths in Iraq than any other US home base. ” Most soldiers on the base had been deployed at least four times (as Bush cleared brush on his ranch and Barack vacationed at Martha’s Vineyard).
All told, there were three shooters; one was killed, two are in custody, (Update: subsequently released, so they could not be shooters).
Via the NYT: “CNN reports that the soldiers who were at the readiness center were getting ready to deploy to Iraq.”
On Fox News, Major General Robert H. Scales says that his sources tell him this was not the act of a madman—this was no spontaneous act committed under duress—but, rather, a planned and deliberate assassination. The venue was picked, and the men targeted mowed down with diabolical precision.
Developing.
NYT: “Update | 6:16 p.m. According to the Marine Corps Times, a Pentagon source said the suspected gunman killed at Fort Hood, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, ‘was a psychiatrist recently reassigned from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to work with soldiers at Darnall Army Medical Center on Fort Hood.'”
Hasan was 39 years old.
Update I: Huffington Post on Hasan’s military records:
“Military officials say the suspected shooter at Fort Hood was a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for six years before being transferred to the Texas base in July.
The officials had access to Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s military record. They said he received a poor performance evaluation while at Walter Reed.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because military records are confidential.”
The Virginia-born soldier was single with no children. He was 39 years old.
He is a graduate of Virginia Tech University, where he was a member of the ROTC and earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry in 1997. He received his medical degree from the military’s Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001. At Walter Reed, he did his internship, residency and a fellowship.”
[SNIP]
I’d like to know more about the nature of the “poor performance evaluation” the killer received, and whether this information might have been followed up on as a possible harbinger of what Hasan was capable of.
Update II: Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan IS ALIVE. I have no idea why media were told he was dead, at first. Perhaps the military was ashamed that the base police came upon a man mowing down soldiers and did not take him out. On the other hand, maybe they want to interrogate him. Gently, of course, in case the libertarian and liberal Left squeal about the trauma the placing of a bug in the bug-phobic Abu Zubaydah’s “confinement box” caused them.
But interrogation and correctly reporting Hasan’s status are not mutually exclusive.
Update III: “Muslims have a right to rise and attack the aggressors,” Hasan is purported to have told a retired colleague. Now this is an intellectually consistent position. Perfectly consistent. What is inconsistent and incongruous is the conduct of our liberal military. Given his poor performance and his views, why on earth was he not kicked out of the force? Why were his passing comments dismissed as mere hot-hotheadedness? Liberalism, that’s why. The military has an obligation to expunge elements like Hasan from its ranks. The brass’ duty is to preserve its own; not display tolerance for diversity.
Via Jihad Watch:
Update IV: Shep Smith said Nidal Malik Hasan was a convert to Islam. Nonsense on stilt. So much of it. The WaPo reports that “Hasan is a U.S.-born Muslim of Palestinian descent whose parents came to the United States from the West Bank. He joined the military after high school and earned medical degrees as he rose through the ranks, family members said. A doctor in the Medical Corps, Hasan was promoted to major last year, according to the Congressional Record.”
Wait for this. According to NPR “Hasan was put on probation early in his postgraduate work at the Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. He was disciplined for proselytizing about his Muslim faith with patients and colleagues, according to the source, who worked with him at the time.”
Disciplined? What were they thinking? Speak nicely to the man and he’ll abandon his faith and his anger?
I’ll repeat an ongoing theme on this blog: Hasan acted in character. He is consistent. The people who are, to me, more contemptible than he are the military brass. Infected with PC and liberal do-goodism, they honestly believed that with a few mild warnings and kind reprimands they could tweak Islam out of this man like one would an unsightly nose hair. His superiors need to pay for forsaking their underlings. They abandoned their charges for liberal political correctness.
Update V: What is considered a cause for alarm on a military base? Clearly not a man strolling about the base in traditional Muslim/Arab garb. Tell me that the military is not as liberal as the rest of the country. The madness we endure at airports is the madness we’ve witnessed on this military base.
The American taxpayer paid for this man’s education, years of tuition and living expenses. Hasan is a ponce who lived off the taxpayer and turned deadly when his debts were due.
On the other hand, Major Nidal begged to be released of his duties. The man underperformed and was rotten at his job. Why did the military not cut him loose? Yes, liberalism sees no danger in an abaya-clad, angry, devout Muslim who saw the institution he worked for as an aggressor and oppressor. As an arm of the state, the military mirrors the state’s reckless disregard for those who serve it. Today, we saw proof of it.
Update VI (Nov. 6): Would a military man be allowed to roam the base in a Hare-Krishna robe?
The morons of MSNBC are going the causal route of the trauma victim—Major Nidal of course. A victim of bullying and stress. “Evil, not ILL” says it all:
“To listen to the nation’s psychiatric gurus is to come to believe that crimes are caused, not committed. Perpetrators don’t do the crime, but are driven to their dirty deeds by a confluence of uncontrollable factors, victims of societal forces or organic brain disease.
The paradox at the heart of this root-causes fraud is that causal theoretical explanations are invoked only after bad deeds have been committed. Good deeds have no need of mitigating circumstances. Even though [Major Nidal] went about his business meticulously and methodically, liberals (and, increasingly, conservatives) toss the concept of free will to the wind. They acknowledge human agency if—and only if—adaptive actions are involved.”
“‘Allahu Akbar’ was shouted by the Fort Hood killer Major Nidal Malik Hasan before he opened fire.” Assorted dhimmi are elaborating on the many meanings of the phase. Armed, dressed in traditional Arab garb and shouting “Allahu Akbar”: I think we all know what that means. Trouble.
Update VII: HERE are some of the men and women killed by a coward.
As we all know, the military/the state affords the men and women who join the best of care. That’s why it unleashed Major Nidal on unsuspecting damaged soldiers. Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was supervising Nidal, who clearly needed supervision,” said [that] privacy laws prevented him from going into details but … that [there were] problems … with Hasan’s interactions with patients.”
Only the best.
Via Fox News, more on the abnegation of responsibility in dealing with this individual: “At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.
They had not determined for certain whether Hasan is the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials.”
The military authorities were in no hurry to do their duty.
Nor is premeditation in question. ABC: “The gun thought to be used in the Fort Hood massacre packs so much firepower, it’s known as ‘the Cop Killer,’ federal law enforcement officials said.”
Update VIII: “An officer and a gentleman was injured while partaking in a preemptive* attack. Get Well Soon Major Nidal. We Love You.” So wrote “The Official Revolution Muslim Website.” Via WND.COM.
Update IX: Col. Jack Jacobs, now an MSNBC military analyst, said it is unlikely Major Nidal caused all the deaths. The Colonel mentioned that oxymoron “friendly fire.”
It was a deliberate assassination! Our press continues to do a pathetic job for all of us. I keep wondering what it will take for our people to see the truth in all of this.
Next thing you know, some people like Ilana, Diana, or Geert will talk about the need to fight certain elements AT HOME perhaps (or to prevent their entry) rather than trying to nation build among Bronze-Age Pushtun Warlords.
A certain Middle Eastern Entity (Hint – rhymes with “Ohionist”) builds a WALL to keep out certain Nidal Malik Hasan’s from butchering its population and gets denounced by Nobel “PEACE” Prizewinners. In reality, it is the canary in the Moslem mineshaft.
Then someone might point out that the US attack was carried out by mostly Saudis operating out of Germany and America, not by Pushtun warlords or Akbar province nomads – but shhh! …..
Obama will “Stay the Course” and send more Americans over into Dubya’s Islamic Quicksand on their Nth tour of duty rather than “LOSE” Afghanistan and the 2010 elections!
The farther removed immigrants are from the northern European stock that built this country, the harder it is for them to assimilate.
An immigration moratorium is needed.
1) U. S. armed forces out of Muslim nations.
2) “Islam First” service members kicked out of U. S. military.
3) U. S. to stop fawning on Saudi Arabia; drill for oil in ANWR.
4) U. S. to develop alternative energy sources using the best engineers and scientists in the world–ours–and let the current oil sheikdoms descend into the desert whence they came.
“Gently, of course, in case the the libertarian and liberal Left squeal about the trauma the placing of a bug in the bug-phobic Abu Zubaydah’s “confinement box” caused them. These are just the type of insects the likes of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would delight in squashing.” Ilana Mercer
Well, yes. Of course he should be tried and if found guilty then executed but until then he should be treated humanely. No attempt to extract information by force or torture should be used.
Yes, the most dreadful thing is not guys like him, but our response. I watched CBS Evening news tonight, 6:30 EST. The half-hour national news started and closed with this story –at least four minutes total. But no one, I believe, said the word muslim –or islam or jihad for that matter. I’d love to be proven wrong. Someone please show me the transcripts and the tapes and tell me I just missed it. Please tell me the main stream media isn’t that willfully blind, that bent on snowing this angle under.
SOME QUESTIONS:
WHY does the Army need uniformed psychiatrists? (battlefield surgeons I understand)
WHY does Moslem soldier proselytizing not raise a giant red flag (security clearance, etc.)
HOW does one fire shots at 40 + soldiers and no soldiers are armed to take this jackass down?
By the way, I have met completely stupid, borderline illiterate security investigators – including one woman who was focused on the fact that my wife’s cat once scratched a neighbor’s child (what this had to do with national security is beyond me). Needless to say, the military will cover up its ineptitude big time.
News of this massacre was the first thing I heard when I woke up today. When I learned that 12 were dead on Ft. Hood, my honest-to-God first thought was: Muslim. When they said his name, I laughed out loud. I couldn’t help myself. Naturally, the See-No-Islam testimony from various pundits and “experts” began immediately. One joker insisted again and again that Hasan had no links to Al Qaeda, therefore the massacre was not an act of terrorism.
Given his poor performance and his views, why on earth was he not kicked out of the force?
Speaking from my own experience, the Army is a punishment culture. In training, personal misery is emphasized above all else, often at the expense of the knowledge that the training is supposed to impart. So if you want out of the Army more than anything, that is grounds to keep you in. I knew guys who failed drug tests on purpose, went AWOL repeatedly, or attempted suicide to secure their discharges.
HOW does one fire shots at 40 + soldiers and no soldiers are armed to take this jackass down?
From what I’ve read, the shooting occurred at SRP, which is a staging area for soldiers headed to warzones. Naturally, soldiers are not allowed to fly with their weapons or ammunition. There might be an accident, or worse, a shooting. When I went to SRP, the unit’s weapons were locked in a conex and shipped overseas separately, but I was there in 2003 before the invasion, so they might do things differently now (but I doubt it). If they are flying with their personal weapons nowadays, ammunition is certainly restricted.
Anyway, military posts are essentially Gun Free Zones. Those with concealed carry permits (like myself) risk federal charges if they enter post with a firearm. Single soldiers living in the barracks must register their firearms and keep them in a secure, central location somewhere on post, such as a gun club. No one is walking around armed.
P.S. Hasan was finally shot down by a female, civilian security guard. I guess all the MP’s are already in Iraq.
“Tell me that the military is not as liberal as the rest of the country.”
“Diversity is the number one priority” at the (Naval) academy. – Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead
The ubiquitous sentiment and policy is making the rounds and both, explains a great deal and indicts a great many.
We (Americans in particular and the West in general) just do not understand the gravity of the situation. We are still in the “Wonderland” of “all people just want the same thing” and “if they attack us it is our fault”. 9-11 was a walk in the park compared with what awaits us. The fifth column is here< /a> – except they are out in the open and few care.
To Barbara Grant: Points well said.
Muslims have been and will continue to attack us at home. Rather than face reality our cultural leaders continue to fawn over them like they were hot house plants.
The whole mess is a real crock..
“We are still in the “Wonderland” of “all people just want the same thing” and “if they attack us it is our fault”.” Haym
I am not in Wonderland, all people do not want the same thing but we are squatting on their land. And I’ll say this, if an F-16 accidentally killed my family would I be expected to accept some blood money and be content?
The US is the third largest country in the world, what the diddly-squat do we need with the rest of the world?
[We’re discussing Major Hasan, not foreign policy. Stick to the topic. Hasan’s land was in the US.]
[…Hasan’s land was in the US.] Ilana Mercer
I grew up during the paradigm of the “melting pot.” Now I don’t believe in government enforced conformity but in a free society there would considerable private social pressure to conform. Only government protection and/or privilege allows destructive cultures or life styles to survive.
If genuine liberty was allowed in this country, including the right to PRIVATELY discriminate, then inferior religions and lifestyles would quickly diminish.
“Even though [Major Nidal] went about his business meticulously and methodically, liberals (and, increasingly, conservatives) toss the concept of free will to the wind.” Ilana Mercer
Free will is relative,IMO. I would define it as one’s genuine preference given ideal circumstances. It is one thing to choose sin under duress but another thing altogether to prefer it.
I would bet the preference for sin is normally distributed as are most human characteristics so that:
1. A few will not chose sin under any circumstances. They will die under torture before sinning. I know of only one perfect example of this in all human history.
2. A few will actually prefer sin.
3. The rest will sin under varying degrees of duress and/or temptation.
“The morons of MSNBC are going the causal route of the trauma victim—Major Nidal of course. A victim of bullying and stress.”
You’re right, Ilana, the last thing that the talking heads/liberals ever want to call someone is “EVIL.” To do so implies that absolute standards of morality exist. Considering that our standards come from Judeo-Christian values (initially from the Hebrew Testament) the use of the term “Evil” might be seen as giving greater weight to some religious traditions over others.
I doubt whether the parents of the kids slain by two other mass murderers who were alleged to have suffered bullying–Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine Killers–would buy the “bullying as excuse” argument. No one should buy it in this case, either.
The Muslim shooter belonged to a DVG or Designated Victim Group. Writer John Derbyshire invented the term. http://www.nationalreview.com/derbyshire/derbyshire200403241040.asp
DVGs are above reproach.
Are these “Revolution Muslim” people for real? Note, there is not one Middle Easterner among them.
About 30 min. ago, I went to their site and was able to watch a rather crazy videoclip (whose link I can no longer find) featuring a “debate” regarding whether or not 9/11 was an “inside job,” with some American guy who said it was, and an “Al Qaeda” representative who said it wasn’t. In fact, he said he was upset that others were trying to take credit for Al Qaeda’s terrorism! “Moderator” looked like someone trying to emulate Jon Stewart.
As I said, I saw this about 30 minutes ago, but cannot now find the link. I wonder if these guys are psych or journalism grad students at Columbia, trying to see how far they can push people.
When I first heard there was a shooting at Fort Hood I thought the shooter would be either a Muslim or a soldier who went insane. [He was not insane. Criminal behavior is not to be medicalized. Refer to “Evil, Not Ill,” etc.] Turns out it was both.
As far as Muslims go, I’m actually more inclined to trust the natives, that is people who follow Islam because their parents did and they were brought up with it, over new converts, especially if they’re white Americans who convert. I suppose this incident proves me wrong but I still don’t trust people who convert. Call me a bigot. [Hasan was not a convert, so I fail to see the relevance of this comment.]