A lot of the coverage of the tragic attack at Fort Hood in which 13 people died has tried to avoid following up on the troubling statements made by the killer / terrorist Malik Nadal Hassan and connection to a Jihadist motivation.
As I write this the following story is on CNN’s website: “Treating victims can cause trauma“:
The impact of trauma on those who help the traumatized has become a subject of discussion as investigators try to piece together why Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, allegedly opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas.
The media is peddling this defense after it became known that Hassan has never served overseas and has been stationed at Fort Hood only a few months. Why cover that Hassan has expressed hostility toward US foreign policy in Afghanistan and Iraq and has made statements that Muslims should attack US troops in these countries? There are also reports that before starting the shooting he shouted “Allahu Akbar!” To the mainstream media, this couldn’t possibly have anything to do with Hassan’s actions.
The FBI announced that the massacre was not an act of terrorism moments after it occurred. It would have been ok to say that we don’t know what motivated the attack, but categorically ruling out terrorism was certainly not justified. What constitutes a terrorist attack anyways? Just because we didn’t find an al-Qaeda membership card on Hassan doesn’t mean his motivations were not the same Jihadist beliefs that have been behind a lot of terrorism around the world. Motivation by terrorist ideas is just as significant as connections to other known terrorists.
The mosque where Hassan worshipped regularly was quick to proclaim that “Islam is not responsible” for Hassan’s attack. Yes, Islam, a major world religion that has been around for 1,400 years has had its share of good and bad influences on humanity, but all of Islam cannot be blamed for the actions of Jihadist fanatics. However, it is undisputable that elements of contemporary Islam are responsible for an awful lot of terrorism in the world.
If we take a low estimate of 500 deaths monthly, globally, for the 96 months since 9/11, it is likely conservative to assert 48,000 people have been murdered by Islamic terrorists during that time. If the figure of 900 per month killed is closer to the truth, the number becomes 86,400.
The vast majority of peaceful, civilized Muslims have been quick to claim to be victims of stereotypes and persecution and have done very little to condemn the fanatics in their midst. Countries where Sharia law prevails behave in barbaric ways that would make Medieval Europeans blush. Islamist treatment of women, gays and converts from Islam goes against standards of tolerance that are universally accepted in free countries around the world. The violent reaction and murders in reaction to a series of cartoons in an obscure Danish newspaper is another example of deep-rooted intolerance. The cartoons seem laughably harmless when compared against attacks on Christianity or Judaism that occur in free media all the time. But there are no Christian or Jewish mobs going on a killing rampage in reaction to attacks on their religion.
American media and politicians should not be afraid to point out these facts about fanatical strains of Islam and their linkage to terrorism ranging from 9/11 to the attack on Fort Hood. None of this means that we do not respect and befriend many Muslims among us who have integrated into our society and its democratic and freedom-loving ways. Conservatives and Muslims can even agree on the need to preserve many values we share that are threatened by the secular, hedonistic society we live in. Muslims in the United States tend to achieve above average education and economic success. We are much better off than Europe where Muslims tend to be poor and resentful of the dying societies they live in.
Of course, good Muslims will occasionally encounter prejudice. But Muslim and non-Muslim Americans should not be afraid of pointing out suspicious behavior of potentially violent people. So do many other groups including conservatives. Prejudice against Muslims, blacks, women or any other group has become unacceptable behavior for the vast majority of Americans. Most Americans view people as individuals not as members of groups and we should be able to distinguish between prejudice and justified concerns about unacceptable and dangerous behavior of specific individuals. Reports to date indicate that Malik Nadal Hassan’s actions leading up to this attack on Fort Hood gave plenty of cause for concern. The fact that he was not stopped is at least in part a result of people’s fear that raising concern will be interpreted as intolerance. We need to stop being motivated by this fear and be willing to raise concerns about potentially dangerous individuals.
