Major Nidal Malik Hasan
On Thursday, November 5th I was driving home from work when I heard over the radio the last line of a public statement from Barry Obama, "it's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil."
My heart sank and suddenly it was 2001, on the 11th of September. Without any details my mind produced the worst case scenario. Gunfire and smoke. Explosions and blood. And as I imagined the consequences of another terrorist attack all I could think about was internment camps.
By the time I got the story most of the facts of the shooting were known. Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist scheduled for deployment to Afghanistan, opened fire on a Texas military base screaming “Allahu Akbar” as he fired two handguns at fellow soldiers. He killed 13 and injured 30 before he was taken down by a courageous civilian officer. He is now alive in critical condition. The greatest tragedy of the day was the loss of an unborn child inside the womb of a female officer.
"We can only prevent the occurrence of evil if we are honest about it’s cause."
~Stefan Molyneux
As the details began coming to light we started to see the character of a very conflicted man. His family reports that he joined the military believing he had a duty to serve his country. Yet, he was outspoken about his opposition to the current conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. He served for six years as an army psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Yet, he was frequently bullied, and his property vandalized by other personnel because he was Muslim. He sought a discharge for several years, offered to repay the cost of his medical training, and hired a lawyer to help him find a way out, but with no success. Yet, he gave presentations where he made statements radically outside the mainstream views of Muslims. Examining the trajectory of Major Hasan we see a man on a downward spiral into violent extremism, and yet he gave his superior officers every possible indication that he was unstable. When the orders came for his deployment, and that internal contradiction was no longer reconcilable, he flipped out.
"The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their true name."
~ Chinese Proverb
- terrorism, -n. (the calculated use of violence, or the threat of violence, against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear) Princeton
- terrorism, -n. (politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.) CIA - U.S. Code Title 22, Ch.38, Para. 2656f(d)
- terrorism, -n. (Terrorism is the deliberate use of violence aimed against civilians in order to achieve political ends.) Boaz Ganor
Actually defining terrorism has been the great bugbear of the War on Terror. The U.N. has repeatedly failed to achieve an internationally agreed upon definition for years... why? Because it is virtually impossible to find any definition of terrorism that does not exactly describe the actions of governments. Federal definitions usually insert the word "unlawful" before "violence" as a loophole to legitimize their own acts of terrorism. They believe that costumes, flags and badges change moral rules and somehow make violence virtuous. But a consistent attribute of every definition is that terrorism targets civilians, which is so clearly forbidden in Islam as to be beyond debate.
I am not defending his actions. I am merely calling them by their true name. This is not an act of terrorism. Calling this terrorism waters down the true moral horror of willfully targeting civilians, as in 911. This is an act of treason, which is already a capital crime. It should be investigated, tried and punished as treason. Major Hasan is clearly an extremist based on his own statements, and he should never have been permitted to stay in the military, his own wish. But calling this "terrorism" is Orwellian Newspeak where the emotional content of a word is more important than it's definition. It is a kind of mental coercion, or thought control. By calling this "terrorism" you change the very definition to something more like, "any subversive act by any Muslim for any reason."
Muslims are falling lockstep into a reactionary campaign of condemnation. "We condemn terrorism!" "We condemn terrorism!" "We condemn terrorism!" This is not participation in a national discussion, but an act of self-defense.
I condemn terrorism. I condemn, in the most serious of terms, any and all initiation of violence, or threat of violence, against civilians to achieve political, religious or ideological goals. And I condemn it regardless of costumes, flags and badges.
"Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
~George Orwell
There is an environment of fear being achieved here. I am afraid to say what I am saying right now... and if you are Muslim you are probably afraid to read it. We scramble to distance ourselves from any subversive act by any Muslim for any reason. This is motivated by fear, because we understand that we are civilians living under the subtle threat of tremendous violence. We understand, consciously or not, that speaking openly about evil is, "thought crime." We understand that our own government has declared war on "radical Islam," an idea it has not defined. And we wait for them to tell us what is permissible to say, what is permissible to think and what is permissible to believe, lest they declare war on us.
For more info:
Loonwatch.com: Nidal Hasan Disobeyed Islamic Doctrine
Slate.com: Is Nidal Malik Hasan a "Terrorist"?
Comments
Good article...I did feel though, like you stated much of what the media has fed us regarding fort hood as facts. We don't really know what happened in Fort Hood. Initially we were told there were 3 shooters, now what happened? First it was repeatedly stated that nidal was dead. Now he's alive? How did he shoot 40 + people ALONE without ANYone stopping him - despite the fact that he was at a military base? All I know and hear is that there's 1 Muslim shooter, and that doesn't quite make sense.
A point to be noted is that the media never called the acts of the Virginia tech shooter "terrorist", despite the fact that he sent out a suicide video stating the acts were done in the name of Jesus and he killed alottt of people.
The saddest thing here is that this guy was already unhinged and his evaluations indicated that he should have been discharged from service a long time ago; yet he was kept in because of the money that the US government had spent in eductaing him.
This was completely preventable.
When Columbine happened nobody called it Terrorism. Why this?
I also commented to the Chicago Muslims Group that it was irresponsible to leap to condemning the act just because the guy who went unhinged happened to be Muslim.
Ok few things that i don't understand.
Some reports say 2 handguns has been used, both FN Five-Seven USG handguns with 20 rounds magazines. They also come with maximum magazine capacity of 30 rounds - with modified magazines, so max firepower is 60 rounds before reloading. One eye witness also says it is one revolver and one handgun, in which case the accused firepower is even lesser. He altogether shot 100 rounds, which means at least he reloaded one time. Many people were shot in cubicles where they were hiding, so the accused was supposedly walking around attacking people, It is hard for me to believe that they couldn’t stop him sooner.
The whole chaos was for less than 4 minutes, and Senior Sergeant Mark Todd (the latest Veteran to claim to have gunned down the accused) engaged the accused for 45 seconds. If he killed 13 and wounded 31 (total or 44) in approx 3 minutes, it is 1 victim per 4 seconds, which is hard for me to believe, given that the victims were not lined up.
100 rounds in 4 minutes is one shot every 2.4 seconds. it is not that you cannot shoot with a handgun that fast, but to find targets that are running to find cover / hiding.. again, it is too unbelievable for me.
Perhaps the story just for the fact that it is the official story, makes me not to believe it.
"Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." ~George Orwell
Tell that to Muslims!!
This below is form the law of Islamic Pakistan. Speaks for itself how much Muslim value freedom for others. Let’s not have such an Islamic system here anytime soon. Agreed?
ORDINANCE NO. XX OF 1984 PART II - AMENDMENT OF THE PAKISTAN PENAL CODE (ACT XLV OF 1860) (3) 298C... <b>Any person of the Quadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves ‘Ahmadis’ or by any other name), who … invites others to accept his faith, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations</b>, or in any manner whatsoever outrages the religious feelings of Muslims, <b>shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine</b>.
'. And as I imagined the consequences of another terrorist attack all I could think about was internment camps.'
So you didn't think about the victims but yourself, such a shame that you lack even basic humanity
Hey Pig Face! Concentration Camps incarcerate and torture innocent people. The "victims" were paid killers.
Such a shame that you lack even basic humanity
Niaz – That’s a really interesting point. Maybe someone with more expertise on firearms can comment on the statistics. I don’t imagine it takes much effort for a man with military training to reload, or that he’s a better marksman than civilian shooters we’ve seen in the past. But a 4 second hit rate does seem pretty incredible, especially if people were hiding in cubicles, although I haven’t read that.
John – That’s a strange comment considering I’m a Muslim writer and I clearly have Muslim readers. I have told Muslims… in the loudest voice I have. Would it interest you to know that I also pulled that quote from a Muslim blog?
Calling it “Islamic Pakistan” is just laughable btw.
Is your belief that injustice buried in the penal code of one country’s legal system reflects upon the beliefs of people not even in that country? As if government even reflect the views of its own people? So, if I found injustice buried in the penal code of one Western Democracy can assert that it reflects upon the beliefs of all Westerners?
Pig Farmer – You make a really valid point. All I can say is that this was my genuine experience. Maybe if I knew something about the victims at the time my reaction would have been different, but I didn’t. But I don’t think I’m the only Muslim who reacts to news with the fear of backlash, which isn’t just concern for myself, but for all the innocent people, who would also be victims.
Troll – I have repeatedly considered deleting your posts. Sometimes you make a valid point but I wish you’d tone down the ad hominem attacks. We’re aiming for civil discourse here.
The killer has not be charged with any "Terrorist Acts" yet.... he has been charged with 13 counts of murder. I believe it is the press that characterizes this as 'terrorism'. He is a mass murderer. My thoughts go out to those families which lost loved ones and I feel badly for the killer's family also. Violence is not acceptable under any circumstance and violence against civilians is terrible anywhere in the world.
It's a good article you have written.
Mark
Saifullah- I agree, its uncalled for. Its almost like we are apologizing for our religion. I compare this mans loss of sanity to any and all psycho killers in American history, do the churches apologize and condemn over and over again, no and they dont need to. We know that no religion calls for violence and the killing of innocent people, the ignorant masses dont need the Muslim communities apologizes but knowledge about our faith.
wallahu alam
Reader-Good point, that dude was a Christian "jihadist" who snapped ;) BUT we sure as heck dont compare that to his religion.
We deserve the same rights and excuses, and as you said Br. Davi, we need the real definition of this war on radical Islam.
Not only did media not call the Virginia Tech shooter a Crusader, they repeatedly tried to connect him with Islam even after his media package was released. He clearly said "I die like Jesus Christ on the cross because of your sins" and instead the Media tried to say that his "Ishmael Axe" tattoo may be a reference to Ismail, the progenitor that links the Arabs to the line of Abraham. Shameful!
In case anyone is wondering, The Virginia Tech shooter was an English literature student and had a strange obsession with Moby Dick… the first line of Chapter one.. “Call me Ishmael.”
This is also shameful. A link to the video report follows:
The parents of Antonios Grigoriou removed him and another child from Punchbowl Public School claiming he was bullied because of the lunch his mother packed him.
The Year 5 boy of Greek-Australian descent was reportedly chased and assaulted by the group, before he had to be locked inside the library to escape harassment.
The Muslim boys were said to be offended that Antonios was eating "pig" during the Islamic month of fasting.
The school suspended the boy believed to be the ringleader of the group.
news.ninemsn.com.au/national/970591/muslim-kids-attack-boy-for-eating-salami
A thematically relevant quote in an article about the war in Afghanistan (bear with me):
'As M. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, has warned, "Unless the President can articulate the harm of the Islamist movement distinct from the ability of Muslims to practice their faith of Islam in freedom, he cannot make any progress in this war."'
(From 'No Substitute for Substance' by Robert R. Reilly, in The Journal of Intl. Security Affairs, Fall 2009)
We should also be able to differentiate between an individual acting on personal motives and a 'terrorist'. Great point about the V. Tech shooter. I hope the formal investigation and future reporting on Ft. Hood will be intelligent.
The Ft. Hood shootings were a tragedy for all concerned, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Let us resist division.
Dave, i was trying to post the URLs here, but it wont let me. it is in my facebook
Niaz, I would like to know how he managed to get two guns inside the army base? The fact is the Army and the FBI dropped the ball yet again... It time for someone to step forward and take responsibility for this blunder. On 9-11 I just thought it was another day and turned on the TV and saw the first tower was already hit. Just thought it was a accident. But a few minutes later I saw the 2nd plane hit the second tower. I could not believe my eyes. So that's why I sorta flipped out when the Fort Hood shooting occurred.
Oh crickies Davi did you have to come up with that title??!! I know that movie. I watched it in Egypt in 2006. This resemblance of the Fort Hood Shooting on Nov 5 and that movies motto remember remember the 5th of November- do you think its just a coincidence?
Once again, Davi, you hit the nail right on the head. This was an act of treason, not terrorism. If he started in a crowded room, the number of dead and wounded makes sense. The number of rounds he fired isn't clear in the media.
What's really sad is that other soldiers weren't allowed to be armed on base because of political correctness; there is a good reason that spree killers prefer "gun free" zones for their rampages.
Per US Law, acts of treason are punishable by death.
If anyone has earned the Death Penalty this year, this guy has.
"Calling it “Islamic Pakistan” is just laughable btw."
Tell that to victims of Islamic laws in Pakistan. When lives are being lost in the name of Islam its no laughing matter I assure you.
Pakistan is a country of 160 million Muslims with a democratic government in place. If 160 million Pakistani Muslims, with a large number of Islamic scholars and madrassas (religious schools), collectively can not decide what is Islamic then who will, you?
You will find Muslims in US (a significant number from Pakistan) complaining about every little thing in US and abroad but almost never about atrocities in Pakistan, why? Seems to me at some level they can relate to it.
“Is your belief that injustice buried in the penal code…?”
I am afraid there is nothing buried about to. It’s all in the open. I don’t want to litter this place so will only post a few examples;
PAKISTAN: No action taken against Geo TV presenter who incited Muslims to murder members of Pakistan minority on air
ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1694/
PAKISTAN: Two murdered and 15 charged as discrimination against Ahmadis continues unabated
ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2009statements/1947/
Ask for more. This clearly shows the level of intolerance among Muslims should they be given a free hand to run a society. God forbid.
Pakistan is unique, along with perhaps Saudi Arabia, which has actually tried to base its law on Islam -- with disastrous results as expected. Just goes to show what enforcement of Sharia can bring to you. Let’s not have it anywhere else please!
John... Madrassah is simply Arabic for "School" nothing else.
Do they get some religious education there? Maybe, it varies from one school to another. But don't twist it around in your head, the topics of education are not so different from any other school anywhere else in the world.
Readin' writin' and `rithmatic are all first and foremost.
What Davi means is that Pakistan has not been under Islamic law since the fall of the Caliphate. According to Islamic jurisprudence there has to be a centralized governing body. Since the Caliph was betrayed and overthrown with the emergence of Wahabism and the rise of the House of Saud as they schemed and cooperated with British influence we can no longer have an actual Islamic State since there is no Caliph.
Therefore Shariah law has not been accurately implemented since the breakdown of this centralized government structure.
Think about it... what would happen to US law if all of Congress and the President were suddenly wipe
Shariah Law exists in the Philippines.
There is a Shariah court which oversees Islamic matters in the cases of marriage, divorce, etc.
This is because nearly 20% of the population is Muslim and Islam was the dominant religion before the Spaniard conquistadors arrived.
Muslims in the Philippines are the only people granted the rights of Divorce recognized under the law because Islamic marriage is ruled by Shariah which permits divorce and re-marriage unlike the Catholic dominated law of the rest of the Philippines.
If you want to get into oppressive religious regimes, take a look at African nations that are ruled by the Catholic Church.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!