The pitfalls of political correctness
The Fort Hood shooter and the enemies within
The pitfalls of political correctness
Dick Polman, Inquirer National Political Columnist
This was the key passage yesterday in President Obama's Fort Hood eulogy: "It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know - no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. For what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice -- in this world, and the next."
Finally, after days and days of political correctness in high places and in the press, we got an acknowledgement, from the president himself, that the alleged killer was driven to his misdeeds not because he was mentally batty or because he was lonely and troubled or because he was stressed by the issue of overdeployment, but because he was an Islamic jihadist.
Obama didn't specifically say that, of course - he obviously wanted to keep the focus on the terrorism victims, and avoid saying anything that might compromise the federal probe - but his line about "faith" clearly refers to Maj. Nidal Hasan's misbelief that he was acting as a true Muslim. Although Obama could have been more explicit in his condemnation (more on that below), he at least signaled that PC Americans should now dispense with the ritual pussyfooting and call out Hasan for what he really is.
Ever since the shootings, too many smart people have preferred to ignore the mountain of evidence about Hasan's true motives, because (a) they don't want to be viewed as "anti-Muslim" or intolerant of religious freedom, (b) they don't want to say anything that might help trigger a backlash against the Muslim-American community, and/or (c) they don't want to believe that we have, living in our midst and even within the military, religious extremists who want to murder us. To cite just one example, respected New Republic thinker and author John Judis was still insisting yesterday that "we don't know yet what motivated Nidal Hasan...I am reluctant to call him a terrorist, particularly because doing so arouses fears of a jihadist conspiracy in our midst that may not exist."
His argument misses the point; it's now clear that extremists like Hasan can terrorize without being part of any organized conspiracy. Yes, he acted alone...but he didn't think alone. This murder spree proves that jihadist thinking is a clear and present danger, in isolated pockets of the Muslim-American community. And we should be able to say that, out loud - without it being misinterpreted as a slur against the peaceful Muslim-Americans who constitute the overwhelming majority, or somehow as an invitation to round them all up and ship them to Guantanamo.
We have enemies among us. Hasan was apparently one of them. The warning signs were clear for a long time, even though the military preferred to look the other way (for many of the same reasons that made people so reticent after the shootings). As an Army shrink, he gave two lectures, complete with PowerPoint, about how America's war on terror was really just a war on Muslims; about how all Muslims should "fight those who do not believe in Allah"; about how suicide bombings are a way of "fighting for God against injustice of the 'infidels'"; and about how "we love death more than you love life!"
Hasan delivered one of these lectures to a Pentagon medical audience; hia topic was supposed to be environmental health, but the course director chose to indulge him. One military officer, speaking on background to Time magazine, says that people in uniform these days are reluctant to challenge people like Hasan "because they're afraid of getting an equal-opportunity complaint that can end careers." This probably explains why nobody on the intelligence side was able to connect all the dots - which included Hasan's contacts with a radical Islamic cleric (who has since praised Hasan), and his reputed attempts to contact al Qaeda. And if yelling "Allahu akbar" as he opened fire isn't enough for the federal investigators, what is?
Obama took steps yesterday to confront the truth yesterday - tentatively so. He referred to the shooter's "twisted logic," but the grim reality is that those who think like the shooter do not see their logic as twisted. Obama said that "no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts," but those who sympathize with the shooter sincerely believe that their faith does justify such acts. Obama said that no God "looks upon them with favor," but, as Hasan himself insisted in his lectures, God absolutely does.
Obviously, this is highly sensitive stuff. Diversity, freedom of religion, and civil liberties are cornerstones of our creed. And, as a practical matter, the military has a dire need for more Muslim-Americans in the ranks - not just as soldiers, but as language specialists who can help us communicate better in hostile settings. At the same time, the Fort Hood shootings are proof that we can ill afford to ignore warning signs in name of political correctness, or to delude ourselves about a domestic danger.
tom: and I copying from (and crediting) JimR from the last blog. To your "give it a rest" comment, stop saying "2007 doesn't matter, no one knew" ------ Smike and Tom, In order to make a point that the CIA knew about Hasan and did/didn't pass info to Obama who did/didn't act on it, Mike listed a link to CBS http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/09/national/main5587754.shtml which appears to go against the point Mike was making. Halfway down is another link http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/09/national/main5583794.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody, which includes "Classmates participating in a 2007-2008 master's program at a military college complained repeatedly to superiors about what they considered Hasan's anti-American views. Dr. Val Finnell said Hasan gave a presentation at the Uniformed Services University that justified suicide bombing and even told classmates that Islamic law trumped the U.S. Constitution" The points in both links appear to be the opposite of Mike's. It specifically reffs 2007. Obama may have been asleep here - no one knows at this point but, both of these links (provided by Mike) destroy his argument. Please address the issue.— still_independent- Still Independent- Out of political correctness, Hasan was not on the FBI's radar until December of 2008. That info. is in the FBI press release. So I will concede your point that several years ago the warning signs were there but that wasn't on the any intelligence report at that time .
- I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but what the heck...Good article, Dickie. I actually agree with you 100% on this one. WOW that was wierd.— puckdad77
- swedesboromike : who cares if it was on any intelligence report at the time? If it is true that "Classmates participating in a 2007-2008 master's program at a military college complained repeatedly to superiors about what they considered Hasan's anti-American views", then what "intelligence report" is required? Again, if true, the Army had all the info they needed. Especially since once he did show up on an "intelligence report", the FBI .... told the army.— still_independent
- It's not a surprise that political correctness has come back to haunt us. If someone in the military wore swastikas, posted on Nazi websites, and gave lectures on the greatness of Hitler and Nazi Germany, I'm sure they would've been followed and kicked out of the military. But because this guy was Muslim, and had the same extreme beliefs, nobody wanted to say anything for fear of being called anti-Muslim. Political correctness gone wild.— WWTDD
Comment removed.- Wow, I agree with Dick. And if you will notice, the initial AP reports of the incident took about four paragraphs before it finally mentioned his Islamic extremism.— Ramon
- Comment removed.
- Here, here Mr. Polman, here, here. From the last blog; nigel, this is islamic terrorism at it's worst & by definition (Islamic terrorism is the common term for violence,[1] rooted on Islamic fundamentalism, and aimed at defending, or even promoting, Islamic culture, society, and values in opposition to the political, allegedly imperialistic, and cultural influences of non-Muslims, and the Western world in particular). The guy attended a radical mosque (same as 2 9/11 attackers), listening to a radical imam spout hate for the infidels and he bought in. If he felt this way about the US, why join th army, why get trained as a doctor on the Army's dime, why not move to an Muslim country? Is it a crime for a US Army officer to call Al Queda Chris Matthews? If not it should be. This act is nothing but the worst & first terrorist act on US soil since 9/11, make no mistake about it. Every other explanation borders on nonsense, imho. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_terrorism— NEPhilly
So I guess what we have here is the first Islamic terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. It's on a much smaller scale, but the motivations are the same. I hope this makes clear to President Obama that we can't let up on terrorism.— jmc- Comment removed.
- I have to disagree with you completely, Dick. If a person acts alone in any other capacity, he is labeled a lunatic. There is no difference in his beliefs to me, and the beliefs of bible bangers. There is a degree of insanity inherent in someone who takes up those causes, sure, but to make it out to be a PC thing is minimizing the impact at best. Sure, he was a Muslim extremist, but the point is he was a crazy Muslim extremist.— HandNik
- Dick Polecat points out why Obama's leadership style is doomed to fail. Dithering and "let's all be pals" dipliomacy. If you believe in everything, you believe in nothing.— CD75
- Still_independant, thanks for the back up there. It was even more applicable for today's topic. and to repost - To the point of the Army brass, I am really put off by the apparent soft peddling of this entire deal. I find it difficult to believe that they let a religious head case go so long given the dangers we face from Muslim fanatics. Whether he was so disposed when he went in or was gradually converted - it's been known too long that he had bad wiring. The military does or should keep a pretty tight leash on its own. Diversity and PC don't apply when we're at battle. Maybe the need to keep up the numbers does this - I don't know, but some of those multi star generals need to answer for this. I'm with Still_Indy, Gen Casey should be out.— JimR
- hand, is there any other kind but a 'crazy Muslim extremist'? I can't remember the articles about how southern baptists are going into crowded markets and blowing themselves? Or methodists flying planes into buildings or jews in the military going 'crazy' and shooting up a military base and killing mothers, fathers and friends. There is only one of the major religions that offers up jihad as being righteous and to be rewarded. ***Those who fight in the jihad qualify for rewards in both worlds — treasure in this one, paradise in the next. For most of the recorded history of Islam, from the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad onward, the word jihad was used in a primarily military sense.[32]*** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad— NEPhilly
Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as one of the nation's top political reporters, and lauded by the ABC News political website as "one of the finest political journalists of his generation," Dick Polman is a national political columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is on the full-time faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, as "writer in residence." Dick has been a frequent guest on C-Span, MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the BBC. He covered the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential campaigns.
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