The man shouted "Allahu Akbar!" as he pulled out the FN Herstal tactical pistol which he had purchased back in the summer from a gun store in Texas. He then proceeded to methodically assassinate 13 Americans and injure dozens more in what has been described as everything from a 'crazed attack' to a 'shooting rampage'.
In fact, last week's attacks at the Fort Hood Army base have been called everything but what they were: a terrorist attack by a radical Islamist, the first on U.S. soil since 9/11/2001.
39-year old Nidal Malik Hasan is a psychiatrist by trade, a trade which he learned as an enlisted man in the United States Army. How could an American soldier shoot fellow soldiers and others? Was he simply mad? The obvious answer to anyone looking with clear vision is that Hasan was not mad, at least not clinically insane. What Hasan was and continues to be is an Islamist terrorist.
While performing his residency requirements at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Hasan made a presentation to colleagues on the proper role of Muslims in the American military. In this presentation, Hasan stated that "fighting to establish an Islamic State to please God, even by force, is condoned by the Islam."He further advocated the military releasing Muslims from their obligations to decrease "adverse events" and increase morale.
According to a cousin, Hasan was a practicing Muslim who became more devout following the death of his parents separately in 1998 and 2001. His family also said that he turned against the wars after hearing stories from troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2001, Hasan attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia. The religious leader or 'imam' of the mosque at that time was Anwar al-Awlaki, and Hasan had deep respect for al-Awlaki's teachings. This is notable because also attending the same mosque at the same time were both Hani Hanjour and Nawaf al-Hazmi, two of the 9/11 hijackers, as well as Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who was convicted for his role in an assassination plot against President Bush.
In the aftermath of the Fort Hood terror attack, al-Awlaki, who had conveniently fled to Yemen following the 9/11 attacks, praised Hasan for his actions in murdering the soldiers and for the overall shooting event. He also called on other Muslims to "follow in the footsteps of men like Nidal" if they were serving in the American military.
Hasan was said by fellow soldiers to have been constantly proselytizing about his faith with fellow doctors, patients, and soldiers. In the months prior to his attack, Hasan had come under investigation by federal authorities for internet postings that said suicide bombers were sacrificing their lives for a noble cause, among other messages.
Hasan was known to have made attempts at contacting al Qaeda directly, and had continued to exchange emails with al-Awlaki, especially seeking guidance as it became clear that Hasan was going to be deployed to the Middle East where he might have to directly fight against Muslims. On the day of the attack, Hasan handed out copies of the Quran, Islam's holy book, and was said to be in a peaceful state, often the description when a suicide bomber has resigned themselves to their fate.
Now comes word today that the Obama administration is going to take Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the acknowledged mastermind of those 9/11 terrorist attacks, to trial for those attacks in a civilian court. Not handle him as a war criminal, but in the same manner as a common criminal would be handled. This is the pre-9/11 mentality, handle terrorism against the United States as a law enforcement matter rather than as a matter of national security.
Terrorism analyst Neil Livingstone has made an incredibly chilling and proper analogy. Trying Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other Islamist terrorists is akin to going back to World War II times and taking the Japanese who attacked Pearl Harbor to civilian courts rather than handling them as war criminals. Livingstone is, of course, exactly right.
This is just another in a long series of missteps by the Obama administration since taking office earlier in the year. The administration seems to be all about political correctness. The President has shown from the beginning, particularly in his hasty order to close the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, that he refuses to take responsibility for keeping America safe.
How many more Hasan's are 'sleeper' terrorists serving in the American military, or working in American businesses, or studying in American schools just waiting for either the orders, or the encouragement, or the inspiration, or the resources, or just for simply their own 'right moment' to pull the plug on their 'legitimate' American cover and take their own action in furtherance of the jihad to bring about Islamic rule under Sharia law here and elsewhere around the world?
To call Nidal Malik Hasan an "Army psychiatrist" or a "crazed gunman" is to tell the smallest portion of the truth of what he is in reality. To call Khalid Sheik Mohammed a murder conspirator is to tell the smallest portion of the truth. The truth is that both men are Islamist terrorists, and the time is long since past to both call a spade a spade, and to treat them accordingly.
NOTE: This is a continuation of the 'Islamism Series', an ongoing series relating to the issues of radical Islam in general and its presence here in America in particular. All entries in the series can be read by clicking on to the below 'Label'
