Atlanta Weather

| Traffic

Search
Kyle Wingfield

After Fort Hood: Preventing the troubled from ‘going Muslim’

11:44 am November 9, 2009, by Kyle Wingfield

Tunku Varadarajan asks whether, after the mass shooting by Nidal Malik Hasan at Fort Hood, we now face a new type of violent outburst, a la “going postal”: “going Muslim.”

This phrase would describe the turn of events where a seemingly integrated Muslim-American — a friendly donut vendor in New York, say, or an officer in the U.S. Army at Fort Hood — discards his apparent integration into American society and elects to vindicate his religion in an act of messianic violence against his fellow Americans. This would appear to be what happened in the case of Maj. Hasan.

It’s a more nuanced argument than Tunku’s blunt new phrase might suggest, so I want to let him speak for himself. Suffice it to say that Tunku does not advocate for being automatically suspicious of Muslims, or for pre-emptive racial profiling (being of Indian descent, Tunku himself would be subject to harassment from crude profilers who lump together everyone who isn’t white or black). He’s talking about discarding the politically correct, automatic rationalizations about why a man like Hasan might be associated with a radical imam or trying to contact terrorists over the Internet, rather than treating these activities as the warning signs they are.

This being America, we will insist on going a long way to preserve the appearance of equality, and that is no bad thing in terms of moral principle. But like all values, the appearance of equality is not infinite in its appeal — especially if it flies in the face of common sense and self-preservation. A short time after the shootings at Fort Hood, President Obama asked us not to jump to conclusions. To many Americans, this was a grating request, of a piece with the political correctness that was responsible — it has emerged — for the hands-off treatment by the Army of Maj. Hasan. How else could he have been left in the position of treating U.S. troops, given the stories we’ve now heard about his incendiary statements and apparent incompetence?

This is the same mindset that led the FBI to deny the possibility that the Fort Hood massacre was linked to terrorism even before they could have had any idea that was the case. We don’t have to be paranoid about Arab males; we just have to avoid the opposite: Being fearful of coming across as Islamophobic, and thereby failing to look straight at a situation.

Read the whole thing.

  • Print

39 comments Add your comment

Joan

November 9th, 2009
12:08 pm

There were so many signs of his extremism, that I am absolutely stunned that no one in the military pulled him out for questioning, and potential discharge. This whole incident can be blamed on a failure of leadership at that post. Or perhaps it was a failure of people to “out” someone who was pushing the Koran, and making the kinds of statements he made. Well, all that sensitivity led to the deaths of 13 fine young people. ATTEND THE TEA PARTY TONIGHT AT THE CAPITOL AT 5:30. This paper will never let you know it is happening, but you saw it here!

Kyle Wingfield

November 9th, 2009
12:11 pm

Fwiw, Joan, this article is near the top of ajc.com: http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/tea-party-rally-scheduled-190767.html

dewstarpath

November 9th, 2009
12:29 pm

- Joan’s attitude is part of the problem. She’s STUNNED that
no one in the Army saw signs of radical behavior on the part
of this officer. But somehow she was able to link the healthcare
debate to a shooting on a US Army base. The two have
NOTHING to do with one another. T

Hillbilly Deluxe

November 9th, 2009
12:33 pm

You can’t make sense of a senseless act.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
12:40 pm

dewstarpath, no, the problem is that liberals don’t want to admit that this was a terrorist act.

dewstarpath

November 9th, 2009
12:43 pm

- (CONT.) The act of terrorism is a CRIME, and not a color
or religion, or the result of being “too sensitive”, as Joan suggests.
I don’t recall this sort of “call to arms” in 1995, when two
“terrorists” took 168 lives in Oklahoma City.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
12:43 pm

Enter your comments here

dewstarpath

November 9th, 2009
12:45 pm

- Axelfraud, NO, the problem is that the fringe right
such as yourself are running around impersonating
military personnel and trying to be “patriots” for the
wrong reasons.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
12:48 pm

dewstarpath, yeah, because it was ONE act by a nut case. It was not an entire religious group. Libs like you still blame that one on Christians even though Christians don’t go around killing innocent people.

BUT……….you will say WHAT ABOUT ABORTION DOCTORS BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!!!!!

ANSWER: FIND ONE SHRED OF EVIDENCE THAT CHRISTIANS KILL ABORTION DOCTORS. YOU WON’T FIND ANY EVIDENCE.

Not one abortion doctor murderer has ever screamed PRAISE JESUS! and shot and killed anyone.

Any time an abortion doctor is killed, which is rarely, libs blame Christians. Even though they don;t have one shred of evidence of that.

Why is that libs love the idea of killing millions of unborn babies but when an abortion doctor gets shot they scream and howl? Where is the outrage for the millions of dead babies?

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
12:49 pm

dewstarpath, ???????????????? When did I ever impersonate a military serviceman? Don’t recall that one Sherlock. Sounds like you have a case of stupidity.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
12:51 pm

dewstarpath, I don’t pretend to be anything but Pro-American and Pro-Freedom. It’s you libs that want to curb free speech, impose your beliefs of gay marriage and abortion on everyone, and worship a community organizer who has never accomplished anything in his life except that he finished at Harvard.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
12:52 pm

Re-write: I don’t pretend to be anything but I AM Pro-American and Pro-Freedom.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
12:54 pm

Kyle, just laughed my a$$ off at Cynthia Tuckers liberal attempt to explain Communism and the Berlin Wall. She didn’t even mention Ronald Reagan. You know, the president who brought down communism???????

Why do liberals hate America and applaud communism?

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
12:56 pm

Cythia Tucker writes this: There are lots of reasons why — including courageous political leadership in the West, inherent flaws in Communism and a little bit of luck. The important thing is, it’s over.

Now, she doesn’t mention Ronald Reagan and she says INHERENT FLAWS IN COMMUNISM!!!!!!

INHERENT FLAWS???????????????????????

THIS IDIOTIC PIECE OF SCUM TUCKER NEEDS TO MOVE TO NORTH KOREA JUST TO SEE THE “INHERENT FLAWS” IN COMMUNISM.

No wonder the AJC made her move to Washington.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
1:04 pm

Ft. Hood Shooter Sought Al-Qaida Contacts; Killings Praised by Radical Imam

A radical American imam on Yemen’s most wanted militant list who had contact with two 9/11 hijackers praised alleged Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan as a hero on his personal Web site Monday.

The posting on the Web site for Anwar al Awlaki, who was a spiritual leader at two mosques where three 9/11 hijackers worshipped, said American Muslims who condemned the attacks on the Texas military base last week are hypocrites who have committed treason against their religion.

Awlaki said the only way a Muslim can justify serving in the U.S. military is if he intends to “follow in the footsteps of men like Nidal.”

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, is accused of killing 13 and wounding 29 in a shooting spree Thursday. Hasan’s family attended the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., where Awlaki was preaching in 2001.

Hasan’s mother’s funeral was held at the Falls Church mosque on May 31, 2001, according to her obituary in the Roanoke Times newspaper, around the same time two 9/11 hijackers worshipped at the mosque and while Awlaki was preaching.

dewstarpath

November 9th, 2009
1:11 pm

- Axeldoofus – pull the Republican cattle prod out of
your nether region.

LIBERAL LIKE ME? Haven’t we been through this before?
You think that by rapid-posting a bunch of times that you
sound SANE ?

Who said anything about ABORTION? What post is sweeping
past your meth-addicted brain? The forum is about THE
SHOOTING AT FT. HOOD.

And this is Kyle Wingfield’s column, not Cynthia Tucker’s.
Get your journalists straight. And stop spouting Ivonics at
random.

dewstarpath

November 9th, 2009
1:16 pm

- Axelfraud –

And before you have me tipping the scales at over 1000 lbs.
(for the record, I’m 195 lbs.), you’re not pro-American or pro-
freedom if you spend all of your time attacking people on
message boards, like some kind of “virtual patriot”.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
1:18 pm

dewstarpath, abortion is brought up by every single lib, like you, when the topic of terrorism comes up. Every time, and you know it. HA! Meth addict? Look little girl, I don’t live in your trailer park.

dewstarpath, I can post whatever I want to post if it has relevance to a topic. Yes, this topic is on the shooting. AND GUESS WHAT TROGLODYTE! I POSTED COMMENTS ABOUT MUSLIM TERRORISTS!

Yes, I posted Cynthia Tuckers comments because this is exactly the problem with liberals. YOU GALS DON’T SEE THE DANGER IN MUSLIM TERRORISTS JUST LIKE YOU APPEASED COMMUNIST COUNTRIES FOR YEARS.

Now, go sell stupid somewhere else.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
1:19 pm

dewstarpath, then why are you here? You’re attacking me?

You don’t know anything about me little girl.

dewstarpath

November 9th, 2009
1:21 pm

- Last, I have NEVER blamed anything on a religious group.
It’s the fringe-right wack jobs in these forums (like AxelProd)
who blame all of the world’s problems on anyone or anything
left of their “political position”.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
1:22 pm

dewstarpath writes: you’re not pro-American or pro-
freedom if you spend all of your time attacking people on
message boards, like some kind of “virtual patriot”.

Hmmmmmm, I call out muslim terrorists for what they are and yet you see that as an attack. I call out Cynthia Tucker for the communist she is and you say that I attack her.

Let me set you straight little girl, this is an open blog to the general public. Do you know what a blog is? No, you don’t. Because if you did then you know that people can have different opinions.

By the way, how did that GED work out for you?

Jefferson

November 9th, 2009
1:23 pm

I guess Red China don’t count cause their brand of commie is profitable.

Joan

November 9th, 2009
1:24 pm

Dewstarpath, I can eat and chew gum. And yes, stunned is the right word, although I am not sure why, given the incompetence most government run programs, including the military, show. About the Rally–why that was just a customer service message. Now can’t we all just get along for the greater good?

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
1:24 pm

dewstarpath, you didn’t because I beat you to the punch. Libs blame Christians for every shooting with abortion doctors 10 out of 10 times. Every time.

Are you retarded? Seriously, because you have not argued the topic of Hassan Muslim man who murdered innocent people.

dewstarpath

November 9th, 2009
1:26 pm

- AxelProd –

I’m still waiting (not for long) for you to tell me
exactly what I posted about “abortion”.

You definitely don’t know anything about me. That
was evident form your first posting to me weeks ago.

And only a “little girl” such as yourself would start
whining about what someone says about you online.

dewstarpath

November 9th, 2009
1:30 pm

- AxelProd doofus –

- A “blog” is a shortened form of the word “weblog”.
Who doesn’t know that except YOU?

And only a “retard” like YOU would make up things
people said on A PUBLIC FORUM. I believe I explained
that to you weeks ago.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
1:30 pm

dewstarpath, again, I beat you to the punch. The only reason you didn’t bring it up is because I called it out before you could start blaming Christians.

you wrote: You definitely don’t know anything about me. That
was evident form your first posting to me weeks ago.

Um, so I guess you contradicted yourself little girl. You say that I am this and that then want to claim that I don’t know you. Hmmmm, sounds like someone can’t tell their head from their a$$.

You wrote: And only a “little girl” such as yourself would start
whining about what someone says about you online.

You should know, you started whining about me in Kyles last blog.

Again, go sell stupid somewhere else.

dewstarpath

November 9th, 2009
1:32 pm

- The first entry I made in this forum was about the
Ft. Hood shooting. Maybe AxelProd has come off his
meth high.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
1:40 pm

dewstarpath: Your first post to me.

Axelfraud, NO, the problem is that the fringe right
such as yourself are running around impersonating
military personnel and trying to be “patriots” for the
wrong reasons.

So, you wrote that I am impersonating military personnel, which you have no proof of. And you call me a person of the right wing fringe.

Yet, you sit here and complain that I attack you.

Poor whittle monkey girl!

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
2:10 pm

Barrack Hussein Obama is in mourning over the fall over the Berlin Wall. Poor whittle commie.

dewstarpath

November 9th, 2009
2:31 pm

Haven’t killed any babies today, or obsess about
communists, either.

Kyle Wingfield

November 9th, 2009
2:39 pm

Axelfraud and dewstar: That’s enough.

Kyle Wingfield

November 9th, 2009
2:52 pm

Axelfraud and dewstar: I’ve just taken down a number of your comments that are only attacks on each other. I will continue to take down your comments as long as they are not relevant to the topic, or if they are presented as attacks on each other. If that becomes too onerous, I will block either or both of you from the blog for the rest of the day.

dewstarpath

November 9th, 2009
2:55 pm

- My sincerest apologies.

David Axelfraud

November 9th, 2009
3:01 pm

Kyle, just so you know, dewstarpath was the first to attack me. I simply pointed that libs didn’;t believe that the Ft. Hood attacks were terrorist attacks. He then accused me of pretending to be a military person. So, who attacked who first?

By the way, dewstarpath is over on Cynthias blog attacking other bloggers right now. Go over there if you don’t believe me.

Kyle Wingfield

November 9th, 2009
3:15 pm

I don’t care who was first. I want this to be the end of it.

DebbieDoRight

November 9th, 2009
5:19 pm

Who’s on second?

kurt

November 9th, 2009
5:51 pm

wow! this i crazy. i’m going christian on your asses and blowing stuff up like McVeigh (just kidding). Funny how when white Christians from the Midwest — or abortion clinic terroritsts do this we never hear the same thing come out.

Brien

January 18th, 2010
11:54 pm

Sometimes I get tempted to think, “What a shame Harm Emanuel and Axelfraud weren’t in Berlin 75 years ago.” While my better angels start gnawing at my conscience, the temptation to think that way is ever there.