Forgetting 9/11 & excusing Major Hasan's terrorism

Reading "Fort Hood suspect contacted Muslim extremists," one realizes that eight years after 9/11, time has eroded the reality that there are a bunch of evil people who want to kill us and our families, because we are unlike them.

Americans once found it hard to grasp that young men and women were taught America is the root of all evil and capitalism exploits and oppresses less fortunate people. Within the last decade, some of those themes are popular with the “progressive” American educational system too as well as overseas. Along with being apathetic individually we have become less vigilant nationally with the threat of the USSR now safely in the dustbin of history. We find it hard to comprehend a non-state actor threatening to destroy us for what seem completely illogical and irrational reasons. But, they are out there as we saw at Fort Hood.

Americans are skeptical that someone would actually slaughter them not being a Sunni Muslim - simply because it is so irrational an idea. America's progressives and socialists will tell you "all people are alike and want the same things." Not having experienced a successful major terrorist attack since that September 11th in our homeland reinforces that surrealism. As a people, until the last year anyway, Americans tended to exhibit irrepressible optimism and a believed it could find good in everything. September 11^th, 2001 ended that typical American, albeit Pollyannaish, worldview. Yet that Pollyanna perspective keeps reemerging, as time puts distance between that the raw rage and anger of that day in 2001.

That is the only explanation I can find that explains why the antics and rhetoric of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan didn't result in his immediate dismissal from the military. Had he been a "white power redneck" spouting racial and religious hatred, he would have been tossed out of the military without delay. So what's the difference? One author observed in, "It Isn't Political Correctness; It's Shariah":

I have watched in abject horror the elites' stunning reaction to this act of war. The denial, the submission, the excuses, the dodging, the self-flagellation, the shame -- the deceiving of the American people by the media, the military, society, law enforcement, authorities and politicians, all the way up to and including the White House -- amounts to the enforcement of Shariah law. Shariah law forbids criticism of Islam. And here we are.

While I'm not eager to jump on the Shariah Law bandwagon as a cause, I take little issue with those who point to the cancer of political correctness in the military as a root cause. All of them are contributory to the fact Hasan was allowed to execute his acts of terror as a serving member of the US Army. It should have never happened. It did. Someone messed up, not because they were evil or incompetent, but because the system spring-loaded those who should have taken action into the realm of the naive.

A pervasive climate of political correctness is the reasons you hear outlandish statements from people like General Casey who said after the Ft. Hood shooting:

"Speculation could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers and what happened at Fort Hood was a tragedy, but I believe it would be an even greater tragedy if our diversity becomes a casualty here. It’s not just about Muslims, we have a very diverse army, we have very diverse society and that gives us all strength. But again we need to be very careful about that.”

When I first heard that quote I had hoped it was a misquote or out of context. It was neither. Casey showed he too is a card carrying member of the politically correct US Army. He has gone over to the dark side in that respect. Given that environment, we can be thankful only that Major Hasan was not a real soldier, but an ACU wearing doctor in the US Army. Otherwise, the carnage could have been much, much worse.

Between the pull of political correctness and the salve of the passage of time, we find ourselves hesitant and even afraid to identify and call out those who wish to slaughter us for not being like them.

Major Hasan is a reminder that the terrorists walk among us. There are others. If we ignore those who support terrorism because they are Muslims our apathy helps the terrorist. One thing we cannot do is pretend it doesn't exist, or is a hob-goblin remnant created by George Bush as the progressives want you to believe. It is real, trust your instincts and know that they will kill us if we give them the chance. We must never forget what they have done in the name of their God and their twisted world viewpoint - nor forgive.