Don't Mention the War
Do me a favor. Double check my work, if you've got a moment.
Over at the excellent Foreign Policy site, writer Thomas Ricks points to the recently released Pentagon final report on the Fort Hood shootings. Remember those? Insane US Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, steeped in a nasty brew of Islamic radicalism and an acolyte of Yemeni radical Anwar al-Awlaki, goes nuts and kills 13 people.
Of course, officially, no one ever connected those particular dots. Officially, it was a case of a crazy guy going crazy for No Particular Reason and had Nothing to Do With Anything Islamic. You know, that old story.
So, I went and downloaded the PDF with the official report -- now almost ten months after the event -- and did a simple word search.
I looked for "radical," or "Islam," or "Imam," or "Muslim."
Didn't find them. See if you can.
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Jul '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
Remember Rob the Fort Hood shooting was a man caused disaster. Also the GZM is being built as a gesture of reconciliation, tolerance and inter-faith dialogue. Why can't you be more tolerant and civil you racist?
Jun '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
History records that when the Goths approached the gates of Rome that the able youth of the city refused to man the walls. The inability to recognize your enemy is one of the characteristics of a decadent culture. We have arrived. Rome was sacked and her population sold into slavery. I suppose we Americans will get used to putting our noses in the carpet and our rumps in the air. Except for me. I'll be the last man standing on the ramparts if that's what it takes. Cold dead fingers and all that . . .
Jul '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
When, after the shooting the Army Chief of Staff said, and I paraphrase, "bad luck about the dead soldiers but it would be an even greater tragedy if diversity became a casualty here," you realized that even the army has lost its collective mind. The failure to take action before the shooting --Hasan's Islamist views and poor job performance- has to be ignored so that no culpability is attached to Army's insane policies. So shouting "allahu akbar" as you mow down your colleagues, becomes the typical case of workplace violence that can be prevented by "ensuring that we provide top quality health care to both our service members and our health care providers." The only pc shibboleth that's missing is the issue of gun control and how to prevent future workplace incidents when people are allowed to carry guns.
We are really screwed.
May '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
There are some other factors that I'd like to throw out there. For one, Hasan went to USUHS (Uniformed Services University Of The Health Science). He got a full ride for medical school and received a salary as a member of the US military - all on the taxpayer dime. As payment, he had an obligation to spend a few years as an active duty physician. The military sunk a lot of time and expense into Hasan and his education. To have thrown him out because he was crazy and held radical views would have invited a big lawsuit and bad press. After USUHS, Hasan went to Walter Reed where he continued his radical views and poor job performance, but there was also another significant problem going on at Walter Reed - the Building 18 fiasco. I don't know if the Building 18 tragedy overshadowed Hasan's issues, or if his superiors were just incompetent and ignored his problems. More heads should have rolled at WR over Building 18 and Hasan, but I know of at least two senior officers there at the time who were later promoted to Commanding Officers at smaller commands. Color me confused.
May '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
The Army has been overwhelmed in trying to manage those wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I read a report that there are on average 20 suicides a month of active duty personnel in the Army. It's about the same in the Marine Corps with lesser numbers in the Navy and Air Force. There will most likely be more Veterans receiving long-term care from the VA for service connected injures from Iraq and Afghanistan, than Vietnam. And I think we know how well that went. General Shinseki has made reducing the number of homeless Veterans a priority. Sec. Gates has gone on the record that providing the best care for our wounded service members is only second to fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All I ask is that before we prosecute the Army for its failures, we decide to do all that we can for those who served in the US Armed Forces.
May '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
Rob Long:
I looked for "radical," or "Islam," or "Imam," or "Muslim."
Didn't find them. See if you can. ·
Sometimes what is not said speaks as loudly as what was. In this case they speak of a mindset that allows this fellow to remain and even advance. Things unsaid...things unseen... some dots don't need to be connected, the picture is clear..
Edited on Aug 27, 2010 at 8:38amJul '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
While this is getting off the topic and while, obviously, suicide among our soldiers is a concern, your numbers, Karen, are not right. There are 20 suicides per 100,000 armed personnel, compared to 19 per 100,000 for civilian population. Whatever the figures, what do they have to do with the Fort Hood report? Is your point that the army brass should be prosecuted for not dealing with Hasan's mental problems? Is this another form of Islamophobia, treating Muslims are mentally deranged? Are we all in the grip of pc madness?
Jul '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
Rob, I'd love to help you.
Really.
But I'm laid up with a nasty bout of pre-post-traumatic stress disorder.
Edited on Aug 27, 2010 at 7:37amJul '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
At least in the report they indicate that behavioral indicators for violence should be updated to reflect future threats, as well as pre-deployment indicators (like reading jihadist websites). Might help :-)
May '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
Ragnorak, I was referring to a recent report put out by the Pentagon. I'll try to dig up dig up the link. But I found this from CBS, July 2010, "June was not only the worst month ever for American combat deaths in Afghanistan. It was the worst month ever for suicides in the Army, CBS National Security Correspondent David Martin reports.
A total of 32 soldiers, both active duty and reserve, took their own lives in those 30 days. So far this year, 145 soldiers have committed suicide compared with 130 during the first six months of last year, which at the time was the worst on record."
And from the Financial Times, "The report found that 160 active duty soldiers took their lives in the 2009 fiscal year, putting the army suicide rate at a record 20.2 per 100,000, exceeding the national average of 19.2 for the first time.
Suicide and accidental death rates began rising in 2004, the year after the invasion of Iraq. More than 80 per cent of the suicides committed last year occurred in the US."
I think your numbers only referred to the Army, not the other armed services.
Jul '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
Karen,
whatever the sad numbers of suicides among the armed personnel are, let's stick with the issue, shall we? Are you saying that the military brass is culpable, overwhelmed, underfunded, because it did not detect Hasan's mental illness? Is believing in the Koran and its teaching nuts? If it is, should not our soldiers be counseled against it?
May '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
Rangorak, I appreciate you giving me an opportunity to clarify, I believe that Hasan was not fit to practice medicine. Hasan had performed badly on every indicator, from physical readiness to competency as a physician. He was mentally unstable. I do not think all Muslims are mentally deranged. In fact, I live right next door to a Muslim currently serving in the US Army. I think a great deal of him. I do think in the Hasan case that senior officers' inactions had just as much to do with political correctness as fear of losing a long-term investment. Though the Ft. Hood shooting is a tragedy (we have friends stationed there), I do hope we understand the massive burden our time in the Middle East has put on our service members and those that care for them. I'm not talking about Hasan's alleged second-hand ptsd. That's bunk. I support our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. My husband served in the Middle East. But I don't want us to overlook or dismiss the very real mental health needs of our Veterans and active duty, because of Hasan.
Edited on Aug 27, 2010 at 9:23amJul '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
Karen,
I don't mean to be a bore or hog the conversation, so let me only add this:
From all indications, Hasan was a lousy doctor and a sorry excuse for an officer. But why, despite all the warning signs, was he relentlessly promoted? Might it have something to do with him being a Muslim? And is this the reason why the report blathers on about workplace violence, health care needs, everything but the real cause for the murders?
Jun '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
G.A. Dean
Rob Long:
I looked for "radical," or "Islam," or "Imam," or "Muslim."
Didn't find them. See if you can. ·
Sometimes what is not said speaks as loudly as what was. In this case they speak of a mindset that allows this fellow to remain and even advance. Things unsaid...things unseen... some dots don't need to be connected, the picture is clear.. · Aug 27 at 7:23am
Edited on Aug 27 at 08:38 am
Great point. The absence of any words about Islam is the dog that didn't bark in the night. Political correctness is the scam that prevents us from directly speaking truth. Or as Orwell said, it "political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness."
Re: Don't Mention the War
I don't want to come down too hard on these guys. The Pentagon has been printing obfuscating and jargon-clogged reports since they built the place.
But it seems like they've made a rather successful attempt to miss the point. Ft. Hood wasn't about a guy who snapped. It was about a guy who joined a fanatic death cult. Replace "radical Islam" with "Scientology" or "the church of the Reverend Jim Jones" or "the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints" and do you have any doubt at all that we'd be tiptoeing around calling it by its name?
May '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
Ragnorak, from what I understand, promotion is pretty much automatic after completing medical school and residency. The culture of the Medical Corps should be a part of this discussion. Repeatedly failing your PRT (physical readiness test) alone would get you thrown out if you were a line officer, but Medical is different. I won't disagree with you that his being a practicing Muslim might have kept him in, but as I stated he was also a practicing Muslim with about $1,000,000 (at least) invested in him. I'd also reiterate that Hasan's radicalism and incompetence was apparent to the same folks who were serving in the leadership at Walter Reed during the Building 18 incident. Though, to the extent that they knew he was capable of murder is in the realm of speculation in my mind. I'm in no position to claim that the senior leadership at Walter Reed is overwhelmed, but I do not believe they were fully prepared for the number of wounded they would treat. This is a big embarrassment for the Army, why does anyone think they'd come clean and admit they allowed a Muslim extremist to serve?
Edited on Aug 27, 2010 at 11:01amJun '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
Rob Long: I don't want to come down too hard on these guys. The Pentagon has been printing obfuscating and jargon-clogged reports since they built the place.
But it seems like they've made a rather successful attempt to miss the point. Ft. Hood wasn't about a guy who snapped. It was about a guy who joined a fanatic death cult. Replace "radical Islam" with "Scientology" or "the church of the Reverend Jim Jones" or "the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints" and do you have any doubt at all that we'd be tiptoeing around calling it by its name? · Aug 27 at 10:09am
A few years ago, the leader of a small group of "Fundamentalist" Latter-day Saints was murdered by a small competing group (neither of which has any ties to sane, mainstream group to which I claim allegiance). Not only were they identified as "Fundamentalist LDS," but there were numerous stories going into the minutiae of their doctrines, and how their beliefs may have led to the rivalry and the violence. All of which, of course, is relevant--but try to do the same with Major Hasan and you're an Islamaphobe.
Edited on Aug 27, 2010 at 12:35pmMay '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
I'll bet that if you go back through Hasan's performance reviews and other reports you will find the same sort of "words carefully not spoken". This culture-induced blindness has a cost, eventually.
The biggest danger is when people actually start to believe that the PC blindness is real, that the things we must not speak about are no longer there as a result.
Edited on Aug 27, 2010 at 1:23pmJul '10
Re: Don't Mention the War
The biggest danger is when people actually start to believe that the PC blindness is real, that the things we must not speak about are no longer there as a result. · Aug 27 at 1:16pm
This is exactly the point. Right now the crux of the debate on the GZM is the intentions of those trying to build it. I argued with some coworkers this week about it. They were going on about how terrible it was that the right was protesting an interfaith outreach center just because it was built by Muslims. I told them the mosque wasn't being built in outreach but rather to incite, gloat and cow Americans. This obviously is the intent and how it will be viewed all over the world.
Another point that bothers me about the GZM is how this project jumped to the front of the line. Any other business or faith based organization trying to build on this site would have been buried in red tape and administrative roadblocks. It is only a PC enablers in the government sectors that allowed the GZM to get approval.