Jihadist threat underplayed / LJWorld.com

Archive for Wednesday, November 11, 2009

By Cal Thomas - Tribune Media Services

November 11, 2009

By now, the script should be disturbingly familiar. Whether in the Middle East, or increasingly in America, a fanatical Muslim blows up or goes on a shooting spree, killing many. This is quickly followed by “condemnations” from “Muslim civil rights groups,” like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). We are then warned by the president and some newspaper editorials not to jump to conclusions, or to stereotype. Yasser Arafat wrote this script, which he used with great success throughout his bloody career as a terrorist.

Suddenly, the issue of gays in the military doesn’t seem as important as jihadists in the military.

If you were an enemy of America, not only would you fight overseas and develop nuclear weapons (Iran), you would also engage in an even more effective strategy by striking at America’s underbelly. This is our most vulnerable region because we now tolerate virtually everything, indulge in political correctness and subscribe to a bogus belief that if radical Islamists can see we mean them no harm, they will mean us no harm.

The federal government at all levels has hired and promoted Muslims to influential positions. It requires “sensitivity training” for federal employees, including those who work at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Last week, the House Judiciary Committee, dominated by liberal Democrats, defied the White House and removed from the USA Patriot Act a tool for tracking non-U.S. citizens in anti-terrorism investigations. As our enemies grow stronger and more emboldened, they see us becoming weaker and less committed.

No amount of evidence — from Quran verses urging the killing of “infidels,” to cries of “God is great,” reportedly shouted by the alleged Fort Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan — will cure our self-deception. Sun Tzu famously wrote that all war is deception. But it takes two to deceive and the United States is behaving like a willing partner.

People claiming to know Hasan told interviewers he made frequent statements against the wars and the U.S. presence in Islamic countries. Rep. Michael McCaul, Texas Republican, told reporters after he was briefed on the shootings that Hasan “took a lot of advanced training in shooting.” Why would a psychiatrist need advanced training in shooting unless he believed in murder as therapy?

Shouldn’t that, coupled with his statements about “the aggressor” and other actions — including his preference for Muslim clothing — have alerted someone in authority that he might be a time bomb waiting to go off? Yes, absolutely. But who wants to jeopardize a career by raising such questions and becoming the target of “civil rights groups” and politically correct dupes? Intimidating Americans into silence when they know better is also a very effective strategy when fighting a war.

Sound minds not brainwashed by our own “re-educators” should have seen this coming. Though born in America to Jordanian immigrant parents, Hasan described himself as a “Palestinian.” He got into trouble by attempting to proselytize some of his patients.

Most top federal agencies, including the Pentagon and DHS, now have offices of “civil liberties,” offices recommended by the 9/11 Commission to focus on “outreach” to the Muslim community. In this, they follow efforts by the Bush administration, which dispatched Karen Hughes to tell Muslim women in Saudi Arabia that American women are so free they can drive their own cars. The Saudi women were not impressed.

It’s one thing to be suckered by others. It’s quite another to sucker yourself.

How much longer will we tolerate fighting this war as if it were a minor crime wave? Our enemies are fighting to win and they are fighting everywhere, including within our borders. People trained to appear nonthreatening, until the threat becomes obvious and it is too late to do anything about it, are infiltrating our government and society at every level.

It is irrelevant that some have put the number of radicalized Muslims worldwide at 10 percent. Even if that figure is accurate, 100 million jihadists can cause a lot of damage, as they plot the destruction of Western democracies. Other wars have been won with far fewer soldiers and far fewer dupes.

Discussion

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11 November 2009
at 7:31 a.m.

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bkgarner (Brent Garner) says…

Europe is on its way to learning the hard truth of the “non-violent” jihad or soft jihad. At the present divergence of birthrates between “natives” and “immigrants”, most of whom are Muslim, the “immigrants” will soon be able to vote in anything they want. Even now Europe experience mass demonstrations where the Muslims announce their intention to overthrow democracy and impose Shariah Law. In many parts of England they have already achieved a semblance of that. There is a reason why England's capital is jokingly referred to as “Londonstan”. Not surprising since recent studies suggest that 40% of that city's population is Muslim. The French saw this problem in the “youth” riots that occurred some years ago and which continue today but just don't make the headlines in America. The Dutch are not discovering just how far gone down the road to Islamification they are. Liberals and leftists with their soft thinking have either deliberately or inadvertantly encouraged this. I wonder if America will wake up before its too late.
11 November 2009
at 7:49 a.m.

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cato_the_elder (Anonymous) says…

Political Correctness had its origins in the leftist rhetoric of the late '60's and early '70's, the second worst era in American history after the Civil War. Among other things, it has virtually destroyed accomplishment based on merit. It has resulted in precisely the kind of effective inability to discuss the obvious that Thomas describes. Interestingly, from first being most obnoxiously prevalent on college and university campuses (as it still relentlessly is), it now permeates the American workforce at all levels, public and private, to the extent that the type of free speech that used to exist in the workplace just doesn't exist anymore. If you make just one innocent comment to one co-worker on one of literally hundreds of topics that someone else finds to be politically incorrect, you may well be out the door and looking for a job. It's the most Orwellian development in the history of our country, and it only gets worse every day. As Thomas points out, someday it may even kill a great number of our citizens. It's already obvious that even the recent tragedy at Fort Hood won't put a dent in it. The virulent disease of Political Correctness permeates our entire society. What's worse, it has caused us to become our own worst enemies.
11 November 2009
at 7:57 a.m.

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TomShewmon (Tom Shewmon) says…

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?i…

Scary.
11 November 2009
at 8:16 a.m.

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snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…

A senior citizen raising his voice at a townhall meeting = a terrorist
A man screaming out a Islamic slogan while murdering 13 Americans and wounding 30 more = a misunderstood victim
What's wrong with that picture?
11 November 2009
at 8:20 a.m.

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beobachter (Anonymous) says…

Right wing mantra = “Be afraid, be very afraid”
11 November 2009
at 8:21 a.m.

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jonas_opines (Anonymous) says…

I think it's your rather skewed and twisted interpretation, snap. Only a few nutcases would actually believe either of those things.
11 November 2009
at 8:22 a.m.

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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

“It is irrelevant that some have put the number of radicalized Muslims worldwide at 10 percent.”

Now, Cal, if we could just lock these folks up in room with the 10% of radicalized (and insane) Christians like yourself, we would be making some real progress.

11 November 2009
at 8:27 a.m.

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TomShewmon (Tom Shewmon) says…

Left wing mantra - “Apologize, be very apologetic.”
11 November 2009
at 8:41 a.m.

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porch_person (Anonymous) says…

Cal hasn't lost his touch, or lack thereof.

(laughter)

No one on the planet has interpreted Hasan's actions as anything other than a psychological breakdown. In short, he went postal. He wasn't “a terrorist”.

Cal hasn't figured out that, if terrorists can plant someone in the military back in 1997 and have that terrorist make Major, then Cal is either insane or we have a deeper problem than anything Cal can imagine in his poorly perfusing, pea-brained nervous tissue at the top of his spinal cord.
11 November 2009
at 8:49 a.m.

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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

Determining what happened is really pretty easy.

Put a mentally unstable man, who happens to be Muslim, in an organization that has been taken over to a large extent by Christians who really believe they are “crusaders,” by definition sworn enemies of Islam, and give him the job counseling soldiers who have seen the atrocities of war up close, including acts of extreme violence against innocent Muslim men, women and children, and the Fort Hood incident becomes inevitable.
11 November 2009
at 9:16 a.m.

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snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…

bozo just proved half of my 8:16 post.
11 November 2009
at 9:33 a.m.

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deathpenaltyliberal (Anonymous) says…

“TomShewmon (Tom Shewmon) says…
Left wing mantra - “Apologize, be very apologetic.”

Cal and Tom and the rightwing playbook. Whenever something bad happens, blame it on the liberals. Instead of showing concern for the victims and support for the military, they see it as a political opportunity. Weak.

Just so you know, we liberals has a meeting and the consensus is the guilty (i.e., the shooter) should be punished.
11 November 2009
at 9:35 a.m.

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deathpenaltyliberal (Anonymous) says…

had, not has
11 November 2009
at 10:37 a.m.

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Satirical (Anonymous) says…

It is one thing to claim there are both foreign and domestic Islamic terrorists who are trying to destroy our country, and we need to be vigilant. It is another thing to say we should stereotype, profile, or fear all Muslims.

Those advocating the prior, sometimes come across (and are almost always portrayed by the Left) as advocating the latter.

The problem with the Left, is that they try advocating against the latter, and often go too far by advocating against the prior. (i.e. the media initially trying to downplay the facts when tend to indicate whether this act was politically or religiously motivated.)
11 November 2009
at 10:48 a.m.

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ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

Perhaps some people should actually listen to the news to find out what is going on with this tragedy, it seems that it is being investigated, and a terrorist plot has NOT been ruled out as of yet, I say lets let the DOJ and DOD investigate this and see what their findings are before we start to pass judgement or lack thereof.

11 November 2009
at 11:12 a.m.

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Satirical (Anonymous) says…

ksdivakat…

Where you referring to me when you stated, “(p)erhaps some people should actually listen to the news to find out what is going on with this tragedy..?”

If so, it should be noted I stated, “the media initially…”
The key word is “initially”. In fact, the media initially downplayed his political/religious motivations so much that I posted a comment on the LJWorld to that effect.
11 November 2009
at 11:13 a.m.

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verity (Anonymous) says…

1. Never let the facts get in the way of a good ideological rant.

2. Always jump to conclusions before the facts become known.

3. Never pass up an opportunity to proclaim what ALL of the “other” thinks.

4. Use straw men whenever possible in order to villify the “other.”
11 November 2009
at 11:18 a.m.

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verity (Anonymous) says…

Thank you, BS, for following my rules.
11 November 2009
at 11:23 a.m.

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ScottyMac (Anonymous) says…

“Why would a psychiatrist need advanced training in shooting unless he believed in murder as therapy?”

Did Cal just make an argument in favor of gun control?
11 November 2009
at 11:27 a.m.

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50YearResident (Anonymous) says…

Porch_Person says, No one on the planet has interpreted Hasan's actions as anything other than a psychological breakdown. In short, he went postal. He wasn't “a terrorist”.

I say, wait just a minute, there are a lot of us that think this was a terrorist act committed by one individual.
Complacency will bring down the United States if not the whole world. People need to wake up to reality!
11 November 2009
at 11:41 a.m.

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barrypenders (Anonymous) says…

Determining what happened is really pretty easy.

Put a mentally unstable man, who happens to be white, in an country that has been taken over to a large extent by grasshoppers who really believe they are “crusaders,” by definition sworn enemies of self responsibility, and give him the job paying for grasshoppers who have not paid taxes to take care of themselves up close, including acts of extreme violence against innocent tax paying men, women and children, and the Oklahoma City incident becomes inevitable.

Stimulus, evolution and Posercare lives

Darwin bless me and all of the veterans
11 November 2009
at 11:48 a.m.

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ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

Satirical, no, I wasnt referring to you, I think we probably posted about the same time, it was just a general statement, I watched the memorial service yesterday, and I know that the anchors on all channels were saying that DOD is deep into investigating this, and also, the gunman supposedly saying whatever it was he said as he was shooting, I havent heard one victim who was shot say that he said that. I think that we need to be more vigilant as a country about terrorists, but on the same hand, we cant make stuff up just to scare the people,, so thats why I said I am going to wait and see what the investigation reveals and then we can all judge it accordingly. Sorry If I caused confusion there!
11 November 2009
at 11:56 a.m.

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rdragon (M. Lindeman) says…

porch_person (Anonymous) says…

Cal hasn't lost his touch, or lack thereof.

(laughter)

No one on the planet has interpreted Hasan's actions as anything other than a psychological breakdown. In short, he went postal. He wasn't “a terrorist”.

Cal hasn't figured out that, if terrorists can plant someone in the military back in 1997 and have that terrorist make Major, then Cal is either insane or we have a deeper problem than anything Cal can imagine in his poorly perfusing, pea-brained nervous tissue at the top of his spinal cord.

rdragon writes:

As usual, insult instead of rebutt. Mr. Thomas was straight to the point and frankly dead on. You should really get out in the real world and really see what is going. Oh, your local coffee shop doesn't count.

11 November 2009
at 12:10 p.m.

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porch_person (Anonymous) says…

rdragon,

(laughter)

Oh, dear…..that's a hoot!!

Please, rdragon, you and 50YearResident need to come up with this evidence that Hasan is a terrorist.

It would make you famous!! No one else has it!!

(laughter)

While you're at it, could you come up with a connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11? Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda? Some weapons of mass destruction? Methinks, you were claiming to be the “voice of reality” during those controversies as well.

(laughter)
11 November 2009
at 12:21 p.m.

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50YearResident (Anonymous) says…

While you are laughing about this assault as a frivolous matter, we are serious as to the reasons that caused it.

No laughing matter!
11 November 2009
at 12:23 p.m.

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jimmyjms (Anonymous) says…

So, this assbag shouting “Allah Akbar” makes this a terrorist act? Or is it just his being Muslim?
11 November 2009
at 12:28 p.m.

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50YearResident (Anonymous) says…

jimmyjms, I think you nailed it!
11 November 2009
at 12:42 p.m.

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ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

Again, perhaps some of us should keep our mouths shut until the investigation comes out. Here from CNN's website and the story is called ” Tribute to the fallen at ft hood” and here is what Ed Rollins had to say about it:

This was the act of a terrorist, whether or not the accused shooter had ties to established terrorist groups. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is accused of killing 13 of his fellow soldiers, men and women, young and old, and of trying to kill many others. His alleged crime was unthinkable and cannot be rationalized.
The damage was not just to the victims and their families but also to the United States military at large. Whether the accused shooter acted alone or in coordination with others, it was a blow against his fellow soldiers and a blow against his country. It was also a blow to Muslims, especially those who serve in the military and face unfair prejudice.
**************************************************************
So hew says it was an act of terrorism and he also says whether the shooter acted alone OR in coordination with others….so that tells me and the world that there is some doubt as to this sub-human going “postal”
11 November 2009
at 2:06 p.m.

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Thing (Anonymous) says…

I saw an appropriate quote yesterday, “Not every Islamist is a Jihadist, but every Jihadist is an Islamist”.
11 November 2009
at 2:11 p.m.

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bender (Anonymous) says…

terrorism: the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion.

In order to decide whether this is an act of terrorism, you really need to know the man's intent. Did we define the massacre at the nearby Luby's cafeteria as an act of terrorism simply because of the act and the resulting death toll? No. What about the Va Tech shootings? Terrorism? Again, no.

Just because Ed Rollins calls it a terrorist act, doesn't make it so. The jury is still out on this. Could turn out that it was, could turn out that it wasn't.
11 November 2009
at 2:27 p.m.

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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

“DId you have the same simpathy for McVeigh bozo?”

I wouldn't say I have sympathy for either of Hasan or McVeigh. I certainly do have sympathy for their victims.

While Hasan's motivation isn't yet clear, first indications are that he shares a rather twisted religious belief in common with McVeigh. And more importantly, both appear to be extremely mentally ill.

“Not every Islamist is a Jihadist, but every Jihadist is an Islamist”.

McVeigh's profile and actions vary little from the definition of a violent “Jihadist” as it's come to be defined in the West, although none of you crusaders here would ever admit that your Abrahamic religion isn't so very different from Islam.

11 November 2009
at 2:27 p.m.

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ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

Oh I absolutely agree bender! My point is, that if you read up you will see certain posters have already determined this was not a terrorist act but he just went crazy as it were, and Im saying, lets wait to hear the evidence and THEN make a decision as to whether it was terrorism or not.
And in my experience, the left usually take CNN better than they fo faux news so that is why I quoted CNN.
11 November 2009
at 3:40 p.m.

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denak (Anonymous) says…

I don't think anyone knows why Hasan did this except Hasan.

It seems, to me, that the media is falling all over itself to try to prove that he was motivated a link to terrorism but all they have right now is conjecture.

I was listening to a criminal profiler talking last night and personally, I think the profiler made a much better case for Hasan being more along the lines of a mass murderer than a “jihadist.”

As much as some people and the media (who are interested in ratings more than the truth in my opinion), would like to paint Hasan as a member of Al-Queda, I think what we might eventually find out is that he had more in common with someone who goes “postal” after losing his job then with someone who believes in blowing up infidels.

Dena
11 November 2009
at 3:56 p.m.

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ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

I hope your right Dena, I really do.
11 November 2009
at 4:18 p.m.

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porch_person (Anonymous) says…

50YearResident,

Next time I laugh at your feeble attempt to paint this tragedy as some sort of terrorist act, refrain from claiming that I am laughing at the tragedy itself. That's a very dishonest response. Unless you have objective information to the contrary, your opinion regarding the etiology of this event is only your prejudice against Islam.
11 November 2009
at 5 p.m.

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tomatogrower (Anonymous) says…

Oh Cal, go hide in your bunker.
11 November 2009
at 5:08 p.m.

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porch_person (Anonymous) says…

BlessedSap,

Hey, if I find it funny that you conservatives can claim to have a handle on “reality” and be completely wrong on many historical facts, what's it to you?

Just don't be wrong next time and I'll stop laughing.

(laughter)

You didn't answer my question. Just how “sick” do you think it is that you and your buddies don't know where to go to mourn Tim McVeigh? You *did* make that observation on another thread, did you not?

Let me quote you:

=====

“It is pretty sick the feds hid McVeighs body so his family and friends could not morn him. ” –- BlessedSap

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/nov…

=====

Do your conservative buddies know you hold that opinion openly? McVeigh isn't real popular in the Midwest. Killing toddlers and adults will generate that kind of response.
11 November 2009
at 5:20 p.m.

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tomatogrower (Anonymous) says…

Man, on this thread the conservatives are showing their true colors too. McVeigh is a low life, just like the Islamic terrorists. He is now burning in hell. I am even against the death penalty, but when they ended this sorry example of a human being, I danced a jig. If I knew where his grave was I would go and spit on it daily. That's the real reason they keep it secret. You'd have a whole line of people ready to desecrate his grave.
11 November 2009
at 5:44 p.m.

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porch_person (Anonymous) says…

BlessedSap,

Vernon Howell was the one who “burned” children.

The Second Amendment doesn't mean you get to shoot at ATF agents when they serve a search warrant to find illegal weapons nor does it give you the right to start a cult and impregnate as many “celestial brides” as possible.

11 November 2009
at 6:46 p.m.

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porch_person (Anonymous) says…

BlessedSap,

So it's ok to kill Federal agents serving a search warrant? Interesting opinion. Peaceful churches don't have illegal weapons mailed to them, if memory serves.

Howell could have ended the standoff at any point by peacefully surrendering. He chose to kill himself and his followers rather than obey the laws both you and I chose to follow.

Well, laws that I and my neighbors chose to follow. You, I have doubts about.

=====

Yes, many of the “victims” were killed by those inside the compound. Do you dispute this? Children were killed by close order handgun fire and knife attacks.

Kinda hard to say those killings were committed by those outside the buildings, now isn't it? Yet that is what the autopsies revealed.

Kinda hard to say they were “mercy killings” by those inside the compound (as Davidian Clyde Doyle said) and simultaneously say that ATF killed those children, now isn't it?

=====

Howell had his own followers killed. It could have all been prevented by Howell doing what you and I are required to do when properly served with a search warrant.

What's a church doing heavily arming itself anyway?

Unless it's not really a church. Just some paranoid wacko who wants a cult with a bunch of barefoot 14 year old “celestial brides”.
11 November 2009
at 7:17 p.m.

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porch_person (Anonymous) says…

BlessedSap,

Well, it's gonna suck when you go to your next Turner Diaries reading and they tease you about knowing less about the Waco Siege than a liberal on a midwestern blog.
11 November 2009
at 7:29 p.m.

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Irish (Irish Swearingen) says…

Dena, I agree with you. Our soldiers are called upon to both do and witness terrible things. Some end up by going rogue and not caring, and those are the ones that kill women and children, and rape. They are the minority in the armed services.
But, I think that after Hasan heard about the horrors in Iraq and Afghanistan he really internalized what happened to those people.
We must not forget what happened during the Viet Nam war where we saw pictures of soldiers wearing ear necklaces and other body parts. They colored how a lot of people saw the army. No one took pictures of the soldiers that were behaving decently or humanely in spite of the pressure.
Hasan chose to use violence because he was consumed by pity for the violently killed.
He should have been noticed and stopped somewhere along the line. He should not have been brushed off and ignored as just another kook.
11 November 2009
at 8:50 p.m.

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Pilgrim2 (Anonymous) says…

just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

Determining what happened is really pretty easy.

Put a mentally unstable man, who happens to be Muslim, in an organization that has been taken over to a large extent by Christians who really believe they are “crusaders,” by definition sworn enemies of Islam, and give him the job counseling soldiers who have seen the atrocities of war up close, including acts of extreme violence against innocent Muslim men, women and children, and the Fort Hood incident becomes inevitable.
*************************************

Ah, yes. The looney left's hackneyed, threadbare Criminal-As-Victim rationalization.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
11 November 2009
at 10:08 p.m.

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tomatogrower (Anonymous) says…

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
12 November 2009
at 7:24 a.m.

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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

“The looney left's hackneyed, threadbare Criminal-As-Victim rationalization.”

There's a big difference between “explanation” and “rationalization,” Pil. Maybe someday you'll learn how to use a dictionary.

There are literally thousands of Muslims in the US military. Those who retain their sanity somehow aren't pushed over the edge by what can only be described as a pervasive, “crusader” (“crusade” is the Christian version of “jihad”) irrationality in the US military.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is different from the vast majority of other Muslims in the military. His own, innate irrationality has no doubt been exacerbated by his beliefs in a highly irrational version of Islam that has people blowing themselves and others up all across the Middle East and elsewhere.