Motive Hood.
The Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Hasan is alive and speaking and will stand trial for his crimes. In sum, all that can be known about the weapon, opportunity and motive of an accused mass-murderer who is also an officer in the U.S. Army will be known. Meanwhile, TV continues the witch hunt for Hasan's super-secret jihad cell. The FNC remarks by Michelle Malkin, "Jihad is what motivated these people to engage in bloody rampages..." are specious at best and likely the product of a showbiz thinking. Motive is critical to a crime and in this case will be known as far as it can be with reason. My information so far is that Hasan is very close to a Columbine shooter, that is, no single rational explanation will exhaust the possibilities that Hasan is a suicidal psychotic -- or simply mad. We have a living and youthful suspect, so he will talk for years, even decades, and we will learn all that he makes of himself as he grows old, irrelevant and sterile in Leavenworth. The least likely scenario at this point seems that he is a product of a jihadist Al Qaeda like murder raid operation, a shahid op. Compare Hasan's clumsy, labored, random planning for his minutes of mass murder to the planning of the Rawalpindi murder raid by a team of Punjabi Taliban in October, lead by a notorious gunman, who was captured and is under questioning. Hasan acted alone, with expensive weapons that he purchased, without disguise, without a goal, with no back up, with no plan -- not even a plan for media coverage. Also, Hasan's biography is useful to understand his motives and his state of mind -- such as the toney, radical-chic mosque he attended in Falls Church, Virginia (right), led by a posturing sharpie who is reported to behave like a Jeremiah Wright of upscale American Muslims -- but his immediate contacts in Texas before the shooting are not much use, since he is reported to have been an isolated human being. Email contact or web surfing contact is facile linkage to anything. Shahid operations are military ops, prepared, scouted, planned, rehearsed, cooked, studied. Hasan's homicidal conduct looks the rage of a selfish, vain, cowardly, deranged, doomed, trite, sadistic, unattractive creature. Hasan's defense attorney, an Army officer, John P. Galligan, has commented already that he has spoken with his client and that Hasan is "coherent." The long, grinding process of justice is well underway. Coherent is enough to get Hasan is tidy military cell for the next fifty years in Kansas in which he can try to avoid the various forms of cancer that plague the ineligible for parole types.
Why Shop Jihad?
The agenda for Malkin sounds to be to shop the we-are-surrounded-by-PC idiots trope, and so let's-get-on-the-jihad-bandwagon trope, which is yet another easy grunting review of the 20th century's debates about tolerance and freedom and loudmouths. Malkin is not the story. The story is the generally inexact and lazy way terrorism is being discussed on the air. The Al Qaeda jihadists and their kindred of Cain are not abstractions. The bad guys are cult-recruited and cult-trained anarchists who act from political assumptions and for political goals. "Jihad" is an abstraction -- a buzz word for pop attention-getting and for quick explanations of events. It is not a motive by itself unless it is connected to a political organization. (Otherwise all acts of personal defiance or rebellion become revolution or treason, which is an obvious absurdity.) The jihadists-Islamicists who are the main threat in the Middle East are not an abstraction at all. They are sophisticated and well-funded political actors. The acts of terror in the Middle East since the 1960s are political events. The attack on the Grand Mosque in Mecca in November 1979 was a politically organized challenge to the ruling House of al-Saud by other Arabian tribes, though it was defined hastily by the regime as an act of terrorism. The attacks in Iraq, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, carried out by the jihadist-Islamicists who are also called the Taliban are political theater in regions where warlords and potentates rule until death. Hasan's self-destructive and cruel acts in Texas were none of the above. Hasan is an American citizen, born in Virginia, educated and rewarded by an American system of government. To claim what Hasan did to be "jihad" is to trivialize the threat represented by Al Qaeda and its allied anarchists and the state-sponsors of asymmetrical warfare units, such as Tehran, Damascus, Riyadh, Islamabad. The Devils in the Ummah are not crazy; they are determined, delusional tyrants who believe they must and will intimidate and subjugate and devastate their enemies. They know their effectiveness is masked and enhanced by cultish gimmicks. At the heart of their campaign, from the wanton cowards of the House of al-Saud to the wanton criminals in the IRGC and among the Twelvers, is a recognizable lust for political, economic and military power.
Hasan's Fate.
Hasan will vanish into the sea of doomed souls as the always breaking news of killers moves on. Hasan's behavior, now reported by many who worked with him and observed him, may lead to clearer directions to military units re how to deal with noxious loners and manipulative troubled characters. Hasan's Virginia/Palestinian/Moslem/bachelor/psychiatrist self-identification is important to who he is and what he did as an accused criminal in the military justice system. But until and if other facts come out about Hasan, he is not a political actor any more than Columbine was a political event. Being a jerk is not about jihad. Being a mass-murderer is not just being a jerk.
POTUS at Hood
The President's address at the memorial service was careful and excellent. The remarks by Army Chief of Staff General Casey were also careful and determined. The soldiers and family at Ft. Hood in attendance presented a sturdy, healthy community of young people who are organized, devoted and honorable. Hasan is a disgrace. It is regretful the nature of my work requires me to devote too many words to a boor and a creep like him. The U.S. Army at Ft Hood offered the success of the republic in wartime, good people at their duty.
-Well Done JB- Hmm some of your points seem oddly familiar . . . where have I . . . oh never mind
I am a bit more concerned over the concept of the following- CIA and Intelligence agencies were not in the completely in RE to Hasan. They had correspondence, accounts of his growing radicalist opinion and the purchase of handguns. Alone those facts are nothing but combined quite a troubling story being filed. Imagine the pit of in the stomache the agent that had known Hasan was looking pretty frail.
Hasan: The new Face of Jihad
My reading of the Ft Hood situation is that it was a terrorist act by definition. The mental condition of the terrorist is not part of the definition. Nor is being a member of Al Qaeda or any other group. Nor does there need to be a cell or local group. There is a act of random violence with the purpose of terrorizing the society thereby undermining and making way for the emergence of an ideal state.
Al Qaeda, from the reports I have seen, appears to be moving away from centrally planned and managed operations to individual acts of jihad undertaken by local choice and loosely coordinated via web sites which motivate and publish target lists. No membership cards, no direction that can be intercepted, no logistics footprint -- at this stage. What better sahib than Hasan? What if there is some truth to all these psychobabble explanations?
The plain fact is that the intelligence community and the Army command hierarchy had enough dots to be worried about this guy but they did not share them and were hesitant to act on them -- there were always other explanations which they could use to explain each of the dots they had without looking at a larger pattern.
Yes a lone gunman. Yes deranged and ambiguous motives. But this man chose to enact an identity that draws on terror and suicide. Yes tenuous links to Al Qaeda but it does respond to appeals to take up whatever you have at hand and attack the "infidel" as a duty to God.
The question for us is how do we combat the larger pattern. First we have to recognize what is happening. Then we need to understand who is using these strategies and tactics? Are we dealing with a bunch of rogue organizations or are there state actors (Iran? Saudi's? North Korea? China? etc) who are behind these strategies and promote them to weaken and distract us? Make these our known unknowns not the motives of a mad man.
Mr Batchelor- Much appreciation for your probing and thoroughly thoughtful manner.
Thank you for this forum and for your patience with us!!!
JB:
You're probably right that Hasan is more of a mental case than a real, honest-to-Allah terrorist, properly understood, and a non-networked loner to boot. However, that still does not remove the evil influence of radical Islam from the mix; it appears, in fact, to have been the nitro that finally exploded the glycerin of Hasan's incipient madness, even if he mostly got his indoctrination over the Internet. OK, so maybe Hasan was essentially a jihadi in his own mind, but that still didn't prevent him from murdering thirteen people and wounding so many others as effectively as any "trained" suicide bomber in Baghdad. Nor are our politically correct, "diversity" intimidated FBI and Army brass absolved from their abject failure to confront and cashier this Islamist loon (or loony Islamist -- take your pick) despite the overwhelming evidence that he was mentally unstable and a traitor to both his uniform and his mental health profession.
Verrazano relates an incident in his writing concerning a sailor who had swam from a dinghy with trinkets as a show of goodwill to some natives that had gathered on the shore. After he had thrown the knickknacks to them, he set about to return to the boat and was overcome by the waves and washed up on the beach, apparently dead. The natives ran to him and snatched him by the arms and legs and were carrying him off when he regained consciousness. He began screaming while they tried to indicate to him, as best they could, that there was nothing to fear.
They took and laid him at the foot of a little hill and stripped him amazed at the whiteness of his skin. They built a fire and placed the sailor near it while his fellow sailors seeing it all from afar dismayed and imagined the obvious... that the natives were preparing a quick meal.
When the sailor recovered his strength and after a short stay with them, he made signs showing that he wanted to return to the boat and they accompanied him to the shore. With great affection, they hugged him and then wandered off to a little rise away from the beach and watched to make sure he made it safely to the boat.
Sorry--> on the North Carolina coast 1524
JB, I tend to disagree. When Communism was hip and trendy in Academia and among cafe society; A few noble spirits, William F Buckley, Dame Margaret Thatcher, John Paul the Great, and Ronald Reagan spoke truth to power and called communism the evil that it is. They were ridiculed by the left-leaning media, but they persevered. They won. The hipsters lost but never admitted defeat.
The Politically Correct notion of treating all religions as equals in values and morality is bogus.
Why do we tolerate a faith that treats women like cattle?
This war is truly not a physical war, but a war of ideas. People of faith must stand strong and condemn evil. Muslims who are truly faithful must bear witness and strongly condemn this evil.
Alas, Radical Muslims have silenced dissent about their religion. I really don't see a solution in the near future.
It's easy to over-think this one; easy to lose one's way. A man murders and hurts his own. Before doing so he shouts, 'Allah Akbar!' It's an MO we've seen many times before. The man clearly expected to die; to become a martyr. That's the only part of his plan that failed.
If you want to split hairs you may want to consider that the only Muslim terrorist (can we still use that word?) who failed to praise Allah before killing was the man who was executed in Virginia tonight. I doubt if Hassan will ever be executed. By getting the script just right, he's become a hero to too many.
That's not what the discussion is about. It is the question of Hasan's motivation (if any) and the willingness of another element of extremists to proclaim that all Muslims are ticking time bombs. It's about coming to conclusions without knowing the facts.
What is the motivation of the extremists who want to try and insinuate that 99% of a people are mass murderers?
This guy is certainly no hero to those who adhere to the tenets of their faith. There are a few who will say he's a role model, but, it's not wholly unique to Islam that a manifestation of violence, based in radical ideology, is lauded as exemplary.
Wait for the facts of the investigation to come out and I believe we will see that Hasan cracked due to his own personal torment and confusion which he couldn't reconcile with daily life.
A crime of passion, so to speak.
My father told me today about a fellow Marine that married a Seventh Day Adventist who eventually converted into the faith. He applied for discharge as a Cons-Obj and it was granted. Up to that point, the man was a career soldier.
My father asked, in his "once a Marine, always a Marine" manner why Hasan hadn't been discharged when he explained that he was conflicted with being deployed.
Actually, he said something like "They should have thrown the SOB out when he told them he had a problem!" Then he thought that that might not have been the best thing because it might cause a tidal wave of Cons-Obj applications.
Does Michelle Malkin have a more accurate assessment than John Batchelor? Michelle is a little strident and exaggerates a bit but this guy was a walking time bomb that was in the daylight not in the shadows of some flight school. Apparently a new wall has arisen where interested parties are not talking with each other. The FBI had evidence of his correspondence with Al Qaeda sympathizers.
"To claim what Hasan did to be "jihad" is to trivialize the threat represented by Al Qaeda and its allied anarchists and the state-sponsors of asymmetrical warfare units, such as Tehran, Damascus, Riyadh, Islamabad."
Come on John, I realize Hasan is a piker, only 13 dead for one guy compared to about 150 per person during 9/11 but he gave it his best "shot." Is there a continuum where the needle must cross over before it gets to the "jihad" category? Isn't Hasan's act a much more efficient form of jihad. Little planning either central or peripheral and almost no cost. An extremely cost effective operation.
How will we react to the first suicide bomber on our soil? I hope not in anguish as we try to understand the anger of the individual. And a final question, wasn't Hasan a suicide bomber that failed on the suicide part? He clearly expected to die.
"How will we react to the first suicide bomber on our soil?"
According to the law, maybe? How do think we should react, if and when that happens? What do you think we should do in this case since you called this a type of suicide bombing?
Again, whatever drives mass murderers to commit their lives for some perverted cause can be seen in some respects as being personalized holy war. Unfortunately, we see too much of this on every continent, all across the world, in every culture and religion. We've seen it happening here all too often and several times most recently where a shooter comes packing mayhem with a vengeance intent on the destruction of others and themselves.
I believe that is what Mr Batchelor is stating when he wrote, "To claim what Hasan did to be "jihad" is to trivialize the threat represented by Al Qaeda and its allied anarchists and the state-sponsors of asymmetrical warfare units, such as Tehran, Damascus, Riyadh, Islamabad."
I don't think Hasan was a ceremoniously practiced Kamikaze
Can anyone tell me whether Hasan's parents were first cousins?
JB says this incident is "Columbine" and one of his expert guests compares the attack to Hasan "going postal."
A free clue: Crazed postal workers and school shooters do not shout "Alahu Ahkbar" while going on murder sprees.
Not Columbine. Not going postal. Ahem!
Yes John the dreckel spot on society was committed to an act of Jihad. Just because he may not be sophisticated doesn't mean it's not an act of terror. The p.o.s. got his inspiration from other Jihadis and decided he would go out in a blaze of glory. The point I think you are trying to make is that this p.o.s. would have gone "postal" anyways. I tend to agree. He's obviously lacking in the attention getting dept. the gu needed lots more hugs and such. But Islam gave him the excuse and pathway he felt needed to feel justified under the circumstances.
Does he have a burnt out light-bulb for a brain? probably.
Was he a Jihadi in the truest sense? maybe not maybe he had no political connections, he's dim, but in his own mind I bet he certainly was a Jihadi. Does it matter what we think, if he thinks he's the newest-bestest form Al Qaeda or something like it?
I think this has been alluded to but if this guy new how to build a bomb and thought he might have been able to get away with it, he probably would have done some suicide bombing. He wasn't smart enough. So he used what he could get his hands on, guns.
If you want a correlation between Kleibold, Kazinsky, Rudloph and Hasan one can be made; all were lonely and alone. The jump to Hasan as McVeigh is harder--McVeigh had friends and convinced them to act together with him (ok, Kleibold had a "follower/friend" but together they were alone if you follow that train of thought--it's late at night and I can't sleep so bear with me). I think this is the line Mr. Batchelor is trying to follow--is Hasan part of a conspiracy or a lone actor.
The reality is: either way it's 13 dead. However, stopping more Hasans will make it imperative we know--conspiracy or lone actor. The conspirator is difficult to spot as they will act "normal" to the last minute to preserve the charade. The lone actor can't disguise he is a alone in a group that demands participation...unfortunately it's looking like Hasan unit didn't demand anything of him. This is what it appears our military may be "guilty" of--leaving him alone.
Hasan's loneliness is a problem--it should have been spotted and something done about it. The military is a "band of brothers" (to difficult to PC that claim so late at night, so I leave it there)...we're not supposed to leave anyone "out". Hasan did everything he could to be left out.
If we look at the comment of those coming forward to the press claiming to be his "co-workers" you can see that they felt he was "apart" too (and some claim to have passed this sense about him on to supervisors but we won't know for awhile if this is true or not or emphasized in a way a superior would look into it). It's this aloneness that has been bugging me since I started reading the media's details of this incident.
If I had been his commander and more than a couple people had come to me about this "strangeness" then I would have felt obligated to look into it. (Commanders get a bad rap some times because they "investigate" people's everyday lives but commanders and sgt majors have to see things differently--they have to see this kind of thing building up before it becomes a suicide or a homicide; and yes, I speak with experience in trying to see beyond the "workplace").
I don't know if the Army has the same problem as the Air Force had but we didn't used to train our medical people like we did our regular military--they were special had different means for coming into service and got paid differently (better, to retain them). They got less "military" training. This led to the medical professions being a "different service". It also meant they had personnel problems the regular Air Force did not--familiarity between officer and enlisted, officers who didn't know or didn't care how to recognize the chain of command etc. The old TV show MASH showed some of this, but it made it seem rebellious and patriotic at the same time. It's not--it will tear a unit apart quicker than anything a commander might do or actions from outside the unit.
After reading more these past few days, it's seems clear to me that Hasan wasn't close to anyone and yet as an Army Major he should have been. He should have had friends and colleagues who could recognize when something was wrong. He was new to Ft Hood but he had been there since July--no one invited him over to their house for a "home cooked" meal? No unit activities he should have gone to--baseball game, birthday celebrations, etc? These are clues...
This doesn't mean I discard the Jihad notion---there is one thing I have read makes me doubt his "self-destructive acts"---he asked for a lawyer when they went to question him. Interestingly , I have never had anyone who acted impulsively and then got caught, lawyer-up first. It was always those who had calculated they might need a lawyer for what they did that in fact, seemed to be the ones who had thought about what they were going to do and what the consequences would be. Makes me think Hasan is already thinking about his trial where he can profess his actions publicly and offer further demonstrations of his strong belief in Islam (-ofascism). But is he a lone actor or is there more? This is what the investigation must determine--and quickly to bring stability and trust back to those at Ft. Hood, the Army and all the military services.
JB - you miss the point. He may not have been part of organized Jihad, but, Michelle raises a very important question - Why did the military miss all of the red flags? Willful blindness? Do you think someone falling in the stereotypical behavior of the Columbine shooters would have been culled out? Probably alot sooner than this guy was.
Let's All Remember Our Fallen and Our Warriors in Peril on This Veterans' Day
May they be afforded our utmost respect while we recognize our solemn duty to them.
"Watch what people are cynical about and one can often discover what they lack."
Patton
Columbine?
I don't think we can draw that event within the confines of say the Roberts,Wong or Sodini & even Hasan.
Kebold and Harris, Hawkins and even Cho of VA tech shooting had the misguided idea that this was to sensationalize them. All were loners and viewed themselves as cast-aways in the sea of society and sought to immortalize themselves by horrific mass murders.
The earlier mentioned ones seem more in line w/ the isolated loner out to exact a revenge of sorts against perceived injustices.
i can see a parallel between Hasan and Talović (Trolley Square 07) were they may have felt to certain degree ostracized due to their Faith.
I think it fair to call every event listed here an act of Terrorism All But one (Columbine) do not seem to have involved much detailed planning or coordination. Most seem to have a diseased mind to varying degrees.
Is Hasan more than a mass murderer? Perhaps
Columbine?
I don't think we can draw that event within the confines of say the Roberts,Wong or Sodini & even Hasan.
Kebold and Harris, Hawkins and even Cho of VA tech shooting had the misguided idea that this was to sensationalize them. All were loners and viewed themselves as cast-aways in the sea of society and sought to immortalize themselves by horrific mass murders.
The earlier mentioned ones seem more in line w/ the isolated loner out to exact a revenge of sorts against perceived injustices.
i can see a parallel between Hasan and Talović (Trolley Square 07) were they may have felt to certain degree ostracized due to their Faith.
I think it fair to call every event listed here an act of Terrorism All But one (Columbine) do not seem to have involved much detailed planning or coordination. Most seem to have a diseased mind to varying degrees.
Is Hasan more than a mass murderer? Perhaps
If an ideology ties people together and causes them to act a certain way, then I think that's as good as a conspiracy to commit a specific crime. I don't consider the distinction to be a particularly important one, especially from the point of view of the dead.
wsj
.......Federal law-enforcement officials said Maj. Hasan, who is recovering in a Texas hospital under an armed guard, communicated 10 to 20 times by email with Mr. Awlaki, the onetime spiritual leader of a mosque in Virginia that Maj. Hasan attended with several of his relatives. Mr. Awlaki now lives in Yemen.
Maj. Hasan's emails to Mr. Awlaki were intercepted as part of a continuing National Security Agency effort to monitor the electronic communications of suspected Islamic extremists world-wide.
A federal investigator said the FBI contacted Maj. Hasan's then-employers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington to find out more about his background and professional occupation, but acknowledged that such background checks were fairly routine and that the emails in question appeared benign.
Army officials declined to comment about whether officials at Walter Reed conducted a follow-up investigation into Maj. Hasan or alerted others within the Army hierarchy after they had received the FBI inquiry.
"That's all part of the investigation," said Col. Catherine Abbott, an Army spokeswoman.
Army and FBI investigators are looking for signs that Maj. Hasan received encouragement or logistical support from Islamic radicals in the U.S. or abroad, the officials said. So far, they haven't found evidence of such a link, the officials said.
The investigators are also trying to get a clearer picture of Maj. Hasan's state of mind in the weeks before the attack. One official said the U.S. was trying to determine if the attack was motivated by the suspect's Islamic religious beliefs, which appear to have hardened markedly during the years he spent in the Army, or by other factors, like his anger over a pending deployment to Afghanistan.
From B. Raman: this is a profile of a jihadist-Islamicist op using multiple identities and with long standing contacts with Pakistani based Al Q ops: this is what jihad terror looks like: it is not a loner, not stateless, not one-off, not without a plan, not angry or bitter or looney or depressed: it is asymmetrical warfare operations: it is as far from Hasan's crackpot delusional conduct as you can get and remain inside reality.
EXTRACTS FROM FBI AFFIDAVIT REGARDING HEADLEY'S CONTACTS WITH INDIVIDUAL A & LET MEMBER A
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR--PAPER NO 575
B.RAMAN
Given below are extracts from the affidavit filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the US in the district court of the Northern district of Illinois on October 11,2009, justifying its decision to arrest David Coleman Headley, originally known as Dawood Gilani till 2006. These extracts relate to the three Pakistan-based ring leaders of the conspiracy to carry out terrorist strikes in Denmark and India.
2. As already reported, while the FBI identifies one of the ring leaders by name as Ilyas Kashmiri of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) and gives his detailed background, it refrains from identifying the two other ring leaders, who are merely referred to as Individual A and Lashkar-e-Toiba member A.However, a perusal of the extracts given below would show that the FBI must be aware of their identities. Why is it coy about identifying them? Has it at least told the Indian agencies about their identities? Has it asked the Government of Pakistan to arrest them and hand them over to the FBI for further interrogation? If not, why not?
3. A perusal of the extracts indicates the following:
(a). Headley had two channels of communications in Pakistan---- with Individual A and LET member A.
(b). He had no direct contact with Ilyas Kashmiri. All his communications with him were through Individual A.
(c). Individual A was arrested by the Pakistani authorities in connection with the investigation of the November 2008 murder of Maj-Gen.Amir Faisal Alvi, formerly of the Special Services Group (SSG), who was the brother of Lady Naipaul, wife of writer Sir V.S.Naipaul. But he was subsequently released. He was close to Maj.Haroon Ashiq, the principal accused in the murder, who reportedly confessed that he and other accomplices murdered Alvi on the instructions of Ilyas Kashmiri. Why did they murder Alvi? Did he play any role in the SGG's commando action in the Lal Masjid of Islamabad in July,2007?Are all of them, including Individual A, former officers of the SSG, as Ilyas was? If so, did these ex-SSG officers train the LET team that attacked Mumbai on 26/11? These questions need the attention of the Indian investigators.
EXTRACTS FROM THE AFFIDAVIT
After visiting Denmark in January 2009, HEADLEY traveled to Pakistan to meet with Individual A. During this trip, HEADLEY traveled with Individual A to the Federally-Administered Tribal Area (FATA) region in north-western Pakistan and met with (Ilyas) Kashmiri. HEADLEY returned to Chicago in mid-June 2009. Following HEADLEY's return from Pakistan, HEADLEY communicated by email with Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A regarding the status of the Northern Project. Because Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A responded that he had "new investment plans," coded language for the planning of a different attack, HEADLEY and Individual A began to focus on working with Kashmiri to complete the attack on the newspaper.
In late July 2009, HEADLEY traveled again to Copenhagen, Denmark, and to other locations in Europe. When HEADLEY returned to the United States, he told a Customs and Border Patrol inspector that he was traveling on business as a representative of an immigration business. HEADLEY's luggage contained no papers or other documents relating to such business. Following HEADLEY's return to Chicago in August 2009, HEADLEY used coded language to inquire of Individual A on multiple occasions regarding whether Individual A had been in touch with Kashmiri regarding planning for the attack. HEADLEY expressed concern that Individual A's communications with Kashmiri had been cut off.
In early September 2009, Individual A called HEADLEY to report that Kashmiri might be dead. HEADLEY expressed dismay and concern, and said that Kashmiri's death means "our company has gone into bankruptcy then," and that "the projects and so forth will go into suspension." Shortly after initial press reports that Kashmiri had been killed in a drone attack in Pakistan, HEADLEY and Individual A had a series of coded conversations in which they discussed the reports of Kashmiri's death and the significance of Kashmiri's death for the projects they were planning. Individual A sought to reassure and encourage HEADLEY, telling him, among other things, that"this is business sir; these types of things happen."
On or about September 17, 2009, HEADLEY discussed with Individual A the need, in light of Kashmiri's reported death, to turn back to Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A and another individual, to complete the planning for the attack on the newspaper. On or about September 20, 2009, HEADLEY told a family member in a recorded telephone conversation words to the effect "that the main thing is the business must go on." HEADLEY also stated words to the effect that it does not matter for which company he works. On or about September 30, 2009, HEADLEY was told by Individual A that Kashmiri was still alive. When HEADLEY asked whether he would meet Kashmiri on his trip,Individual A advised that Kashmiri had been asking about HEADLEY. HEADLEY stated in intercepted communications that he intended to travel to Pakistan in early October 2009 to meet with Individual A and Kashmiri. HEADLEY had a reservation to fly from Chicago, Illinois to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 3, 2009, and indicated in intercepted communications that he intended to travel on to Pakistan.
HEADLEY was arrested by FBI agents on October 3, 2009, as he prepared to board a flight from Chicago to Philadelphia. After being advised of his rights, HEADLEY made statements to FBI agents. Among other things, HEADLEY stated that beginning prior to 2006 HEADLEY worked at various times with Lashkar-e-Taiba (an organization he knew to be a designated foreign terrorist organization) and that he received training from Lashkar-e-Taiba. HEADLEY also stated that at times he worked with Ilyas Kashmiri,including in connection with planning the Denmark attack.
HEADLEY changed his name from "Daood Gilani" in or about 2006. In an August 2009 interview with Customs and Border Patrol, HEADLEY advised that he changed his name so as to raise less suspicion when he traveled. HEADLEY at times has claimed to be a consultant with or representative of an immigration business. Surveillance of HEADLEY's activities, as well as HEADLEY's phone conversations and email exchanges, reflect that HEADLEY performs few services for such business. HEADLEY has no known or reported employment other than with such business. His residence in Chicago is an apartment leased to an individual who is deceased. Notwithstanding his apparent lack of financial resources and substantial employment, HEADLEY has engaged in extensive international travel since at least 2006, including multiple trips to Pakistan, India, Denmark, and other countries in Europe.Records reflecting the locations of internet protocol addresses used by HEADLEY to send emails indicate that HEADLEY has spent substantial time in Pakistan and elsewhere during the last several years - often for months at a time.
Emails between HEADLEY and third parties reflect that Individual A was arrested by Pakistani authorities in Summer 2009 and later released. As noted above, Individual A is associated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist organization, and with Ilyas Kashmiri, a leader of Harakat-ul-Jihad-Islami ("HUJI"), a Pakistani-based terrorist organization,among other entities.
Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A, whose identity is known to the government, is an individual with substantial influence and responsibility within Lashkar-e-Taiba.
International news media reports have identified Kashmiri as the operational chief of the Azad Kashmir section of Harkat-ul-Jihad-Islami ("HUJI) with links to al Qaeda. In April 2006, the United States Department of State issued the 2006 "Country Reports on Terrorism," which listed a number of designated "foreign terrorist organizations" and also listed "other selected terrorist groups also deemed to be of relevance to the global war on terrorism." HUJI was listed in the latter category. The report noted the group's "links to al Qaeda," and that "HUJI's operations in Kashmir were led by Commander Ilyas Kashmiri, a former commander in the Afghan jihad, .... [who] was arrested in October[2005] on charges of attacks against President Musharraf in 2003." In September 2009,international news media reported that Kashmiri had been killed in a drone attack in the Waziristan region of Pakistan.
On September 18, 2009, HEADLEY reviewed an article concerning Kashmiri's reported death, entitled "Pakistani Kashmiri militants now fighting NATO forces," which contained a number of details relating to Kashmiri, including the following:a. Kashmiri was the ameer [leader] of the Azad Kashmir chapter of HUJI. b.Kashmiri was considered to be one of the most dangerous al Qaeda-linked Pakistani commanders;c. Kashmiri was no. 4 on the Pakistani Ministry of Interior's Most WantedList;d. Kashmiri had established a training camp in the Razmak region of Waziristan;e. Kashmiri was named in a 12-page charge sheet filed by the Islamabad police in an anti-terrorism court for his role in the November 2008 murder of retired Major General Amir Faisal Alvi, the former General Officer Commanding of the Pakistan Army's Special Services Group. The charge sheet identified three people in the Alvi murder, including retired Major Haroon Ashiq, and alleged that the murder was carried out on the instructions of Kashmiri, who also had provided funds and weapons; and f. Kashmiri also was named in a charge sheet relating to the October 2008 kidnaping of a renowned film producer and distributor. Major Haroon Ashiq was one of the kidnapers.This same article reported that, following his arrest, Major Haroon Ashiq had told interrogators that Haroon, along with his younger brother Captain Khurram, had "joined hands" with Kashmiri in early 2008. The article stated that, according to Haroon,Kashmiri had tasked Haroon with kidnaping affluent people living in urban areas in order to raise money for Kashmiri's group.
On or about September 19, 2009, HEADLEY spoke by telephone to a family member and, using coded language, brought up the subject of Kashmiri's reported death.HEADLEY asked the family member if the family member had learned anything about "doctor," and stated words to the effect of: "[h]e was your Pir Sahib [spiritual guide],where I and you went, we went to Samanabad and we did Baiat [an oath of allegiance]."After the family member responded, "[y]es sir, absolutely, absolutely," HEADLEY continued "he just had a heart attack ... it has made me very sad." Based on my (FBI agent's) review of HEADLEY's communications concerning Kashmiri's death, I believe that the term"heart attack" in this context to be a coded reference to the reported fact that Kashmiri had been killed.
In the same conversation of September 19, 2009, HEADLEY continued to discuss Kashmiri, noting the press coverage following his reported death. HEADLEY stated words to the effect of: "now many other great things about him have come to surface, his supernatural powers and miracles, from his followers and others, yeah, they have also printed a small paper about him and many other things."
HEADLEY, Individual A, and Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A have used several methods of communication, including in-person meetings, telephone conversations (including calls placed using long distance calling cards) and emails. HEADLEY, in particular, utilized a cell phone, the account for which is the name of a deceased individual. In nearly all of their communications, HEADLEY, Individual A, and Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A have used coded language.
Since the beginning of 2008, HEADLEY has communicated through the use of multiple email accounts. As discussed throughout this affidavit, HEADLEY, Lashkar-e-Taiba' Member A, and Individual A have frequently used coded language and changed their methods of communications in order to conceal the nature and content of their communications. For example, on or about August 28, 2009, in a recorded telephone conversation between HEADLEY and Individual A, HEADLEY spoke in coded language to describe a new account that HEADLEY had created for their continued communications. More specifically, after informing Individual A that he had formed an account on the "same system," HEADLEY instructed him to write his colleague's name and his younger brother's name and write the names without spaces and write 1 with it. On or about August 25, 2009, HEADLEY created such an account with a name blending two first names.
Records of email accounts used by HEADLEY reflect that between in or about August 2008 and December 7, 2008, HEADLEY sent multiple email messages from internet addresses located in the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Lahore. On or about December 7,2008, before traveling from Pakistan to the United States that same day, HEADLEY used one of his email accounts to save a list of items, which was titled "Mickey Mouse."
On or about December 16, 2008, HEADLEY sent an email from Chicago, Illinois to Individual A. Among other statements, HEADLEY told Individual A in this email that "I will be going for the Mickey Mouse project in the north in the middle of next month. Let me know any new info on it."
One week later, on or about December 23, 2008, HEADLEY again communicated with Individual A concerning the Mickey Mouse project. More specifically, in an email sent from Chicago, Illinois, to Individual A, HEADLEY stated: " Send me the info on the Mickey Mouse project later when I tell you. For now,should I leave here early or around the 14th like previously planned.Do that special thing you do and tell me. ...Bye,Dave."
On or about December 24, 2008, Individual A responded to HEADLEY's email from the previous day, telling HEADLEY to "try to go as early as possible to MMP." In response,HEADLEY used code to request Individual A to use a different email address to further communicate with HEADLEY. More specifically, HEADLEY stated:"Planning for MMP. Send me info about it on other mail I gave starting with [the first four letters of one of Headley's email accounts]. If you don't have it I will mail you from it. . . . How is your friend Harry?. Did you check the Lady Naipaul link?.Ok take care.Dave59."
The next day, on or about December 25, 2008, Individual A responded: "I know ur other email address, no need to use that address yet..first u visit MMP then we will discuss and c the concerned person if needed, and if your friends decline , we'll do that ,I have discussed with baray log . . ."
As described further below, HEADLEY departed from Chicago on January 13,2009, before arriving in Copenhagen, Denmark days later. Lady Naipaul is a Pakistani journalist and the wife of the late Lord V. S. Naipaul,a Nobel prize winning author. Lady Naipaul also is the sister of Amir Faisal Alvi, the former Pakistani General killed in November 2008, allegedly by a group that included Major Haroon. Although Pakistani press reports reflect that Haroon was arrested by Pakistani police on or about February 24, 2009 in connection with General Alvi's murder, it is noteworthy that this email reference to Individual A's "friend Harry" in the context of "the Lady Naipaul link" occurred in late December 2008, shortly after General Alvi's murder and well before public reports of Haroon's involvement in the murder, and police action against Haroon. I (FBI agent) understand "Harry" to be a reference to Haroon.
I (FBI agent) believe that from a review of emails before and after this exchange, as well as subsequent telephone conversations between HEADLEY and Individual A, discussed more fully below, that Individual A was instructing HEADLEYto travel to Copenhagen, then travel to Pakistan to meet with Individual A ("we will discuss") and a third party ("c the concerned person"). Based on my (FBI agent's) review of subsequently intercepted communications, I believe that the "concerned person" was Kashmiri.
On January 24, 2009, HEADLEY departed from Frankfurt, Germany to the United Arab Emirates. From there, as discussed below, he subsequently traveled to Pakistan. Records of email accounts reflect that between in or around late January and early March 2009,HEADLEY sent multiple email messages from locations in Pakistan. As described earlier, on December 25, 2008, prior to HEADLEY's departure for Denmark, Individual A instructed HEADLEY as follows: "First u visit MMP then we will discuss and c the concerned person if needed." Further, on December 26, 2008,HEADLEY responded that he would get a "feel of the property" and "return by middle of next month to you [Individual A]." In a later email with the "abdalians" Yahoo group, HEADLEY confirmed his trip to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas ("FATA") region in northwestern Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, a region in Pakistan in which various terrorist organizations operate. More specifically, on or about May 4, 2009, a member of the group sent an email to the group discussing a recent survey concerning drone attacks in that area.
The member's email stated in relevant part:... "a think tank of researchers and political activists from the NWFP and FATA, conducts research, survey and collects statistics on various issues concerning the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorism and human security there. Their research teams go deep inside Taliban and al-Qaeda-occupied areas of FATA to collect information. Most of the areas are not accessible to journalists. Between last November and January [the think tank] sent five teams, each made up of five researchers, to the parts of the FATA that are often hit by American drones, to conduct a survey of public opinion about the attacks. The team visited Wana (South Waziristan), Ladda (South Waziristan), Miranshah (North Waziristan),Razmak (North Waziristan) and Parachinar (Kurram agency).According to the email, one of the conclusions of the survey was that the notion that a large majority of the local population supports the Taliban is inaccurate. Further, the sender of the email stated his personal view that the majority of the residents of the FATA saw the enemy as the Taliban and al Qaeda and viewed the drone attacks as not violating the sovereignty of Pakistan.
HEADLEY's sharp response confirmed that he had been to the area occupied by the Taliban and al Qaeda. He stated:"This "survey" is the biggest crock of S ... I was there on some business recently and I assure you this dude is not even close .. I even doubt the ability of the surveyors to conduct this "research" in Miranshah or Razmak. I even challenge [the identified individual who posted the survey article] to just walk around the bazaar in Miranshah. This bazaar is bustling with Chechens,Uzbeks, Tajiks,Russians, Bosnians, some from EU countries and of course our Arab brothers.According to MY survey, the foreign population is a little less than a third of the total. Any Waziri or Mehsud I spoke to seemed grateful to God for the privilege of being able to host the "Foreign Mujahideen."
On or about June 11, 2009, HEADLEY returned to Chicago. In or around mid Summer 2009, HEADLEY became aware that Pakistani authorities had detained Individual A. In that time frame, HEADLEY emailed a contact living in Pakistan. HEADLEY indicated in this email that Individual A had been arrested, and that HEADLEY wished to know whether Individual A would be available to continue working with HEADLEY and HEADLEY's associates.
On or about July 26, 2009, HEADLEY traveled to Europe, visiting various countries enroute to Copenhagen, Denmark. As described further below, during HEADLEY's second visit to Copenhagen, HEADLEY took surveillance video of several locations in Copenhagen Denmark, including the office of the Jyllands-Posten in King's Square in Copenhagen. On or about August 5, 2009, HEADLEY arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, on a flight from Copenhagen, Denmark. An officer with Customs and Border Patrol interviewed HEADLEY upon his entry. HEADLEY stated that he traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark,and elsewhere in Europe for business. HEADLEY claimed to be a consultant for an immigration business. An examination of HEADLEY's luggage revealed no papers,flyers or any documents relating to such business.
Following his return from his second visit to Copenhagen, HEADLEY received an email in response to his inquiry about the arrest of Individual A. The sender wrote, "your friend that u asked about has reached home yesterday.How r u and what r the plans?" HEADLEY replied to the email and stated "thank you. I spoke with him after his arrival." I (FBI agent) understand that when HEADLEY indicated that he "spoke with him after his arrival,"HEADLEY was referring to Individual A. Phone records for Headley's cell phone revealed call the day before he received the above referenced email with a Pakistani phone number.
Following his return from his second visit to Copenhagen, HEADLEY exchanged emails with Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A, regarding, among other topics, his trip to Copenhagen.On or about August 7, 2009, Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A sent an email asking HEADLEY why he had not been responding. That same day, HEADLEY responded:"Sony, l just don't check my mail daily if I don't expect anyone will write me. I am working at a restaurant owned by [a named associate of Headley's] and his friend as a manager. Last week they sent me to Germany to buy some Butchery equipment and guess where else I went for 3 days (just for a vacation ) . I (FBI agent) understand that in this message HEADLEY is referring to his recently completed trip to Copenhagen (inaccurately referenced in the email as Germany)as a "vacation," the same term that he used in his January 23, 2009 email during his first trip to Denmark.
On or about August 9, 2009, Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A responded in pertinent part:"God You are something... how was visit? Did you buy some thing for me? I heard that [names an associate of Headley and Lashkar-e-Taiba member A] is with Haroon.So be careful please." I (FBI agent) understand the statement that the associate is "with Haroon" is a reference to this associates's arrest by Pakistani authorities, and the continued detention of Major Haroon by Pakistani authorities. Months before August 2009, Pakistani news reports stated that Haroon had confessed to his role in the murder of General Alvi and provided information about Kashmiri's operations. In fact, on or about April 14, 2009, HEADLEY had posted an article to the "abdalians" Yahoo group regarding Haroon. The article stated in pertinent part that Haroon "confessed that he had assassinated General Alvi," and confessed that he had kidnaped four separate victims in order to get money for militant organizations.
HEADLEY and Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A continued their exchange about the travel to Copenhagen. The following are the pertinent excerpts from their continued exchange:(HEADLEY, August 10, 2009)"Yes, we bought some abbatoir [animal butchery] equipment from there. I did get you something. The same gift I got for you last time I was there. . . ."(Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A, August 11, 2009). . ."whatever I am saying, I know deep in my heart is futile.coz its YOU. . . ." (HEADLEY, August 11, 2009) "I don't understand, what is futile?"(Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A, August 11, 2009) "Futile are my advices, coz you do what you feel like, matter and situation is not clear. Your skin is dear to me, more than my own."
I (FBI agent) understand that, in the above exchange, HEADLEY is reporting on his travel and the fact that he has additional video surveillance for Lahkar-e-Taiba member A, and Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A is recommending that HEADLEY be careful and expressing some frustration because HEADLEY does not always follow advice.
Throughout the remainder of August and early September 2009, a number of intercepted telephone conversations between HEADLEY and Individual A reveal that HEADLEYcontinually sought word of whether Individual A had been in contact with Kashmiri regarding their plans.
On or about August 22, 2009, HEADLEY and Individual A spoke by telephone. The pertinent discussion was as follows:HEADLEY: "First tell me have you spoken to Doctor?"Individual A: "No friend - there is nothing."HEADLEY: "Contact."Individual A: "Nowadays, there is no contact.." *HEADLEY: . . . "about discussion with Mister Doctor, that if this doesn't - for example- along these lines you should, you should consider that - . . .these who are coming to meet."-Individual A: "Hmm."HEADLEY: - "if they - example what you people had thought about them - in doubt -if they are not fulfilling on it." Individual A: "Hmm".HEADLEY: "Then B, there should be something as a B option."Individual A: "Okay."HEADLEY: "Yeah."Individual A: "On the contrary, on the contrary, not B, but there should be B and C as well."
From my ( FBI agent's) review of intercepted communications between HEADLEY and Individual A, I believe that the use of the term "Doctor" in this particular context is to refer to Kashmiri.HEADLEY: "Yeah, there should be B and C as well. So that's why - about it. Ahm -okay . Secondly I - that - used to make an email - I mean, you, you could write on it every now and then."Individual A: "Okay, yes, yes, yes."HEADLEY: "So that, I, I mean, had made one more, and I will give it to you sometime -we can do on it too." Individual A: "Okay."HEADLEY: "So, about, so think about it. Because I have a return ticket for October29th, for there, to return."Individual A: "okay".HEADLEY: "Where I came from, recently."Individual A: "Yes, yes, yes."HEADLEY: "So for now, do it, delay it, give priority or put at the end, what is its arrangement. And. secondly, I also said that to you, that also find out, that if. that. I mean that what I told you. That".Individual A: "Yes, yes. That." HEADLEY: "Yeah."Individual A: -" that, understand, I understand."
I (FBI agent) understand that, in the above conversation, HEADLEY discussed developing other options ("B" and "C") if communications with the "doctor" failed.As discussed previously, on or about August 28, 2009, in a telephone conversation between HEADLEY and Individual A, HEADLEY spoke in coded language to describe a new email account created by HEADLEY. HEADLEY and Individual A, in fact, had at least three separate conversations regarding this account, based, in part, on Individual A's confusion over how HEADLEY spelled the names of the persons used to create the account.
So if they are so knowledgable about what is and isn't terrorism, I assume that we won't be having any more of these incidents. Good to know everything's under control! I feel much better now.
If Frt Hood is tagged as Terrorism- The GOP is going to get on the soapbox saying the DEM dropped the ball
If Frt Hood can be tagged as a crime - the DEMs can claim it was the fear of deploying to the WAR to fight his religious peers
Both parties ought to keep their yaps SHUT and not politicize this.
BTW if your theory is correct, that makes JB a Democrat ....
And if Hasan isn't an "organized terrorist" the Joint Task Force on Terrorism still dropped the ball--Hasan didn't have Army permission to be on that website. He was at the very least acting against Army policy (even if he were accessing the site from home) and there are some who could make the case that for this alone, he should have been reported to the Army (of course, since it isn't criminal the FBI wouldn't probably see it that way....not because of PC but rather that this is outside the Patriot Act and into personal freedom issues).
By the way, military members don't have the same freedoms as regular civilians--we are under authority (voluntarily) and so there are things we aren't allowed to do without a superior's permission. Communicating with a Jihadi website would be one of these and the Defense Dept representative should have raised THAT as a concern...again not "organized terror" but definitely something the Army should have known.
JB is certainly leaning against the ropes in the GOP lines.
His opposition to Tea Party intervention in the 23 rd - his lack of jumping behind the rally cry of the GOP - Keep US Safe
he's certainly sounding like the definition of a RINO
we know better though, John has always been at his very best when applying the principles of prudence over political affiliation.
Rather be a RINO (Realistic Independent Not Obnoxious) than a flaming FERAL (First Every Republican Ask Limbaugh)
Joh, I wish you were on Fox instead of intellectually lazy muppet Michelle Malkin. She seems to be in perpetual 'alarm' mode.
Maybe he's doing an experiment to see what it's like to have no position at all.
John is doing what true journalist are supposed to do on THIS (sorry while i agree w/ JB's opinion on Economy the slant is obvious) case.
Offer expert opinions, desiminate the facts from the rhetoric & allow us to draw our own conclusions
I find it skewed in the direction of calling it an isolated incident rather than terrorism. That's fine, he's completely entitled to his opinion, but that was how I read it.
Right on peter and seeing how radical islamists in this country and elsewhere are cheering this guy on, if he wasn't on a mission, who is? Islam and islamic terrorists are by their nature cellular in structure. It's not like they have a hierarchy and connectedness like the us military. While Hasan may not take orders from Bin Laden, many imams that preach the filth Hasan believes hope that their congregations follow such a lead. You are partially wrong on this JB.
from colleague LArry Johnson, ex CIA ex State:
Putting the Major Hasan Hysteria in Perspective
By Larry Johnson on November 10, 2009 at 8:03 PM in Current Affairs
I am disgusted by both the left and the right. Several on the left (e.g., Newsweek’s Evan Thomas) want to pretend that Hasan’s murder of fellow soldiers at Fort Hood last week had nothing to do with his twisted vision of Islam. Then on the right you have the baying hounds insisting Islam as a whole is a bloodthirsty religion with no redeeming quality.
Then we have the horseshit that “political” correctness prevented the CIA and FBI from doing anything about Hasan. Stop already! Let’s go through this systematically starting with the last charge that the CIA and FBI failed to do their job.
The CIA could do little about Hasan other than pass on information to the FBI if he had contact with Al Qaeda or other foreign jihaid operators. It is illegal for the CIA collect intelligence of any kind on a U.S. citizen. Apart from the illegal aspect you also run into the possibility of compromising the intelligence collection methods. If the CIA is reading the mail of Al Qaeda operatives then they are not eager to share that with the FBI if it has the chance of being exposed when the Bureau seeks to question or even arrest someone like Hasan.
There was little the FBI could do. Hasan did not commit a crime until he opened fire on his fellow soldiers. You may not like him talking about jihad and voicing sympathy for the likes of Al Qaeda but he is an American citizen and has the freedom and the right to express those views. If you want to start drawing the line on what muslims can say then be prepared to have the same standard applied to Jews and Christians.
The failure, in my view, if you are looking for the scapegoat, are the officers who reviewed Major Hasan’s annual fitness reports and those who sat on his promotion panel. This is the one area where the dreaded “political correctness” may have reared its ugly head. If public reports are true then his reviewing officers did drop the ball. You may have the right as citizen of the United States to voice your allegiance to the Koran and Allah above all other authorities, but Hasan’s remarks about suicide bombers and criticism of U.S. policy in Iraq is not appropriate for any one wearing the uniform. Hasan should have be counseled and, if he persisted, written up and disciplined. That apparently never happened.
I dislike religious extremists of all ilks. Muslims tend to be more susceptible to this nonsense then Christians and Jews because, under the tenets of Islam, every believer has a direct line to Allah (or God for you Christians out there) and are not constrained by a clerical hierarchy. There is no formal council to determine who is and is not authorized to act in the name of Allah. Therefore we should not be surprised that there are influential mullahs who can lead thousands astray, such as the blind Sheik (Abdul Rahman) or Bin Laden’s number two, Ayman Zwahiri. But, there are millions more who do not.
I believe that Islam can turn more deadly than Christianity or Judaism because it provides a unique mixture of demanding proselytizing (i.e., calling the infidels to repent and covert to the true religion) and leaving it up to each individual to interpret to the best of their ability what this means. Judaism, by contrast, is not big on recruiting converts. That’s not to say you cannot become a Jew, but being born of a Jewish mother is very important and promotes a tribalism not endemic to Islam.
Christians (Protestants and Catholics) usually rely on a clerical hierarchy of some sort, which imposes a discipline on the conversion of non-believers. While there was a time in the history of the Christian church when force was used to achieve converts, both Catholics and Protestants have, for the most part, gone for the gentle persuasion.
Major Hasan was a disturbed individual who sought refuge in Islam and embraced an increasingly intolerant version of Islam. His personal beliefs about his duty as a muslim inspired him to the murders he carried out. Unfortunately there is no Vatican or Southern Baptist Conference to speak out to condemn or correct such heresy within Islam. Different mullahs have different opinions and the more extreme sometimes get more attention.
But because he twisted Islam into something dirty and evil does not account for the fact that hundreds of thousands of muslims in the United States are not doing such things. That is what I want us to keep in perspective.
Barring any proof to the otherwise, I would agree with Larry. A combination of a nut, and a religion that can promote terror. Considering the brand of islam and the imams he went to, I still say they were hoping for the result that happened. That is the cellular structure. It shouldn't be an indictment of muslims as a whole at all. Thanks for the long form JB.
IAWJL & LJ. Actually, with perhaps the time since WW II excepteed, the Muslims have historically been fairly benign to the countries they've overrun, compared to the Christians. Can you say "Spanish Inquisition"? I thought you could!
Witness the Council of Catholic Bishops poised to destroy health care "reform" (uh hope, uh hope). Sometimes a little destruction can be a good thing.
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx said it best last week: we have much more to fear from the House health care bill (AB 3962) than we have from all the terrorist organizations in the world, put together.
In response to Larry Johnson's comment: The point is, something ugly happened at Fort Hood. There were clues and indications earlier that should have been heeded. Just like there were clues and indications before 9/11/01. We learned something from 9/11/01. We now check all airline passengers and their carry-on bags.
You mean to say we've learned nothing from the Fort Hood massacre; that we will continue conducting business as usual? That we will continue with our hands tied, sporting blindfolds as PC demands?
Have we not learned from this that the enemy is among us; that all of us must now be considered ‘suspects’? Have we not learned that we are a nation at war with itself? Do we still harbor the illusion that there are not those here who wish to destroy us? This thing is bigger than Muslims vs. infidels; Democrats vs. Republicans. This is about people who are determined to wipe out the very essence of a nation and enslaving its population under a yoke of insurmountable debt leading first to chaos, then to oligarchy… gulags for the rest of us.
Yes, you might say, socialism works in other places. You might even say that communism works okay in China. So what's the big deal? The big deal is that America is not a place where socialism or communism can work. These are alien concepts to who we are. Forcing these on us would kill us. You can't give type 'A' blood to a type 'B' (blood) person and expect him to survive.
Still you persist. You ask, "Why can't we be like China? They're successful; they're on the ascent. So what's the loss of a little freedom here and there as long as no one goes hungry and nobody dies?" The difference is this: The Chinese leadership for all its failings is saved by some sense of national pride. A large part of its concern is doing what it truly believes is best for the country. There are chasms of (differences of) opinion that exist within this narrow but significant mandate, but it's enough to earn the people's trust. The overwhelming majority is willing to give the government the benefit of the doubt with respect to the choices it makes.
In America today there is overwhelming doubt by the majority of the people that their government is actually on their side; that it can be counted on to protect them. Americans feel like hostages, totally at the mercy of the thugs who have taken them hostage. Every incident, such as the one at Fort Hood, in which ordinary Americans are killed is played out against the backdrop of Americans (in general) feeling that they are under siege. So far, there is no rescue party in sight - only a faint glimmer of hope that the next election cycle will be sufficient to put an end to this nightmare of uncertainty and loss.
http://peterkoelliker.blogspot.com/
"Americans feel like hostages, totally at the mercy of the thugs who have taken them hostage. Every incident, such as the one at Fort Hood, in which ordinary Americans are killed is played out against the backdrop of Americans (in general) feeling that they are under siege. So far, there is no rescue party in sight - only a faint glimmer of hope that the next election cycle will be sufficient to put an end to this nightmare of uncertainty and loss."
Peter, your FERALnass is showing... *(!)*
*"The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages." Virginia Woolf (Not Foxx) said it best!!!*
Just speaking for myself, with the possible exception that I am more optimistic about the future than Peter appears to be, I think he's summed it up pretty well. We've been under seige for a long time (our freedoms that is.) It's just gotten bad enough now that everyone is noticing. The Democrats are about to have a big food fight now since they've realized that about a third of their constituency believes that life begins at conception and will promptly remove anyone from office who doesn't subscribe to their beliefs. Oops! I see a chink in the armor. Wait a minute, am I allowed to use that word anymore?
Interestingly, if Peter takes your Virginia Woolf quote to heart it will counsel him to ignore your post. Perhaps that's what you intended, but wouldn't it have been easier for you just to not post in the first place?
Could we please everyone by just calling it a hate crime?
But, then anyone that takes the quote to heart would be left to think and see for themselves
We are all, "without knowing it, slaves to some dead economist." Or dead philospher. Or dead prophet. None more so than those who cherish the illusion that they think solely for themselves.
But Kenneth, taking the progressive party line, dressing it up in confusing and contradictory language so few can divine its true meaning or pin you down on specific aspects of it, and causing debates with it on conservative blogs, that takes some originality.
LOL! Doesn't please me because I think all crimes are hate crimes to one degree or another.
Also, I've never liked the word "terrorism", come to think of it, because it implies cowardice on the part of the intended victims, and I'm not terrorized. In fact, to quote Terrence and Phillip from South Park, regarding the terrorists: "I fart on their graves!!!"
Point taken.
Well, it could be worse. We could follow a living prophet like a jim jones, Bin Laden, or Claude Vorilhon.
When you are infested with pests, do you make friends with them, ignore them, or get rid of them?
Xkornystycus addressed this point in front of the citizens of Jazavicia while in the halls of Yorlekajis on the floor. He was put to the scribble by Mostuluk when asked, "Who's your daddy?"
In reply, Xkornystycus suggested that all of man was father to him from the first up to himself and that they were all delinquent and had been neglectful, even unto himself. When retorting, it was noted (recorded by Diktitatar) that he was heavily laden with what appeared to be froth and in this froth was found him.
"All of man commits clopanism and creates fathers out of the froth and they become drunk with kukanotsi ten times over!" is Xkornystycus's most memorable expression that came out of the pettifogging of the age and it is known for having a great influence onto the mind of Totterdominio who went on to establish the school of Noxaemdolt, which one when looks at it, can be reasoned to be the foundation for Spurcuios to imagine, not unrightly, that eternal tome philos "Always, We Are With Us"
Indeed, indeed.
Guess I'm a liberal at heart, I try to salvage things long after common sense dictates otherwise. But, as for pests, you have to step on them until you hear the crunch.
Interesting that you have to take it back centuries to find an evil parallel. Can anyone say reformation? Islam hasn't undergone one and needs to. Where as the mainstream of Christianity and Judaism have. Why is sticking and focusing on what's happening in the last few decades so difficult for apologists? Islam has an inherently anti Jewish and Christian streak. While the rest of us sit here and accept all religions as equals. The more I think about it the less I like Islam. For Allahs sake, try a reformation and free your women and gays, then I'll happily jump on board with the religion of peace b%llsh#t. I do believe I'm waiting with baited breathe. Thanks scoundrels.
>Can anyone say reformation? Islam hasn't undergone one and needs to.
That won't happen. The Islamic world lacks the capacity for reflection and reform that has characterized our civilization since the time of the ancient Greeks.
That leaves the West with two choices:
We can kill Muslims in very large numbers--the "nuke 'em from orbit" approach favored by Neocons.
Or, as Paleocons such as Pat Buchanan point out, we can simply refuse to stamp their visas.
I know which strategy that I prefer.