...from the opinion pages of the New York Post. In his column on the Fort Hood massacre, Ralph Peters (a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel) says call the attack what it was--an act of Islamic terror. He also takes the Army chain-of-command to task, for ignoring obvious warning signs, and allowing the shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, to remain in service.
But Hasan isn't the sole guilty party. The US Army's unforgivable political correctness is also to blame for the casualties at Fort Hood.
Given the myriad warning signs, it's appalling that no action was taken against a man apparently known to praise suicide bombers and openly damn US policy. But no officer in his chain of command, either at Walter Reed Army Medical Center or at Fort Hood, had the guts to take meaningful action against a dysfunctional soldier and an incompetent doctor.
Had Hasan been a Lutheran or a Methodist, he would've been gone with the simoom. But officers fear charges of discrimination when faced with misconduct among protected minorities.
[snip]
For the first time since I joined the Army in 1976, I'm ashamed of its dereliction of duty. The chain of command protected a budding terrorist who was waving one red flag after another. Because it was safer for careers than doing something about him.
Get ready for the apologias. We've already heard from the terrorist's family that "he's a good American." In their world, maybe he is.
But when do we, the American public, knock off the PC nonsense?
In another piece from today's paper, Paul Sperry offers similar thoughts, noting that the military (essentially) refuses to see extremists in its midst.
So, how will the Army handle this scandal, with obvious culpability at both Walter Reed and Fort Hood? Look for the service to hand out administrative punishment to a couple of Colonels--and ignore the larger problem.
5 comments:
If you're going to blame his chain of command (and rightly so), then take it to the top. B Hussein Obama has set the tone for the political correctness the Army fears.
Obama is "the larger problem".
His reaction to the massacre from the start was one of disinterest ("a shout-out to Dr Joe Medicine Crow").
Then W and Laura visit the troops before it occurs to Obama that that might be a good idea.
Ed--
I can't disagree with anything you say. Obama's comments and actions since the shooting have been callous and bizzare. From his two-minute "shout out" at that conference (before addressing the massacre at Fort Hood), to his "visit" to Camp David, Obama's reaction is one of indifference (and that's being charitable).
And don't think that BHO's response has been lost on the military community, particularly in light of President Bush's actions. Of course, the current commander-in-chief has no real clue about military service, no any desire to interact with members of the armed forces.
Interestingly, I saw an AP article on Saturday night touting Obama's latest visit to Walter Reed. It was titled "Obama Makes the Rounds at Walter Reed." Wouldn't you like to be a wounded solider or Marine, in your bed at the hospital, and in pops BHO, spouting some gibberish. President Bush conducted most of his visits to Walter Reed (and other military hosptials) with a complete media blackout. You'll note that Obama can't make a similar visit without alerting the media. And of course, he'll show up at Fort Hood for the official memorial service, press entourage in tow.
I agree completely that PC is the problem. We are so afraid to call people on anything anymore for fear of being retaliated against for offending somebody. You should have heard a diversity spiel I sat in on at a Navy base this summer. It is no wonder that what happened at Fort Hood happened given the atmosphere created by those running the diversity and inclusion programs. It takes guts to take on those in command who follow blindly the dictums of their PC administrators. It may cost one their career, but we have seen that not speaking up has cost several their lives. All the red flags were there, but nobody would act who was in a position of authority to do so.
I agree, PC is a huge problem to national security. If you have a chance check out Robert Spencer at http://www.jihadwatch.org
I believe much of the Jihad we face in the future will be Cultural, financial. Islam is a political movement as much or more than it is a "religion"
I am against speculation, but, has anyone else noticed that little media attention is being paid to 100 rounds from two handguns?
I would only hope, probably hopelessly, that the intel and military community are.....
Wait, maybe they are under instructions to study it for a few months....
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