July 28, 2011

The Rest of the Story

This will be brief.

I'm assuming that most or all of you have heard about the thwarted attack on Ft. Hood yesterday. And let me first say, it's a huge, huge relief that that community and the military community in general doesn't have to go through that again. None of us want to relive the horror that was Maj. Nidal Hassan.

But there's something else that needs to be said.

Last fall, I read a story on abc.com about a young man named Nasar Abdo who, at the time, was at Ft. Campbell. He was making big news because he was filing conscientious objector status to try and keep from deploying. he said that, as a Muslim, he felt it violated his religious beliefs to go fight against the terrorists. Just like Nidal Hasan.

Wednesday, Nasar Abdo was arrested for planning to attack Ft. Hood. Just like Nidal Hasan. He was stopped just hours before the attack's execution, with bombs and firearms.

Nidal Hasan was an Army Psychiatrist who, while he was treating soldiers returning from the battlefield with PTSD, gave powerpoint presentations to his superiors that Muslims were on the wrong side of this war, and any casualties inflicted by American forces were martyrs. I can just imagine what kind of "help" he gave his patients. This same attitude was reflected in his everyday conversations in the workplace, according to his peers.

And yet, no one filed a report flagging him with suspicious behavior. No one wanted to be seen crossing the military's staunch "diversity" standards. No one was watching Nidal Hasan. And he shot over 40 people shouting "Allahu Akbar."

Last year, when the story about Abdo broke, I remember talking to my friends, saying that this is the kind of guy who would be the next Hasan, either here or on the front lines. If he truly believes that he is fighting on the wrong side of this war, and he isn't a declared pacifist, then it's only the logical conclusion that he would eventually turn on his fellow soldiers.

Almost a year later, he's arrested trying to do just that. I don't know why he was at Ft. Hood (he's still technically stationed at Campbell). One can only imagine he wanted to copy Hasan as exactly as possible. We have yet to hear from him.

I know this doesn't reflect the current position of the military at large, but I can't help it: Why are we refusing to monitor potential threats to our soldiers in the name of "diversity"? I know someone's going to comment and say I'm being a bigot, that not all Muslims are terrorists, and there are plenty of Muslims in the military who love this country and want to defend it. I agree.

It just so happens that, so far, all the ones attacking us have been Muslim. And if they are Muslim, and are openly opposing the wars based on their religious beliefs, shouldn't they be monitored?

Because it wasn't MPs who caught Abdo. He was arrested by local civilian authorities after the owner of a local gun shop reported him as acting suspiciously.

All I'm saying is, this type of thing is preventable. For crying out loud, this guy was on international news stating he thought it would be immoral to fulfill his duty by deploying. It's not throwing the baby out with the bath water to admit that a pattern is developing. How many attacks or near misses will it take before we're willing to admit we're doing it wrong?


  1. I hear you. I'm certainly not saying that we should deliberately single out any group of people... ever... for any reason. However, when a pattern arises, I think this country should stop being so obsessed with "political correctness" and do what logical sense says to do. It may hurt one person's feelings, but it may save a hundred more. If you're on our side, you won't have any problem with a few extra precautions.

  2. Well, I totally missed out on this today. I'm glad you posted about it! I think it's absolutely ridiculous that the Army basically turned a blind eye to this guy and his actions... And it's even more of a slap to the Army and MPs that a CIVILIAN gun store owner turned him in. I mean, SERIOUSLY?! Has the military become so EO that they can't even watch certain people for suspicious activity?! You'd think they would have learned their lesson the last time someone attacked Fort Hood. You're right - this IS preventable. Yet no one seems to be doing anything about it. I wonder what it'll take for them to start doing something.

  3. Jaci, I totally agree with you. It's absurd that this guy wasn't thoroughly investigated when he refused to go fight for our country & ironically, for his own right to say such stupid things! Our military is a volunteer service, if he was worried about the possibility of having to fight his own people during his enlistment, why did he enlist in the first place??? The gun shop owner was on Fox & Friends this morning explaining why he thought this guy was acting weird. He said the guy didn't really seem to know what he was doing. Putting quite a bit of gun powder on the counter, but then asking what "smokeless" powder was. It really makes me angry that we have the best military force in the world, but it was a civilian who recognized a, now confessed, huge problem! I am an extremely proud American who loves our country & our AWESOME military & it drives me crazy to think more of our soldiers could've been killed right here on OUR land by someone who could've been stopped long ago. Thank you Lord for the wisdom of the retired cop gun shop owner for protecting our soldiers! Also a big thank you to my awesome buddy David Greggs for his patriotic love & service to this amazing country & his, just as awesome wife for standing firmly beside him!!

  4. I totally agree! I'm tired of all the politically correct bs.

  5. I totally agree with you...

    However, my husband IS an MP ON Fort Hood. The kid wasn't on post - wasn't staying on post, etc. Killeen PD worked with CID to make this all go down. BUT because he wasn't on post we don't have jurisdiction in the outlying community.

    It wasn't a slap in the MP's face. Just saying :)

    As for the gun shop - I sure hope they would recognize suspicious activity since they are the ones who sold Hassan his weapons. The gun shop attendant is retired KPD - not necessarily your average civilian - a true hero throughout his life.

    Now I completely agree though that this kid should have been flagged but I am not sure if that would have stopped him from going AWOL back in June or not. You can't arrest someone merely on suspicion. He was already facing court marshall for child pornography when he went missing.

    All that matters at the end of the day is that he was stopped. Thank God for that.

  6. How many Americans have been sick, hurt or lost their lives because we are always trying so hard to be politically correct??

  7. He had deserted from Campbell and two words that will be the end of us...Political Correctness.

