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Friday, November 6, 2024
By Steven L. Taylor

One of the disheartening aspects (apart from the obvious tragedy) of events like that which took place at Fort Hood yesterday is that well before we have any evidence or real information, people start trying to make political hay out of the event.  Usually it is the pro-gun v. anti-gun arguments (e.g., the typical responses tend to be:  “If we had more gun control, this wouldn’t have happened!”/ “If only there had been someone with a concealed gun at the event, this wouldn’t have happened!”).

It strikes me at this stage that trying to generalize from this event about a particular class of persons is no different than taking the Oklahoma City Bombing and assuming that because a right-wing white male was the perpetrator that there ought to be some blanket assumptions that could automatically be made.  Or, perhaps a better analogy, those who have tried to blame things like abortion clinic bombings or anti-gay violence on conservative Christianity.  In the absence of an actual organization directly advocating and planning specific violence, the responsibility for an event like this falls squarely on the shoulders of the person who engaged in the violence, and blaming others (based on religion, ethnicity or anything else) is blatantly unfair.

And yet, people are making wild assertions about the event, as if we really can know much of anything less than 24 hours after the event.  For example, see, this interview as Frontpage:

FP: Dave Gaubatz, welcome to Frontpage Interview.

A terrible tragedy occurred yesterday at Ft. Hood, Texas. Because you are the co-author (with Paul Sperry) of the new book Muslim Mafia, I would like to ask you this: are there any correlations between your message in the book about the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood and the murder spree at Ft. Hood?

Gaubatz: Thanks Jamie.

Yes. The murders by Malik Nadal Hasan at Ft. Hood, TX are not a ‘lone wolf incident’ as being described by most media organizations. Hasan had been taught the ideology that is being advocated by hundreds of Islamic scholars and Imams in the U.S. We as a country can continue to deny there are numerous Islamic leaders and their supporting organizations such as CAIR, ISNA, MSA, and MANA, to name a few, who advocate killing innocent men, women, and children whom they allege ‘oppress Islam.’

How in the world can we know this for certain at this point?  Beyond that, I do not see how it is mutually exclusive that Hasan could have been been a “lone wolf” and have been influenced by radical ideologies.  But one thing is for sure:  no one knows any of this at this point.

Gaubatz continues:

How many more incidents similar to this that have been occurring in America does it take before even the media wants to report the truth?

Am I missing something here?  Are there a series of mass murders that that media is covering up?  Really?

A similar example comes from Pamela Geller, who headlines the story as a “Muslim Terror Attack.”  She also calls the attack an “act of war” which is a puzzling formulation in the absence of any evidence of  a foreign government’s involvement.   Indeed, the whole of her post is nothing but mad rantings.  She asserts that “IT’S THE JIHAD STUPID” (caps hers) and doesn’t understand why the FBI would be called in, amongst other things.

I recognize that Geller is an extremist who, on the one hand, deserves to be ignored.  On the other hand, however, she is representative a point of view held by sizable number of people and is given a forum for her views in high profile places such as Fox News Channel.

Really, jumping to these conclusions are both a combination of revealed prejudices and crass politics.  Really, we do not know why Hasan did what he did.  It could have been simply a response to deployment.  Beyond that, he may well have been radicalized.   Either way, my guess is that we will find out that he acted alone.  That is usually how these things work out.  Further, the desire to find a bigger reason for these events than just a guy going nuts is perfectly natural, as in many ways a massive conspiracy is easier to accept than the idea that some guy might just decide to shoot a dozens innocents because he snapped.

At any rate:  waiting for actual evidence and data would be nice.

Note:  I am sure that it has been noted elsewhere, but this is not the first mass shooting in the Killeen area.  Back in 1991 a lone gunman opened fire in a Luby’s cafeteria, killing 23 (24 if one includes the shooter)—which was the worst mass shooting in US history until the attack at Virgina Tech in 2024.

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Filed under: Criminal Justice, US Politics | |
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11 Responses to “The Politics of the Fort Hood Shooting”

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    1. The Fort Hood Shootings | Heretical Ideas Blog Says:

      [...] was prepared to write something about Fort Hood, but Steven Taylor already said what I was going to say. It strikes me at this stage that trying to generalize from this event about a particular class of [...]

    2. Ratoe Says:

      a lone gunman opened fire in a Luby’s cafeteria,

      Yes, but that was prompted by the fact that Luby’s had run out of the red jello salad.

    3. MSS Says:

      Seems to me that even if we had strict gun control (which I advocate–full disclosure), it would still be relatively straightforward for an Army officer to locate and use a gun on base if so motivated. It might also be noted that the victims probably possessed and knew how to use firearms, but it did not evidently help them much at defending themselves.

      The interview cited above runs through a bunch of acronyms of allegedly extremist Muslim organizations, one of which is ISNA. The Islamic Society of North America is one of the most moderate and reformist Muslim organizations anywhere. Their leaders have spoken at the conventions of the Union for Reform Judaism, and URJ and ISNA affiliates across the USA have ongoing dialogues and other activities. I guess now that means progressive Jews are part of the MUSLIM MAFIA. Watch out!

    4. Steven L. Taylor Says:

      According to one report I heard (but have not confirmed), it was actually against procedures for the soldiers to be armed in the normal course of base activities. But yes, soldiers are going to have access to guns, so gun control arguments in this case should be moot.

      And yes: the rantings about the various groups are asinine. I also read that CAIR issued a statement condemning the violence.

    5. Pinky Poo Says:

      My only question is how did so many people get multiple shot wounds off one man with two handguns ?
      Please refer to Boondok Saints shooting spree in the perv room. I don’t understand some of the common links to what we are doing in the middle east and this guy and the new retractiong so much so fast.

    6. AlphaMail Says:

      To MSS and to others so biased…

      Your ignorance and denial will soon get us all killed.

      The ISNA’s President, Ingrid Mattson, is a vocal critic of Israel, she has rationalized Taliban actions against women, she is a traditionalist on Sharia law, and she likens Christians who criticize radical Islamists to Osama bin Laden. Her ISNA publication matches her personal views: “The hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say, “O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him”, and, “I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslim.” Sounds a bit like a radical to me.

      Then there’s the AAAN (Arab American Action Committee)once run by Rashid Khalidi, a one-time Arafat spokesman who has called for the complete destruction of Israel.

      And CAIR? Even liberal Democrat Senators Charles Schumer and Barbara Boxer say Cair has ties to terrorism and links to Hamas…and Schumer has called on the FBI to investigate CAIR.

      Having said that, as I observe the obvious, I’m still willing to give the Ft. Hood shooter the benefit of the doubt. But you have to be either blind or stupid, to not consider an ideological or religious motive.

    7. Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » Quote Of The Day: Fort Hood Massacre Edition Says:

      [...] Taylor says what I’m thinking: It strikes me at this stage that trying to generalize from this event about a particular class of [...]

    8. Ft Hood: I Think This Is About Right | QandO Says:

      [...] Taylor says it: It strikes me at this stage that trying to generalize from this event about a particular class of [...]

    9. MSS Says:

      To follow up on AlphaMail’s comment, here is what I was referring to: Ingird Mattson’s remarks before the URJ; and the Muslim-Jewish dialogue.

      I don’t think we have to worry too much about the URJ taking actions that harm Israel or that “will soon get us all killed.”

    10. Ft Hood: I Think This Is About Right | Financial and Economic news Says:

      [...] Taylor says it: It strikes me at this stage that trying to generalize from this event about a particular class of [...]

    11. PoliBlog: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » On Guns on Military Bases Says:

      [...] the comment section of one of my Fort Hood posts the question of weapons on military bases was [...]

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