Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tragedy In The Heart of Texas

Fort Hood, Texas has joined the growing list of places (Columbine, Virginia Tech, etc.) where one person with a gun and a grievance can wreak untold havoc upon a nation.

This time it's Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 13 people and wounding 21 others inside a readiness center at the military base.  The investigation is continuing as Hasan is recovering from his injuries.

We are being told that Hasan allegedly did what he did because he was being sent to Afghanistan and didn't want to go.  With the Taliban controlling most of the country, President Hamid Karzai retaining his position by default after his opponent drops out of the runoff election and charges fraud, and President Barack Obama close to deciding whether to send more soldiers into what is increasingly becoming a no-win situation, could you really blame Hasan?

But the place Hasan allegedly chose to make his stand was in an area where soldiers get physicals and write their wills before being shipped overseas.  It is not a heavily-guarded area.

Much has been made of the fact that Hasan is Muslim, which to some people meant that the attack on Fort Hood was an act of terrorism.  Investigators have ruled out that possibility, but they are reportedly checking to see if Hasan had any connection to a cleric with ties to al-Qaeda.

Since September 11, 2001, otherwise law-abiding Muslims have been stereotyped as terrorists, stopped at airports, and watched constantly by Homeland Security.  The shootings at Fort Hood only made matters worse, especially for Muslims currently serving in the military.

The 13 people who were victims of the rampage were memorialized Tuesday at Fort Hood in a ceremony led by President and Mrs. Obama.  There was no heroism involved here.  The victims just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As long as the lack of enforcing gun control laws enable those who shouldn't have weapons to acquire and use them on an unsuspecting population, massacres like this one will keep on happening.

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