Conspiracies? The Shootings in Kansas and Arkansas

Scott Roeder




Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad



Within a day of each other, two shooting incidents have put the news media and the left in America on the spot. Those would be naturally, the killing of late-term abortion doctor George Tiller in Kansas-allegedly by a 51-year-old anti-abortion figure and the shooting at an Army recruiting center in Arkansas-allegedly by a Muslim convert, who it now appears spent time training in Yemen. What are the implications of the two cases? Obviously, they are not connected to each other, yet one case (Tiller) has ignited a firestorm from the left-anxious to prove that anti-abortion activists and other figures like Bill O'Reilly have blood on their hands. On the other hand, if the Tiller case cries out for further investigation into the likelihood of conspiracy (which is reasonable), does the shooting in Arkansas cry out for a look into the wider implications of the shooter's thinking and his possible connections? Will the news media give equal attention to both? Will the media remember Private William Long (the Arkansas victim) nearly as long as it remembers George Tiller? History suggests it will not.

The problem with the Arkansas case is that it would take the left and the news media down a road it is not anxious to travel-an examination of the shooter's motivation, which appears to be religiously inspired. It appears that the suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, formerly Carlos Bledsoe, may have had other targets in mind. The AP is reporting that Muhammad had maps to other military locations in the Southeast, Philadelphia, and New York-including Jewish locations. Ah yes, there's that old bug-a-boo again, just like the case in New Jersey of a couple of weeks back, it appears Jews were also on the hit list. Similarly, what was the suspect doing in Yemen recently? Who was he in contact with? Who taught him what? And who paid for him to go to Yemen in the first place? Who provided him with a false Somali passport, for which he was arrested in Yemen? Hopefully, the Eric Holder Justice Department, aided by a horde of investigative journalists, will dig deep into the issue and leave no stone unturned until it gets to the bottom of this terrible act.

Won't it?

One thing is for sure. DOJ and the MSM will devote every resource imaginable into trying to determine if there is a link between Scott Roeder and such entities as Operation Rescue. Moreover, did Bill O'Reilly's features on Tiller, ("the baby killer") incite Roeder into action? At least people like Keith Olbermann are already convinced beyond a shadow of any possible doubt. Will they show the same determination in digging out the details surrounding Mr Muhammad's motivation and connections?

Similarly, how long do you think the media will run with the Arkansas story? If you judge other similar incidents in recent years, like the attacks at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Seattle or San Francisco, it's hard to be optimistic. The attacks in Seattle (July 2006) and San Francisco (August 2006)were targeted against Jews specifically, yet the stories disappeared from the news pages within a day. If, in fact, Muhammad was arrested in possession of maps to Jewish centers, isn't it in the interest of public safety to broadcast that bit of news and let people know if they are a target?

Part of the reason is the media's extreme reluctance to concentrate on any story that has a Muslim anti-Semitic aspect to it. We all know about the Jihad business, but the press and the left are noticeably unwilling to write about radical Muslims who preach hatred towards or target Jews. Indeed many Muslims will explain that they are not anti-Jewish because Jews are considered "people of the book" who worship the same God. No, it's just "Zionists that they are opposed to."

Indeed, were we to delve deeper into the anti-Semitic aspects of these attacks/conspiracies, we are faced with the proposition that the idea of Jihad goes way beyond fighting perceived injustices committed by America and Israel toward Muslim peoples. It means we would have to go back into the passages of the Quran and the statements of the Prophet Mohammed that refer to Jews in unsettling ways. These are topics that the likes of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow are not likely to spend much time on if any. It is much more to their taste to dwell on the murder of an abortion provider and use it to bash pro-life forces and conservative commentators.

Just a hypothetical here: Suppose Mr Muhammad had killed George Tiller-not for performing abortions- but because he was a Jew (which he was not). What take would the kids at MSNBC put on that story do you think?

I say both incidents are worthy of a deeper investigation to determine if others were involved. In the Tiller case, is there a direct connection to the organized anti-abortion forces? I doubt it, but I have no objection to law enforcement doing the necessary investigation into Scott Roeder's associations. I think a similar investigation is warranted into Muhammad's connections (He was already under FBI investigation prior to the shooting.)If, in fact, American Jews are being targeted by radical Jihadists, that must be brought out for a couple of reasons: First, American Jews need to know if they are in danger of violent attacks. Second, it raises a broader question, which is, why randomly attack innocent American Jews if it's only about "The Zionists"?

I don't think the mainstream news media wants to deal with that question. Sadly, I doubt the current administration does either.