I guess someone was watching that absurd video the DHS put out asking the public to turn in suspicious-looking white guys with hooded sweatshirts to those "fusion centers". The tipster who alerted the authorities to Naser Jason Abdo must have been blind and just listened to the audio.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/28/exclusive-us-military-serviceman-arrested-in-second-alleged-attack-on-ft-hood/
Hopefully, this will bring Janet Napolitano back from her delusion that right-wing Christian military veteran extremists with stringy blond hair falling out of their baseball caps are the biggest terrorist threat to America. That is an absurdity.
What happened in Norway was a horrific act that hopefully, will not be repeated, but it should not be a diversion from what the true threat is and where it comes from. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) is about to hold another hearing on the radicalization of Muslims right here in America. This latest story, coupled with the on-going recruiting of Jihadists to return to Somalia and fight with Al Shabaab is a reminder that the King hearings are necessary. I have full confidence that King will not allow it to become a witch-hunt or smear against innocent American Muslims, but it is a necessary inquiry.
I don't want to minimize the attack in Norway nor the possibility that lone wolf characters may play out their hate through violence. At this point, different kinds of hatred are present in western Europe. However, one lone act by a single nut is hardly a trend. Islamist acts of terror are a world-wide trend. Let's be realistic in setting our priorities and recognizing the threats.
All the guys who think they are authorized by God or by their illustrious fictional ancestry to pick up guns and go out on a shooting spree of hapless civilians in the name of some holy war are the bad guys. Some of them do have Nordic names and long stringy hair. Some of them chant "al-Lah akbar." Nobody improves their own integrity be saying "Pay not attention to that man behind the curtain, the real enemy is..."
ReplyDeleteWhen we learn to dispassionately nail anyone who is indulging in mass murder in the name of some warped ideology, usually blaming all the civilian dead for failing to flock to the killer's inspired political leadership, when we learn to do that without even mentioning the color of their hair or the language the speak, or even what their preferred ideology is, then we will have a rational campaign going with some hope of success.
It's like hate crime laws. The guys who killed Matthew Shepherd are not special. Killing him was no worse than any other first degree intentional homicide. It was no better either.