Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Lone Terrorism of a Lone Killer

I’m watching the beginning of a broadcast of the memorial ceremony for U.S. Soldiers who were killed and wounded on one of our largest military bases, Ft. Hood, Texas. The preliminary music has just stopped and I am anticipating the rest of the program, including an address by President Barack Obama.

Last Thursday, after first hearing of this incredibly heinous act of evil, I was subsequently taken aback in the following days by the official Washington response in which the word “terrorism” was never used. Instead, we heard only platitudes about how there was no evidence that the alleged murderer, Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, may have acted conspiratorially: As if anyone allegedly acting unilaterally should keep this crime from being designated as an act of terrorism.

But one stalwart Washington leader, Senator Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he will hold hearings. He is one of the few who has the courage to describe this brutal act: The senator declared, “This was an attack on American troops. You've got to see it as if 12 American troops were killed in Afghanistan." Lieberman went on to call it "The worst terrorist attack since 9/11."

Good for him.  It’s a welcome recess from a type of political correctness which has transformed segments of our population into a bunch of sops.

We in New Jersey are honored to have a direct connection with this tragedy – Private Second Class Alan Carroll, a 2007 graduate of Bridgewater-Raritan High School. A wounded survivor, he plans to return to this area, on leave to celebrate the holidays with his family.


Material for some of this post came from the Courier News, The Star-Ledger, The Nation, and The Hill

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