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Catching The Real Extremists
Remember the Dept of Homeland Security's report on rightwing extremism released earlier this year? It detailed many "sources" of this type of extremism, including returning military veterans and your typical white racist types. DHS's report on leftwing extremism, on the other hand, focused on more "passive" expressions of extremism.
Too bad that DHS had to pigeon-hole, because I would love to see where they're going to categorize Nadil Hasan and those like him.
Janet Napolitano has responded, however. By warning us to not backlash against American Muslims. Perhaps she and her agency need to worry a little less about our reaction to law-abiding Muslims and a little more about preventing the tragic Ft. Hood indicent from happening again somewhere else.
Bob Parks has more on this here.
Too bad that DHS had to pigeon-hole, because I would love to see where they're going to categorize Nadil Hasan and those like him.
Janet Napolitano has responded, however. By warning us to not backlash against American Muslims. Perhaps she and her agency need to worry a little less about our reaction to law-abiding Muslims and a little more about preventing the tragic Ft. Hood indicent from happening again somewhere else.
Bob Parks has more on this here.
posted by Robert at 8:00 PM
12 Comments:
I'm not following you here.
Are you saying that the DHS Commissioner should be formulating policy on mentally ill armed forces personnel?
Or are you saying that Hassan was part of an extremist group, a "real extremist group," that you allude to in the title? And, if so, which one?
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The latter. Sick, demented individuals who use religion as a reason/justification for their actions. The evidence is steadily mounting in that direction.
Well, then, the "real extremists," or, what you're referring to as "sick, demented individuals who use religion as a reason/justification for their actions," exist, as you are fully are aware, I'm sure, in virtually all religions.
And I don't think Napolitano is wrong in warning about the backlash against Muslims, many of whom are as American as you and I. After all, there are a lot of extremists out there right now, particularly after this latest incident, who are warped enough to believe that if you are a Muslim, you are the enemy and should be treated as such.
For these folks, "lone wolf" shooters and terrorists only apply when the killer is an extremist from the right. They're not able understand that you don't blame an entire religion for the actions of one individual, any more than you can blame an entire political ideology for the actions of one "lone wolf."
Yes, an investigation will be underway shortly, I'm sure, and evidence will be collected and analyzed. Until then, I'm thinking the "evidence" that Michelle Malkin and other righties hungry for the terrorist connection needs to be taken in the proper light.
After all, we're still waiting to find out who's the "lone wolf" who hung the Federal census taker from a tree several months ago in Tennessee. One shouldn't rush to judgment.
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The only point I'm making here, Jonathan, besides the obvious one that Hassan hasn't be proven to be anything but mentally unstable, is that there are a certain group of people in this country who throw up their hands and warn everyone to be careful not to generally characterize right wing extremists into one group when a right wing extremist blows up a Federal building or an abortion clinic or walks into a church after reading the latest book by Sean Hannity and fires up the "liberal" congregation. They call him an anomaly...a "lone wolf."
But when a Muslim goes off the deep end and starts shooting he's automatically a Muslim terrorist that belong to some larger worldwide group of Muslim terrorists.
If the guy proves to be a terrorist then lets label him as such. But until then, let's be consistent with our judgments. To do otherwise is hypocrisy of the highest order.
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You're extrapolating, Rick. Nowhere did either Jonathan or I mention that general Islam is to blame, or that Hasan is part of an organized group (he MIGHT very well be, however).
The point is, he used his religion as a reason/justification. That religion happened to be Islam. Given the history of these type of individuals, it would have been wise for the DHS to include religious fanatics like these in their extremist groups analyses previously released.
Since all three of you are talking about TWO different things, I figured what the heck, I'll bring in a third.
Can someone please explain to me why we can't deport this guy?
new twist to the story. This thing just gets freakier by the minute, in terms of the information superiors had and the do nothing result.
Actually, LV, all of these things are tied to the same issue I raised, which is the fact that DHS had no problem targeting specific "rightwing" and "leftwing" individuals and groups earlier this year, but nary a mention of this type of religious fanaticism which we've seen all too many examples of.
In light of not only the Ft. Hood incident but others like the murder of the Army officer in Arkansas earlier this year, it makes one seriously wonder about the lack of situational awareness and hesitancy on a government-wide level to act regarding these fanatics.
Robert...seriously, if the government is putting out studies on right-wing and left-wing extremists, don't you think they're doing the same for other groups including Islamic terrorists?
Or do you actually think they aren't dedicating any resources to that particular group?
Now I'm totally confused.
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I think we know enough about Hasan to characterize him as a terrorist. It doesn't have to be proven beyond all doubt. The evidence is obvious. And BTW, I don't think it's any more proven that Hasan is mentally disturbed, though I think he is (as I think are many terrorists, but that doesn't make them any less terrorists).
There have been native mass-murderers like McVeigh, but aside from anti-abortion extremists, of whom there have been few, the right-wing terrorists have been mostly lone nuts. The Left, OTOH, has had organized groups such as the Weathermen, the Puerto Rican nationalists and the eco-fanatic tree-spikers. The Islamists are both organized and lone nuts, and they stand out because there have been many marginal attacks from them during the past few years that collectively add up to a significant and growing problem, as well as several significant terror conspiracies that were broken up before they did anything. Hasan appears to be merely the most recent and destructive manifestation of a serious systematic problem.
Jonathan: You don't really want to wander down the "collectively add up to a significant and growing problem" road when it comes to right wing extremism. Examples abound in just the past 2 years.
And, no, we don't know enough about Hasan. That's exactly the problem. Michelle Malkin has jumped the gun before. And she's doing it this time, too.
BTW, I think it's quite safe to say that anyone who kills 13 people is mentally disturbed, no?
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Great dialog here! Just found you ... will keep an eye out. Good post!
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