The Silent Treatment
o no b
November 9 2009
You can always tell when something bad has happened involving a follower of
the Islamic faith.
The big hint is that Islam isn't mentioned.
UPDATE. When Barack Obama says "we cannot fully know" why Hasan murdered 13
people, he means "we cannot say".
UPDATE
From the UK Telegraph's timeline:
"1.30pm: According to eye-witnesses, Hasan - who had at first sat down as if
to help soldiers with their paperwork - stands on a desk and shouts "Allahu
Akhbar" ("God is great") before opening fire with the fn 5.7 inside the
centre, spraying soldiers and civilian workers with bullets. :
UPDATE
A BBC interviewer is set straight: "I honesty have no pity for them."
UPDATE IV. Jeffrey Goldberg echoes a point made in the column:
"I do think that elite makers of opinion in this country try very hard to
ignore the larger meaning of violent acts when they happen to be perpetrated
by Muslims. Here's a simple test: If Nidal Malik Hasan had been a devout
Christian with pronounced anti-abortion views, and had he attacked, say, a
Planned Parenthood office, would his religion have been considered relevant
as we tried to understand the motivation and meaning of the attack? Of
course. "
UPDATE
Bangladeshi-American civil engineer Golam Akhter:
"So many time I talked with him," said Akhter, a community leader who is
sort of like a mosque gadfly, challenging congregants to reject literal,
rigid interpretations of Islam. "I was trying to modernize him. I tried my
best. He used to hate America as a whole. He was more anti-American than
American."
Despite all the conversations, Akther said, "I couldn't get through to him.
He was a typical fundamentalist Muslim."
UPDATE
Fort Hood wasn't an isolated case:
"The Fort Hood attack is the third instance this year in which American
military personnel in the United States have been targeted by people
reportedly opposed to U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan"
"Overall, U.S. authorities have disclosed at least 10 domestic terrorist
cases in the last year - the most since 2001 . "
Hope and change.
UPDATE
Neil Steinberg is appalled:
"The killings at Fort Hood might say something about the strain that
overtaxed U.S. soldiers are under. It might say something about security on
Army bases. But if you think that it says something about religion, what you're
really doing is saying something about yourself, and it isn't something
good. "
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/
Warmest Regards
Bon z0
"It is a remarkable fact that despite the worldwide expenditure of perhaps
US$50 billion since 1990, and the efforts of tens of thousands of scientists
worldwide, no human climate signal has yet been detected that is distinct
from natural variation."
Bob Carter, Research Professor of Geology, James Cook University, Townsville
Seon Ferguson
media would have no problem whatsoever talking about his religion.
"o no b" <w...@x.com> wrote in message news:4af8f4cf$1...@dnews.tpgi.com.au...