Who believes that the F. Hood terrorist attack could have been?

I didn’t have enough room but my question was…Do you believe that the Fort Hood Terrorist attack could have been avoided? Also, do you think that the Army was being too politically correct about Nidal Malik Hasan’s religion? Would you have fired or Court Marshalled(spelling? sry) Hasan when you learned that he made multiple attempts to contact Al Quida?(spelling again lol sorry) I personally believe that it could have been prevented. Thats my own personal opinion, not my parents making it 4 me! Thanks!! :)

Answer #1

There were certainly warning signs; then again hindsight is always 20:20.

Contacting Anwar al-Awlaki is not a crime and lots of people use hyperbole in emails. Sometimes fantasizing about violence even serves as a relief valve and keeps people from being violent. It can be very difficult to decide that someone is a clear and present danger. Should everyone who belongs to “Army of God” or wished George Tiller dead be treated as a potential assassin? Should everyone saying they wish or pray that our president dies be detained and investigated by the Secret Service?

We live in an open society. There is danger because you can never tell when someone will crack and take advantage of our openness and attack us. I would still rather live in an open and dangerous society than one that views everyone with suspicion. I found it interesting that after the Virginia Tech massacre students were against fencing off their campus and installing metal detectors. They would rather face the danger of an open and welcoming campus than turn it into a fortress.

After the Fort Hood shooting the first question I heard was, what can we do to prevent this from happening again? I guess we could become a police state; that should help. I don’t think a police state is what the men and women who died at Fort Hood were fighting for in the first place.

Answer #2

“but if someone tries over 20 or so times to contact Al Quida, I’d be monitoring this guy like crazy after the first attempt.”

Both the FBI and the Army monitored the email contact between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki. The FBI did not believe there was enough in the emails to suggest that Hasan was plotting a terrorist act against Americans. Nor did the Army, which considered his questions to al-Awlaki to be legitimate research for a military mental health professional.

As I said before, in hindsight it’s easy to say that red flags should have gone up…but so far there’s no real evidence to suggest that al-Awlaki or anybody else was instructing Hasan to carry out a terrorist act against American military members. The relationship between Hasan and al-Awlaki seems very much to be a man seeking advice from his cleric, albeit a radical cleric, and then committing an atrocious act on his own accord.

Answer #3

stop muslims from coming in this country because were at war with muslim extremists, so put a moratorium on muslims coming to our country, nothing agenst them personally but if we banned them from the country this crap would have never happened!!!

Answer #4

So far, nothing has come out that I’ve seen that would have suggested this was going to happen. Sometimes people just snap. The ‘warning signs’ are usually only obvious after the fact, because almost everyone exhibits ‘warning signs’ from time to time.

Answer #5

I know it isn’t politically correct, but I believe that the Army was afraid (in a way)of being profiled as racist…You may see it in a diff way, but if someone tries over 20 or so times to contact Al Quida, I’d be monitoring this guy like crazy after the first attempt. It went way too far and after the second time I would have started to question him. I don;t even know if I would wait untill a second time he contacted them.

Answer #6

It’s always easy, in hindsight, to say something like this could have been prevented. I’m not so sure it’s as easy as many people are making it out to be.

As for being too politically correct about a person’s religion, keep in mind that Hasan’s shooting has made international news coverage. What hasn’t made international coverage has been the hundreds of American soldiers born in Afghanistan or Arabic speaking countries, who offer invaluable service as translators and cultural liaisons. Backlash against Muslims in the US military is a legitimate concern, and to say that Muslims should come under scrutiny or be outright banned from military service (as some suggest) is dangerously absurd.

Answer #7

Mistakes were most definately made regarding Hasan, but hindsight is always 20-20. We know very little about his attempted contacts with al qaeda. We know he had exchanged emails with a controversial iman in yeman, but the FBI at the time found that the emails were not threatening.

The bottom line, this was an act committed by a completely psychotic and deranged individual, and not related to some conspriatorial terrorist plot.

Answer #8

Choosing to not profile muslims is not being politically correct. It is respecting individual rights. As I said, there were warning signs, and maybe people should have acted to get this guy some help, but it is not terrorism.

Answer #9

I don’t think every Muslim is a terrorist. I think that that is possible what the Army was afraid of being called out on. And thanks.

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