Originally published November 12, 2009
Yes, indeed, Nidal Malik Hasan did have ties to Al Qaeda but today, I would ask that we back up a little. Prior to the discovery of this connection, why were so many refusing to call this guy a terrorist? (Some still refuse that designation even now, but they were addressed in a different blog.) I am talking, at the moment, even to Conservatives who do not mind calling someone a terrorist. Hasan’s connections with Al Qaeda seem to be their prime cut argument and I find myself wondering why. Truth be told, I don’t care of this maniac was connected with Al Qaeda or not.
I have said before that in identifying our enemy, the term Al-Qaeda is too specific because there are many Muslim terrorist organizations who have declared war on the United States and the term “terrorist” is too general since there are certainly non-Muslim terrorist organizations. Our war is against Militant Islam (no, not all Muslims) but Militant Islam. If somebody is killing in the name of Allah, he is a Muslim terrorist. He does not need to belong to Al-Qaeda, Hamas or any other of those macho clubs who spread peace and brotherhood throughout the land.
Even Richard Morris, who is usually right on, called this the “first terrorist attack in our country since 9/11.” Not so, Morris. How about those sniper shootings on the east coast a few years ago (of which one of the two culprits was executed this week)? How about the guy who slammed his one engine plane into a building in Florida, or the guy who ran students over in his car at a university, or the guy who tried to blow up a football game in Pennsylvania, or the guy who shot and killed two people from the Israeli airline at LAX, or the guy who shot and killed kids at a Jewish pre-school? All of these butcheries were done by Muslims. Add in the recent honor killings, one where a husband killed his wife, the other where a father killed his daughter. Each and every time, we were told that this was not terrorism because the people acted alone and were not part of Al-Qaeda. Have we lost our freaking minds? Or is it just that our administrations, (Bush and Obama both) do not want to admit that more terrorism happened on their watch. I do not hold them responsible for preventing every single murder because that is simply impossible for anyone to do, and so, they need not be defensive about it. But I do hold them responsible to call things by their rightful name because we cannot win a war without identifying our enemy. If somebody was killed by a Muslim in the name of Islam, he was killed by a Muslim terrorist. The dead do not rest better with the consolation that their grim reaper was not part of Al-Qaeda.
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