On November 5th Nidal Mlik Hasan, a U.S. Army Major and psychiatrist of Muslim descent, opened fire on the Fort Hood military base killing 13 people and wounding 30 others. It is understandable that the U.S. government and many Americans made preliminary assumptions that the case was affiliated with terrorism, as some evidence was discovered linking Hasan to email messages sent to a radical Muslim extremist Anwar al-Awlaki who is known to propagate terrorist sentiments. However, a thorough investigation has yielded no evidence of any affiliation with terrorist groups or any outside aide in Hasan’s suicidal plot. Yet, a Rasmussen survey found that 60% of Americans still want his case investigated as an act of terrorism, (under the jurisdiction of federal criminal courts). Racial/ethnic profiling is a prevailing factor in Hasan’s case, as he was automatically stereotyped to be an extremist terrorist. Nothing can justify Hasan’s heinous act of mass murder, but Americans need to shed their discriminatory assumptions and focus on the more valid motivating factor in his case: the aftermath of trauma caused by our war in the Middle East. The Fort Hood shooting should serve as a reminder of the atrocities involved with our current war and the permanent, emotionally scarring affects that our current war has inflicted on veterans and all military personnel involved. Rather than promote further racial profiling and sweeping generalizations about all American Muslims, we need to acknowledge the devastating domestic affects of war and reevaluate our lingering involvement in the Middle East.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/us/08investigate.html?scp=16&sq=Fort%20Hood%20killing&st=cse
1 comment:
I agree with the above post, but I think the public response to this event partially exposes another underlying problem that has yet to be addressed since the attacks on 9/11. Many americans have had little interaction with muslim populations, and many more continue to stereotype muslims as anti-american and as terrorists. Americans overall are ignorant when it comes to muslim culture. While there are a few extremist groups out there that commonly cry out "Death to America!", these groups do not represent the entire muslim community. The violent attacks of the past have been the only connection that americans can draw about muslims, which is a harsh and extreme generalization. It does not surprise me that when they heard a somewhat uncommon name was behind the shootings at the military base, they immediately concluded it was a terrorist act, even when there was no evidence supporting that belief. I think many of us need to remember that we are not trying to fight muslims, we are trying to fight terrorists.
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