Fort Hood

There is not anything I can add in terms of an original thought. My heart goes out to the soldiers and patriots killed so senselessly. It is even more disheartening that they were killed at home and not on a battlefield. My thoughts and prayers to their families...thank you for your sacrifice. I am sorry for your loss.

I can not sign-off without saying that I am pissed-off that we can not have a discussion (in polite society) about the religion of the perpetraitor [sic]. Instead, we are subjected to the drivel and speculation regarding post-traumatic stress (pre-trauma I might add); the stress placed on the military by multiple wars; etc. It was almost painful to listen to some of the contortions that so-called news analysts and reporters had to go through to avoid speculation that religion could have had anything to do with this blood-lust attack.

I do believe that it is too early to jump to conclusions; but, it is not to early to make a list of likely motives that should all be investigated with an open mind. I am afraid that as more evidence emerges about the state-of-mind of the shooter; it is going to be evident that PC (political correctness) contributed to the slaughter of these good and innocent people. If the FBI, the military hierarchy and colleagues had evidence that Hasan was profoundly against our presence in Afganistan and Iraq, then he should have been drummed-out of the military.

The peaceful followers of Islam face a difficult question - how does a devout Muslim 'integrate' into Western Civilization that is (generally) classically liberal in it's philosophical approach to the relationship between individuals, government, religion and science? A similar question, which as yet can not even be asked, at least in the PC establishment square, for non-Muslims: "how do we deal with a religion whose devotees (the more devout, the bigger the problem) are asked to wage jihad against the non-believers? Unfortunately, the sad truth is that we are in the midst of a clash of cultures...pick your side...they are not compatible.

You may view me a 'red-state rube' (even though I currently reside in CA); but address the following questions:

1. How do you 'square' your belief system with one where martyrdom (young men, women and children) in the service of killing civilians, is celebrated by a significant population of believers (and tacitly approved of by many more)?
2. How do you resolve the systematic repression of women's (basic & human) rights, gay rights, abortion rights (whether you are for or against), etc. that are obviously and evidently supported by establishment-Islam with the concepts of diversity, Islam as a religion of peace, live and let live, and on and on and on?

You can ignore it; you can play 'twister' explaining it away...I view it as a elemental clash of cultures, or if you prefer, a fundamentally different philosophical approach to the human condition. Not unlike the clash between communism and democracy.

A better society would at least allow discussion and debate, and our Fort Hood soldiers may have died in part to get us closer to the day when we can have that discussion and decide, as a democratic society, how to address the new reality of threats that endanger our way of life and kill our brave soldiers.