We were stunned with the news of an apparent single extremist gunman murdering or wounding in cold blood 42 of our Men and Women in uniform on the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas.  Our thoughts and hearts go out to those members in Fort Hood in particular--but also to our entire Fighting Force in sincere sympathy at both "their and our" loss during this remembrance period for our Veterans.

We have heard a number of people--both in the Media and otherwise--talk of this loss as being senseless.  I, for one, do not view any loss of our soldiers as senseless.  These brave Men and Women gave up their lives in the execution of their duty, whether it be on the battlefield or otherwise.  No loss to our military should be counted as senseless--for it demeans the loss of the individual, his or her family and this nation.  To a Soldier or Sailor, Airman or Marine, duty is paramount and these Men and Women made the ultimate sacrifice in their ongoing execution of it.

The killer, we are told,  must not be viewed as a terrorist.  Nidal Malik Hasan?  This...man...lies alive and recovering in a soft bed in Texas.

We have read the press releases and heard the Talking Heads indicate to us that this man was a soldier who "snapped" despite having never served in an actual combat environment.  We are told that he might have suffered from a new malady, perhaps mutated recently, to give structure to his seemingly inexplicable actions.  This malady is called "Pre-Traumautic Stress Syndrome," which can most likely be likened to "Extreme Cowardice"  with regard to how it presents itself in the form of its symptoms.

Political Correctness & Military Duty

Hasan was a Psychiatrist with the rank of Major in the Army.  The "Major" was apparently fully trained and educated by the Army during the course of his career.  We know that the Major was a Muslim who had ties to Al-Quaida --those ties apparently having been investigated by our Government and found to be rather harmless and therefore dismissed.  In addition, we know that the Major was having a temper tantrum for being actually required to very soon serve his country in the Field of Honor for the first time in his long and rather uninspiring career.  Nevermind the Major's lack of family or even close friends (beyond certain dancers) that would make going to or near the field of battle difficult.  Nevermind the fact that the Major's main job was one of caring for the mental stability of the troops rather than direct or even indirect combat or contact with the enemy.

The Major was apparently a walking, talking diatribe of infantile hypocrisy whom made his extreme Islamic views known to all--even in the process of delivering technical lectures--in the company of his fellows.  And when rebutted about his extreme criticisms of our Government with regard to the terrorists which we are fighting against, he became even more distempered and felt hurt and even depressed that his criticism dare be challenged.

The men in his Company, the Army etc., out of extreme and displaced fear of being politically incorrect, apparently did not move to intercept the Major and find out exactly what his major malfunction was.

As a former military man, I still know of and understand the implications that will be brought to bear by overtly and publicly criticizing your country in its endeavors.  The old military saying goes:   "It's not ours to question why, only ours to do or die."  This old adage apparently no longer applies?

I will certainly point up the Men of the Military's view on serving and that is that, when one joins up with the military, one temporarily gives up his or her liberties in order that the peoples of the nation might continue with theirs.   This is, indeed, the truth-- I have been there myself.

Defining The Act and Culpability

I think we all might very much like to know by whose command the investigation into this individual was dismissed.  The record is certainly there of who made the determination to dismiss the investigation.  Apparently, our Government seems more concerned with whom is at political odds with its leadership than with actual threats to its population.

If one looks at the definition of terrorism under US Law Code, US Code Title 22,ch.38,paragraph 2656f(d), one will find the following: "The term terrorism means premeditated, politically motivated violence against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents." The victims, being that they were unarmed, many being medical personnel would certainly qualify as noncombatant, and the Major with his disclosed ties to Al Quaida and an Imam of particular violent notoriety could easily be determined to be a clandestine agent acting on behalf of our enemies.  No one can doubt his political motivation in Hasan's criticism of our actions since 9/11.  In addition, the Major purchased two handguns--one in particular of a body armor-piercing configuration--shortly prior to his attack.

Therefore, it would appear that we have suffered our first major Islamic extremist terrorist attack on US Soil since 9/11, and this due primarily to the insanity of political correctness.

Certain folks among and above us will continue in their denial of this truth, but perpetual denial of a particular truth will only make culpability easier to track by history with regard to the action that invokes the denial.

The Poor Marksmen in Our Government

I suppose if this fractally increasing insanity that we are experiencing continues, we will soon, if we have not already, enter the total damnation stage of "what was formerly right is now wrong, and what was formally wrong is now right."

We are seeing evidence of this phenomenon already, what with our Government insistently focusing on passage of a Healthcare Act that it is certainly not necessary in the face of unemployment numbers that continue their climb.  The leadership's preoccupation with this seems to outshadow anything else.  In addition, we have troops in need of help that has yet to come at this writing, not to mention a Stimulus Bill that has proved effective at only stimulating the hyperbole coming out of our Politicans' mouths.  This--while more and more Americans fall out of work.  Our Mainstream Media seems fixated at telling us only about how right and well things are going--with the exception of our Healthcare--which must be far more important to the Media than the economy, despite the fact that it is one of the few sectors within our economy that has seemed to continue its ongoing excellence without fail.  In truth, like poor Marksmen, our leadership continually misses the target of the true endeavors for which they have been elected.

We have also seen a Congressional Bill voted on in the affirmative that includes language that will require a citizen of this country be jailed in addition to fines if that person fails to purchase Healthcare coverage.  Now this is an insanity that bars explanation.  Illegal aliens within our country, it would appear, are safer from our Government than we ourselves as citizens are--since in being an illegal alien, one will apparently not be required to purchase such coverage since the alien in question is not technically HERE.  One then would have to wonder that if a citizen is caught without coverage, can said citizen then renounce his or her citizenship and therefore then get around the law were it to pass the Senate?

We might only hope that the geometrically progressing "Insanity of Denial" in political correctness, which seems to infest every nook and cranny in our society and Government, is incrementally expunged and that true common sense in our dealings with one another might take hold again.  A Genuine Civility in our discourse among differing people is a far more workable solution than the veneer of insincere dismissal of stupendous excess which only encourages a harboring of even more viral and volatile demeanors within a society.

"See What You See"

~ Ronald W. Reagan

>>Click here to access "Fort Hood Mosaic."<<

Barry Secrest