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| Army lacks guidelines to deal with jihadists in ranks |
| 2009-11-21 |
| The Army has guidelines on how to deal with racist views and actions within the ranks, but none on how to deal with Islamic jihadism, a former Army vice chief of staff told Congress on Thursday. Retired Army Gen. John M. Keane said this absence of guidance fostered a politically correct reluctance to investigate the man accused in the Fort Hood shootings, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. A military pamphlet created after the 1995 racially motivated shootings at Fort Bragg is the intended guidebook on how to deal with extremist activities and prohibited conduct but is mostly focused on white supremacist behavior, Gen. Keane told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the first congressional oversight hearing on the Fort Hood shootings. "Clearly we don't have specific guidelines in dealing with jihadist extremists," Gen. Keane told the Senate homeland security committee. Most of the witness panel agreed with Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, when he asked: "Do you think that political correctness may have played some role in the fact" that there was no in-depth investigation of Maj. Hasan? He is charged with murder in the rampage that left 13 people dead and 29 others wounded. "There is no doubt in my mind that was operating here," said Gen. Keane, who served as vice chief of staff from 1999 to 2003, capping a 37-year military career. Frances Fragos Townsend, an assistant to President George W. Bush for homeland security and counterterrorism, agreed that there was a reluctance to investigate Maj. Hasan because he was a senior member of the military, as well as a psychiatrist. "We can't allow [investigators] to be reluctant to follow the facts, just because they are afraid they will be criticized for not being politically correct," Mrs. Townsend said. Lightbulbs turning on? Rest at link |
| Posted by:ed |
| #6 Ya, gorb, same here. Just a common sense is needed. However that has been so blunted by the PCism that many people are left only with a barely noticeable rudiment and some sport not a trace. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2009-11-21 21:26 |
| #5 but none on how to deal with Islamic jihadism We shouldn't need them. Just like we shouldn't need guidelines on how to deal with a rabid dog. How to deal with them is obvious. Our fathers were able to deal with them, as should we. But apparently it's becoming a gray area. Pathetic. |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-11-21 20:58 |
| #4 Oops, sorry, only 46,000 killed there, not including civilians and externals, nothing to be learned, a small war. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2009-11-21 20:30 |
| #3 Why were some units integrated in Rhodesia and others not? Hint, superficial PC thoughts are redundant... |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2009-11-21 19:38 |
| #2 It will be most interesting to see where the various investigations will lead I would guess it will more frustrating than interesting. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2009-11-21 11:31 |
| #1 Much has already been written with regard to the discussions, causical theory, etc, surrounding the tragic attack at Fort Hood. Searching for clinical answers may however be the wrong fork in the road. If the trail does lead to some form of 'radicalization' and we can muster the courage to narrow the search beyond Amish separatists, then I would suggest a review of the writings within our very own defense community, of Anna Simmons. Ms. Simmons, is a professior of defense analysis at the Naval Postgradute School in Monterey, California, and author of 'Making Enemies - An Anthropology of Islamist Terror.' Simmons argues that it is not wise to formulate policies based on any perceived distinction betweeen 'moderates' and 'radicals' because the line between the two is not stable. Rebuking Western commentators who attribute Islamic terrorism to pat reasons of discrimination and alienatioin, she wrote in The American Interest (Summer, 2006): "We gloss over the possibility that Islamists might want to do us grave harm out of deep spiritial conviction. It is easier and more politic to boil the problem down to inequities rather than iniquity." It will be most interesting to see where the various investigations will lead. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-11-21 11:25 |