Combat Wounded, Combat Dead
… deserve Purple Hearts. Their killer probably deserves desertion, treason and terrorism charges if, as all indicators seem to very strongly suggest, he was engaged in jihad, from his violence-inciting, hateful rants about the Koran, his denunciation of the United States as “the aggressor” in arguments with fellow soldiers, to his shouts of “Allahu Akhbar,” to what they believe were his Internet defenses of suicide bombings, to his choice of targets, the Soldier Readiness Center at Fort Hood. If al-Qaeda is an amorphous enemy, an idea made situationally manifest by the will of its adherents, and he was in fact an adherent of its violent agenda, then he is the enemy, his actions were acts of war, and they bled and died under enemy fire.
Is any of the above very likely to be offically recognized? No. No matter what is learned about his motivation, in all likelihood he will be treated as a murder defendant in either a civilian or a military court … possibly with an insanity or bullying defense such as we’re already seeing explored on his behalf … rather than as a committed jihadi, an unlawful combatant, a terrorist, a deserter who aided and abetted the enemy, and a traitor who took up arms against his nation. It’s a push Republican lawmakers and those Democrats who agree could take up, that would command a lot of public support. Politicization of justice? Tell me that hasn’t happened already in this country. I’d call it a simple demand for justice. We owe it to the dead and the wounded to acknowledge why and under what circumstances they died and bled.
Here’s an American hero who deserves the highest honors we can bestow on her. NY Daily News. Sgt. Kimberly Munley, cop, gunfighting woman. Went into a hot situation without regard for her own safety, gave better than she got, wounded in action, got the job done. I’d call that gallantry and valor in the face of the enemy, plus war wounds. Maybe even above and beyond. She’s reportedly an Army vet. If she’s still IRR, make her retroactively active for the period in question, and make it happen.
The Hill: Fort Hood attack shows the enemy infiltrating our military, GOP candidate says. To the extent al-Qaeda is an idea, absolutely. Maj. Hasan isn’t the first. As an actual operation planned by al-Qaeda mission control, maybe, though no indication of that. But if he was on the JihadiNet, then he probably saw the come-ons.
Newsweek: Fort Hood as a harbinger? No, but Newsweek’s notion that this was caused by the stresses of war on the military is an astonishing echo of Bush Derangement Syndrome that fails to mention Hasan’s widely reported Muslim fanaticism, and buys into Hasan as a victim of non-deployed, non-combatant Pre-TSD. A relatively common theme today which gets us back to why the dead of Fort Hood will not be formally recognized as war dead.
And here they are. A little about some of the dead and wounded, via AP. And a lot more at your go to place for ground views in this long war, Mudville Gazette.
Your commentary roundup at Memeorandum.
Obama, suddenly interested in facts prior to reaching conclusions. It’s a new tactic he’s been trying out lately, selectively, to the point of distraction. That’s fine. Everyone’s innocent until proven guilty, whether there is a massive amount of alarming evidence, as in the case of Maj. Hasan, or none at all, as in the case of Sgt. James Crowley.
Previously, Dots, Not Connected.
(Care to comment? Use the “contact” link to assure me you are a real human being interested in commenting on the topics at hand. Include your preferred screenname and temporary password. Lefty Kumbayah singers, moderate handwringers, meanspirited rightwingers all welcome. This is a free speech zone as long as you keep it clean and make an effort to be accurate.)
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:13 pm on Friday, November 6, 2009
8 Responses to “Combat Wounded, Combat Dead”
Leave a Reply
Trackback URLYou must be logged in to post a comment.
November 7th, 2009 at 6:51 am
This is excellent, Jules. Thank you.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
[...] unlike Geraldo, I feel most sorry for these families (via Jules Crittenden): Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis., joined the Army after the 2001 terrorist attacks and had [...]
November 7th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
He’s a terrorist. But he’ll never ever get labeled as one: that would be an admission that the politicians shall ever shy away from.
November 7th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
[...] Jules Crittendenhas a round up of the MSM coverage. [...]
November 8th, 2009 at 8:59 am
[...] Read it. If al-Qaeda is an amorphous enemy, an idea made situationally manifest by the will of its adherents, and he was in fact an adherent of its violent agenda, then he is the enemy, his actions were acts of war, and they bled and died under enemy fire. [...]
November 8th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
[...] Jules Crittendon suggests that purple hearts should be awarded to the dead and wounded at Fort Hood because they were attacked by a a traitor who should be charged with desertion, treason and terrorism charges. (as well as murder) Is any of the above very likely to be offically recognized? No. No matter what is learned about his motivation, in all likelihood he will be treated as a murder defendant in either a civilian or a military court … possibly with an insanity or bullying defense such as we’re already seeing explored on his behalf … rather than as a committed jihadi, an unlawful combatant, a terrorist, a deserter who aided and abetted the enemy, and a traitor who took up arms against his nation. It’s a push Republican lawmakers and those Democrats who agree could take up, that would command a lot of public support. Politicization of justice? Tell me that hasn’t happened already in this country. I’d call it a simple demand for justice. We owe it to the dead and the wounded to acknowledge why and under what circumstances they died and bled. [...]
November 9th, 2009 at 6:32 am
[...] So, we treat this jihadi better than we treat criminals by not inferring his intentions? To quote Jules Crittenden, “If al-Qaeda is an amorphous enemy, an idea made situationally manifest by the will of its [...]
November 13th, 2009 at 5:32 am
[...] so on, as Mark Steyn and Ralph Peters and Jules Crittenden demonstrate in some [...]