Was the Ft. Hood Attack an Act of Terrorism?
In light of the tragic massacre at Fort Hood, President Obama has asked that we remain calm and avoid jumping to conclusions. Obviously, the conclusion President Obama does not want us to jump to is that this shooting was an act of Islamic terrorism. From the Financial Times,
Barack Obama cautioned a stunned public on Friday against drawing quick conclusions on a shooting rampage by an officer at a Texas military base that killed 13 people.
The president made the comments as the commander of Fort Hood, the US’s largest base for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, quoted witnesses as saying the suspected gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, shouted the Muslim declaration “Allahu Akbar” – God is great – as he opened fire. Speaking at the White House, Mr Obama said: “We don’t know all the answers yet, and I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts.”
In my opinion, Major Hasan intended to terrorize his victims and was motivated and influenced by his Islamic beliefs. He didn’t impulsively start shooting people. He planned his attack. Lt. Colonel Ralph Peters, author of The War After Armageddon
