Well, this certainly leads one to start drawing conclusions:
FORT HOOD, Texas – Soldiers who witnessed the shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead reported that the gunman shouted “Allahu Akbar!” before opening fire, the base commander said Friday.
The phrase is what Muslims call the Takbir:
The takbīr or takbeer (تَكْبِير) is the Arabic name for the phrase Allāhu Akbar, الله أكبر. Usually translated “God is great” or “God is [the] greatest,” it is a common Arabic expression and is used as both an informal expression of faith and as a formal declaration.
This won’t do anything to quell the speculation that this was some kind of terrorist attack, of course, but I’m standing by my initial thoughts this morning that this was a guy who was probably mentally unstable to begin with who was motivated by his religious beliefs to go on a murdering spree. There’s no evidence he was part of a terrorist organization and no evidence that he was working with anyone.
At the same time, I think we should take seriously this question of whether or not Muslim Americans who have volunteered to serve in the military have been subject to harassment from fellow soldiers because of their religion or ethnicity. If that’s true, then the military needs to deal with it. Now.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:24 am
What does Allahu Akbar mean?
November 6th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
This situation also needs to be looked at in the fact that an attack on the US in the US just puts wind in the sails of the enemy.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
What Doug, you don’t agree with Malkin that we should not allow Muslims to serve in the military because they are all bred to be terrorists?
(please do note my sarcasm)
It bothers me that everyone is so focused on this guy’s religion. This could just have easily have been a Christian nutter who was angered about Obama’s birth certificate.
I think that folks should step back, take a deep breath, and wait for the results of the forthcoming investigation. Oh, and they should also stop politicizing religion to support their ideology.
My two coppers.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
PJ Pundit,
I think his religion is relevant only because it appears to have a role in the motive behind these attacks.
Malkin’s an idiot.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Doug — while I think that religion may be relevant because, as you said, it appears to have had a role in his motivation — I also think that too many folks are focusing on the religious aspect of the story.
And yes, Malkin is indeed an idiot.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
I hear what you’re saying, believe me.
Frankly, I think Nidal Hasan has done more to screw over his fellow Muslim-Americans than anyone has to date.
The last thing we needed was something like this.