Peters Was Right

In the aftermath of the Ft. Hood shootings, Ralph Peters wrote an article that I thought was inflammatory and over the top. He blasted the army for ignoring the signs that Major Hasan was an Islamist threat, and blamed political correctness. But now that we know more, it appears that Peters was right on target.

Eugene Robinson, not exactly a right winger, has a column in today's Washington Post called, "Failing the Troops at Fort Hood." He points out some of the things the army chose to ignore.

According to published reports, Hasan told people of his serious doubts about the U.S. military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hasan, a psychiatrist who had evaluated returning soldiers for stress-related disorders, made no secret of his reluctance to serve in the Afghan theater, where he was to be sent within weeks. According to ABC News, fellow Army doctors told superiors of their concern that Hasan felt divided allegiance -- both to the Muslims whom he felt were under attack and the country he had volunteered to serve.

As Robinson notes,

There's a difference between sensitivity and stupidity. If there were indeed signs that Maj. Nidal Hasan, the alleged Fort Hood mass murderer, was becoming radicalized in his opposition to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army had a duty to act -- before he did.

Exactly. The government seems to feel a need to bend over backward to avoid offending Muslims. By allowing politically correct "sensitivity" to trump basic sense, the army not only failed to prevent the Ft. Hood shooting, it also ensured that Muslim soldiers will now come under greater scrutiny and suspicion. It's rare that I recommend any articles by Eugene Robinson, but this one is an exception.