Political Correctness = 12 Sacrifices

By: Sara Jacobi

On November 5, 2009 at Fort Hood, a military base in Texas, Major Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire and killed 12 individuals and wounded 31 others.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan was an Army psychiatrist, United States officials told NBC news. After practicing for six years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, he was transferred to Fort Hood at the age of 39. Major Hasan was scheduled to be deployed overseas to Iraq on November 28th of this year.

Major Hasan , who is Islamic, was born in and registered to practice medicine in Maryland, Virginia where he earned his medical degree from the University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda. According to www.msnbc.msn.com in a news article telling the events of Fort Hood and the history of Major Hasan, his medical records never revealed any disciplinary actions or formal complaints filed against him. However, while at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he received a “poor evaluation” according to www.msnbc.msn.com who got this information from an official who spoke with the Associate Press. Unfortunately all he was allowed to discuss was that Major Hasan had received a “poor evaluation” but could not explain anything further.

Okay, so enough with the shooter’s background and history, allow me to get to my actual point with these things. In the months, weeks, days and hours leading up to the shootings at Fort Hood military base, there were several signs and warnings that should have jumped out to United States officials. While some of these signs and warnings were noticed, they were not necessarily noticed and addressed within a timely manner. If you ask me, and several others whose opinions I have received, I believe that it was just a matter of trying to be politically correct.

Everyone wants to be politically correct in order to avoid offending somebody unintentionally, which to an extent I understand, but at some point I think it is important to call it like it is. In this case, it seems that due to warning signs officials should have said “to heck with political correctness we need to stop what is going on, now”. Instead foxnews.com says it in an excellent manner, “the United States military treated Major Nidal Malik Hasan with kid gloves, even after giving him a poor performance review”, which I previously discussed.

In the same news report found on www.foxnews.com, where Major Hasan is said to have been treated with “kid gloves”, it also states that several warning signs were there. Fox news stated that Major Hasan was justifying homicide bombings, making an effort to reach Al Qaeda, and was speaking words of anti-American hatred.

Political correctness seems to be a major issue here. In the Fox news report it states that the issue in this situation seems to be that there is a political correctness climate in the military. The military officials do not want to address something and come across as questioning an individual’s religious belief because they are afraid of an equal opportunity lawsuit.

I agree, with being careful when you address someone about their religion and beliefs, in fact, I think that is important. I believe if a person feels like they are being attacked they are less likely to work with you and give you the information you are trying to receive. In the case of the shootings at Fort Hood military base, political correctness should have been thrown out the window.

One of Major Hasan’s former classmates, Lt. Col. Val Finnel stated that Hasan’s loyalties were obviously not with the United States of America. Even back in medical school. Lt. Col. Finnel stated that Major Hasan had given a presentation of the justifications of homicide bombing. Again, according to www.foxnews.com, Lt. Col. Finnel stated “He was a lightning rod. He made his views known and he was very vocal; he had extremely radical jihadist views”. When your own classmate and friend calls you out in such away as that, I think it really says a lot.

With so many warning signs and indications that this man was clearly not a fan of the United States, why not keep a close eye on him. I know he is one person and that our government is busy, but seriously, when a classmate from medical school, whom you have spent many hours in classes and labs with, calls you out and even says higher ranked officers and their professors saw the signs and warnings, why not pay extra close attention to this individual. In the end it boils down to being politically correct.

Political correctness is all about dancing around somebody else’s feelings, emotions, opinions, morals, and beliefs, but there is a boundary when enough is enough. I am for world peace, do not get me wrong, but when you have an individual such as Major Nidal Malik Hasan openly making justifications for homicide bombings, (which I am almost one hundred percent positive the United States Army does not encourage), telling his classmates the he is a Muslim first and that he holds the Islamic Law before the United States Constitution, making effort to contact Al Qaeda, and so on and so forth, I think it is time to say good bye to political correctness and hello to the situation on hand which needs to be addressed immediately, regardless of political correctness.

Although government and military officials may not have had anything warning them that there was going to be a specific attack on Fort Hood on this specific date, the signs were there. Lt. Col. Val Finnel, stated “They should have confronted him – our professors, officers – but they were too concerned about being politically correct.”

When it reaches the point where it appears that other innocent individual lives are at risk, it is time to move past the political correctness, over step the boundaries there, and address the situation at hand.

In the case of Fort Hood, if government and military officials had not been so concerned about being political correct with Major Hasan, perhaps those 12 individuals who were sacrificed would still have their life; their families would still have their husbands and wives, their sons and daughters, their brothers and sisters. Perhaps the next time, when warning signs are there, especially after being ignored for years just like Major Hasan’s signs were, maybe we could forget being politically correct and prevent another incident such as the one at Fort Hood.



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