Tag Archives: terrorism

Mikey Weinstein’s Attempt to Equate US Military with Domestic Terrorists Backfires

In another shocking — if potentially predictable — diatribe posted at the left-leaning DailyKos (and later at the Air Force Times), Michael “Mikey” Weinstein accused the US military of being no different than domestic terrorists.

As proof, he cited the thwarted attack by three men in Kansas who led a self-described militia called “the Crusaders.” The group had formed plans to blow up an apartment complex in which the main residents were Somali Muslims. They were explicit about their hatred of Muslims, including calling them “cockroaches” and saying:

“The only [expletive] way this country’s ever going to get turned around is it will be a bloodbath and it will be a nasty, messy [expletive].”

Of note, nothing at all is said about the religious beliefs of the militia (they even reportedly considered targeting churches, including burning one “to the ground”), though they were clearly anti-Islam.

Importantly, Weinstein did not Read more

Air Force Chaplain Leads off Obama Town Hall

yost1Political controversies have largely led the news recently, which slightly obscured the Town Hall event held by US military commander-in-chief President Barack Obama on 28 September.

Some of the news from that event focused on Gold Star mother Tina Houchins asking President Obama why he refused to say “Islamic terrorist” — as well as his response that the issue had been “sort of manufactured.” However, Houchins wasn’t the first one to bring up the “Islamic” term. In fact, an Air National Guard chaplain Read more

Air Force Paper on the Passive Terrorism of Hijabs

Writing at The Intercept, Murtaza Hussain took issue with a “US military white paper [describing] wearing hijab as ‘passive terrorism’.”

A policy paper issued by the Air Force Research Laboratory, titled Countering Violent Extremism: Scientific Methods & Strategies, includes a chapter setting forth controversial and unsubstantiated theories of radicalization, including the idea that support for militant groups is driven by “sexual deprivation” and that headscarves worn by Muslim women represent a form of “passive terrorism.”

In the interest of accuracy, it is worth noting the publication was not an Air Force policy paper, and it included the disclaimer that the views were expressly only the authors’.

It is also not unusual for the US military to publish academic Read more

US Military Faithful: ‘Not the Country They Swore to Defend’

The Washington Post covered the stories of some current and former US military members who are Muslim, and who are “disturbed by the rising anti-Muslim sentiment” in the United States [emphasis added]:

Many American Muslims say they are living through a difficult time in this country. For the Muslims who are former and current service members, the prejudice and anti-Muslim rhetoric is particularly painful. Those interviewed for this story said that hateful comments have driven a wedge between them and the country they swore to defend.

Commenters were quick to point out that one could just as easily say anti-Christian sentiment within society and the US military has made America a “different US than the one they swore to defend.” In fact, so many brought up this diverging culture in 2011 — regarding the acceptance of open homosexuality within Read more

Congress Again Pushes to Declare Fort Hood Massacre Terrorism

Senator John Cornyn has introduced legislation entitled “Honoring the Fort Hood Heroes Act” (S.1500) intended to declare US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s 2009 massacre at Fort Hood an “act of terrorism.”  The text is blunt:

Congress makes the following declarations of policy:
The November 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood, Texas constituted an act of terrorism, not merely workplace violence. Nidal Hasan…was principally motivated to carry out the attack by an ideology of violent Islamist extremism.

The text goes on to require the Service Secretaries to award Read more

Hasan Trial to Take Place in Combat-like Bunker

The courthouse in which US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan is to be tried for the Fort Hood massacre looks more like a bunker in Afghanistan than an office building in Texas.  As noted by the Associated Press — which includes a rare photo of the combat zone-like revetments:

The military courthouse…has been transformed into a fortress, surrounded by hundreds of stacked freight car-sized shipping containers, and by tall dirt- and sand-filled barriers designed to protect it against the impact of a bomb blast. Armed soldiers stand guard around the building.

The substantial security measures may belie the attributed position that the government characterizes Hasan’s attack as “workplace violence,” not terrorism.

The article also notes the paralyzed Hasan is transported from the local jail to the courthouse by helicopter, at random times, “for his protection.”

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