What is this wandering article's point? - That suicide rates are high in the military? - That a murder was motivated by racial or ethnic issues? - That the invasions of Iraq and Afganistan were unfounded?
The article is like a huge run-on sentence of loosely related arguments with a vauge suggestion that they each support the next. Mainly though, I fail to understand the connection between a high suicide rate in the general (non-Islamic) military population and radicalization of Islamic members of the military. Spaghetti - meet wall.... -Cameron On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 9:48 AM, Vivec <[email protected]> wrote: > > This is long, but interesting. > I didn't know that the suicide rate in the Army was so high now. > > ------------------------------------- > "Earlier this year, the Pentagon committed US$50 million to a study > investigating why the suicide rate in the military is rising: it used > to be below the suicide rate in comparable civilian groups, but now > its four times higher. Thirteen American soldiers were killed by a > gunman at Fort Hood in Texas last Thursday, but 75 others have died by > their own hand at the same army base since the invasion of Iraq in > 2003. Why? > > To most people, the answer is obvious. The wars in Iraq and > Afghanistan have been frustrating, exhausting, and seemingly endless, > and some people just cant take it anymore. But the Pentagon is > spending US$50m to search for other possible causes, because it > doesnt like that answer. > > The US military budget tops half a trillion dollars, so the military > can splash out on diversionary studies that draw attention away from > the main problems, which are combat fatigue and loss of faith in the > mission. And we are seeing exactly the same pattern in the response to > the killings in Fort Hood, although in this case the military are also > getting the services of the US media for free. > > Lets see, now. A devout Muslim officer serving in the US Army, born > in the United States but of Palestinian ancestry, is scheduled to > deploy to Afghanistan in the near future. He opens fire on his fellow > soldiers, shouting Allahu akbar (God is great in Arabic.) What can > his motive have been? Hard to guess, isnt it? Was he unhappy about > his promotion prospects? Hmm. > > There is something comic in the contortions that the US media engage > in to avoid the obvious fact that if the United States invades Muslim > countries, some Muslim Americans are bound to think that America has > declared war on Islam. It has not, but from Pakistan to Somalia the US > is killing Muslims in the name of a war on terror. > > So is it possible that the shooter in Fort Hood, Major Nidal Malik > Hasan, who was waiting to ship out to Afghanistan, did not want to > take a personal part in that enterprise? Might he belong to that large > majority of Muslims (though probably a minority among American > Muslims) who, unable to discover any rational basis for US strategy > since 9/11, have drifted towards the conclusion that the United States > is indeed waging a war on Islam? > > Perish the thought! > > Rather than entertain such a subversive idea, official spokespersons > and media pundits in the United States have been trying to come up > with some other motive for Maj Hasans actions. Maybe he was a coward > who couldnt face the prospect of combat in Afghanistan. Maybe he was > a nut-case whose actions had no meaning at all. Or maybe he was > unhappy at the alleged abuse he had suffered because he was > Muslim/Arab /Palestinian. > > After a few days while the commentariat hesitated before competing > narratives, the media are settling on the explanation that it was > ethnic/racial/religious abuse that drove Nidal crazy. Bad people doing > un-American things were ultimately responsible for the tragedy, and > theres an end to it. > > The one explanation that is excluded is that Americas wars in Muslim > lands overseas are radicalising Muslims at home. Never mind that the > home-grown Muslim terrorists who attacked the London transport system > in 2005, and the various Muslim plotters who have been caught in other > Western countries before their plans came to fruition, have almost all > blamed the Western invasions of Muslim countries for radicalising > them. > > Never mind, above all, that what really radicalised them was the fact > that those invasions made no sense in terms of Western security. No > Afghan has ever attacked the United States, although Arabs living in > Afghanistan were involved in the planning of 9/11. There were no > terrorists in Iraq, no weapons of mass destruction, and no contacts > between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaida. So why did the US invade those > countries? > > The real reasons are panic and ignorance, reinforced by militaristic > reflexes and laced with liberal amounts of racism. But people find it > hard to believe that big, powerful governments like those of the > United States, Britain and the other Western powers involved in these > foolish adventures could really be so stupid, so the conspiracy > theories proliferate. > > It is a testimony to the moderation and loyalty of Muslim communities > in the West that so few of their members have succumbed to these > conspiracy theories. It is evidence of the profound denial that still > reigns in the majority community in the United States that the most > obvious explanation for Major Nidals actions didnt even make the > medias short list. > > I cannot know for sure what moved Major Nidal to do the terrible > things he did: each individual is a mystery even to himself. But I do > see the US media careening all over the road to avoid the huge and > obvious fact that obscures half the horizon. Time to grow up. > > * Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose artic ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:307413 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
