Posted by
Sgt Relic on Friday, January 22, 2010 11:20:39 AM
The day is coming to an end. The sun has settled below the horizon and the evening shadows begin to lengthen as a few stars begin to appear, the air is cooling and the promise of a balmy night is on the breeze.
Suddenly, the stillness is shattered by the crack of rifle fire! Pandemonium quickly ensures as the troops come instantly to the alert and begin to return fire. Then, above it all, goes up the all too familiar call of “Corpsman Up!” One of those rounds has found its mark.
This is a scene that has played out on every battlefield in history. It is a part of the profession of arms. It is a risk that is accepted by all who chose to serve their country in its armed forces, grim as it may be….it is part of the job.
What is not acceptable is to be shot down in cold blood by a fellow soldier in the middle of a stateside military base! This act is made worse by the fact that it was an avoidable event.
The recent report by Togo West concerning the Ft. Hood attack by Nidal Hasan is a tribute to political correctness and the wrong-headed thinking that drives it. It is a disgraceful whitewashing of what was clearly an Islamic terrorist attack. The report is insulting to the intelligence of anyone with two gray cells to rub together.
West’s suggestion that the attack had nothing to do with Islam and could just as easily come from a radicalized Christian boggles the mind.
While it is true that there was a failure of leadership in the Army chain of command, it begs the question of how that could come to be. I know too many serving officers to be convinced that our armed forces have been inundated by incompetents. No, the answer has to be in what constrained these officers from doing their duty when it comes to evaluating subordinates.
Political correctness is the culprit and it is killing our own people!
The forces of political correctness have turned Islamics into a protected species. A bad evaluation of Hasan would very likely have had a negative impact on the evaluating officer’s career, with no real impediment to Hasan’s advancement. This is unacceptable!
Political correctness is killing Americans, both here at home, and on the battlefield. This report is an outrage!
Here’s a clue for the hapless Mr. West. When a service member lectures on the virtues of radical Islam, even to the point that he has printed on his official business card, “Soldier of Allah”, that member does not belong in our military.
Military service is never without risks, even in time of peace. The fact that it is a dangerous occupation is unarguable; however, failing to properly identify an enemy, or worse ignoring their presence, as Mr. West has done, is deranged to the point of being suicidal. It is too much to ask of any military member!