Thoughts on Ft. Hood

Major Hasan’s motivations are very troubling and appear to be similar to other “Al Qaeda sympathizers.” A few months ago Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad shot two military recruiters in Arkansas. One of these recruiters was fatally wounded. Abdulhakim, who converted to Islam, told authorities that his reason for shooting these recruiters was his disapproval of U.S. policies toward Muslims.[1] The Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad case is one example of what Sara Carter calls “sudden jihad syndrome.” She explains how this “syndrome” poses a great risk to America’s domestic security: “Sympathy for al Qaeda has produced ‘sudden jihad syndrome’ in domestic terror cells unaffiliated with foreign terrorists and people seeking to carry out attacks in the U.S. […] The intelligence analysis says homegrown groups are not purely “domestic,” as their ideology is similar if not exactly like those of international terrorist groups, and cited examples such as the Lackawanna Six.”[2]

As with Abdulhakim, I am not sure whether Hasan is directly linked to Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups. There is still much to decipher about Hasan's motivations despite his sympathy for suicide bombers and his disgruntlement over the military’s role in Afghanistan and Iran. Both men, however, became radicalized Al Qaeda sympathizers and emerged as “home-grown terrorists.” They bought into a violent and global Islamic jihadist movement that seeks to empower localized terrorism within the United States.

The scary part of these “sympathizers” is that they appear to be increasing. Over the past few years there have been other foiled attacks by similar people adhering to jihadist principles (the Fort Dix Plot, the Lackawanna Six, and the group of jihadists found in North Carolina a few months ago). Has anyone heard about Abdulhakim’s case recently? We can no longer ignore these kinds of threats. They are as serious as those that directly follow terrorist groups like Al Qaeda. Our policies must be structured to find these “Al Qaeda sympathizers” before they attack us. This policy seems like common sense but it also appears that Hasan openly criticized the military’s role in Afghanistan and Iraq, called the War on Terror a War on Islam, and expressed empathy for suicide bombers. These red flags can’t be ignored again.

[1] Bob Drogin, “THE NATION; Taking the pulse of extremist groups; Is domestic terrorism on the rise? Is there a trend in the recent violence? Experts on the subject disagree.” Los Angeles Times, (June 2009).
[2] Sara Carter, “‘Sudden jihad syndrome’” posed domestic risk: Report warns against dismissing al Qaeda sympathizers.” The Washington Times, (Jan. 2008).