Left-leaning magazine rips Fort Hood 'Islamophobia'

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan

The Washington correspondent for the left-leaning Nation magazine claims those who highlight the Fort Hood killer's Muslim ties are inspiring "Islamophobia."

Instead, John Nichols proposes in his blog entry that Americans regard Nidal Malik Hasan, whose terrorist shooting massacre left 13 dead and dozens more wounded, separately from his faith.

"There was clearly something wrong with this imperfect follower of Islam. But that does not mean that there is something wrong with Islam," wrote Nichols. "Enlightened Americans ... should be unsettled by the rush to judgment regarding not just this one Muslim but all Muslims."

With evidence of Hasan's link to Islamic extremists quickly stacking up, Nichols decried, "Because a soldier identified as the gunman had a name that led to the presumption that he was Muslim, the incident inspired an all-too-predictable explosion of Islamophobia."

Nichols quoted an anti-war veterans' group as presuming Hasan's killing spree "might well be the latest in a series of stress-related homicides and suicides involving soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan or are being dispatched to those occupied lands."

The Nation correspondent then referred to a press release by the terror-tied Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, condemning the shooting as evidence of American Muslims' sentiments toward the murderous incident.

(Column continues below)

Nichols is not the only one cautioning against drawing quick conclusions about the rampage.

At the White House on Friday, President Obama stated, "We don't know all the answers yet, and I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts."

This weekend, the London Telegraph reported that Hasan, an American of Palestinian decent, attended a controversial mosque, Dar al-Hijrah, in Great Falls, Va., in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists.

The Telegraph report noted the preacher of the mosque at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a U.K. meeting by video link this past August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist groups.

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A Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas was quoted as saying that Hasan's eyes "lit up" when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki's teachings.

Survivors of Hasan's attack were quoted by the news media as saying he began his rampage by shouting "Allahu akbar" or "Allah is great" in Arabic. He had reportedly earlier given away copies of the Quran to neighbors.

Relatives told the media that after the death of Hasan's parents, in 1998 and 2001, he became a devout Muslim.

"After he lost his parents he tried to replace their love by reading a lot of books, including the Quran," his uncle Rafiq Hamad said.

A former classmate told the Associated Press that Hasan was a "vociferous opponent of the war" and "viewed the war against terror" as a "war against Islam."

Dr. Val Finnell, who attended a master's in public health program in 2007-2008 at Uniformed Services University with Hasan, said the murderer previously told classmates he was "a Muslim first and an American second."

"In retrospect, I'm not surprised he did it," Finnell said. "I had real questions about what his priorities were, what his beliefs were."

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Previous stories:

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Israel, Palestinian Authority probing Texas shooter

Shooter advised Obama transition

Military jihadists fill 'every branch'

Soldier heard 'Allahu akbar' before slaughter

Shop owner: Hasan didn't want to fight Muslims

Report: Shooter pushed Islam on patients

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