Army Pvt. Joseph Foster, an Ogden native, entered the U.S. Army knowing he could face danger in many of the world's hot spots.
Pvt. Foster, who has a wife, Mandi, and an infant daughter, Keilee, certainly never thought he would be shot by fellow soldier Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an army psychiatrist. Thirteen were killed by Hasan; Pvt. Foster is among 29 wounded. Hasan, shot four times, survived. He will face premeditated murder charges in a military court.
Since the shootings, there have been reports that there were multiple red flags regarding Hasan that everyone could see, but no one wanted to take action. The FBI, terrorism task forces and the Army all were aware of these red flag activities by Hasan but chose to do nothing -- and now 13 people are dead, shot to death at a presumed very secure location.
Here is an example of how political correctness managed to shield Hasan from detection. Some time ago, Hasan, who was supposed to give a medical lecture, instead delivered an hour-long diatribe on jihad -- arguing that non-believers should be tortured and beheaded.
Walter Reed Army Medical Center psychiatrists wanted him to be terminated. According to NPR, that effort was shelved by officials because it would create an appearance problem.
We have a very hard time understanding why an army major who irrationaly delivers a hateful lecture on jihad to colleagues would ever spend another day as an U.S. soldier. It's ridiculous that no action was taken and that Hasan was shipped to Fort Hood and actually called to serve in Afghanistan.
Hasan had long passed the point of suspicious behavior to where his Islamic faith should have been a factor in any action taken against him.
But wait ... there's more. Hasan sent 15 to 20 e-mails to radical cleric, Anwar al-Aulaqi, in Yemen. The cleric, who lives in Yemen, advocates holy war against the U.S. The FBI and Defense Department knew this and did nothing. Again, incredible. Imagine if, during World War II, we had a major in the Army, or any soldier, delivering diatribes in favor of Nazism and sending letters to Adolf Hitler? We'd wager that soldier would have been arrested and perhaps tried for treason. Why wasn't Hasan at least kicked out of the military? The answer is obvious -- fear of being accused of bigotry against Islam.
George Orwell put it best when he said "... to see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." We call for a full investigation to make sure that the mistakes that allowed Hasan to stay in the military and within deadly reach of his victims never occur again.
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