The Many Excuses for Jihad

[SF-TX]

Please post here examples of the excuses offered to explain Jihadi attacks.

Sudden Jihad or Inordinate Stress at Ft. Hood? – by Daniel Pipes

Posted By Daniel Pipes On November 9, 2009 @ 12:13 am In FrontPage | 3 Comments

When a Muslim in the West for no apparent reason violently attacks non-Muslims, a predictable argument ensues about motives.

The establishment – law enforcement, politicians, the media, and the academy – stands on one side of this debate, insisting that some kind of oppression caused Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, to kill 13 and wound 38 at Ft. Hood on Nov. 5. It disagrees on the specifics, however, presenting Hasan as the victim alternatively of “racism [1],” “harassment [2] he had received as a Muslim,” a sense of not belonging [3],” “pre-traumatic stress disorder [4],” “mental problems [5],” “emotional problems [6],” “an inordinate amount of stress,” or being deployed to Afghanistan as his “worst nightmare [7].” Accordingly, a typical newspaper headline [8] reads “Mindset of Rogue Major a Mystery.”.

Instances of Muslim-on-unbeliever violence inspire the victim school to dig up new and imaginative excuses. Colorful examples (drawing on my article [9] and weblog entry [10] about denying Islamist terrorism) include:

* 1990: “A prescription drug for … depression” (to explain the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane [11])
* 1991: “A robbery gone wrong” (the murder of Makin Morcos in Sydney)
* 1994: “Road rage” (the killing of a random Jew on the Brooklyn Bridge [12])
* 1997: “Many, many enemies in his mind” (the shooting murder atop the Empire State Building [13])
* 2000: A traffic incident (the attack on a bus of Jewish schoolchildren [9] near Paris)
* 2002: “A work dispute” (the double murder at LAX [14])
* 2002: A “stormy [family] relationship” (the Beltway snipers [15])
* 2003: An “attitude problem” (Hasan Karim Akbar [16]’s attack on fellow soldiers, killing two)
* 2003: Mental illness (the mutilation murder of Sebastian Sellam [17])
* 2004: “Loneliness and depression” (an explosion in Brescia, Italy [18] outside a McDonald’s restaurant)
* 2005: “A disagreement between the suspect and another staff member” (a rampage at a retirement center [19] in Virginia)
* 2006: “An animus toward women” (a murderous rampage at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle [20] in 2006)
* 2006: “His recent, arranged marriage may have made him stressed” (killing with an SUV in northern California [21] in 2006)

Sgt. Hasan Karim Akbar, convicted of the 2003 murder of two fellow soldiers.

Additionally, when an Osama bin Laden-admiring Arab-American crashed his plane into a Tampa high-rise [22], blame fell on the acne drug Accutane.

As a charter member of the jihad school of interpretation, I reject these explanations as weak, obfuscatory, and apologetic. The jihadi school, still in the minority, perceives Hasan’s attack as one of many Muslim efforts to vanquish infidels and impose Islamic law. We recall a prior episode of sudden jihad syndrome [23] in the U.S. military, as well as the numerous cases of non-lethal Pentagon jihadis [24] and the history of Muslim violence on American soil [25].

We are not mystified by Hasan but see overwhelming evidence of his jihadi intentions. He handed out Korans [1] to neighbors just before going on his rampage and yelled “Allahu Akbar [26],” the jihadi’s cry, as he fired off over 100 rounds from two pistols. His superiors reportedly put him on probation [27] for inappropriately proselytizing about Islam.

We note what former associates say about him: one, Val Finnell [5], quotes Hasan saying, “I’m a Muslim first and an American second” and recalls Hasan justifying suicide terrorism [28]; another, Col Terry Lee [29], recalls that Hasan “claimed Muslims had the right to rise up and attack Americans”; the third, a psychiatrist [4] who worked very closely with Hasan, described him as “almost belligerent about being Muslim.”

Finally, the jihad school of thought attributes importance to the Islamic authorities’ urging American Muslim soldiers to refuse to fight their co-religionists, thereby providing a basis for sudden jihad. In 2001, for example, responding to the U.S. attack on the Taliban, the mufti of Egypt, Ali Gum’a [30], issued a fatwa stating that “The Muslim soldier in the American army must refrain [from participating] in this war.” Hasan himself, echoing that message, advised a young Muslim disciple, Duane Reasoner Jr. [31], not to join the U.S. army because “Muslims shouldn’t kill Muslims.”

If the jihad explanation is overwhelmingly more persuasive than the victim one, it’s also far more awkward to articulate. Everyone finds blaming road rage, Accutane, or an arranged marriage easier than discussing Islamic doctrines. And so, a prediction: what Ralph Peters [32] calls the army’s “unforgivable political correctness” will officially ascribe Hasan’s assault to his victimization and will leave jihad unmentioned.

And thus will the army blind itself and not prepare for its next jihadi attack.

http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/09/s...-daniel-pipes/

[SF-TX]

In the aftermath of Thursday's shooting spree at Fort Hood, as the focus continues to swirl around the suspect, U.S. Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, mental health advocates are buzzing about the risks of their profession: secondary trauma and compassion fatigue...

...Some reports have suggested that he may have been traumatized from hearing the terrible things that have happened to the people he counseled.

Link

Also posted here:

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...137#post295137

[LongWire]

Sounds Like SJS to me, or Chronic Repressive Sudden Jihadi Syndrome.

Add to that some gross negligence in not wanting to out someone with extreme statements such as:

Col Terry Lee [29], recalls that Hasan “claimed Muslims had the right to rise up and attack Americans”;

Hindsight is a bitch................

Can someone break it down for me?

I undersand there is a remote possibility of secondary trauma and compassion fatigue for fellow soldiers serving in combat units, but how many troops are we talking about, let alone "mental health professionals"?

What are the total number of troops on the ground vs. how many actually participate in ground actions? And then, how many engaged in heavy fighting vs. those who only witness it sencond hand.

When enemy contact is made, how long is a typical engagement?

I watched the movie, "Men Who Stare at Goats" this weekend. I am now convinced that 'Remote Viewing' has caused PTSD is some soldiers, especially those who saw battles in countries not yet fighting, in the future.

WD

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by LongWire

Sounds Like SJS to me, or Chronic Repressive Sudden Jihadi Syndrome.

Add to that some gross negligence in not wanting to out someone with extreme statements such as:

Col Terry Lee [29], recalls that Hasan “claimed Muslims had the right to rise up and attack Americans”;

Hindsight is a bitch................

I like that definition and I believe there is a cure for SJS.......

[Utah Bob]

Easy cure:
Take two 5.56s and call me in the morning.
If you can.

[PedOncoDoc]

Originally Posted by Utah Bob

Easy cure:
Take two 5.56s and call me in the morning.
If you can.

Will repeat daily until desired results are achieved.

[longrange1947]

I believe we have some Phych docs looking for funding for a study in an essetntially non existant problem.

[SF-TX]

Gentlemen,

This thread was intended to highlight the many creative and ludicrous excuses given for jihad. We seem to be getting off topic on suggested cures for SJS, which I am sure there will be many. This could be a topic for another thread: Cures for Sudden Jihadi Syndrome.

[LongWire]

Ok......The Devil Made Me Do It?

[orion5]

Courtesy of L.A. Times/Shari Roan:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,4570410.story


"The military is doing more and more to address emotions," Callahan said. "They are becoming more focused and precise in realizing they have got to prepare people emotionally for war."

Some say military mental health providers, possibly including Hasan, carry heavy workloads as a result.


So.......Hasan could not help but to shoot 50 people while proclaiming "allahu akbar" as his workload was too heavy? Thank you L.A. Times.

I've been known to work 7 days a week, pulling all-nighters, missing all meals, stressed out to the hilt... but during those wretched days I remember turning to my faith as a source of comfort to quiet my tired soul, not as an enabler of mass violence.

[Utah Bob]

I assume as time goes by we will learn just how devout Hasan was. I'd be interested if it was a recent thing as opposed to him being a lifelong devotee of the faith. A recent increase in his interest/obsession with Islam could be an indicator of recruitment efforts. Could just be he was depressed. I just can't buy this "secondary PTSD" theory. I don't think most psychologists will either.

[LongWire]

What about A Leap Of Faith?

Not to draw too narrow of a comparison, but could you liken this to finding God in Christianity? Born again Muslim? At any rate I think he fully intended to Martyr himself at the time, so it was a complete act of contrition.

[SF-TX]

Originally Posted by LongWire

Ok......The Devil Made Me Do It?

LOL. I said excuses, not the truth.

Clarification: Let's post excuses, with links, for jihad that have been offered by the MSM and jihadi apologists to explain jihadi violence. See the examples in the first article by Daniel Pipes.

[SF-TX]

All these are from an article posted here:

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ad.php?t=25343

Dallas plot suspect's family says he was troubled, not a terrorist

Hosam Smadi’s relatives here in Jordan see that childhood trauma as evidence that he did not start out determined to blow up one of Dallas’ signature skyscrapers.

He even considered converting to Christianity. They blame the FBI for enticing him to become an Islamic extremist — and entrapping him in a dangerous gambit.

“A young person with no guidance and no monitoring can be easily turned into a radical, especially nowadays with the thousands of Web sites linked to extremist groups,”

He liked to sing Christian hymns, occasionally wore a cross and recited Bible verses. His father said he could be unusually sensitive at times. “I remember there was a small insect on the floor, maybe an ant. We wanted to kill it, but Hosam said, ‘No, no! Jesus Christ created it,' ” Maher Smadi recalled.

Hosam told his father that he wanted to join the U.S. Army. “I’m willing to join them and fight in Iraq,” his father recalled.

Tewfiq Smadi, 61, a longtime family friend who lives in Irving, said he thought Hosam might have picked up his violent thinking online. “He’s a kid,” he said. “He doesn’t have anybody to instruct him, raise him — barely anybody from his family [lives] around here.”

“Hosam was turned into an extremist with the help of the FBI,” Maher Smadi said at his home in Ajloun. “They deceived him. … They played with him.” Everyone he meets in his city agrees with him, including Hosam’s friends and teachers at the Ajloun Baptist School.