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Home | Opinion Exchange | Letters

Letter of the day: Was the Fort Hood shooting an act of terrorism or desperation?

Last update: November 10, 2009 - 10:43 AM

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Steve Sack's Nov. 8 editorial is a pathetic attempt at political correctness. Apparently Sack thinks the "Fort Hood Horror" will lead to fear and prejudice, with the implication that would be a bad thing.

Actually, fear and prejudice should be exactly what the Fort Hood terrorist attack envisages; any other reaction is preposterous. We should fear the Islamic terrorists among us, and we should certainly be heavily prejudiced against both them and their enablers in our current government. A terrorist attack on an Army base, a typically wimpish response from the current occupant of the White House and political correctness within the Army itself ought to lead to fear and prejudice and anger.

If the Sack cartoon implies Muslims will now experience fear and prejudice, they should blame Maj. Nidal Hasan.

FRED HALVERSON, NORTH OAKS

•••

The tragedy at Fort Hood hit the nation hard and left everybody looking for answers. My heart is with all of you who lost loved ones or suffered because of this tragedy.

When I learned from my wife that the shooter was a Muslim doctor employed by the U.S. Army, my first question, as a Muslim and a member of the U.S. armed forces for the last 18 years, was why? If he wasn't happy about his job, why kill innocent people he was supposed to be treating and caring for?

But, whatever were the reasons behind the attack, I don't see the religion of the attacker has anything to do with it. He was a Muslim when he joined the military, and he was a Muslim when he treated and cared for his fellow soldiers. Many soldiers have taken their own lives because they couldn't deal with the situation they found themselves in during or after deployment. One soldier went into a psychiatric clinic in Iraq a few months ago and opened fire on his fellow soldiers and the staff, killing five, and nobody mentioned if he was Lutheran or Baptist, Jewish or Hindu or Buddhist.

YASER ISHTAIWI, MINNEAPOLIS

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