re: #172 larisa

I think everyone should read the article carefully. It provides no supporting information and is vague beyond crazy.

Yes, Anwar al Awlaki is a lunatic extremist. But there is no proof that the two communicated or even knew each other. I do think that religious extremism helped push an already unhinged man over the edge. But remember, the man was a Muslim his whole life and a career officer his whole adult life. The extremism seems to have come into play only in the last six months. So what set him off? I think it is far too easy to blame religious extremism as the motive. But in this case, it seems to be simply fuel for an already very hot and burning fire. My concern is why an American soldier lost it to this extent and killed his fellow soldiers. What set him off in the last 6 months?

And yes, the military and the FBI would appear to have dropped the ball on this big time.

But the article simply fails to provide the story. They have an allegation, but no story and no facts to support what they are claiming.

I totally agree with the need to avoid generalizing. However, at this point, going by Hasan's own statements it's hard to deny that one motivation for the rampage was his belief that he was striking at an enemy of the ummah -- the US armed forces.

In that at least, his motivation and rationale is the same as any jihadi's. His primary loyalty is to other Muslims, not to the US, and in his mind he was retaliating for the killing of Muslims. That's the logic behind his actions.

But there's no confirmation that he ever got in touch with real-world terror groups.

If you look at it tactically, the reality is there's no difference between what Hasan did and what any deranged mass killer does -- and that's why people like him are impossible to stop. Anyone who gets to that point of derangement is capable of doing the same thing, regardless of motivation.

If it does turn out that Hasan was actually part of a militant Islamic plot, that would change things drastically. It would mean the problem is potentially much larger.