Fort Hood, Texas Massacre - 13 Dead - Page 2

Just so you know there had been such massacres happened at universities and schools by non-muslims in the past. In my opinion, it could be a terrorist act only if this guy has links with terrorists (which seems could be as more than one people are suspected to be involved) but if he is the only guy responsible for killing without any proven links to terrorist orgs then its just a case of poor mental health. But no, you can't blame America if they start racial profiling in army recruitment after this.

Originally posted by: gumsum

Just so you know there had been such massacres happened at universities and schools by non-muslims in the past. In my opinion, it could be a terrorist act only if this guy has links with terrorists (which seems could be as more than one people are suspected to be involved) but if he is the only guy responsible for killing without any proven links to terrorist orgs then its just a case of poor mental health. But no, you can't blame America if they start racial profiling in army recruitment after this.

The link is there. Emails between Nidaal and Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric, were intercepted by the govt.

The school/university killings are not religious faith based. The killings take a whole new meaning when they stem from religious affiliations. This is why I said this trend of being politically correct to the extent of back-bending and ignoring obvious signs is very disturbing to me.

Originally posted by: gumsum

Just so you know there had been such massacres happened at universities and schools by non-muslims in the past. In my opinion, it could be a terrorist act only if this guy has links with terrorists (which seems could be as more than one people are suspected to be involved) but if he is the only guy responsible for killing without any proven links to terrorist orgs then its just a case of poor mental health. But no, you can't blame America if they start racial profiling in army recruitment after this.

No! Any of violence intended to cause terror is a case of terrorism.

The similarity between the school cases and this shooting is that the shooting was done by mentally unstable people. However, in the school cases mental disturbance came from growing pains. In this case mental disturbance came from inability to balance religious loyalties and duty to nation. One need not have links to an organization. The question to ask is, which I asked in Vande Mataram thread too - can one balance faith with duty to nation?

There actually are several Muslims serving in the US army and their fellow soldiers will vouch for their loyalty. However, other Muslims need to sort out their loyalties at the same too.

Originally posted by: Gauri_3

The link is there. Emails between Nidaal and Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric, were intercepted by the govt.

The school/university killings are not religious faith based. The killings take a whole new meaning when they stem from religious affiliations. This is why I said this trend of being politically correct to the extent of back-bending and ignoring obvious signs is very disturbing to me.

Gauri, I agree with most of your statements. However, I simply wanted to add. While religious affiliation adds a whole new disturbing element, religious affiliation or affiliation whatsoever is not necessary for terror. Terrorism is merely an act to cause terror. Whether is is external, internal, religious or political. Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist and will always be known as one. He worked on his own as an American against America. Many people classify even ACORN as domestic terrorists.

Actually speaking of politically correct back benders. The 1979 documentary 'The War at Home' is an excellent film which dissects political correctedness and the line with domestic terrorism.

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

Gauri, I agree with most of your statements. However, I simply wanted to add. While religious affiliation adds a whole new disturbing element, religious affiliation or affiliation whatsoever is not necessary for terror. Terrorism is merely an act to cause terror. Whether is is external, internal, religious or political. Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist and will always be known as one. He worked on his own as an American against America. Many people classify even ACORN as domestic terrorists.

Actually speaking of politically correct back benders. The 1979 documentary 'The War at Home' is an excellent film which dissects political correctedness and the line with domestic terrorism.

Clarification --- My response was based on Meena's questions. One of them was - do we think this was a case of islamic extremism - I feel it sure is. Then Gunjan jumped in with her students going on a killing spree - I did not mean to say that is not terrorism. I only said that those cases are not the result of religious fanaticism.

Guys, don't think that I don't understand what you are trying to say, I do. And I was going by the prevalent definition of terrorism. Any mass killing is a result of mental instability, it could be due to many factors. I for one can't say if it was due to Islamic extremesim or something else unless I know all the facts.