Comments on: Major Nidal Hasan had an enabler

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 07:25:50 +0000

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By: drew chatterton

drew chatterton — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:21:00 +0000

Bush's record in the 8 months prior to 9/11 was not distinguised. However, he had eight months, Clinton had eight years, during which the first world trade centre bombing, the african embassy bombings, and the USS Cole attack happened – and all the direct access in the world isnt much help if what you do is to treat those harbingers of 9/11 as whodunnits to be solved in courtrooms and allow the perpertrators to lawyer up and have access to classified information. After it came out in a discovery that the CIA was tracking Osama by satellite phone, that was cut off within a day, and there was no way to track his movements- maybe if there was- he would have been killed and 9/11 wouldnt have happened. PC strikes again. In many ways before9/11- that have been well documented many times, pleas by investigators to open suspects computers,, or queries about arab flight students who didnt seem interested in learning how to land a plane- were ignored for fear of being accused of being Islamophobic- the more change, the less.

By: houseofwilliams

houseofwilliams — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:18:15 +0000

That's funny because he keeps coming back to political correctness. That's not from the title, its from the article, repeatedly. He is saying that political correctness failed to stop a radical Muslim. So in effect, he IS blaming it. But in reality, this article seemed more about proving how he is unfairly under fire, how its the forces of PCness that are actually the bad guys. Fort Hood was just the evidence to this effect. Seems kind of shameless.

By: houseofwilliams

houseofwilliams — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:12:31 +0000

How the hell was PC the cause of 9/11? It was the incompetence of Bush that was the cause, not liberal attitudes. It was Bush who downgraded terrorism from a cabinet level priority to a principal level one. That meant that such people as George Tenet (head of the CIA) and Richard Clarke (anti-terrorism guru of the NSA) could no longer report to the president, the Secretaries, or even the under-secretaries. This resulted in 8 months of the top anti-terrorist experts being ignored and shut out. 9/11 was preventable because all the hijackers were known and were on the terror suspect list. They knew in advance that something was in the works, but nothing happened because neither Bush, Rice, nor Rumsfeld would meet with them and authorize them to do what they needed to do.

By: houseofwilliams

houseofwilliams — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:04:50 +0000

I always love it when an author takes a terrible tragedy and loss of life, and uses it to push their own agenda! Being familiar with Steyn's shock-jockey tactics, I was eagerly waiting for the proof of his bias to show itself. I didn't have to wait long. The very first words in this article were all about the censure and criticism he was getting. Not sympathy for the victims or their families, not how this was a terrible tragedy that could have been prevented. Nope, it started with him and all the negative publicity he's been getting, and how it's political correctness that's to blame, not his style of journalism. The shootings at Fort Hood was merely the proof he was looking for. It's standard practice for right-wing loudmouths to claim that tolerant and liberal-minded people are the REAL bad guys, and Steyn is no stranger to self-victimization. It seems every article he writes involves a sense of persecution, but to go to this length… Was this article even about Fort Hood, Steyn? Or was this just some big cross for you to nail yourself to?

By: Zahid Cheema

Zahid Cheema — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:34:24 +0000

Hello Mark,
You have a right of free speech, but not one of ignorant speech. As a columnist and employee of a news magazine, you should be held to a standard. Your continuous display of ignorance about Islam, culture, and extremism displays, among other things, a large ego that requires self reflection. In your pursuit of humor and playing devil’s advocate, too often you take a simplified view of complex issues. A simple study of Islam reveals why it attracts more converts than any other religion today. You carelessly associate honor killings, female genital mutilation, misogyny, and extremism as facets of Islam. Don’t you realize that Islam was created in fact to end these types of curses?

By: dkw12002

dkw12002 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:50:19 +0000

Two things about Maj. Hasan. First, he was not going overseas to kill Muslims. He is a doctor. He wouldn't even likely be carrying a weapon in the hospital wherever he was assigned. Doctors don't shoot people. Secondly, why did more people not blow the whistle on this guy? Easy. The Army is so concerned about prejudice since that is the bigger problem, that nobody is willing to put their career on the line and complain about a minority. The guy just never got into enough trouble for supervisors to act. If you aren't aware, there are different standards for minorities than the rest of the military. I am not talking about written standards, but an understanding that every supervisor has instilled into them regarding minorities…any minority. If a minority is up for promotion and you don't sign off on it, you better have a real good reason and doing poorly on exams and acting crazy aren't enough. The Army needs to look at itself, not the individuals who let this slide, cause they were just doing what the Army has always told them they wanted them to do at least in the last 30 years.

By: Motahead

Motahead — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:50:22 +0000

As a member of a cultural community (even if I don't like much this term) I feel impelled to say that ….. I totally agree with Mark Steyn on this one. I think political correctness nowadays is a weapon in the hands of a thought police that prevents people from expressing their ideas and, as they remain hidden, some of these ideas tend to become the seed for further radicalization (that is – the denial of any other alternative view). Unfortunatelly , as in a soccer match (ok, hockey match), real life events do the testing of these ideas (call it reality's reality check , if you will). I agree with Mr Steyn when he says that each and every view should get its airtime/ free expression and its proponents should be open to listening to the opposite view (or to common-sensers, who potentially can contextualize and put these views in perspective). Exposing bigoted, racist, prejudiced views would, in fact, help expose these views as the stupidity that they're proof of.
Way to go , Mr Steyn.

By: David Jacob

David Jacob — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:53:35 +0000

A woman told me that this story is all fake and that the so-called Major Hasan is made-up by a private secret agency.
If what she said is true, they would have promised him of millions $$$ and trained him. They promised him to be released after 3 years and that a death penalty will NEVER be discussed. The massacre made and end to his career, but his pockets are already full! One cannot imagine this, it all seems like a movie…but tens of pure innocent souls are lost in this game.

By: Canuck Ex-pat

Canuck Ex-pat — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:49:16 +0000

Mark Steyn for Prime Minister!! FInally someone who is speaking out against the greatest evil of our time – “political correctness”. But he should not stand alone. All who share his beliefs have a duty to speak out at any opportunity. Dare to be the un-popular one at family gatherings or office parties or down at your neighbourhood watering hole. Speak up – it’s YOUR duty to the freedom we all cherish.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:03:00 +0000

And your point is?

By: Gaunilon

Gaunilon — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:39:04 +0000

I'm not American, but if I were I'd gladly die protecting the First Amendment, yes.

By: Stergeye

Stergeye — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:46:52 +0000

" You don't become an enemy combatant by saying incendiary things. "

That's precisely the type of thinking that got those fourteen people killed. All the clues which identified Hasan as a jihadi terrorist were deliberately overlooked to satisfy political correctness. You are interpreting the First Amendment as a suicide note.

By: Gaunilon

Gaunilon — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:34:43 +0000

"Major Hasan's prior speech and actions identified him as an enemy combatant."

And that is where we disagree. You don't become an enemy combatant by saying incendiary things. You become an enemy combatant when you start launching incendiary things (or at least pointing them at people).

By: check your facts

check your facts — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:33:48 +0000

The Rideau runs from Ottawa to Kingston, and vice versa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rideau_Canal

And yes, they were in the canal.

By: Alfred

Alfred — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:59:52 +0000

adam, you're right on the mark!

and what does the dormant electorate of the so-called freest nation in the world do. it continues voting for dems or reps.
but heck, who cares? we still have great super-bowls, a fantastic new generation of flat screen tv's and cell phones and a brilliant media with urgent news about the latest michael jackson memorabilia – sorry, today's about tiger woods car crash!

By: Alfred

Alfred — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:15:00 +0000

cleverly crafted statement of yours. but you overlook one nuance yourself.

steyn doesn't blame political correctness, he detects rightfully for it to be the enabler and in that assessment he is absolutely correct. political correctness is a horrific beast created by the multi-culti, feel-good sloganeering liberals.
but the worst is, that it makes for a disastrous ally in the advancement of the most fascist of all religions (even more fascist than catholicism) which is islamism.
the day they roast you publicly for deterrence effect, because you have been slightly out of the ordinary – you might agree!

By: Yes I pick nits.

Yes I pick nits. — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:32:50 +0000

The Rideau Canal is in Ottawa, not Kingston; the drivers went into the St. Lawrence seaway.
I was following along with Mark up until this point, thinking that although he comes across as a guy who just whips off rants on his laptop, that there's something more to what he says, and that 'rant' is just his literary style. But he didn't stop to check his facts or even Google maps, and it discredits him. I didn't want to think he was just a laptop ranter who had cooked up a human rights dispute simply to milk it weekly for a buck. I wanted to think he was genuine, but if he can't even be bothered to check the details of a Canadian story in a Canadian magazine, how can we trust his other assertions to be correct?
It's disappointing, because he makes some interesting points and were he careful of his facts he could very well turn out to be a good journalist.

By: Stergeye

Stergeye — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:41:17 +0000

That's the terrible thing about living in a politically correct culture. You're infected and you don't even know it. My next comparison will be with a bag of hammers.
It is politically correct to stubbornly insist on treating islamo-nazi terrorists who have declared war on us as criminals instead of enemy combatants. In a war, you don't wait until an enemy combatant commits an arrestable offence; you capture him or you shoot him on sight.
We are at war. Major Hasan's prior speech and actions identified him as an enemy combatant. But political correctness dictated that his clear signals be ignored.
We're back at square one: political correctness was Major Hasan's accomplice at Fort Hood, because it dictated that this obvious enemy combatant be allowed to move unimpeded in the midst of those he clearly identified as foes to be slaughtered.

By: HumanPersonJr

HumanPersonJr — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:08:32 +0000

No, I don't mean to say that at all, LOL.

It's just that my Christian friends have been remiss in getting the gay men and women stoned. I'm sorry, I meant, of course, stoning them to death. They just pick and choose through the Bible, find the more convenient verses and live by them, even though Leviticus plainly says what to do and how to do it.

Now, take our friend Ahmedinawackjob in Iran, he can be as nasty as he wants to be. There's a country with a strong religious backbone, where the law and the Good Book agree. I'm sure they're so proud.

By: John Birch

John Birch — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:39:18 +0000

I think that the question is can Mr. Steyn be more Right?

By: the REAL Gary K.

the REAL Gary K. — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:56:33 +0000

The pendulum swings. We throw out the baby with the bath water. etc. cliche etc.

There's clearly an issue with the HRCs. One of proper judicial and legislative governance. But no one, not, I'll wager, even Mr. Steyn, would go as far to say that the majority of their work is so misdirected. The real issue may be that the flaws in the system are over-shadowing the positive effects. Perhaps I'm an optimist, or, perhaps, I've learned not to read one columnists view and believe I see the whole picture.

By: areligious

areligious — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:49:45 +0000

You mean to say that Christians neva' persecuted a homosexual? neva' in the name of their saviour and religion?

Oh my gosh. I've been such a victim of anti-christian propaganda these last 50 years….

By: Rachel Robinson

Rachel Robinson — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:34:50 +0000

This is the only piece of real journalism I have seen in a very long time. I commend the author!!!! You hit the nail on the head. Honestly it nearly brought tears to my eyes. It is a breath of fresh air in this upside-down world we are living in of political correctness!!

By: Steve T

Steve T — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:54:55 +0000

I think I speak for all of us when I say "Huh?"

By: guest

guest — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:28:08 +0000

To Stan: Disallowing minarets (apparently there are only 4 in Switzerland, which has a tiny Muslim population) is not analogous to removing the "Ten Commandments from the court house", if they ever were "in the court house". That has to do with religious symbols in buildings of the secular state. It is analogous to saying Jews can't build synagogues for worship anywhere, or Buddhists can't build temples, or Christians can't build churches with steeples.

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:25:15 +0000

Laurence, you wrote "As a white male, I find his ilk remarkably tiresome, clinging on to the memory of some halycon bygone age when they could pinch bums, call a secretary a "gal," and say whatever they liked about people not like themselves. "

Which means Steyn clings to the day when you still have the right to disagree with him in writing as you did. You, on the other hand, are apparently not so tolerant.

By: Stan

Stan — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:27:56 +0000

Mark…you done it again! Great job! Where is this political correctness going to end? Now the "world" is breathing down Switzerland's throat for disallowing Minarets…too intolerant. Where were these same people when the Ten Commandments had to come out of the court house? That was tolerance?

By: Analogy

Analogy — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:23:33 +0000

If Mark Steyn contends that “Commissar” Lynch is an “enabler” because (he feels) her views ultimately lead to the events at Fort Hood, then one can just as easily hold Steyn to account for the legislation in Uganda that proscribes the death penalty for gays, brought in with the help of Steyn’s friends in the American Christian Right like Rick Santorum (see MacLean’s “Uganda proposes anti-gay laws”, Nov. 5). http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/11/05/uganda-propose...

By: KinburnSen

KinburnSen — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:27:47 +0000

"Western powers have invaded their countries and ruined their infrastructure and livelihoods" – Yes did we ever upset the apple cart there! How dare we distract them their honor killings, bombings and all round slaughtering each other. What a beautiful culture we have sullied. Wow 2 people were killed out of millions of muslims in the US after 9/11-a backlash of epic proportions for sure. Hundreds of thousands of muslims absolutely lost their s**t over some cartoons and dozens of people died (mostly their own of course). Keep up the good work Steyn.

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:14:27 +0000

this piece is pure propaganda bs. i doubt any of it is true.

By: JimD

JimD — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:02:15 +0000

I would love for you to show me the video/press release/whatever that shows Bin Laden took credit for the attacks (hint: there isn't one).

By: Max Atkinson

Max Atkinson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:52:51 +0000

Why did I & millions of other Americans serve in the Military from 4 to
30 yrs & today it`s a misdirected Policeman. Did I hear the word PC .
It`s brought down a great nation! We`re adrift with out any leadership
in sight . Whatever happens across the USA will continue because
there`s NO Deterrent at all thanks to our leaders at every level. So when 10 to 25 of us are killed we`ll be told not to rush to judgement..

By: Gaunilon

Gaunilon — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:27:06 +0000

"He is no more nuts than any jihadi who straps on an explosive vest and detonates himself in a supermarket. "

Uh…..well….um….??

"That is part of the political correctness syndrome–the inability to recognize clear distinctions between the "hate speech" of an evangelical who condemns homosexual acts, and the speech of someone who is REALLY advocating killing infidels."

I'm not saying there's no distinction between the two. I'm saying that you can't prosecute people unless they break the law. In this case I don't see what laws were broken (except possibly hate speech laws) until he opened fire, and anything less than prosecution would not have stopped him from opening fire. And I hate hate speech laws.

On a more positive note, you may be the first person to have ever accused me of being too politically correct. Congratulations!

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:55:05 +0000

Lepine was his mother maiden name. Lepine's real name: Ghamil Garbi.

By: Owen

Owen — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:32:29 +0000

Another MacLean’s article with wacky facts and a Western extermination theme reminiscent of Steyn on Muslim demographics. This time it’s rats, but the impossible numbers are about the same. “It is…possible for a three-year-old rat to have given birth to 43 litters of 516 rats. Add in children and multiple generations of grandchildren and she can be responsible for 16,000 offspring in a year, and up to 100,000 over three years…” (this is all impossible of course!) Come to think of it, that MacLean’s article that wiped out all the Finns on the planet several times over was written by someone named “Mohamad”! An entire blond, blue eyed ethnic group exterminated by just one Muslim – just like Steyn warns us every week!

By: Canuckguy

Canuckguy — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:07:25 +0000

You hit it on the nose, Mark.
Keep up the fight against PC.
(had to clean up my wording for the language police)

By: Fed Up With PC

Fed Up With PC — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:26:13 +0000

In light of the Swiss ban on Minarets, it is my fervent hope that more countries stand up to the spread of Islam. We are at the risk of losing our own cultural identity because we are so fixated on this whole "multicultural" schtick. The average Canadian who comes from our foundation stocks of Judeo-Christian European ancestors can see what is happening in Canada. We are no longer educatiing our students in the hitorical foundations of our country so no wonder they don't see anything wrong with Muslims coming here and bringing all their baggage with them. Germany, France and Britain are realizing too late where their accomodations for Muslims have landed them. How long before it is too late on our continent?

By: potvin

potvin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:14:28 +0000

Only two? That's outrageous! What happened to the American patriot?

By: potvin

potvin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:08:32 +0000

Liberalism is a mental disorder!

By: Tom Brown

Tom Brown — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:51:09 +0000

mark's column in today's Issue of MacLeans tells it like it is. Political Correctness if our National Shame. We have become a Nation of whiners and scared cats. At least Mark is trying to put some steel in our backbones, instead of the Jello dished out on Parliament Hill!

By: potvin

potvin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:16:34 +0000

Ha ha…you're an idiot.

By: Mr Bill

Mr Bill — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:48:52 +0000

Iran is also being ignored at our peril. The hitler of our time means what he says. As do all jihadis.

By: Board

Board — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:49:35 +0000

Why don`t you do me a favor and go hug Mike Moore or Al Gore at his next Red Carpet event (make sure you`re wearing a nice, bulky camo jacket at the time, and don`t forget your Keffiyeh, there`s a good feller… )

By: Stergeye

Stergeye — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:49:31 +0000

Why do you cling to the notion that Hasan was "nuts?" He is no more nuts than any jihadi who straps on an explosive vest and detonates himself in a supermarket. In case you haven't noticed, there is a sizable fan club in the Islamic world who call people who do just that "shaheed" (martyr). Within the radical islamic culture, his actions make perfect sense.
Equating profiling potential jihadi terrorists with an "application of hate speech" is sophomoric. That is part of the political correctness syndrome–the inability to recognize clear distinctions between the "hate speech" of an evangelical who condemns homosexual acts, and the speech of someone who is REALLY advocating killing infidels. It's not as if we don't have any precedents of Islamic males engaging in such acts.
But our head of Homeland Security is more worried about massive acts of islamophobia which, even after eight years of islamic attacks, have failed to materialize
Taking a therapeutic approach to jihadists is a good way to see another bunch of innocent civilians get killed.