Any Day Now

Obama may reach a decision on Afghanistan soon, and why not?  The US elections are over, there is no chance of passing health care in the next few weeks, so he may as well let the chips fall.

The Times says Obama is considering four options, one of which is new; the WSJ has details on that choice.  As to timing, from the WSJ:

Officials said Mr. Obama is now expected to unveil his new Afghanistan strategy shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia on Nov. 19.

Half the country says, 'what's the hurry?".

Comments

[Charlie (Colorado)]

So they come up with a damnfool plan that simply begs the Talibs to kill as many civilians as possible as quickly as possible.

[And South Korea and Taiwan.]

He'll come back from Asia and declare war on Colombia and Honduras.
==========================

[Jane]

Perhaps he wants to discuss it with the Chinese. After all, they are paying for it.

[anduril]

Charlie, here's what I see as the central problem in Afghanistan: McChrystal's idea of building our vision of democracy in that hellhole is a fool's errand. It will not happen because the cultural resources are lacking. We should have taken out bin Laden and left. As for grand strategic designs in that region, it's not clear to me that we have the resources--there are too many players and too many factors that we can't control. Can we be players there? Maybe, but it will require far more creative thinking than I've seen thus far.

Of course, Obama calling this a "necessary war" kind of put him in a straight jacket, didn't it?

[clarice]

Well, what is the mysterious fourth option? Inviting the Taliban to re settle in Marin country?

[anduril]

the new plan is to move sideways. or maybe at some sort of angle. hope. change. maybe we can.

[Porchlight]

I thought he already agreed to 34,000 troops? I must be behind...

[Cecil Turner]

McChrystal's idea of building our vision of democracy in that hellhole is a fool's errand.

If so, it is one which he was specifically assigned by the President when he was given the job (all of six months ago). Pretending this is a dispute between McChrystal and Obama is silly . . . the confusion is entirely in the head of the man who would be CinC (but can't seem to make--or stick with--a decision).

[matt]

Afghanistan held hostage, Day 74 (Since the report hit the Pentagon). What an ass.

[anduril]

Pretending this is a dispute between McChrystal and Obama is silly

I agree with that, Cecil. Not sure if you thought we differed on that. Presumably a CinC would interview, discuss ideas with and/or research the guy's views before appointing him. Obama owns Afghanistan, since he made it his necessary war and claimed to have a strategy.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Anduril, maybe I'm just getting old, but I can think of at least a dozen places in my lifetime where I've heard it said that introducing democracy is "a fool's errand" that are functioning democracies now. But in any case, the key in Afghanistan is not to make it into New England, but to establish an enduring government that doesn't see it advantageous to let people keep blowing shit up in the US.

[Rob Crawford]

Charlie, here's what I see as the central problem in Afghanistan: McChrystal's idea of building our vision of democracy in that hellhole is a fool's errand. It will not happen because the cultural resources are lacking.

Yeah, let's just let the damned animals stew.

Right?

[clarice]

If you thought for a second that when the Dems advanced the view that Afghanistan is where we should be fighting, not Iraq, that this was a serious proposal, raise your hand so I can send a sales rep around to see you and advance some very interesting business propositions.

[Rob Crawford]

But in any case, the key in Afghanistan is not to make it into New England, but to establish an enduring government that doesn't see it advantageous to let people keep blowing shit up in the US.

In other words, the type of government it had before the Carter administration and the Soviet puppet government.

[anduril]

1. I'll bet you can't name Islamic countries in that category.

2. There are simpler ways to keep people from blowing "shit" up in the US. Security begins at the borders.

3. Make war on the world/Invite the world just doesn't sound like a roadmap to success, either at home or abroad.

[anduril]

keep your bridge

[Tom Bowler]

If Karzai would just get the Afghan National Assembly to join SEIU, Obama would send 80,000 troops over there tomorrow.

[Joseph Brown]

I remember another guy who wouldn't listen to his general officers. Adolf Hitler.
The difference between Hitler and Obama is, Hitler served. Obama nope.

[narciso]

I guess we could say Algeria, pre 1991, since Ressam is among other figures. Morocco,(leaving out Zacarias Moussaoui) Tunisia, with some exceptions. Turkey generally before Erdogan AKP took charge.

[anduril]

Abraham Lincoln, rather famously, also had trouble with his general officers until he found two good ones. Truman, too. The buck stops at the Oval Office, not at the Pentagon. No CinC should write a blank check to his general officers, but that has nothing to do with what Obama is up to here.

[anduril]

narciso, notice all the qualifiers you put in there. I doubt that you'd want to make any wagers on the stability of any of those places too far into the future. In addition, the West didn't actually "establish" those governments, the way we're trying to do.

[narciso]

So what do you want to do, anduril, the Reconquista, all over again, Ressam was living in Canada, Moussaoui was living in France and frequented the Finley Park Mosque
along with Richard Reid, the Jamaican born
shoe bomber, when they stayed in England.

[Pops]

First thing Obama should do is invite all Radical Islamist members of our military to deploy to Afghanistan to engage and kill the enemy. Any declining the invite, should be discharged.

Can you just imagine if Hasan was not a person but was a piece of military equipment?

The Hasan II Armed Personnel Carrier (APC). Can you imagine what the media would be saying if it was revealed that an Hasan II APC was fielded to Foot Hood and exploded due to a known engineering defect and killed 13 and wounded 31 other troops.

Democrats would already be having hearings demanding why such a dangerous piece of equipment was allowed to be fielded at Foot Hood. Why were the known defects that were reported to superiors not corrected or if they couldn't be fixed, why wasn't the Hasan program scrapped.

Instead we get General Casey worried that soldiers will attack other Hasan APCs and he worries that those Hasan APCs will get damaged, and that it is worth it to have 40 dead and wounded to insure not one Hasan APC is injured.

What kind of sick world are we living in?

Anyone involved in allowing the Hasan to remain in the military, knowing of his defects and allowing him to continue should be at least fired, if not brought up on charges the same as if he was a known defective piece of equipment.

[Appalled]

The real problem is that Obama decided to change his mind on his strategy before that strategy really ever got going. And he has done so in a way that absolutely invites the Taliban to make Afghanistan look as unstable as possible.

I think the leaking has exacerbated some of the problems here -- whoever first leaked McC's original request in August is partly responsible for the appearence of dither -- which I think heeartens the Taliban and saps the morale of our troops. Also, true, however, is that Obama has not appeared to dedicate a lot of time to following his war and talking to his military up to the time his dither process commenced. Hence, perhaps, the dithering -- it's hard to make a decision about a war if you have remained generally uninformed about it.

I can see the argument for leaving Afghanistan, but I can't see the argument for having the decision linger as long as it has. If I were a family member of someone in Afghanistan, I would be spitting nails right now, because the President is either making our troops more unsafe while he figures out what they need, or is allowing them to audition for the job of being "the last man to die for a mistake."

Everything I see with this President suggests someone who is bad at his job. He's simply ineffective at getting decisions made in a timely manner, or adjusting to new circumstances. He also does not seem to know that there is more to the job than excellent communications skills.

[Dave (in MA)]

The NYT web server is letting its unhappiness with anything beyond its front page, at least from my end.

[Dave (in MA)]

Maybe Ø can make an apology speech in Kabul and then the Taliban can go live in Amherst, MA.

[anduril]

narciso, i would seriously restrict the ability of muslims to even enter the u.s. that can be done legislatively. we should also rigorously enforce laws on the books to rid this country of undesirable non-citizens. legislative recognition that the terrorist threat comes from islam would also go a long way to breaking the stranglehold that p.c. thought has over policy.

sooner or later, however, we will have to recognize that islam is not compatible with western culture and that we need to take steps to defend ourselves which may require amending the constitution in order to address islam as the enemy that it is. note, i'm not saying that all muslims are terrorists, but that the religion itself mandates aggression against non-members. i'm not counting on this happening any time soon. but you asked...

[Dave (in MA)]

WSJ: Officials said Mr. Obama is now expected to unveil his new Afghanistan strategy shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia on Nov. 19.

Maybe he can stop in Kabul to make another apology speech and then the Taliban can go live in Amherst, MA.

[Rocco]

Without a draft can there be such a thing as a conscientious objector? What the hell did he think our armed forces were for? His education evidently.

[Jack is Back!]

Pop,

This is all pre-Obama, actually pre-Bush, and a result of a change in operating personnel and training policies created during the Clinton administration. PC in the forces is endemic due to the culture of "diversity" spouted by Casey and his ilk. Remember, we have the condition in Afghanistan due mostly to Casey's bungling of the job. Even McChrystal's proposed RoE's that go with the COIN strategy and so-called surge (in military parlance it is actually call it strategic augmentation) are so PC that even the ACLU wouldn't recognize them for what they are - a recipe for disaster. If you really want to know about how PC has filtered down from the top you need to see the curriculum at the War College and the various Command colleges. It all begins there. Do we really think only the land grant universities and the Ivies have left leaning professors?

[narciso]

He is and was a community organizer, who focuses more on intimidation, or as Stern of SEIU put it, the 'persuasion of power'
over real persuasion. This is how he won his first race, scrambled to the 2004 Senate
race, by helping select the weakest of opponents, and mostly how he won this previous contest. The apocryphal use of 'teabagger' is an indication of this.

[Pops]

Do you think anyone in the media will have the balls to ask Gibbs if the President thinks he could be friends with, and serve on education panels with, and ask Nidal Hasan to host a fundraiser for him 30 years from now?

[Cecil Turner]

The real problem is that Obama decided to change his mind on his strategy before that strategy really ever got going.

Yep. And if you don't have a strategy, nothing else matters. (To paraphrase the Cheshire Cat: if you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter which way you go.)

[centralcal]

O/T (apologies) but I just took a brief break here at work and saw a photo of the Obama's observing Veteran's Day.

We have joked, snarked, poked fun at, and generally derided Michelle and her belt(s), but I seriously am finding it rather embarassing and pathetic in a sad sort of way - today she wore one of her bondage belts over her coat. An otherwise nice looking outfit is made to look utterly ridiculous (along with its wearer). Truly, it is getting kinda sad!

As you were . . .

[anduril]

something else to worry about, any day now? Is China headed toward collapse? Billionaire hedger Jim Chanos is reported shorting the entire Chinese economy. That's a pretty fair sized bet.

From mid-article:

Chang argues that inconsistencies in Chinese official statistics — like the surging numbers for car sales but flat statistics for gasoline consumption — indicate that the Chinese are simply cooking their books. He speculates that Chinese state-run companies are buying fleets of cars and simply storing them in giant parking lots in order to generate apparent growth.

[So enough with denigrating them for their religion.]

Marvelous commentary. I'd add to narciso's list Indonesia, Bengladesh, Pakistan, and perhaps the Philippines, all somewhat democratized by western influence. Never forget, anduril, or any one else, the old Afghani Grandma in the first election who rose before dawn, said the prayers for those expecting to die, and walked miles overland to the polls. The purple finger lives in that land of purple mountained majesties, too. Islam has a concept related to Democracy sometimes translated as justice, that even the least member of a community has a voice in it.
================================

[Some clearly more violent than others.]

Go ahead and denigrate the religion, though. Do you remember me writing years ago that future private spirituality will be Buddhist in nature, public spirituality Confucian, public festivals and holidays in the Hindu spirit, and the cults of Abraham will be marginalized as too violent?
==================================

[Sell gold.]

Heh, Anduril; buy coal. From the Land of Oz.
===========================

[Belts, belts, belts. She likes 'em. So might I, but I don't particularly.]

cc, maybe she has a hernia and these are trusses.
==============================

[Porchlight]

centralcal,

The belt has become a bad joke. I wouldn't have considered her shiny black knee-high boots to be particularly appropriate for the day, either.

Here is another photo of Obama striding through the cemetery, looking rather annoyed. Somehow I don't think honoring American soldiers is a favorite activity of his. It must gall him to be forced to do it two days in a row.

[anduril]

I'd add to narciso's list Indonesia, Bengladesh, Pakistan, and perhaps the Philippines, all somewhat democratized by western influence.

Luv that part about "somewhat democratized."

[anduril]

"striding" or maybe... trudging? the word to go with the expression?

[Rob Crawford]

Luv that part about "somewhat democratized."

More so than, say, Chicago.

[It ain't easy.]

Hey anduril, I try to be honest and self-critical. See link under name for demagoguery in the Land of Oz.
===========================

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

In looking for something for Veterans Day, I came across this Hate Crimes chart. Why are we so worried about offending Muslims, it looks to me like Jews are most at risk for Hate Crimes:

The 2007 numbers, the last available as far as I can find, are down by 30% for Muslims from 2006.

[MayBee]

Walking through the cemetery was a nice touch, but I'm sure Obama's handlers know he has some optics to make up for.

Plus, he does all this rather than make a decision on the wars he is running. I don't think he gets that he will have to make the choice, and there won't be a guarantee that it will work.

[Frau Gänsebraten]

Re: Arlington photo. What's wrong with this photo? Our president looks painfully out of place. Unfortunately, I expect to see him whip out a cigar and start singing "Hooray for Capt. Spaulding."

[clarice]

Here we go--the cya spin cycle is working overtime http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/10/coverage-fort-hood-shooting-press-dodges-religious-component/>Fault? :

Investigators would have been "crucified" over First Amendment rights if they had launched a full-scale probe into e-mails Fort Hood massacre suspect Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly sent to a radical imam, a government investigator told Fox News.

The claim comes as the squabble grows among officials in different branches of law enforcement and the military over who knew what, and when, about Hasan's leanings toward faith-inspired violence, and amid charges that "political correctness" prevented officials from taking pre-emptive action.

Multiple investigators familiar with the FBI's review of the Fort Hood case told Fox News that they simply did not have enough evidence to launch an investigation. Though officials discovered Hasan's e-mails to the imam, one government counterterrorism investigator said the messages suggested he was seeking "spiritual and religious guidance."

"(Hasan) appeared to be at a moral impasse, a moral dilemma who was reaching out for advice," the investigator said. "Had we launched an investigation of Hasan we'd have been crucified."

The investigator added that the communications were shared with the "appropriate chains," including the Department of Defense. The source suggested Hasan may have had other suspicious contacts, telling Fox News "no one missed anything or connections to nefarious individuals."

Officials have consistently batted down suggestions that they "sat" on critical information about Hasan. One

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

What is the link for the cemetery photo you are talking about?

[Porchlight]

Try here, Sara - let me know if it doesn't link to photo 1 of 20:

Obama at Arlington

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

A Red-Ink Train Wreck: The Real Fiscal Cost of Government-Run Healthcare

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Thanks Porchlight. Wow, could he look any more bored and disinterested. Really really sad for this country.

[DebinNC]

I wonder what Gen. McKiernan is thinking as he's watched six months of Obama dithering since his humiliating ouster in favor of McCrystal?

[clarice]

More b.s. about Hasan exposed
(WaPo)"The Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people last week at Fort Hood, Tex., did not formally seek to be discharged as a conscientious objector or for any other reason, an Army official said, despite claims by one of his relatives that he had sought to leave the service."

[Porchlight]

Sara,

I thought he looked resentful bordering on angry. But I'm so irritated with him in general that I may be overinterpreting.

[clarice]

Hill Buzz compares Bush on 9/11 and Ibama on Ft hood and apologizes for all the carp they published about him and thank Laura and GW .
Believe it or not!

http://hillbuzz.org/2009/11/10/thank-you-former-president-george-w-bush-and-former-first-lady-laura-bush/>Our MIA Prezidebt

[Frau Gänsebraten]

Though officials discovered Hasan's e-mails to the imam, one government counterterrorism investigator said the messages suggested he was seeking "spiritual and religious guidance."
And he acted on it?

[clarice]

More from the Hill Buzz (AMAZING) article:
"We are blessed as a nation to have these two out there…just as we are blessed to have the Clintons on the job, traveling the world doing the good they do.

And we are blessed to have Dick Cheney, wherever he is, keeping tabs on all that’s going on and speaking out when the current administration does anything too reckless and dangerous.

Cheney’s someone else we villainized and maligned in the past who we were also wrong about. There has never been a Vice President, including Gore, Biden, or Mondale, who was more supportive of gay rights than “Darth Cheney”. There has never been a Vice President more spot-on right about the dangers facing this country from Islamic terrorism.

We live in strange, strange times indeed.

We are now officially committed fans of George W. and Laura Bush. We are fans of Dick Cheney. Our gratitude for them makes us newly protective of them, and the continued role they play in this country.
"

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Michell Malkin reminds us that there were actually 14 victims killed by Hasan. We must not forget that one of the young women killed was pregnant.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I just walked back into the room and heard the tailend of a Fox report on Hasan. Apparently, they've found at least two pharmacies where Hasan was filling prescriptions he wrote for himself. No details since I didn't hear the whole report.

Are doctors supposed to write prescriptions for themselves?

[Porchlight]

Thanks for the Hillbuzz link, clarice. That was amazing.

[Soylent Red]

COL Kurtz: "You disapprove of my methods?"

CPT Willard: "I don't see any method...at all."

We're talking here about a guy who's had someone to do his homework and waiting to pat him on the head for his whole life. Suddenly he has very real and very public life-and-death situations that he has to understand and direct.

Compound that with a deep-seated need to be the smartest guy in the room, and a narcissist's fear of being exposed as a fraud.

Finally, throw in a dash of leftist disdain for all people and things military.

What you have is a character that not only is intellectually ill-equipped to make a military decision, but one who is paralyzed with fear that whatever decision he might make will damage his political viability. The only advisors with the military knowledge to help him out of the jam come from a group of people who he feels are inferior to him.

And so he will do nothing until someone he respects comes along to tell him what to do. He will then pronounce his wise judgment with great fanfare until things start to go south. At that point he will throw his advisor under the bus and make it known that the ignorant military didn't properly implement his decisive and far-seeing strategy. This will precipitate another four month deliberative process to begin the cycle anew.

As for instituting democracy...

The axiom that "all politics is local" is never more true than in central Asia. We don't have to build a democratic central government and force it on the people. We have to build may semi-democratic jirgas and force them on the Afghan central government.

Seems like this would be a familiar concept to a community organizer.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Thanks Clarice. To say I'm blown away would be an understatement. I knew it would happen though. I read this AM that Rasmussen has Obama at 46% approval.

I miss W so much. I have not felt safe since 1/20/2009 noon.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

When considering the MSM's ridiculous claim of pre-PTSD contagion, can we note that Hasan counseled service members on their way to a combat zone, not those who had been and are now home. So now it is anticipatory PTSD of one party being contracted by another party, neither of which had yet seen any combat, and one of whom would never even have to carry a gun and would most likely be in a rear area where there was a medical unit set up.

These jerkoffs in the MSM are beclowning themselves to the point of pure absurdity.

[matt]

well I guess the President is using the Chinese menu strategy. 4 options according to AP. One from Column A. One from Column B.

This man is the most indecisive leader since the Merovingians.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Biden's motorcade involved in a fatal accident. Biden okay.

[clarice]

What's really heartening about the Hill Buzz blog piece is that (a) someone on the left has the guts to admit he's been wrong about Bush/Cheney:(b) that no one on their side could have donw what they did AND (3) it's not only us who thing Ibama is a true disgrace in office, that his response to this Ft Hood tragedy has been appalling--everyone can see it.

I don't think most voters pay as much attention as we do to economic and foreign policy matters--so impresssions of the character of the President are really important and in that important respect Ibama's flopping. Big time.

[clarice]

**AND (c) it's not only us who thinks Ibama **

[Porchlight]

clarice, I agree it took guts to post that Hillbuzz piece. Those guys should get a great deal of credit.

One of their commenters linked this story about the Bushes visiting prison inmates and their families just before Christmas in 2003.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/angel.asp

I find myself often tearing up when reading about the Bushes. If you do, too, check out the story.

[Soylent Red]

Clarice:

Gibbsy disses Hillbuzz in 3...2...1...

[Porchlight]

I'm sorry, correction - the Bushes visited families of prison inmates and handed out presents to the children, but it was at a church - the inmates themselves were not present.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Biden’s motorcade was involved in a fatal accident

Biden not even there. Everyone say, "aaaaaaaaaaaah."

[Jane]

The Hillbuzz post made my day. I never understood why others didn't see in Bush what so many of us saw - well I understand it, but I thought people were smarter than that.

Anyway, thanks Hillbuzz. I like your style.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Pretty darn sad when even muggers have more respect for the military than the CinC:

Muggers Return Wallet After Seeing Army ID

A Milwaukee Army reservist's military identification earned him some street cred Tuesday, when he says four men who mugged him at gunpoint returned his belongings and thanked him for his service after finding the ID.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

When HillBuzz is noticing teh Once's failure to hit the right notes in times of stress, he has problems.

Paraphrasing Churchill, GWB was the worst President, except for all those other presidents that have been elected from time to time."

[anduril]

Here's an OK STRATFOR piece: The Hasan Case: Overt Clues and Tactical Challenges

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Has anyone heard from Elliott yet? And can someone remind me of the time difference from Manchester to the US?

[clarice]

More signs of the ship taking on water--from drudge:

Support The DrudgeReport; Visit Our Advertisers

Obama Grants FOXNEWS Interview -- Day After Anita Dunn Steps Down... MORE...
DRUDGE has learned, Major Garrett will conduct interview in China next week...
NYT: Admin originally said they would not give net any interviews for remainder of '09...

[narciso]

I still don't get how someone like Aulaqi as a contact could not be a red flag, even I didn't know he had been at the San Diego and Great Falls (Al Hijirah)"the pilgrimage"

[Neo]

Obama will be selecting "Curtain #3" While he and Michelle are dressed in a unicorn suit.

[Jane]

I heard from Elliott, he was about to board (but I don't know when he wrote the message because it was on Facebook).

London is 4 or 5 or 6 hours ahead. I can't remember with daylight savings time.

[anduril]

recently, during the last week, i called bush a moron. i also said i never doubted that he was a decent and honorable man. just misguided. this very human side has been known about him for many years by all but hatemongers.

[bgates]

since the Merovingians

Matt blows right through the Montezuma comparison. I didn't even know the Merovingians were indecisive.

In a different world, there would be an interesting series on the History channel depicting the greatest flaw of various historical figures, and illustrating how Obama is worse than the previous exemplar of each shortcoming.

[anduril]

expresses what we all feel: Veteran's Day, November 11th

[Rob Crawford]

recently, during the last week, i called bush a moron.

A statement which, let's be frank, is nothing but projection.

[hit and run]

Sara:
Has anyone heard from Elliott yet? And can someone remind me of the time difference from Manchester to the US?

Yes. From an email this morning:

I made it safe and sound and will have a full report on tomorrow's events.

[anduril]

just wanted to give everyone who felt the urge an opportunity...

[Rocco]

Every year right before x-mas, the Salvation Army would come into the prison I worked at and give each inmate a x-mas package. It wasn't much, a pair of socks and some cosmetics, but now when I see the SA on the streets ringing their bell, I walk on by. Maybe the 28 years I spent in that enchanted kingdom have hardened me but they live pretty darn good if ya ask me! They're allowed to spend 100 bucks a week in the canteen and most do. Now there are some indigent people in our prisons but most have families that take care of their needs. I have no sympathy for them. As far as I'm concerned, that money would do more good in other charities. Hate the sin but love the sinner my ass!

[Frau Gänsebraten]

Thanks, clarice! Two pieces of good news from you. The Hillbuzz was fantastic and the recognition --in my lifetime --of Dubya's service to our country comes much sooner than I would ever have expected. Learning that Ibama will meet with "Faux News" will definitely make the heads of the Kos klutzes explode.

[centralcal]

I haven't read Hillbuzz in recent weeks, but I went there regularly during the 08 campaigns and elections. They took a rather lengthy hiatus and quit updating their blog for a time, so I only check in there now and again, never sure when they are actively blogging.

They have always hated Obama, being Hillary supporters and all, and have been admirers of Sarah Palin.

[clarice]

I'm waiting in the bushes as it were, anduril..I never thought Bush was a moron. I think there are some decisions he made I'd disagree with, but I loved him for his character,steadfastness and because IMO he was dead right on the most important things.

*******

Taranto BOTW:
"Yet although the connection between Muhammad's religion and his crimes was much less clear than appears to be the case at Fort Hood, our cursory review of the 2002 press coverage suggests that reporters back then, including the author of the Times piece quoted just above, were more straightforward in dealing with it. And although Muhammad was a veteran--and had, unlike Hasan, actually seen combat--journalists do not seem to have rushed to fit the story to the usual crazy-veteran narrative, as they have been doing with Hasan.

Some have detected in the Fort Hood coverage a return to a pre-9/11 mindset, and there is some truth to this. In particular, the left-liberal tendency to stereotype servicemen and veterans as psychopaths, suckers and victims is a return to form. But the bending over backward to explain away the role of religious fanaticism in the Fort Hood massacre is, it seems to us, something new--something distinctly post-9/11, or post-post-9/11.

Politically correct sensitivities have, of course, long been with us. But as we noted Monday, journalists and political leaders really seem to be going to extremes to avoid acknowledging the evident religious motivations for Hasan's alleged crimes. We'd suggest that there are three reasons for such denial, all of which grow out of 9/11:

First, the liberal left has embraced the notion that America overreacted after 9/11, was beastly toward Muslims, and now needs to "reach out" and atone. There is very little truth to this. President Bush constantly reminded the world that we were not at war with Islam, which he called a religion of peace. But Bush-was-too-aggressive rhetoric is a much better fit with liberals' natural inclination toward inaction than the Bush-wasn't-aggressive-enough rhetoric that Barack Obama occasionally used while still a candidate.

Second, it is comforting to think that 9/11 was a one-off rather than the most horrific example (so far) of a continuing threat. From this standpoint, it's psychologically preferable to emphasize that the Fort Hood suspect appears to have been a lone nut rather than that he seems to have espoused an ideology similar to that of the 9/11 terrorists.

Third, the impulse to protect a religious minority from prejudice and discrimination is a noble one. Muslims are not collectively guilty for the worst crimes of their coreligionists. We've encountered enough anti-Muslim prejudice to say that fears of it are not unfounded.

But the denialist attitude is counterproductive on all three grounds. Willful ignorance of the enemy's ideology is of no help in fighting the enemy--or preventing future attacks. In any case clarity, not obfuscation, is the enemy of prejudice."

****
I love Taranto, too.

[clarice]

Oh, and while I disagree with you, anduril on a number of things, I don't think you're a moron.

[Dave (in MA)]

Sara (Pal2Pal) |I miss W so much. I have not felt safe since 1/20/2009 noon.|

I don't think it was so sudden. They've been gradually chipping away on our safety since late '02 or early '03, with a big drop in Nov. '06.

[Old Lurker]

"Biden okay"

Says who?

[matt]

"the connection between Muhammed's religion and his crimes"

you mean the Prophet's banditry with the tribes when he was tossed out of mecca on his ear?

Very, very haram among the the smart set in Mecca these days.....

[clarice]

He was talking about the sniper who was just executed, Matt..sorry the excerpt was confusing..

[Janet]

Thanks for the Angeltree link too Porchlight.
What a contrast - the media has to hide good things about Bush, and hide bad things about Obama.

[matt]

to honor our veterans. LUN

[Appalled]

clarice:

Obama may have looked at all the media he looked like, and realized the war with Fox was just keeping his mug away from a lot of viewers who don't watch the nightly network news or CNN, MSNBC.

Changing one bad policy does not suggest desperation. (Though, frankly, somebody in that White House really needs to feel a little angst.)

[centralcal]

Kinda cool - Ace says he and some others are kicking around the idea of having a Conservative version of the Yearly Kos convention.

I especially liked this idea:

T

he only idea I am definite on is that it is not going to be held at some dreary city like DC. It's going to be in Vegas, or Miami, or Coronado Island off of San Diego, or someplace fun like that that caters to tourists. If you've ever traveled for political stuff, you know that all too often you wind up in dreary DC in the wintertime, and it feels very much like a working vacation. Or... just work.

Of course, I would vote for Coronado. Anyway he is trying to get bloggers, sponsors, and speakers interested. Hope he succeeds.