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Fort Hood Shooting
Nov. 6th, 2009 10:12 amI think everybody's heard about the shooting at Fort Hood yesterday. A few comments:
1) It has been common practice in Western militaries that soldiers in garrison are not under arms. As that somewhat anachronistic phrasing may suggest, that's partially a tradition in peace and war going back to at least the 1800s. This is for a number of reasons, including:
- avoiding accidental weapons discharges
- simple convenience (most soldiers have a rifle, not a pistol)
- bureaucratic control. The soldier signed for a specific rifle, and providing secure storage everywhere for a selection of visually identical weapons might be an issue.
2) Major Hasan, the suspected shooter, was a career Army officer. He commissioned in 1995 from Virginia Tech. This shooting may be politically motivated, but it's also possible that, as per this list of six other shootings, Hasan was just a lone nut.
3) The usual suspects over at Simberg's Flying Circus are having a field day with "Evil Mooslems !11!!" They argue that there are Muslims who are desperate to kill Americans.
They are correct. There are also Christians desperate to kill abortion doctors. We are not yet at war with all Muslims. However, over-reacting and painting all Muslims as untrustworthy is a good way to take the current whack-an-extremist war we're in and make it bigger.
We may yet, by accident or deliberation, expand this to a "war of civilizations." But if you don't like the butcher's bill from Afghanistan, you'll really be upset with that war's bill. Nor, quite frankly, do we need to go there yet.
1) It has been common practice in Western militaries that soldiers in garrison are not under arms. As that somewhat anachronistic phrasing may suggest, that's partially a tradition in peace and war going back to at least the 1800s. This is for a number of reasons, including:
- avoiding accidental weapons discharges
- simple convenience (most soldiers have a rifle, not a pistol)
- bureaucratic control. The soldier signed for a specific rifle, and providing secure storage everywhere for a selection of visually identical weapons might be an issue.
2) Major Hasan, the suspected shooter, was a career Army officer. He commissioned in 1995 from Virginia Tech. This shooting may be politically motivated, but it's also possible that, as per this list of six other shootings, Hasan was just a lone nut.
3) The usual suspects over at Simberg's Flying Circus are having a field day with "Evil Mooslems !11!!" They argue that there are Muslims who are desperate to kill Americans.
They are correct. There are also Christians desperate to kill abortion doctors. We are not yet at war with all Muslims. However, over-reacting and painting all Muslims as untrustworthy is a good way to take the current whack-an-extremist war we're in and make it bigger.
We may yet, by accident or deliberation, expand this to a "war of civilizations." But if you don't like the butcher's bill from Afghanistan, you'll really be upset with that war's bill. Nor, quite frankly, do we need to go there yet.
