LOS ANGELES (YBH.ME) – The battle over how much of a role Islam may have played in the Fort Hood attack has begun in the media:
The Huffington Post states that “there is no concrete reporting as to whether Nidal Malik Hasan was in fact a Muslim or an Arab. All that has been reported is that he served in the Department of Psychology at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Bethesda Naval Facility in Bethesda, Maryland.”
Fox News reports, “Nader Hasan said his cousin, who was raised a Muslim, wanted to go into the military against his parent’s wishes and was taunted by others after the terror attacks of Sept. 11.”
MSNBC skirted the issue and focused on the number of soldiers who have committed suicide (74) at Fort Hood in recent years.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) plans to hold a press conference shortly to denounce the attack and get ahead of any backlash. On the other side, Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch claims the shooter said, “Muslims have to stand up against the aggressor.” Left leaning site, Daily Kos covered the shootings, but then moved on to other issues.
The Drudge Report asked simply, “Why did he do it?” Campbell Brown asked essentially the same question on CNN.
The American media has been loathe to label any attack in the United States as motivated by Islam since the terrorist attacks of 2001.
