Today is the one day a year that my comrades in arms, either active duty, retired, reservist, or fellow veterans actually have strangers walk up to us and say "Thank you". I normally don't talk about my personal experiences, except on rare occasions with fellow veterans-many of the memories are too painful to speak about. Briefly, I want to thank all of those who are serving in the present conflicts, and all those who stood their post before, during, and after my time in the service-we all deserve more than one day of thanks from those who take their freedom, safety, and well being for granted. Enough said.
As for the title of this post, I want to speak on home-grown terrorism tonight because recent events have developed which prove out the theories that terrorist activities need only one person to carry them out. What I mean by this is that an act of terrorism doesn't necessarily mean a group, or cell, of people need to be involved.
Take a look at the recent Ft. Hood shootings. The alleged shooter is of the Muslim faith-but is a U.S. citizen, otherwise he could not have enlisted in ANY branch of our military. It has now been revealed by countless reliable news sources that he was OPENLY opposed to the war on terror, yet was NOT questioned by any sector of government intelligence about the statements he made to fellow soldiers prior to the attack. I for one am severely disappointed by this fact-yet it only proves how complacent we have become regarding our vigilance and preparedness here at home. Time magazine ran a report earlier today which stated that "the enemy is too busy worrying about where the next offensive strike is coming from to be concerned with carrying out acts of terror on a global scale.."....
How Unbelievably arrogant!
Are we so complacent that we have forgotten the lessons learned from the Oklahoma City bombing, the World Trade Center, the 9/11 attacks? Unfortunately...yes.
The Ft. Hood shooter was shown to have been in contact with a radical Jihadist Muslim Cleric, who purportedly is a U.S. citizen, but has recently been released from a Yemeni prison. This imam (preacher) was incarcerated for involvement with known terrorist groups. The imam also praised the shooter as a "hero" and an "example to be held high, for all true believers to emulate". It has also been revealed that the alleged shooter attended worship services with two of the 9/11 terrorists, had several electronic communications with the imam while the imam was in jail. It was further revealed today that a prior investigation by the F.B.I. on the alleged shooter was dropped, because he was deemed to be a "non-threatening source". Way to go, guys-nice call on that one!
Obviously the fact that he also held his mother's recent funeral at the same mosque, the comments to friends about his political views, his open praise of a Muslim leader to fellow soldiers, etc. were ignored because a fellow soldier "couldn't possibly be involved". "He took an oath to defend the U.S. against all enemies-foriegn and domestic. How could he have done what he allegedly did? One word-complacency.
This is NOT a call to arms-it IS a message designed to restore the vigilance and preparedness of our country. It IS a message meant to WAKE UP all those who have let a comment slide by, who ignore what is happening in the world outside their comfortable little bubbles, etc. Even the slightest of comments in passing can hold a deeper meaning, an indication or "peek" into someone's psyche. Consider this a warning-remain vigilant. If you are not prepared-GET PREPARED. If you are prepared-help those around you as soon as humanly possible. do not become complacent and ignore the warning signs of a troubled person around you!
That's all for now-
D.
