Roman Around

There are reports that Nidal Malik Hasan, the man who murdered thirteen at Fort Hood, Texas last week, attended the same Virginia mosque as two of the 9/11 hijackers in 2001. This would have happened during the period when a radical imam, Anwar Aulaqi, was preaching at the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va.

According to an Associated Press story:

Aulaqi told the FBI in 2001 that, before he moved to Virginia in early 2001, he met with 9/11 hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi several times in San Diego. Al-Hazmi was at the time living with Khalid al-Mihdhar, another hijacker. Al-Hazmi and another hijacker, Hani Hanjour, attended the Dar al Hijrah mosque in Virginia in early April 2001. In his FBI interview, Aulaqi denied ever meeting with al-Hazmi and Hanjour while in Virginia.

Of course, it is imperative that the American public continue to refrain from jumping to any conclusions.

There may be other factors to contend with that the rest of us may be missing. Perhaps he was bullied as a child. Maybe he adored his mother and hated his father. It could be that he wasn’t allowed to have a Big Wheel as a boy. Maybe the other kids wouldn’t let him play in any reindeer games.

Regardless, we need to relax and let the facts come out.

While Hasan’s ties to the Virginia mosque are obviously of tremendous relevance – and as all the details surrounding the Fort Hood terrorist attack become known – it is the Associated Press article itself that draws my attention.

To begin with, the article’s opening sentence is profoundly troubling:

The alleged Fort Hood shooter apparently attended the same Virginia mosque as two Sept. 11 hijackers in 2001, at a time when a radical imam preached there.

The “alleged” shooter?

So, it is possible that the individual who shot thirteen people dead and injured twenty-nine was not Nidal Malik Hasan? It could have been someone else?

And what about Sergeant Kimberly Munley, the officer who took down the killer, Hasan?

If Hasan is “alleged,” I hope Munley is being held in jail until it can be confirmed who the “shooter” actually was. Or did she “allegedly” shoot Hasan? Or did she shoot someone else? And if so, was that shooting “alleged?”

And are the dead “alleged” until the shooter can actually be confirmed?

Is the entire incident “alleged?”

(And does this shirt make me look fat?)

The article’s next line is equally troubling:

Whether the Fort Hood shooter associated with the hijackers is something the FBI will probably look into, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The FBI will “probably” look into whether or not the terrorist, Hasan, had any associations with the 9/11 hijackers who attended the same mosque as he??

Probably?

Given that I am obviously a novice when it comes to criminal investigations, law enforcement and matters of national security, wouldn’t it nonetheless seem to be an automatic to look into it?

Maybe I watch too much television.

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