But remember, this has nothing — nothing — to do with Islam, if you believe Army brass and, of course, Obama himself. That willful blindness has shown itself to be the root of the failures in intelligence (in more than one sense of the word) that led to this attack. “Fort Hood: Hasan Asked Awlaki If It Was Okay to Kill American Soldiers,” by Mark Schone for ABC News, December 23:
In an interview published on Al Jazeera’s Web site, radical Muslim cleric Anwar al Awlaki says that Maj. Nidal Hasan, charged with killing 13 in last month’s Fort Hood massacre, asked for guidance about killing American military personnel in his very first e-mail.
Awlaki claims that Hasan initiated the e-mail correspondence with a message on Dec. 17, 2008. “He was asking about killing U.S. soldiers and officers,” said Awlaki. “His question was is it legitimate [under Islamic law].”
The Al Jazeera questioner asks for confirmation that Hasan forwarded this query nearly a year before the shooting.
“Yes,” responds Awlaki. “I am astonished. Where was American intelligence that claimed once that it can read any car plate number anywhere in the world?” […]
That much is true. It can’t “read” what it refuses to see.
In the interview, Awlaki does not say whether he okayed the attack, but restates his support for the deed. Just after the Fort Hood shootings, Awlaki posted on a message on his Web site praising the shooter. In the interview, he calls it “a heroic action.”
“The operation had a military target inside America, and there’s no dispute about that,” said Awlaki, adding that the soldiers killed “were prepared and equipped to fight and kill oppressed Muslims.”
Asked why he supports a man who “betrayed his American homeland,” Awlaki says that religion trumps country. “Working in the American military to kill Muslims is a betrayal to Islam,” said Awlaki.
Awlaki, however, denies recruiting Hasan to commit violence. “Yes, I played a role in guiding his ideology, but nothing beyond that,” said Awlaki.
Awlaki then suggests that the American government is trying to cover up its security failure by preventing the publication of the e-mails.