Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the presumed gunman in the deadly Fort Hood shootings, worshipped at Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, VA, led by a radical imam said to be a "spiritual adviser" to three of the apparent 9-11 hijackers—two of whom attended the mosque at the same time as Hasan, the UK's Sunday Telegraph [2] reported Nov. 7. The funeral of Hasan's mother was held there in May of the same year, 2001. The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki [3], an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link this August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organizations.
Al-Awlaki moved from the west coast to become imam at Dar al-Hijrah in January 2001. Three months later presumed 9-11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hamzi [4] and Hani Hanjour [5] began attending his services. A third hijacker attended his services in California. (A Nov. 9 commentary on al-Awlaki's blog heartwarmingly states, "Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing [6].")
The annoying conspiranoids at Citizens for Legitimate Government [7] seize on this to editorialize on the "Manchurian Candidate-style" nature of the Fort Hood massacre. Pretty funny, eh? As we've noted before [8], this is kind of like a Rorschach test. The right wing will look at the same facts and see evidence of the inherent evil of Islam. (See this choice bit of salivation from the Camden County Conservative Examiner [9]). Each are convinced that their interpretation is not only right, but the only obvious one.
CLG also links to a Nov. 7 Reuters [10] report from Hasan's grandfather asserting that "it is impossible that he would do something like that." Under the headline "Curiouser and Curiouser", CLG adds:
Major Hasan's name appears on page 29 of The George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute's 'Thinking Anew—Security Priorities for the Next Administration' —Proceedings Report of the HSPI Presidential Transition Task Force - April 2008 - January 2009.
We fail to see what's so curious about it. Is it unlikely that an army psychologist would attend such an event? Is it the sort of affair where a "Manchurian Candidate" is likely to be programmed?
CLG also adds—without providing links, dates or headlines for the CNN citations:
* CNN: Over one hundred shots were fired in the attack. (Logic dictates that 'over one hundred shots' were not fired by a single individual, surrounded by military personnel and special police forces.)
* CNN: FBI was investigating Major Nidal Hasan six months ago.
We'll be more convinced about the unlikelihood of one shooter getting off over 100 shots when we hear it from a forensic specialist. And we'll be more convinced that the FBI investigated Hasan when we actually see the CNN story. (A Google News search does not turn it up.)
CLG is more than welcome to reply.
See our last posts on 9-11 conspiranoia [11] and the struggle within Islam [12].
Please leave a tip [13] or answer the Exit Poll [14].
