The commentary below was written by a blogger who posted on Americablog.
Some American military installations are in areas which have a lot of violent crime. As a soldier, once I entered the gates of a military base (access was controlled by armed military policemen and only people with military IDs were admitted or civilians with authorized business on post) I felt safe. I could let my guard down and relax. For example, Ft. McPherson is in a rougher neighborhood in Atlanta. Once I passed into Ft. Mcpherson I felt totally safe. I was totally protected among my friends and fellow soldiers on base. I can only imagine the horror the people at Ft. Hood felt yesterday. That said, I totally reject all Muslims being blamed for the actions of one, American-born, man known to be a Muslim (some on the far right in the U.S. media already are engaging in their typical bigotry and xenophobia). Charles Whitman (who killed 14 and wounded 32) from the university observation tower in Austin in 1966 was found to be suffering from a large gioblastoma which could have had an impact on his impulse control. And Timothy Mcveigh, a white male, U.S. Army veteran, Christian, registered Republican, and member of the N.R.A. murdered 168 people and wounded many others (including children in a day care center) when he bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Certainly no one held all Republican Christian members of the N.R.A. accountable for Timothy McVeigh's actions. We do not blame all Jews for the violent actions of an American-born Jewish physician named Baruch Goldstein who killed 29 people and wounded 150 others during the Festival of Purim in 1994. In our quest for justice, let's wait and see what was going on medically and psychiatrically with the accused shooter at Ft. Hood. If he is found accountable and cuplable (legally sane) for his actions, he alone is to blame (unless we know there was a larger conspiracy involving others). We cannot blame and should not retaliate against his entire religious community.
Here is the link to his blog.
I cannot understand the language he has there. I think it's Russian, but what do I know.
It does not surprise me that psychiatrists could suffer from the same maladies they diagnose and treat.
Are we so shocked when oncologists succumb to cancer?
2 comments:
When the same pattern of crime happens over and over, and when we get used to hearing people talk about all the odd behavior they noticed beforehand-- I have to wonder about prevention.
There's the script of the lone desperate gunman, there's the props of easily available weapons of mass destruction, and an audience--us.
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