Failure To Connect Dots . . . And Bill Clinton's Fears

The Pentagon has its own investigation ongoing, as do base police at Fort Hood in Texas. Now Congress is looking into the shooting by the Army major that killed a number of soldiers and one civilian.

At issue are a number of questions. Was this a terrorist incident? In my pretty broad worldview, unequivocally I say "yes." How could this have been stopped is the other question.

Two answers. First, the screening procedure for mental stability needs to extend to the "watchers." As in, "who watches the watchers?" So, was this a form of reverse discrimination? In the private sector if you have someone who is incompetent, but you don't fire them because you are afraid you will be sued on grounds of racial discrimination, or sexual discrimination, or religious discrimination . . . that is a form of discrimination itself. The very act of NOT acting. Did that happen here? Was the major not fired because of fear over his religion? That it would look bad?

Those answers are likely to come to light very soon.

Here is reason number two on "why" this happened. Bill Clinton's paranoid fear. When he was U.S. president, he issued an order that military bases be "disarmed." That is, soldiers -- with the exception of gate MPs or gate guards -- no longer carried sidearms. His own paranoid fear for his life as commander in chief? We will probably never know.

But had the major pulled out his guns and started firing while on a base of armed servicemen and servicewomen, he would have been taken down far more quickly.

Nevertheless, my hat is off to the bravery and sharp shooting of the policewoman from the Fort Hood police force. Nicely done.

Now the question is whether Congress will thorough investigate this terrorist incident, or chalk it up as some anomoly. Time will tell . . .