Fort Hood, The President, and Death of Needless Proportions.

Tragedy is on everyone’s mind. What is to be said of those events that took place? Much. Too much. But at the same time, not nearly enough. Those who died on November 5th will be remembered not just today, but for history. These events were not like events that had taken place in the past; but many of the details have been lied about and only given has half truths to the American people. To not speak out about these tragedies, that align themselves with this memorial service, would be as Un-American as not taking the time to remember these fallen men and women.

President Obama stated many beautiful and eloquent statements during his speech at Fort Hood. Some of them, I feel, spoke to any American who listened; others would have been caught up into the emotion of the situation, and others would have listened and been astonished, taken back, and ashamed. He stated that those who gave thier lives will be remembered, and that they will be seen as heroes. All of that was very true. These were great people. Two of them were highly educated and very intelligent. One could barely speak English when he came to the United States but learned and went on to get a PhD. in psychology. A very challenging field when language can be a barrier. Another was educated in medicine and was so dedicated that he returned to serve only three weeks after a heart attack, all at the age of 62.

But, the ceremony was very religiously baised. Prayers from very Christian perspectives were given, and readings from the book of Christian basis were read several times. The President even made mention of god several times in his speech and said,” "No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor". Sadly, this is very false. Even quoting the same book they used one will read the heinous acts of violence there in, such as:

God then told them to do the same to King Og of Bashan. The Israelites therefore "slaughtered them and left no survivor.” The book of Psalms cites these massacres as proof that the Lord's "love endures forever." In resettling the Israelites after the Egyptian sojourn, God instructed them to steal the land of seven nations. And he told them to "not to leave any creature alive. You shall annihilate them. . . ." As a result, the Israelites utterly wiped out various peoples. An example is when Joshua's army attacked Jericho and "put everyone to the sword, men and women, young and old. . . ." Later, the Lord told Joshua to do the same to the people of Ai. In obedience to the Lord's commands, Joshua's army did likewise too many other cities. The Israelites "put every living soul to the sword until they had destroyed every one; they did not leave alive any one that drew breath." If the accounts given in the Bible are accepted, there were millions of men, women, and children exterminated in this conquest of the Promised Land. Even forced sex is consecrated when, “So he ordered the soldiers to "kill every male dependent, and kill every woman who has had intercourse with a man, but spare for yourselves every woman among them who has not had intercourse." Shortly thereafter, God gave Moses instructions for distributing the captive virgins among the fighting men and the community.

Our president also stated that the shooter was kept alive so he could stand trial. This was to show how the American justice system is right and just. This is sadly very untrue. This man will stand trial if he survives to that time; but to anyone who takes the time to discern what was really going on, they will know that he was kept alive to be questioned; and to see if he was working alone, or with a group as a matter of national security and military intelligence. What they will not tell you is that he will probably be tortured to get the information out of him if he does not speak openly of what his motives were. I am far to say what he did was right. But to make a charade of the justice system further undermines the legal system that the United Sates uses, and furthermore, the bold faced lies of the Commander and Chief further undermine the public’s view of him. I know I would actually feel safer if he did tell us why this man was kept alive, and that every last bit of information would be gotten out of him for the sake of national security and safety. Sugar coating actions this serious has a feeling of making the American people feel less capable of grasping and comprehending the severity of the situation. It is just as bad/sad as when the Bush administration made us feel in danger at all times with “terror alerts” and grossly exaggerated claims of a country wishing to do harm to the United States with “weapons of mass destruction”. Additionally, that we should lean on the government because we could never survive without their complete control and our allowance of their decisions at all costs.

This also seems divergent of what really stemmed this war. It has been proven time and again that Iraq was not a part of the 9-11 attacks. They did not have the backing of Al-Qaeda, nor were they backing Al-Qaeda. Yes, they did meet a few times, but it was seen that they had “ideological differences” that kept them from teaming up together no matter what their “common enemy” was. It was just like the Black Panthers and the KKK wishing to get together because they believed unilaterally in racial purity; but they disagree so greatly on what race “is pure” and what religion is “right” that they could never work together.

Also, many soldiers enlisted to retaliate against those who were a part of the crashing of planes into the Twin Towers. Even one of those lost in the Fort Hood shootings is now famously remembered as saying that when she was told that she could not take on Bin Laden by herself she retorted, “Watch me!” I would hope that we can see that these soldiers wished to help their country. They did not wish to find themselves killing innocent women, children, and the elderly in a country that did not attack the United States. They now see that America’s involvement in Iraq as more “imperialistic expansion” than any bit of “protecting Americans from terrorists”. They know firsthand terrorists were not in great numbers in Iraq until it was seen by these extremists as a place where they could engage Americans in battle. Let us not lose focus of what is truly important to the American people. Let our sights not be taken from the real issues of life and death of our fellow Americans, (civilian and military) in matters of true importance, that affect the American people, not just today, but for generations to come.