‘Access to Guns,’ Not Jihad, to Blame for Ft. Hood

Blame everone but your own people ........ (again it is Americas Fault)

‘Access to Guns,’ Not Jihad, to Blame for Ft. Hood, Says Noted Islamic Scholar

by Charles C. Johnson
Imam Zaid Shakir came to speak at my school, Claremont McKenna, on December 9th to respond to the “tragedy of Ft. Hood.” Rather than respond to the massacre of American servicemen, Shakir spent the evening indicting the United States – saying “we were born in genocide.” The reason for the Ft. Hood Massacre, according to Shakir? Not jihad or Islamic fundamentalism, but the “pervasiveness of violence in our society” and because of Americans’ “easy access to guns.”

For those wondering who Mr. Shakir is, he’s the go-to expert on Islamic issues for the mainstream media. The New York Times describes him as a “leading intellectual light,” while rap scholar, Cornel West says “he is one of the towering principle [sic] voices not only in contemporary Islam, but in American society,” according to this biography. Most recently, he was described by John Esposito as one of the “500 Most Influential Muslims.”

After comparing the massacres at Ft. Hood by Major Nidal Hassan to the Columbine killers and Maurice Clemmons, of Mike Huckabee pardon fame, Shakir said that the violence we have seen was not a “Muslim problem,” but a problem for everyone. You never quite know when someone will “snap.” [The following is extracted from a transcript from audio I took of the public lecture at my college.]

There is not a Muslim problem. Especially based on the number of Muslims who have done this particular act. It’s not a Korean problem because the kid in Virginia tech was a Korean American. It’s not a white American problem because the kids in Columbine or several other places were white Americans. That’s not the common denominator, race is not the common denominator, religion is not the common denominator, gender–maybe, I would say they should just chill out. What is the common denominator. The common denominator is easy access to guns. The common denominator is that there are more guns in America than there are human beings. There are more guns in America than human beings, and they are easily had. And if someone tries to limit their accessibility, they’re going to be challenged by the NRA, the National Rifle Association–one of the most powerful lobbies in this country. That’s the common denominator. So if we are serious as a society about stopping this violence, it doesn’t behoove us to demonize Muslims. We’re here to talk about Muslims, I’m not trying to dodge that, but if behooves us to make it far, far, far more difficult for people to get their hands on a gun. And if we’re not willing to do that, it’s easy to go blame the Muslims. That’s easy and that’s why so many people do–it’s a national sport. Vilify the Muslims, they’re weak, they can’t fight back.

Of course left unsaid is why we should ban guns on a military base. Shouldn’t Major Hassan, a U.S. Army officer, be carrying a gun on such a military base? And what of the quick thinking of the law enforcement personnel on the scene who were well armed?

But “the violence that permeates our society spills over to other shores,” Zaid said. To prove his point, Shakir totally misrepresented history, claiming for instance that “the last time any Muslim country encroached upon a Christian country” was “300 years ago, the second Ottoman siege of Vienna,” and utterly ignoring the Armenian genocide or the civil war in Lebanon, to name just two quick examples.

He claimed, among other things that the American invasion and occupation was to blame for the hostility between Shiites and Sunnis – ignoring that the Battle of Karbala between Sunnis and Shiites, occurred in Iraq some centuries ago. And while violence between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq was rare before 1991, that was only because Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated Baath party kept its hands tightly on the reigns of power.

[Vince]

He claimed, among other things that the American invasion and occupation was to blame for the hostility between Shiites and Sunnis....

I loved this one. Refering to the above quote.

Yeah, I'm sure Shakir along with a lot of other Muslims would love to see a disarmed United States.

[Rommey]

So by that logic, England and Spain were targeted because of their access to subways and trains?

[libertytyranny]

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Dumbest argument ever, I have no idea how someone could write such junk, and actually believe it. Like these people aren't kooks till you put a gun in their hand.."hmm I am angry..I could just go see a counselor, or get a massage, but #### it..it's so easy to get a gun..I'll just shoot the ####ers."

Illogical.