Politically correct murder and mayhem
U.S. Army Major Hassan seems to have ended his career as a traitor, but I have to wonder how bad he could have gotten before the Army decided to do something about him.
He seemed to be advocating for the enemy (voicing support for suicide bombers), was opposed to the war (and agitating against it), tried very hard to avoid overseas deployment and God only knows what he said to his psychiatric patients. At what point does the Army call "disloyal" and strip someone of their commission?
Then again, whatever forces conspired and succeeded to make U.S. Army bases into gun free zones shows that even exceptionally criminally stupid ideas can worm their way into policy. If shooting 43 U.S. soldiers on an Army base on American home ground doesn't kill these ridiculous PC rules I don't know what will. Maybe shooting 43 generals?
He seemed to be advocating for the enemy (voicing support for suicide bombers), was opposed to the war (and agitating against it), tried very hard to avoid overseas deployment and God only knows what he said to his psychiatric patients. At what point does the Army call "disloyal" and strip someone of their commission?
Jerry Pournelle - "The politically correct spin is coming like a tidal wave. He is a crazy guy who happens to be a Muslim. All of that misses the point: he was disloyal to the United States, and said so openly and many times; yet he remained a commissioned officer of the United States. That is the point that is being overlooked. Whether the disloyalty is due to a psychotic episode or some other cause is not important."In hindsight, I could sort of see Army policy keeping the average soldier disarmed in public, but surely they trust the non-comms and officers to be armed? But no. Does the Army trust colonels and up?
Then again, whatever forces conspired and succeeded to make U.S. Army bases into gun free zones shows that even exceptionally criminally stupid ideas can worm their way into policy. If shooting 43 U.S. soldiers on an Army base on American home ground doesn't kill these ridiculous PC rules I don't know what will. Maybe shooting 43 generals?
5 Incoming!:
It just amazes me that soldiers are unarmed on an Army base. I heard it was started during the Carter administration.
There's a shocker...
I believe it has more to do with actual safety. The average soldier has the weapons safety mentality of a 16 year old, and about the same level of experience. I've seen a number of negligent discharges over the years, one of which was dry-fire practice aiming at a soldier holding a target for the dry-firer to aim at. Fortunately, he missed; that's why he was do dry-fire drills. Same post, I was downrange with a squad putting out tracer-induced brush fires when a drill sergeant popped one off from the firing line handling a soldiers rifle. And the number of times I was swept with muzzles by rifles and machine guns in Iraq (where my unit witnessed an officer shoot himself in the leg with his M9 while playing with it) finally convinced me damn few common soldiers know much about gun safety. Given the effect on an officer's career when one of his troops pops his self or someone else, it's not hard to see why bases are essentially gun-free zones: someone's promotion might get screwed, and training/accountability in weapons handling costs time and money that could be spent on EO (equal opportunity) presentations.
Combat readiness training in general takes a back seat to politically correct training: we HAVE to have lectures on veneral diseases, recycling, don't litter, don't vandalize the portajohns, etc.
[Still shaking my head over unarmed soldiers on a military base]
I shoot IDPA and IPSC matches. While I'm sure it has happened somewhere, I've never seen anyone get shot at one of these matches (or in any of the practice session). Simply have the soldiers walk around with an unloaded sidearm. Two or three loaded mags on a belt gives you armed soldiers in 2 seconds without the risk of an accidental discharge.
If someone is in the military and can't be trusted with a weapon, they shouldn't be in the military.
Chief,
Roger that.
I remember right after 9/11 the National Guard was stationed at the San Francisco Airport (to watch the screeners) and they had to check their sidearms (after clearing them) by aiming into a bucket of sand and pulling the trigger.
Some, ahem, officer, managed to get a ND (after all that!) and wound himself.
It's surreal and scary.
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