[Rellshare]

A couple of things have been on my mind recently. For starters, why do we have memorial threads for the dead at Fort Hood, but not for all the other soldiers who die every day in combat? Given how Poly has responded to the memorial thread for the Ft. Hood, you are surprised that there haven't been memorials previous? I have counted 1, and only 1 actual appropriate response.

If folks desire a memorial thread, or wish to do so, I personally will encourage them. I was asking the question myself lately, why is this the first time.

I would love to see another poster take it on, but if no one wants to, and there is demand for it I would be happy to do one for each. Perhaps it would go a long way to mitigate the unwarranted hostility. Of course, I would like to see it done as I've done it, with respect to the soldiers and to honour them.

I fear that the threads would simply degenerate, by those who want to put their own two cents in.

Why Fort Hood? For me it was because of the where, but also because of the scope. I don't believe there's been an attack on an american military installation resulting in the death of 13 soldiers since 9-11, and before that, since Pearl Harbour.

Second, assuming this Hasan fellow was in fact motivated by sympathy for/collusion with extremists, does the Fort Hood attack qualify as terrorism, or any other kind of despicable/"cowardly" act (as I've heard people call it IRL)? It is cowardly, because the Jihadi knew full well that he was shooting unarmed soldiers, most of whom were not prepared for combat. He fired armour piercing bullets of a calibre designed to penetrate armour, he carried extra clips to increase the body count. Where is the honour in that? If he sincerely wished to test his mettle, there are hundreds of different ways to do so on base without killing your fellow servicemembers.

Tragic, yes, but think about it: if U.S. troops had managed to infiltrate a Taliban base in Afghanistan and blown it to smithereens (I'm assuming our troops wouldn't just go on a rampage like Hasan did), we'd all be saying something along the lines of "****in' A!" Elok, I dearly hope you aren't saying that you believe it to be a good thing. This man was a doctor. All his schooling has been paid for by the American taxpayer, who had amounts, of likely several million dollars invested in this man. He took on the uniform of an american soldier, and professed that he would serve in defense of the United States. Perhaps one day some time ago he truly believed in this, but perhaps he never did, I do not know. All I know is that good men and women are dead today, because of his decision to massacre them.

The fact that it was a sneak attack would be irrelevant; this is war. If you catch the enemy in a place where he isn't expecting to be attacked, so much the better for you, so much the worse for him. Assuming you only target soldiers, that is--but even that is debatable. We still argue about Dresden and Hiroshima. I don't know current international standards on terrorism or war crimes. What say you? My thoughts are that you hang traitors. This man is no different than Benedict Arnold, except the fact that Benedict Arnold was a true and faithful servant of the republic for many years. I expect that anyone worthy of the name 'American' will agree, if not in the method, but in the concept.

And yes, you are right. I expect that the enemies of America both within and without will cheer this act on, perhaps with divine retribution. Again, I dearly hope you are not one of these, Elok.