After September 11, 2001, according to Obama and Biden, the United States was “blinded by rage,” leading to a military rampage abroad and “Islamophobia and distrust” at home. That invites a look back at the actual aftermath.
“The search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts,” President George W. Bush said on 9/11. “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.” Even so, there was no massive military campaign against nations such as Iran, a major sponsor of terrorism, and Pakistan, where 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden found refuge. President Bush was also at pains to distance the attack from any connection with Islam.
“The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam,” Bush said on September 17, 2001. “That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war.” Muslims “make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country, and they need to be treated with respect,” Bush said. “Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes,” and so on.
The CIA and FBI failed to prevent 9/11 attack, and Bush responded by creating another bureaucracy, the Department of Homeland Security. Another misguided move came on the military side. The deadliest attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor would be a good time to vet the military for Islamic jihadists. No such vetting took place, with deadly consequences.
Every person enlisting in the U.S. military must solemnly swear “that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
American-born Muslim Nidal Hasan took that oath but openly proclaimed himself “a soldier of Allah.” Commanding officers knew Hasan was a partisan of Osama bin Laden, yet kept him in the ranks in the interest of “diversity,” supposedly a source of strength. Hasan was also an unprofessional psychiatrist yet military bosses lowered standards and deemed him fit to counsel troops departing for duty overseas.
Hasan came to the attention of the FBI for the 18 emails he sent to terrorist mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki. The soldier of Allah wanted Awlaki’s permission to kill American soldiers and innocent civilians in the cause of jihad. “Please keep me in your Rolodex in case you find me useful,” Hasan wrote, “and please feel free to call me collect.”
That rang alarms at the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego, and agents alerted the Washington Field office. The WFO found that Hasan was not “involved in terrorist activities,” and dropped the surveillance. Hasan took full advantage.
At Fort Hood on November 5, 2009 – 14 years ago last Sunday – Hasan yelled “Allahu akbar” and began gunning down soldiers. His 13 victims included private Francheska Velez, 21, who was pregnant. Hasan would have killed many more if civilian police officer Kim Munley had not wounded the terrorist. For Obama, the Muslim’s mass murder was a case of “workplace violence,” not terrorism or even gun violence. The lessons went unlearned.
In 2013, a military court sentenced Hasan to death but failed to carry out the sentence. In September of 2021, after Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, Hasan proclaimed
“We Have Won!!! All-Praises be to All-Mighty Allah! Congratulations on your victory over those who hate for the Laws of All-Mighty God to be supreme on the land.” The convicted murderer was doubtless thrilled by the terrorist bomb that claimed the lives of 13 Americans.
Joe Biden claimed the withdrawal was an “extraordinary success.” Emboldened by Biden’s weakness and incompetence, Islamic terrorists continued to menace the United States and strategic ally Israel. Biden initially called the October 7 attack “pure unadulterated evil,” but quickly pivoted to false claims about America’s “Islamophobic” response to 9/11. The Delaware Democrat also demanded a “pause,” in Israel’s campaign against Hamas.
According to Obama, the 10/7 attack was “horrific,” and there was “no justification for it.” The former president provided no detail about the civilian victims, including women and children, and the hostages taken by Hamas.
“What is also true is the occupation,” the former president said, “and what is happening to Palestinians is unbearable.” That drew applause from the adoring audience at Obama’s foundation. On the other hand, the “madness of antisemitism” was something from “stories” told by grandparents and great grandparents of Jewish people.
The former president issued no direct condemnation of the antisemitism now raging among Democrats. No word from Obama on the sulfuric hatred of Jews now ringing out on prestigious university campuses, including Harvard, his alma mater. That comes as no surprise from the president who described Nidal Hasan’s terrorist attack as workplace violence.
From 9/11 to 11/5 to 10/7, what goes around comes around. More than ever before, the struggle against antisemitism and Islamic terrorism is the struggle of memory against forgetting.