Lawmaker Already Politicizing Fort Hood Shootings

by: Richard Allen Smith

Fri Nov 13, 2009 at 11:43:22 AM EST


On the day after Veterans' Day, and a week after the massacre at Fort Hood, Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA) has decided that enough time has passed for him to be the first elected official out of the gate to politicize the deaths of thirteen brave American service members and the injury of 28 more:

In a letter to President Barack Obama, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) said that suspected Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's contact with Yemen-based radical Islamic cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki, raises questions about Yemen as a destination for the detainees.

"If the administration does not halt these pending releases immediately, it could be responsible for creating a new revolving door of terrorism that will cost American lives," Wolf wrote today. "The security of the American people could be at risk because of the administration's relentless pursuit of a campaign promise to close Guantanamo Bay by January 22, 2010."

Never mind that those who will be released from the prison aren't actually terrorists. Never mind that even the most high profile detainee in the the prison has been cleared for trial on U.S. Soil. Never mind that Major Hasan's contacts with a radical cleric in Yemen didn't actually discuss any sort of militancy or terrorism.

Pay no mind to these facts.  Rep. Wolf sees a chance to throw some raw meat to his base before the bodies from Fort Hood are cold. If Frank Wolf thinks it's not too soon to politicize murder, I guess that means we should heed his nonsensical warnings and leave a valuable al Qaeda recruiting tool that compromises our national values open for business.

Richard Allen Smith :: Lawmaker Already Politicizing Fort Hood Shootings
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From one of your referenced links: (0.00 / 0)

In October, a federal judge ordered the 17 Uighurs released inside the United States because they are no longer considered "enemy combatants," and no other country is willing to take them.

So, according to Wolf, if a federal judge orders detainees to be released they still should not be released. Given that, what is the point of the judicial branch of government?

"No U.S. soldier ever dies in vain because they're carrying out the missions of their commander in chief. And we honor all the service that they've provided." - Barack Obama


I don't get it. (0.00 / 0)
I just don't understand how people considered qualified to be in Congress can make ridiculous connections like that. Hasan has something to do with where detainees go? Come on.  

[ Parent ]
You mean (0.00 / 0)
we never found conclusive evidence that he spoke of militancy and terrorism with the cleric. I kind of think they did discuss something along the sorts, especially given that we don't know what they discussed during Hasan's time in Fall's Church.

All Hasan references aside, I think Wolf is right. Yemen is hardly a proper destination for GITMO detainees. But on the bright side, it's probably better than Saudi Arabia at least.



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