The Only Post You Ever Have to Read About Hasan, Political Correctness and National Security
It really takes an amazing amount of chutzpah for Bill Kristol to pretend he cares more about the Army than Gen. George Casey, the Army’s chief of staff, and I
Jul 31, 20205.5K Shares251.4K Views
It really takes an amazing amount of chutzpah for Bill Kristolto pretend he cares more about the Army than Gen. George Casey, the Army’s chief of staff, and I doubt he’d ever have the nerve to say any of this stuff to Casey’s face. But even so, his post is an example of an emerging meme that waves the bloody shirt of the Ft. Hood massacre for a hoary conservative cliche about political correctness infecting our national institutions. This before an investigation properly determines the facts of the case. But since conservatives are so comfortable speculating, I guess it’s fair to similarly speculate that this is all just an excuse to demand the right to indulge in anti-Muslim stereotypes in public at no cost. What’s good for the goose, eh, fellas?
Marc Lynch, thankfully, breaks out of this entire frame with an eloquent and thoughtful postabout the advantages that safeguarding an open space for Muslim-American identity poses to national security. It’s long but worth your time. A brief excerpt:
“„There isa connection between what these critics are calling “political correctness” and national security, but it runs in the opposite direction. The real linkage is that there is a strong security imperative to prevent the consolidation of a narrative in which America is engaged in a clash of civilizations with Islam, and instead to nurture a narrative in which al-Qaeda and its affiliates represent a marginal fringe to be jointly combatted. Fortunately, American leaders — from the Obama administration through General George Casey and top counter-terrorism officials — understand this and have been acting appropriately.
Really, read the whole thing.
Hajra Shannon
Reviewer
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