Naser Abdo Arrest May Have Averted Another Tragedy

by Sheila Musaji

Pfc. Naser Abdo made headlines last year when he applied for a discharge from the military as a conscientious objector.  He made headlines again when that status was granted, and then recalled when child pornography was found on his military computer.  He was to face a courts martial, and then went AWOL.

He was picked up today after a clerk at a gun store reported his purchase of weapons and ammunition and his suspicious demeanor.  Allegedly, more weapons and possible bomb making materials were found in his motel room.  I, for one, am extremely thankful that the clerk was so observant.

All of this is bad enough, but ABC is now reporting that Abdo has admitted that he was planning an attack on Fort Hood to “get even” with the military.

At this point, that is all that is known.

If he is tried and found guilty of these serious charges, then it is likely he will spend the rest of his life in military prison, and that is where he belongs if he was planning any sort of terrorist attack.  He took an oath and he broke that oath.  He asked for a conscientious objector status but obviously he was not a conscientious objector.  In fact, if he was planning a traitorous terrorist attack, then he is without a conscience.

Until we know more about this case, speculation is pointless.

However, if the charges turn out to be true, I hope that he is quick to explain what kind of distorted thinking could lead him to consider carrying out such an action.

Two years ago we experienced a tragedy when a terrorist action was actually carried out at Fort Hood, and the introduction to a lengthy article that I wrote at that time, perhaps bears repeating.

Fort Hood Tragedy, Islam, and America

First I must say that as a Muslim, as an American, and as a human being - I cannot understand how anyone can commit such an act.  The “fact” that Maj. Hasan was a Muslim and so am I does not give me any understanding of his action - the fact that we are both Americans does not give me any understanding of his action - the fact that we are both human beings does not give me any understanding of his action.  The shooting at Fort Hood was a criminal act.  A person who could do such a thing is either mentally unbalanced, a sociopath, or a psycopath.  With the information we have so far there is no way to tell what category Maj. Hasan falls under.

If he was harassed because of his religion, if he had an unhappy family life, if he wanted out of the military, if he had had a change of heart and did not want to serve in Afghanistan or Iraq - none of this changes the fact that what he did was criminal.  He could have asked for conscientious objector status.  Even if the Army was not following their own protocol and refused to let him resign his commission, he could have gone to jail rather than go overseas, or he could have gone AWOL and taken his chances - at least that would not have hurt so many others.  Maj. Hasan betrayed his country, he betrayed his military oath, he betrayed his medical oath, he betrayed his religion. 

Ray Hanania, an American Arab Christian who served in the military has some cogent observations from experience:  “The reality is that thousands of Arabs and Muslims have served in the military, including myself. I served during the Vietnam War and have both an honorable discharge and a Vietnam Era Service ribbon, among other recognitions. Bigotry and racism existed in the U.S. Air Force even when I served in it in the early 1970s. My colleagues called me such names as “sand nigger” and “camel jockey.” Officers and enlisted personnel challenged me: “Who’s side will you be on if we have to go fight in the (1973) Arab-Israeli war?” they would ask.  Among my best friends in the military were two Muslim brothers who suffered similar taunts. Yet, those incidents did not discourage me from continuing my service in the Illinois Air National guard for 10 more years.”

At Fort Hood there have been other soldiers who objected to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and refused deployment.  Just a few months ago Spc. Victor Agosto refused to deploy to Afghanistan over his beliefs that the war violates international law.  He was sentenced to a month in jail, had his rank reduced, and will receive an administrative discharge.  Another soldier, Travis Bishop refused to deploy because of his religious beliefs which he said had become stronger over time. 

Understanding the “why” of this tragedy may be possible after all the investigations are done, and if Maj. Hasan recovers enough, or is mentally stable enough to be able to explain himself.  That being said, I would like to attempt to understand how someone can come to such a place in their life that an action like this seems reasonable to them.  I doubt that we can ever fully understand (we still don’t understand any of the other such incidents that have taken place), but perhaps any illumination will help us to find ways to prevent things like this from happening in the future.

In the meantime, I cringe every time someone asks me to explain why Maj. Hasan or any other Muslim criminal has committed some reprehensible act.  I don’t know why.  I may understand it even less than many non-Muslims think they understand because the Islam that I know has nothing in common with any possible justification they may raise to attempt to connect criminality, violence, hatred, or injustice with Islam.  Actually, I am amazed that intelligent people could possibly believe that it makes sense to ask any random Muslim to explain the actions of any one of the other 1.5 billion Muslims on earth, as if we are connected to each other like the Borg. 

I am also shocked that so many people seem to believe that if someone commits such a crime, the fact that they are a Muslim becomes the explanation for that.  The typical litany goes something like this ...  Oh, of course, he’s a Muslim - they are all violent, they can’t be trusted, they lie, they shouldn’t be allowed in the military, they shouldn’t be allowed in this country, stealth jihad, and on and on. 

Added to my disgust with the actions of Maj. Hasan for the crime of taking so many lives, and the terrible anguish he has brought to the families of his victims, is anger for the anguish he has brought to all American Arabs and Muslims, and to his fellow Arab and Muslim military members.  And, I am angry that so many people seem to believe that if any Muslim commits a crime, or even acts badly in any way, then every Muslim must apologize for their actions.  Why is that? 

As Robert Salaam, a former marine so eloquently expressed:  “The actions of this madman cost us, the many Muslims that have served this country honourably over the years, so much. I, like them, make no secret of my love of my faith as well as my country and my Corps. Like everyone else, young Muslims want to serve even over the objection of their parents: they want to be part of something, they want to do their bit. Many American Muslim military personnel have honourable discharges; some others gave the ultimate sacrifice, and are buried at Arlington Cemetry. I want to say to Christians: this murderer is no more one of us than the paedophile priest, the abortion doctor killer, or the millions of prisoners behind bars are part of you.  And yet already our military loyalties, our honour, and our integrity are being questioned. Most American Muslims today are going to get up, get ready for work, send their kids off to school, and pray that nothing stupid happens because of their faith. My hope is that the professionalism of most armed forces units will mean that casual jokes and debate will be the norm. But violence is also possible.  Meanwhile, some non-Muslims still believe that an entire religious community shares responsibility for the actions of one guy that we didn’t even know existed until yesterday. No other faith community is taken to task in this manner. I read the blogs and messageboards, and I understand people are upset – but the reaction is disheartening: calls for the expulsions of Muslims from the armed forces, or for a vetting process, or in a few cases for an all-out ban on Islam. So even as I make extra prayers and give Dua, I know that my fellow non-Muslim Americans would love to see me leave my country. I wonder where they would like me to go.”

That article contains a great deal of information about the Fort Hood tragedy and the response to the tragedy, as well as an extensive article collection.

The article also contained what I believe is an important point to remember:  Every major Muslim and Arab organization has condemned this incident and offered their condolences to the families of the victims.  The suggestion by some that Islam is the problem can only be called Islamophobia, bigotry, religious hatred.  The danger in this sort of labeling is that it sets off those among us who are only to happy to have a scapegoat on which to vent their rage. It is an irrational prejudice that lumps all Muslims into one category - the “other”, “them”, “those people”.  If your anger is towards the criminal actions of some Muslims, then American Muslims are also on your side in the fight against them.  If your anger is towards our existence as Muslims and our love for our faith, our book, and our prophet, then that is something else again.  It is Islamophobia, and it is Anti-American.  I pray that the voices of dialogue and reason prevail and drown out the voices that would tear us apart.  By burning bridges with American Muslims we make me and my family, and all other Americans, less safe.  This facile “explanation” is an easy out and wastes the possibility of looking for real issues and solutions.

UPDATE 7/30/2011

Although Abdo didn’t write a manifesto like Breivik, more information is beginning to come out about his background that might help to shed some light on what went so terribly wrong in his thinking.  As usual, things are much more complicated than some would like to believe.

The Washington Post reports that

In late 2010, Jason Naser Abdo, the soldier charged Friday in a bomb plot targeting personnel at Fort Hood, Tex., called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation looking for help in his effort to be discharged from the Army as a conscientious objector.

Zachari Klawonn, then a specialist in the Army and the foundation’s liaison with Muslims in the military, spoke to Abdo by phone for a half-hour and came back with a blunt assessment: Stay away from him.

“He was very anti-American, anti-Western, anti-Army,” said Klawonn, in a phone interview from Morocco, where he is on vacation. “There was something off about his demeanor. I said it would not be wise to take this guy on as a client.”

Over the next couple of months, Abdo, who was based at Fort Campbell, Ky., with the 101st Airborne Division, continued to phone and e-mail Klawonn and insisted that he wanted to go to Fort Hood, where Klawonn was based.

Klawonn brushed him off and eventually stopped taking his calls, in part because he didn’t want someone so vocally anti-military around a base still trying to recover from the shooting rampage of Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who is facing capital murder charges in the deaths of 13 people. When Klawonn spoke of Hasan as an “atrocious killer,” Abdo seemed to demur, saying the major might have been forced into a corner.

“We just never felt good about him,” said Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, the founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, who also spoke to Abdo.

The Boston Herald reports:

His father, a convicted felon, is in Jordan, where he was deported by the U.S. government last year. His mother, of Garland, Texas, has a criminal record in the state from a decade ago.

...  But a search of Texas court records reveals a family with deep problems several years ago.    His parents, Carlisa Morlan and Jamal R. Abdo, married in Dallas County in 1989 and divorced five years later, according to state records.    Jamal Abdo moved to Garland some years ago, and one of the first things he did was show up at the Garland Police Department to register as a sex offender, Garland Police Officer Joe Harn said.

...  In 2006, he was sentenced to five years in state prison for solicitation of a minor and was released in December 2009, according to a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

At that point, Jamal Abdo was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was deported to Jordan in February 2010, according to an agency spokesman in Dallas.

Naser Abdo’s mother, Morlan, pleaded guilty or was convicted of three drug-related charges in 2002. She completed probation on those charges, records indicate. She also either served jail time or received probation for two theft charges and prostitution in 2001 and ’02, according to Dallas County records.

A Fox News reporter interviewed neighbors of the family in Texas.  The neighbor told them that Abdo came from a home that was broken and abusive, but “The kid I knew was just a kid trying to do the best he could in that situation. Of course, we weren’t aware of what was all going on.”  Another neighbor told the Washington Post that “the mother, Carlisa Abdo Morlan, worked hard and displayed Bibles, candles and Christian memorabilia in the house. She also allowed Doss and Charity to smoke marijuana in the home, he said.  Dashae Williams, 20, whose home is on the same street as the former Abdo home, also said she had seen Charity and other people smoking marijuana in the house.”

Salon reports that less than a year ago, Naser Abdo had condemned Maj. Hasan and the Fort Hood massacre.  Also Abdo grew up in Garland, a Dallas suburb about 170 miles from Fort Hood. In his essay, he said his mother is Christian and his father is Muslim, and that he decided to follow Islam when he was 17.

Certainly the authorities will be looking at Abdo’s records of every kind, computer, internet, phone, associates, movements, etc.  Perhaps this will provide a clearer picture of whether or not this was always an individual with extremist views who just managed to fool a lot of people, or if there was some incident or influence that radicalized him. 

First posted 7/28/11