Living in a World Gone Mad

Mark Steyn, at The Corner:

The Headline of the Day, from the BBC:

Shooting Raises Fears For Muslims In US Army

Really? Right now the body count stands at:
Non-Muslims 13
Muslims 0
…Even if you take the view that it would be grossly unfair if all Muslims were to be tarred by Major Hasan’s brush, it is, to put it at its mildest, the grossest bad taste to default every single time within minutes to the position that what’s of most interest about an actual actrocity with real victims is that it may provoke an entirely hypothetical atrocity with entirely hypothetical victims.

The BBC article is actually worse than the headline. There is, though, a certain black humor to this kind of news coverage. For example:

Kamran Memon of the organisation Muslims For a Safe America says the subject splits America’s Muslim community down the middle.
“Those at one end of the spectrum say we should have nothing to do with the US armed forces as they are involved in wars with our fellow Muslims abroad,” he told the BBC.
“Those at the other end say we should definitely serve and help defend our country against those who wish to attack it.
“There is no easy answer to this.”

It’s a puzzle, all right.

Mr Memon says the vast majority of Muslim citizens in America are “able to live peaceful lives”, even though they have probably suffered some discrimination, if only a hostile look, since the 11 September 2001 attacks.

Raise your hand if no one has given you a hostile look since 2001. I actually get a lot of them, but then, I’m a lawyer.

However, there have been some high profile incidents in recent years that have fuelled tensions.
At a camp in Kuwait, as his unit prepared to move into Iraq in March 2003, Sergeant Hasan Akbar threw hand grenades and opened fire on a tent full of sleeping soldiers in the early hours of the morning.

Yes, that could tend to fuel tensions. Maybe even lead to a hostile look. Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for that hypothetical atrocity, as Mark put it, with its hypothetical victims.

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