Fort Hood shooter inquiry: OK to shoot my comrades?

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Tuesday, December 29, 2009 - 4:03 PM Share

A little news item on Christmas Eve jumped out at me: The Fort Hood shooter wrote to his radical Islamic cleric pen pal to ask what Islamic law says about Muslim soldiers in the American military who kill their comrades. Hmm -- you think that was a warning sign?

By coincidence, the pen pal cleric may have been killed in an airstrike.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for NASCAR

EXPLORE:MILITARY, TERRORISM

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WALKING WOUNDED

6:42 PM ET

December 29, 2009

Curiouser and curiouser

As an audience perception check, I'd like to ask any commentors on this item to offer a yes-no WAG as to whether they think the bombs that fell at 5AM (or not) were dropped from US warplanes. Precision ground attack in the dark is a fussy sort of technical skill, no?

Lest anyone draw undue comfort from the possible death of 'ask the mullah' al-Awaki, he was born state-side, and fought his jihad using free speech and info-tech.

TYRTAIOS

7:57 PM ET

December 29, 2009

Curiosity killed the cat

Possibly a new DOD buzz word to be added: tactical skepticism. I would view such early optimistic reports from any country's air force with tactical skepticism, let alone any report coming out of Sana'a and their al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Yamaniya. These guys are simply not that good - unless, someone's else is doing the flying and directing it - or they got lucky - maybe both? :)

Incidentally, Yemen sees the aid money rolling in - some cooperation, and we may still yet get, a small naval base there, and further inflame Islam's wrath by our increased presence on the Peninsula. Hopefully, we'll keep it covert - covert like a turd in a tea cup is my guess.

JSINAIKO

3:56 AM ET

December 30, 2009

Were the guys flying the

Were the guys flying the Mig-15s over the Yalu in 1951 North Korean?