There were familiar words in the news last week.
Disgruntled U.S. soldier arrested.
Terrorist plot.
Fort Hood.
Suspect bought explosives and bomb-making materials.
He also had weapons and ammunition.
Targets were to be the U.S. military.
We've heard all this before – and there's something else we've heard before.
The guy had jihadist pamphlets including bomb-making instructions.
Oh, and he's a Muslim.
His name is Naser Jason Abdo. That's Pfc. Naser Abdo.
The 21-year-old was AWOL from Fort Campbell, Ky., where he was charged with possession of pornography.
I can't wait to hear the legal defense for this piece of human garbage who was plotting another massacre for Fort Hood military.
Poor guy – he joined the military but then decided that the idea a soldier was expected to actually fight in a war using weapons against the enemy was almost too much for him to handle.
What was "too much" for Abdo was that the war he would be expected to fight in involved Muslim enemies. He decided he couldn't do that and applied for "conscientious objector" status just before a deployment to Afghanistan.
Too bad he didn't think of that before he joined the Army and took the oath. It would have saved a lot of paperwork. As it turned out, it took him barely a year to reach his decision.
Fox News reported that his initial request was rejected at Fort Campbell, but the assistant deputy secretary of the Army review board stepped in and overturned that decision, recommending he be discharged from service.
Talk about getting help from upstairs. Since he's the first Muslim to make such an application, the "extra help" does make you wonder.
The only problem with that picture is that even though he claims that his faith in Islam precludes him killing Muslims in a war situation, his "solution" or "retribution" or whatever other description can be given to his facetious defense, is that he decided to kill U.S. military.
According to evidence gathered against him, he devised the plot, purchased what he needed to arm himself and build the bombs and was about to carry out the scheme to repeat terrorism at Fort Hood.
The first terrorism on the base was in 2009, when Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan carried out his plot, killing 13 people and injuring 32. Now, there would be another attack.
Ah, yes. The religion of peace strikes again. Don't kill Muslims; that's bad. Wipe out the infidel; that's just fine.
But Abdo complicated things even more when he was discovered to have pornography on his government computer. His CO status was put on hold when he was charged with porn possession. His response to that was to go AWOL from Fort Campbell on July 4th weekend.
While the search was on for him, he continued with his plot, at first, attempting to purchase a gun near that base. Then, he moved to a motel near Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, and did some shopping at Guns Galore LLC.
Ironically, this was the same store from which Hasan bought a gun used in the 2009 attack.
But that was Abdo's big mistake, because he caught the attention of the staff.
Store clerk Greg Ebert told AP that Abdo arrived by cab and bought 3 boxes of shotgun ammo, a semi-automatic pistol magazine and 6 pounds of smokeless gunpowder.
Ebert called authorities because he and his co-workers "felt uncomfortable with his overall demeanor and the fact that he didn't know what the hell he was buying."
Hallelujah! Police In Killeen say that tip broke the case for them.
Abdo was arrested last Wednesday at the motel. His first court appearance was Friday, where the feds charged him with possessing an illegal firearm.
He caused a courtroom disruption, shouting "Nidal Hasan Fort Hood 2009," as he was taken away.
The good news is that this plot was broken and Abdo is in custody, but the whole situation raises some serious questions concerning enlistment procedures.
What kinds of background checks are done on military volunteers?
Are we at a point where we take anyone who volunteers, regardless of issues or situations in his background that could present future problems for him, other troops and the military in general?
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If we don't do such checks, why not? If the response is a politically correct diversity/multicultural reason, then we're in trouble.
Is greater attention given to those whose religion or other affiliations could present problems with their full, loyal dedication to military service?
If not, why not?
We have a volunteer military – doesn't that mean that those who do volunteer and are sworn in agree to do what a military does? You know, things like using weapons when national defense needs arise.
We don't have the time or the budget to coddle those who feel the need to volunteer and then refuse to do the job. Why can't such people be weeded out in advance, especially if their refusal is religion based?
Like it or not, it's an issue today that we ignore to our peril.
Despite what the man who is president says, we are at war with militant Islam. Refusing to call it a war or refusing to name the enemy doesn't make it all go away.
Real life doesn't work that way, and while Barack Obama can play that "ostrich with his head in the sand" game, real life isn't a game.
Greg Ebert and the Guns Galore staff knew better – and thanks to them, another deadly attack was prevented.
Should we hold our breath until Obama awards them a commendation?
I don't think so. More's the pity.