The recent Pentagon report on the massacre of 12 soldiers and a civilian at Fort Hood, Texas, last November is as remarkable for what it does not include as for what it does.
Bill Bennett, an official in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, scoured the report and came away troubled by its silence on the apparent motives of Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is accused of the slayings.
The report, on “Lessons from Fort Hood,” wanders around for more than 80 pages, Mr. Bennett wrote for National Review magazine, without once using the words “Islam” or “Muslim.”
It cites issues such as “low self-esteem, depression, and anger” that are “tied to many different types of violence.” And it cites “white supremacy,” “animal rights” and vague “religious intolerance” as reasons for domestic terrorism.
While Hasan’s guilt or innocence has yet to be proved, authorities have pointed to countless pieces of evidence that the brutal killings were motivated by radical Muslim beliefs.
Muslims who neither commit terrorist acts nor approve of them in the name of their religion are certainly not America’s enemies. But Muslims and others who do engage in violent acts clearly are enemies. “Politically correct” U.S. policies refusing to name such enemies do not help us prevent their violence and evil.