It’s another classic bureaucratic report from the Pentagon. In the wake of the murders of 14 persons by Nidal Hasan last November, the Secretary of Defense demanded a full report. [Yes, there were fourteen victims. One of those killed was a pregnant woman.] Well, the Secretary got his report. It’s another doorstop of a document replete with all the usual verbiage when it comes to pop psychology and busy-work buzz words. Here’s what the Department of Defense press release tells us:

“Among the actions to be taken in the near-term are:

(1)   Expand the pilot program to fully deploy eGuardian as the DoD-wide force protection threat reporting system to handle suspicious incident activities. The eGuardian system, which is FBI-owned and maintained, will safeguard civil liberties, while enabling information sharing among Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement partners, including interagency fusion centers.

(2)   Complete the deployment of the Law Enforcement Defense Data Exchange system (D-DEx) allowing all DoD law enforcement agencies to share criminal investigation as well as other law enforcement data as appropriate. D-DEx  will be a consolidated database to enable organizations across the Department  to query, retrieve, and post criminal investigation and law enforcement data in a single repository.

(3)   Establish the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs as the DoD lead for the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force program.

(4)      Strengthen DoD’s antiterrorism training program by incorporating lessons learned from the Fort Hood incident, Department of Homeland Security best practices on workplace violence, and civilian law enforcement active shooter awareness training.”

Shooter awareness training? What in the world is that supposed to mean? Can any American take any comfort from this dismal report? Does anyone think anyone at Fort Hood—or in the nation, for that matter–had any problem being aware of the “active shooter” in their midst?

I am surprised the report did not advocate advance positioning of grief counselors—good grief—and offer to distribute candles for memorial services before the next outbreak.

Here’s my recommendation:

Step 1. Require every member of the Armed Services, officer, non-com, and enlisted, to take an oath. The oath might say something like this:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

What’s that you say? They already take such an oath? That you’ve even seen them take it? That it looks like this:

Very well. Then that brings me to Step 2.

ENFORCE THE OATH.

Nidal Hasan was commissioned in the Army of the United States. He took this oath, along with millions of other Americans. For years, he was allowed to spew venomous anti-American and anti-Christian statements. He was cosseted and coddled in the interests of diversity.

Every time he spoke up for jihad he was in violation of his oath. And he got away with it. Treason is not diversity. Sedition is not diversity. Insubordination is not diversity.

By winking at Hasan’s treasonous statements, the army brass created the conditions for this mass killing. They were enablers of Hasan’s murderous rampage. For the troops to see such treasonous statements going unchallenged and undisciplined is to undermine morale at every level.

Once, in the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln heard that one of Gen. McClellan’s officers, a Major John Key, had been loudly telling his fellows that the reason McClellan did not pursue the retreating Gen. Lee and the rebel army was because the “game” was to fight the war only to reach a stalemate; then, Major Key said, the generals North and South would intervene to force a negotiated settlement. Key’s sentiments were by no means as dangerous, as treasonous as Nidal Hasan’s were. But Lincoln summoned Key to the White House and dismissed him from the army on the spot. Although Lincoln was a famously merciful man, he never relented in his determination to banish disloyal sentiment from the army.

That’s the kind of leadership that is missing here. With this kind of pathetic report, filled with all the usual vapid sentiments, the typical bureaucratic gobbledygook, who among our all-volunteer services can have confidence that their seniors will truly look out for them?

Our military has historically been a great place to bring Americans from all backgrounds together. Men and women from different regions, races, religions, ethnic and social groups work together, fight together, live together, pray together. The military has been a great unifier for our country. Our armed forces have survived and prevailed over every enemy that has come against them. But they cannot survive political correctness.

Tags: Defense, Fort Hood, Military

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