It gets worse. In May 2009, the geopolitical intelligence firm Stratfor learned from confidential sources that law enforcement agencies were being told by their superiors to “back off” investigating the activities of black Muslim converts like my son’s killer, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad. Three weeks later, Muhammad killed my son. As it turns out, the FBI had initiated a preliminary investigation of Muhammad but that investigation later stalled. It’s possible that it stalled because of a political order from the Obama administration.
Likewise, the FBI knew of Hasan’s emails with al-Awlaki, but the policy committee at Walter Reed Medical Center, where Hasan worked before relocating to Fort Hood, looked past his radicalism out of concern for “how it would look if we kick out one of the few Muslim residents.” At one point Hasan’s superior, Colonel Terry Lee, actually heard him praise my son’s death, but the Obama administration’s concern for political correctness trumped concern for the safety of our soldiers, so nothing was done.
In Libya, the Obama administration relied on a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated group called the February 17 Martyrs Brigade to protect our consulate. This is the same Muslim Brotherhood that released a strategic memorandum in 1991 stating that its mission is “destroying the Western civilization from within.” Yet this president has tacitly embraced the group and naively invited its leaders to the White House.
The conservative public policy organization Let Freedom Ring is raising these issues in its advertising campaign at a time when few others are. Will the media and the candidates continue to ignore these hard realities that have burdened my family and could burden yours?
Daris Long served in the United States Marines Corps for over 26 years and is the father of Army Private Andy Long, who was killed in the 2009 terrorist attack in Little Rock, Arkansas.
