DEAD SILENCE ON ISMAIL AX

I cannot help be struck dumb by the complete media blackout on the ISMAIL AX development in the Virginia Tech mass murder. They are on a 27/7 news loop talking about every anal detail but not one mention of the 800 lb gorilla in the room.

This is shocking and disturbing and ought to give the American people great pause. At what cost political correctness? Cassandra weighs in here. The media are removing this vital clue to the story. Who can believe anything they report when they abdicate their role as public servant.

UPDATE: Somebody gets it. Jerry Bowyer over at TCS Daily here

Ismail Ax: The Shooter Was Another 'Son of Sacrifice'  hat tip Diana W

First it was Johnny Muhammad, now it was Cho Sueng Hui aka Ismail Ax. Precisely how many mass shooters have to turn out to have adopted Muslim names before we get it? Islam has become the tribe of choice of those who hate American society. I'm not talking about people who grew up as Muslims, confident and secure in their faith, good fathers, sons and neighbors. I'm talking about the angry, malignant, narcissist loners who want to reject their community utterly, to throw off their 'slave name' and represent the downtrodden of the earth by shooting their friends and neighbors.

This morning I read that the Virginia Tech shooter died with the name Ismail Ax written in red ink on his arm. The mainstream press doesn't seem to have a clue as to what this might mean. To quote Indiana Jones, "Didn't any of you guys go to Sunday School?"

The story starts with a man named Abraham. He is the father of the Jews, the Muslims and the Christians. He was born in Iraq, the son of a wealthy idol manufacturer. He came to believe that there was only one true God and, according to tradition, took up his ax and destroyed his father's idols.

Read it all here. And other posts here.

Comments

[Tracy]

Perhaps because he had, shall we say, larger issues?

From the AP (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_us/virginia_tech_shooting):

"A law enforcement official who read Cho's note described it Tuesday as a typed, eight-page rant against rich kids and religion. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

"You caused me to do this," the official quoted the note as saying.

Cho indicated in his letter that the end was near and that there was a deed to be done, the official said. He also expressed disappointment in his own religion, and made several references to Christianity, the official said."

Somehow, I doubt his rant against religion would exclude Islam.

Not that this or anything else will stop you from being convinced he was a Jihadi sympathizer, of course. Just watch your blood pressure, darling.

[dontbeah8er]

maybe because the inscription said "ISMALE AX" and had nothing to do with the arabic lanaguage or islam.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041800162.html

Another tip.. please.. lay off the excessive plastic surgery. Conservatives should be proud of the way GOD created them; we don't need mortals to alter the image God gave us. Plastic surgery is for those who have suffered in a severe accident or have been burned badly.

[Thomas Carney]

Tracy: Well, let me ask this question: Why was it reported that "ISMAIL AX" was written in red ink on Cho's arm and he also signed his letter with that name and later there's SILENCE??? Can we say, "Political Correctness"? PC, as true thinkers know, is a gutless response to those who want to have someone else (i.e., academia and/or the guv'mint) do their thinking for them.

Now as for dontbeh8er: I see you don't have the intestinal nor the testicular fortitude to put your name on your typepad profile. As for plastic surgery, geez, that's a juvenile, no, wait, I'm insulting juveniles here, it's a very immature and low way of insulting someone. You sound like Nancy Pelosi or Hillary Clinton here.

[Harcourt Fenton]

Atlas - When we start focusing on something that is way off tangent, we start looking like moonbats when it comes time to talk about real Islamist threats like Ahmadickewad in the Terrorist Republic of Iran.

It's not political correctness, it's that this sicko was a mental health basket case - that's the story. There is no real indication, as yet, that he was a Jihadi, and a lot of evidence that he was not.

Why on earth would you want to play up an angle that isn't based on solid fact? It just makes the Dhimmis' case stronger when they say that we are overreacting to the threat posed by Iran. Let's not give them any basis to claim that we are loony conspiracy theorists when we look at Iran and see that it is 1938 all over again.

Keep your eye on the ball and focus on the major threats to our security - Nuclear Iran, a UN run by terroist sympathizers, a Europe that has its head in the sand, an Arabist State Department, continued Saudi funding of terror activities, Aryan countries claiming that the Joooos are behaving like Nazis, North Korea, a nuclear Pakistan that is in danger of losing its moderate leader, Turkey on the verge of Islamo-takeover, Kurds being denied an independent state, Putin re-establishing a KGB state who will sell nukes to Iran and Syria, Israel being pressured to release the Bargoutis of the world by a State Department that won't release Pollard, etc. and etc.

If you make everything into a conspiracy, you play into the "vast right-wing conpiracty" b.s. of the Hilarys of the world.

The events at VA Tech were a terrible tragedy - but there is no indication that this is anything other than a domestic tragedy.

[Bearster]

Last night, on FOX news, "Geraldo-at-large" called this evil little monster selfish.

Let's see:
Damaged property. Check.
Destroyed lives. Check.
Destroyed self. Check.
Created only misery. Check.

And this is what they label "SELF" ish?

Other than a sloppy term that they use as a synonym for "evil", what they hell do they think selfish means?

[Pamela Geller]

Harcourt, WTF? Are you saying the question should not be asked? We are not allowed to question such a glaring factoid?

I am listening to every stupid detail - "did he use gel on his hair?" But this is IGNORED.

On this you and I diverge. You can't know the unknowable. I am glad you are satisfied that it "is what it is." I just don't what it is yet and neither do you.

[Harcourt Fenton]

Pamela - No, I don't think gel on his hair is something that needs to be reported. My problem is that this f***er and his hair gel are getting 24/7 coverage and thousands of MSM "journalists" are drooling over this tragedy and even you are spending way too much time trying to read into something that doesn't look like it's there. Sure, MSM should ask the question if they are focusing on everything elso, but WhyTF can't they spend a fraction of the time focusing on the real existential threat to your children and mine - the extremist dictatorships in Iran and elsewhere that aim to turn NY into a fireball? Focus your time on that so that Rosie can't get away with the sh*t she does by claiming that the poor Iranians are misunderstood and are really a moral government, even though they would cram her into a Bhurka because she's female and then the gallows for her orientation. Focus your time on the moral relativists that don't say boo when the Philistinians ask for 1500 terrorists to be released from Israeli jails in exchange for one prisoner of war. When you spend days on "Ismail Ax", your detractors start painting your whole endeavor as a crackpot endeavor - like it or not, you have a huge voice and a responsibility to make sure the larger existential issues aren't made to look like they are only the concern of extremists. Trust FoxNews to pursue this Isamil Ax thing if there is any merit to it - don't spend your moral capital chasing after a phantom.

[joeblough]

Bearster - a big 10-4!

=============

Re. Ismail

There is a LARGE Christian population and influence in S Korea.

So it remains to be determined whether this was a nut with a Christian fantasy, or a nut with a mohammedan fantasy.

The spelling - Ismail - which differs from the Ishmael that western bible readers are familiar with, while certainly suggestive is unfortunately unconclusive as this was a Korean person whose familiarity with the rules of English spelling may have been a bit shaky.

Before the objection is raised, yes, I know he was an English major.

So you tell me how confident you are that English majors in American universities, who are native speakers are actually literate? Give me a break.

So your confidence that a foreign, English-as-a-2nd-language nutball is literate is how strong?

That said, the spelling difference is sufficiently suggestive and notable that the mohammedan influence question must be explored as the likeliest connection.

The weak minded of every nationality are favorite targets for nutso mass-movement recruitment. And the jihaddis are out there shopping. This kid really looks like jihaddi-bait.

============

And it has to be noted that there is a real discrepancy between stalking girls and/or hunting down some imaginary girl friend and the execution-style murder of 30 unrelated people.

Could this be part of a paranoid decision pattern? Sure.

It's also a good match for a death-to-the-decadent jihaddi decision pattern as well.

There is a strong connection between jihaddi suicide-murderer recruitment and sexual problems of various sorts.

Unfortunately the water is muddied by a respectable puritan streak in Korean culture and certain brands of fire-and-brimstone Christianity as well.

Nonetheless, it's far too similar to the normal suicide bomber pattern not to go for that option as Occam's choice for simplest hypothesis.

I'd be interested to know if anything about his clothes or person suggested a last minute purification ritual.

That would certainly strengthen the jihaddi hypothesis for me.

[Thomas Carney]

joeblough wrote, "I'd be interested to know if anything about his clothes or person suggested a last minute purification ritual."

If Cho was a jihad warrior, and did this in the name of Islam, he could considered a martyr in the Islamic sense. Killing "infidels" and "getting killed" in battle itself qualifies one as a martyr. If one dies in battle as a jihadi, all sins are automatically forgiven and the jihad warrior rises to the highest parts of paradise. NO PURIFICATION RITUAL IS NEEDED.

Mohammed Atta and some of the other 9-11 bastiches were seen drinking in bars prior to 9-11 in the belief that they would die as warriors, they could do anything they wanted and get away with it.

Religion of PEACE?? BS. More like a religion for shallow men with short willies and big egos.

[Pamela Geller]

Harcourt, I don't know what you are talking about. I have not missed one story on the unfolding events in the world.

You can't take me to task for a media that refuses to cover the gathering storm, Iran, the proliferation of nuclear arms among terror states etc.

And you can't fault me for asking if this might have been an act of sudden jihad syndrome. It matters.

If the media wasn't covering this they would be covering Larry Birkhead's custory battle with Virgie.

Like I said, I agree to disagree with you. On this, I do not see your point.

[Harcourt Fenton]

Pamela -

You absolutely have not missed one story on the major events in the world. That is why I love this site.

This site covers things that matter, unlike most of the MSM.

I am faulting you only for jumping into the fray on this Ismail Ax item without much substance to back it up - suggesting that this craziness may be "sudden jihad syndrome", without any real indication that this is anything other than the work of a headcase, is the equivalent of covering Larry Birkhead's custody battle - or more precisely, Zsa Zsa's husband's claim that he is the father.

Most of your pieces, like the one on Soros, are spot on and you nail them with actual cites and reasonable proof. When you go into left field and suggest that this rampage is perhaps part of the same Islamofacism of homocide bombers murdering more than 180 people in Baghdad today, I respectfully disagree, because you have very thin evidence for this lack of coverage being a "shocking and disturbing" abdication of the media's responsibility. What you do with such a statement is give ammo to someone like Rosie to say "See, they even think that THIS is the work of terrorists, so you can't trust them on anything - if you can't trust them on this, you can't trust them on their crazy conspiracy theories about Iran." (Although, all Rosie has said about this so far is "scared of the winds,shady mustered up the courage to come to the doorstep as i sat in a kid chair shooting, his tail is fluffier when dry" - OK, maybe Rosie is even more meshuganeh than I thought).

My point is simple - I am concerned about dilution of the best blog out there by statements that take away from your credibility. It's almost like someone at HuffnPuffPost or DailyKossack claiming that this is the work of the Mossad because the Jooooooos want to discredit the Muslims by blaming all violent acts on them. The Mossad must have recruited him and painted Ismail Ax on his arm.

Anyway, I'll agree to disagree with you on this (and agree to agree with you on almost everything else you publish here) and will recant my rant on all of this if you turn out to be right.

Anyway, come back to New York and bring the Florida weather with you.

[Tracy]

"I'd be interested to know if anything about his clothes or person suggested a last minute purification ritual.

That would certainly strengthen the jihaddi hypothesis for me."

Looks like he was doing other things, according to the Chicago Tribune:

Gunman sent package to NBC
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070418vtechshootings,1,6460908.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Here's a suggestion - let the story play out before fulfilling your wishes that he was a jihadi. All of you are looking more foolish with every new revelation.

[Thomas Carney]

Hey, Tracy, the CHICAGO TRIBUNE that you like to quote so much also reported the Islamic angle on this:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070417vtech-shootings,0,1137509.story?coll=chi-homepagepromo440-fea

[Thomas Carney]

In fact, FOX News reported that the Tribune found it first:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266500,00.html

"The Chicago Tribune reported that the note included a rambling list of grievances that railed against "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans" on campus. The paper also reported that Cho died with the words "Ismail Ax" in red ink on the inside of one of his arms."

[Tracy]

Lo and behold, the package sent to NBC was addressed by "A. Ishmael."

I'd ask how foolish you all feel, but let's face it, there's no point.

I'll repeat - let the facts emerge before succumbing to your bloodthirsty urges.