Letter: Probe immigrants to honor Ft. Hood dead
Donald Trump's controversial comments on Khizr Khan, and his wife, Ghazala, led 69 percent of respondents to a Fox News poll to say the GOP candidate was "out of bounds." July 28, 2016 Credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa
I applaud Khizr Khan for teaching us about his son’s patriotism, courage and selflessness and, by extension, about the love of country of Muslim Americans [“Trump, Muslim soldier’s parents clash,” News, Aug. 1].
However, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t question the motives of the Muslims seeking shelter in our country. The loss of 13 lives at Fort Hood in 2009 left 13 families grieving just like his. The U.S. Army major, Nidal Hasan, convicted of the murders had been emailing an imam in Yemen whom the United States had identified as a security threat.
If Americans are to honor those fallen soldiers by drawing a message from their deaths, as Khan asks us to do in the case of his son, are we not obliged to specially scrutinize the motives of refugees? There is the possibility that a small, but not insignificant part of the following generation will set murderous goals for itself.
What do Muslims Americans recommend that we all do to protect ourselves from those who will see their religion as the impetus for mayhem? How can we make sure that we get Khans and not Tsarnaevs, the brothers who set off bombs at the Boston Marathon in 2013?
Dan Subotnik, Central Islip
