At first glance you might think that the navy yard shooting just this past week was another terrorist attack on the people who fight everyday to secure our country's freedom. Or you might think that another mentally insane caucasian man decided to bring terror to american citizens for no logical reason. At this point either could be true. What happened was horrific. Aaron Alexis brought a shot gun into the yard and assembled it in the bathroom. He then came out and immediately started shooting people. 12 were killed and some still remain in the hospital.
What authorities do know is that that the man by the name of Aaron Alexis, the navy yard shooter, has had very questionable moments in the past. Most people who see Alexis's past would say he is mentally unstable which is the reason he shot up the navy base and I would agree. Perhaps the greatest red flag with Aaron's past is in 2004 when he shot out a construction workers tires for no reason. Also in the past year he reported hearing noises in his head and saying that somebody was using a microwave to send vibrations into his body to keep him awake. Other incidents reported were strange behaviors such as sleeping in hotels and yelling at a lady in the airport.
What I find to be the worst part about this situation, and the family's who lost loved ones, is the fact that it could have been prevented. Police authorities notified the navy about some of the red flags but the navy did not restrict his clearance nor did they take a closer look. The navy still haven't commented when asked why they did not take action. It's sad to think this could have been prevented if a closer look was taken.
I agree. It is so sad to think that this terrible tragedy could have been avoided if the navy would've just dug a little bit deeper on this guy's history. My heart goes out to all of the family's involved in this mess.
ReplyDeleteCertainly. This type of issue seems to happen too often. For example, one of two brothers that allegedly carried out the boston marathon bombing had flown back and forth to Chechnya in previous years, and the CIA had received a warning about him. He was allegedly placed on a terror watch list because he had traveled to a place in Chechnya that had ties with Al-Qaeda. But, nothing was done with these red flags, and bad things happened. I think something really needs to be done about this.
ReplyDeleteMy first question is: such attacks seem to be increasing, but are they really? In some ways the world has certainly become much less violent. If these types of attacks are increasing as the world as a whole is becoming less violent, what might that mean? Perhaps we should think of these events not just as violent acts but as a type of cultural phenomenon. What sort? A media event? What?
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