President Obama urged that we should not jump to the conclusion that Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and wounded 31 at Fort Hood as Islamic terrorism. By the same token, no one should jump to the conclusion, as they did, that he had been harassed, because he is Moslem, into understandable aggression. Without needing to jump but reasoning on the basis of current evidence, let’s be factual and forthright. Nidal Hasan knew exactly what he was doing, and was driven to kill by his use of Islamic doctrine on killing infidels.

Some readers will require me to devote several immediate paragraphs to a long list of politically correct disclaimers and qualifications. Forget them, for now; let’s stay on issue.

Hasan’s increasingly bitter attacks on US policy (which, admittedly, have some validity), his persistent seeking of advice from a radical Yemenite cleric, contacting Al-Qaeda recruiters, divesting himself of personal property, and several other recently discovered factors contribute to this as at least an unavoidable tentative hypothesis.

I admit I fail to understand a common rush not only to protect Moslems from criticism but the assumption that Moslems seldom do wrong and every complaint about them must be racial prejudice. Those who hijacked planes on 9/11 were not Mennonites.

Another jumping to conclusions is that Hasan was mercilessly harassed by fellow soldiers for being Moslem. He was a solider only in a formal sense; he moved along a privileged course of pre-med, medical school, and residency at army expense never mixing with the troops. His only peers were fellow medical students and other medical officers. His characteristic un-American and even anti-American opinions are likely what caused any disfavor from these.

His trainers noted he was “belligerent, defensive, and argumentative in his frequent discussions of his Muslim faith.” It is the unacceptability of his behavior that he called religious harassment.

Rather than Hasan being abused because of his religion, he was indulged. Many ask if he was the threat now reported, why did government officials not take action. The official answer is the evidence wasn’t quite at the level that demands action. I suspect he was awarded a higher threshold precisely because he is Moslem for fear of political repercussions. This is to say, political correctness indulged him at the cost of 13 lives.

Another indulgence is the assumption of his being emotionally traumatized by extensive exposure to PTSD patients. It is only the past several weeks in which he directly practiced medicine, most of his time being spent in training. His trainers noted he was “a mediocre student and lazy worker.”

His being a Major is simply that once being board certified he was advanced to this rank, rather than earning it through years of service.

Now let’s make some allowances. A Moslem is not required to adopt a jihadist position to be faithful to Islam; thousands are consistently peaceful and tolerant of unbelievers and remain in good religious standing. Hasan, and the 9/11 men, did not do what they did because Islam necessarily demands this, but because they individually chose to make this literal application of the Koran. However, the scriptural mandates are readily available in the Koran. When they are not used, it is because reasonable Moslems have given them a modern interpretation.

Hasan was not a consistent Moslem, of course. It wasn’t the Koran that required him to be a regular customer of a strip club. He was a selective Moslem.

I don’t bother with “alleged” shooter, because this is an opinion piece, not a news report. The police officer who brought him down did not report, The alleged man I saw shooting alleged people was allegedly doing it with the alleged gun I saw in his hand.

Nidal Hasan will be brought to trial. He will have competent legal defense, and he will be presumed innocent until found guilty on the basis of admissible evidence. Principal and adequate evidence will be the testimony of scores of eye-witnesses. The court will not admit excuses. A conviction will not be that he killed people for Islamic purposes, but that he killed people.

Yet — let’s be honest — Nidal Hasan did kill for what he earnestly considers Islamic purposes. This does not mean other Moslems will do the same, but it does mean some other individual Moslems very well might do so again.