Here we go again. From the White House to the Pentagon to most media outlets, the order of the day is how to delicately maneuver the thin line between reporting on the latest cold-blooded mass murder committed by a Muslim, U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan, and avoiding fanning racial and religious hatred toward the millions of Arab and American Muslims.

As an Arab and American Muslim, the question that bugs me, however, is what is being done by American Muslims to help identify and ferret out those who are amongst us who may be the next Nidal Hasan?

I fully understand that U.S. foreign policies, especially in the Middle East, are regrettably unjustified. The unquestionable support of the crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinians is one of the most shameful acts in U.S. history. Also, the hypocritical U.S. stance toward the Arab dictators is just as destructive, not only for the hundreds of millions of those who suffer under the yokes of those regimes, but also toward America and its core values.

However, the line must be drawn, openly and clearly by all those in the American Muslim communities who are usually quick to warn against possible backlash against Muslims, between opposing U.S. foreign policies and adhering to ideologies that consider America as a satanic enemy.

Yes, the vast majority of Muslims, here in the U.S. as well as around the globe, are as peaceful as any other group of people, be they Christians, Jews, Buddhists, atheists, or anyone else. However, and let’s face it, it’s this fringe minority of Benladenite fundamentalists which is calling the shots and making the national and international news, that tarnish this religion and all its adherents, all in the name of God and Islam. And it’s just not enough to issue statements of condemnation in the aftermaths anymore.

Anyone who finds any kind of justification for what Maj. Hasan did at Fort Hood is a culprit in the murder. The exploitation of the First Amendment as a defense against methodically and legally searching for and identifying those in the U.S. who openly declare their admiration of Al-Qaeda, its offspring organizations, and the global network of religious imams and scholars who adhere to the fundamentalist Wahabi teaching, must be stopped immediately. A law promulgated to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens cannot and should not be used in the defense of someone who declares war on you, your children, and your country. He/she is simply an enemy, and must be treated as such.

If there are other possible Nidal Hasans lurking in the Muslim communities of America, they need to be found and rooted out, immediately.