On Thursday, retired Staff Sgt. Shawn Manning, who was wounded at Fort Hood, wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post.

Manning called upon the Army and the Pentagon to call the shootings at Fort Hood a terrorist attack. He noted that both Congress and President Obama had indicated it was a terrorist attack.

With all due respect to Manning, Obama characterizing Fort Hood as “larger notion of violent jihad” is woefully insufficient and not the same as calling it an act of terrorism. Indeed, Obama makes no mention of Fort Hood in his May 23rd address to the National Defense University.

I submit that the reason the Army and the Pentagon won’t call Fort Hood an act of terrorism is because President Obama won’t call it an act of terrorism. Obama is, after all, the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and they take their cue from him. Thus it is incumbent upon President Obama to call Fort Hood a terrorist attack. If he does then the Army and the Pentagon will follow suit.

As I argued a couple of weeks back, Obama can rectify this matter after the verdict against Nidal Malik Hasan as he did with Trayvon Martin following the acquittal of George Zimmerman. I have no expectation that he will. I’m merely saying that he could.

Just one more thing. Let’s please stop referring to Hasan as “Major Hasan”. He is not worthy of such an honorific and to address him in this manner is an affront not only to the soldiers he slaughtered and wounded, but to all of our men and women who volunteer to wear a military uniform.