Army psychiatrist who did shooting rampage was under FBI probe

by smkovalinsky | November 6, 2009 at 05:56 am

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Gunman shouted, "Allahu Akbar" before opening fire: "Allah is great".

Soldiers who witnessed the shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar!" — an Arabic phrase for "God is great!" — before opening fire, the base commander said Friday....

The 39 year old army major who went on a shotting spree which killed 13 and injured 31 at Fort Hood was under an FBI probe for his sympathies with Muslim terrorists.

Video to story links here.

Gunman named as army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan

Muslim major brought down by Kim Munley, a civilian female police officer

He is now under armed guard in a stable condition in hospital

Hasan was fervently opposed to war on terror

Was due to be deployed to Iraq at end of year - but did not want to go

Had treated hundreds of traumatised Iraq and Afghanistan veterans

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/....html#ixzz0W5U8hbRH

The army psychiatrist who shot dead 13 people in a murderous rampage at America's biggest military base was facing an FBI investigation for expressing sympathy with suicide bombers.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, had allegedly posted a series of comments on a website which drew parallels between terrorists and a US soldier who sacrificed himself to save his comrades.

Investigators were tipped off six months ago by the devout Muslim's worried colleagues.

His behaviour was particularly alarming as he was responsible for the psychological well-being of many vulnerable soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.

'If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory,' he is said to have written.

'Their intention is not to die because of some despair. Their act was not one of suicide that is despised by Islam.'

A well-known opponent of the war on terror, Hasan yesterday armed himself with two handguns before bursting into a medical centre at Fort Hood in Texas and spraying the room with bullets.

The major was eventually brought down by a female civilian police officer who shot him four times - despite being shot herself.

She and her partner responded to the shooting within three minutes, Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said, describing her actions as 'amazing and aggressive'.

And more details are emerging about the Major's past, and conflicts he experienced with his Muslim identity and being part of the US Military:

He swore an oath of loyalty to the military," Grieger said. "I didn't hear anything contrary to those oaths."

But, more recently, federal agents grew suspicious.

At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.

They had not determined for certain whether Hasan is the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case.

Federal authorities seized Hasan's computer Friday during a search of his apartment in Killeen, Texas, said a U.S. military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Hasan's aunt, Noel Hasan of Falls Church, Va., said he had been harassed about being a Muslim in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and he wanted out of the Army.

"Some people can take it and some people cannot," she said. "He had listened to all of that and he wanted out of the military."

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YankeeJim

at 07:03 on November 6th, 2009

Is there really a mystery about what happened at Ft. Hood? The trouble begins with a religion that has intolerance, hate, and mistreatment at its core. Members can snap at any time and justify their actions in the name of their faith. One might ask, could you not say the same thing about Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or any religious extremists? The answer is yes, however, the Muslim creed is rooted in notions that are irreversibly intolerant and therefore perpetuate people being misfits in modern society. This irreconcilable difference manifests under conditions ranging from extreme as in the case of an Muslim Army Major Psychiatrist being activated to duty in the middle east, to Washington Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad who felt mistreated by society for many reasons including experience in the military.

While America harbors the belief that religions must be tolerated, I don’t believe that all religions are equal with respect to their degree of alignment with American values of liberty and justice for all. Is it possible that Islam is out of step with American values? If so, is it possible that not all religions are worthy of equal protection under the law when the religion itself is outside the law?

QueensHart

at 15:46 on November 6th, 2009

Very good Yankee Jim. How long or how much will it take. My lord. Look at our black culture and what they have come thru in America. Do we see any of them going around shooting people and blowing up buildings??????????????????????????????????At the root of the Afro American is a spirit of faith, hope and nothing like what the Koran has taught . Chopping off heads...shooting women or anyone who does not obey...clothing women like they are disgusting?

America is not for everyone. We have a full house. We need to stop immigration and reform it especially with all this. Americans are cowards about this discussion. Especially the MSM. This religion needs a transformation...

Truth be know they do not value much of what we believe . which is sad because it is rapidly disintegrating ...our core values, morals and ethics. This religion is close to a "cult'...

rng

at 07:40 on November 6th, 2009

I am not convinced that this crime had religious motivation.

However, religious motivated violence is not unique to one faith. Extremism, and especially religious fanaticism is a curse that often ends in violence. Just one example and if you google you will find murder after murder committed by one religion or another.:

Teitel is charged with murdering two Arabs in two separate incidents in 1997: a cab driver from eastern Jerusalem, and an Arab man near the southern Judea community of Carmel. He is also accused of having set off a bomb at the home of a Christian family in the city of Ariel, injuring one person seriously, of placing bombs at several police headquarters, and of placing a bomb in the yard of the home of radical left-wing Professor Ze’ev Sternhell. Sternhell has called on Arabs to murder "only" settlers, and not other Israelis, in their struggle against Israel.

YankeeJim

at 14:17 on November 6th, 2009

I agree that no religion has a corner on craziness. I also believe that religion is a coping behavior that has outdated itself as many people are mature enough and sufficiently sophisticated to address world challenges and needs more directly, less the mythology and all of its interpreters.

Mritunjay

at 10:03 on November 6th, 2009

I doubt he was a Psychiatrist! He himself could use one!

It also makes one think how dangerous are internal threats when compared to external ones.

a211423

at 10:19 on November 6th, 2009

Reports state he wanted out of the Army and had secured a lawyer to do so, but this does not equate to a suicide mission--which it appears to have been. He did not expect to survive the attack. If he wanted out bad enough, he could have just gone AWOL and gone to another country or attempted to disappear or commited suicide without killing others.

YankeeJim

at 14:19 on November 6th, 2009

Await the full FBI Report.

Roy C

at 10:22 on November 6th, 2009

And, now, we have the "pleasure" of giving him the death penalty. I can hardly wait.

How will the death penalty be seen in Muslim countries? We already know.

sara star

at 17:34 on November 7th, 2009

We have to keep him alive on the ventilator first....

Roy C

at 10:43 on November 6th, 2009

He should have been thrown out of the army years ago. Political correctness, or what I call "Big Nurse" suffocation from Kesey's novel, did it.

This is our path to self-destruction.

We have replaced knee-jerk prejudice with a knee-jerk prejudice against our own judgment. We have censored our own capacity to recognize that there do exist groups such as Islam that give birth to fanatics who don't want democracy and freedom of religion.

We are going to have to start getting rid of the radical imams and not-yet-naturalized immigrants who think and feel as this psycho does.

And, frankly, at this point, if a person doesn't like it, why don't they consider leaving as well?

No suicide pacts in the name of political correctness on my part.

Sputnic

at 11:12 on November 6th, 2009

He should have been thrown out years ago ? For what ? He cracked recently, the army should have respected his conscientious objection and not sent him to a war his faith could not completely come to terms with. I cant help thinking there is more to this and it will come out in the wash

rng

at 12:20 on November 6th, 2009

Roy - you just pissed on the grave of every Muslim serviceman who has given his/her life for this country. And then you wonder why some people hate ugly Americans

Roy C

at 12:30 on November 6th, 2009

Every Muslim who has given his life for the US has chosen democracy over Islam in defiance of, not accord with, the Qu'ran.

That is the truth. I trust a lot of people who happen to be Muslims, but I don't trust Islam.

Same in Italy. I trusted a lot of people who considered themselves "communists" and "fascists", but I never trusted the movements they belonged to.

When the prime minister of Italy, Aldo Moro, was kidnapped and killed by the Brigate Rosso, or Red Brigade, they were simply acting out revolutionary philosophy as taught by Marxist professors for years, professors who had no guts to live up to their teachings.

Here, the same thing. The Islamist or jihadist is simply living up to the ideals of his religion, which are anti-democratic. At one time, you could have called the popes on the same thing. They have changed. Islam has had no inner revolution.

rng

at 12:33 on November 6th, 2009

Islamist or jihadist

They are not interchangeable words. That is where the error resides.

I think you will find many Muslims who disagree that democracy and Islam are in conflict...even in some Muslim states. If you follow any of the books in simplistic interpretation you could argue the same.

Roy C

at 12:37 on November 6th, 2009

No, all idealists think the same way. "By any means necessary" and they mean it. You are familiar with the sections of the Koran where violence is called for and not even simply OK'ed?

Should I give you are reference?

rng

at 12:50 on November 6th, 2009

No I don't need the reference. Do you need the others where there are contradictory remarks in other Sura. Do you need me to point you to the sections in the Old Testament where it calls for domination through violence. You appear to want to condemn all Muslims regardless of sect interpretation and on.

I won't convince you otherwise and I don't have the patience to try. I am just thankful you are posting here and not in any capacity involved in foreign policy. I also am hopeful that as each generation rises to lead we can leave such positions further and further behind and engage economically, socially and politically. The there is at least a chance for peace

Karen Hatter

at 12:44 on November 6th, 2009

All points you have raised in your comments here are correctly stated, Rng.

Roy C

at 12:55 on November 6th, 2009

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong, RNG and Karen.

You have just proven yourself wrong, RNG.

Yes, there are contradictory elements in the Koran to everything and that provides justification for all the worst excesses, and, when you throw in that Mohammed says that Islam must rule and the Law of Shara must be the civil code, the case is made that democracy and the Koran are not compatible.

Show me the parts of the Sura that allow other religions, that is, without paying the dhimmi tax.

rng

at 13:00 on November 6th, 2009

Thank you. There are indeed contradictory passages as there are in all the books. There are also quite a few democratic Muslim countries. In fact, isn't America trying to make democracies in Muslim nations as we speak. We have people dying for that ideal, but apparently democracy loving American Muslims aren't welcome...by some

Roy C

at 11:34 on November 6th, 2009

A conscientious objector, and I know from seven years in school with Quakers, objects to all wars and is recognized as one when the "CO" has had those beliefs for years, not at the onset of active duty in a war zone.

So, either he should have ejected from the army years ago as a CO or as a person talking in support of the enemy he had to face.

We all know the army doesn't have to "respect" the decision of a soldier to not obey. To repeat: he should have been dishonorably discharged whenever he began to make his comments about jihadists and in support of Muslim extremists.

Neither his religion nor his psychiatric training helped him avoid descending into his personal maelstrom of evil. A terrible commentary on both.

a211423

at 11:56 on November 6th, 2009

talking in support of the enemy

Wouldn't this be considered treason?

He should have been allowed to leave the military with statements he made which could have been defined as treasonist.

If he was philosophycally and/or religiously opposed to military engagement, why did he join the army? Even as a physician, although not required to carry a weapon, by the nature of enlistment he supports the U.S. military no matter where they are or what course of action they undertake.

Roy C

at 11:57 on November 6th, 2009

He joined because the army paid for his medical education, I suppose.

Roy C

at 13:00 on November 6th, 2009

Fort Hood shooter regularly described war on terror as "war on Islam"

Islamic jihadists routinely characterize anti-terror efforts as part of a "war on Islam." But of course, there is no war on terror, and there is no war on Islam. There is just the Islamic jihad against the U.S. and the West. "Hasan Called War on Terror 'War Against Islam,' Classmate Says," by Justin Blum for Bloomberg, November 6:

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people and wounding 30 others at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas, regularly described the war on terror as "a war against Islam," according to a doctor who was in a graduate program with him.
While studying for a masters degree in public health in 2007, Hasan used a presentation for an environmental health class to argue that Muslims were being targeted by the U.S. anti-terror campaign, said Val Finnell, a classmate.

"He was very vocal about the war, very upfront about being a Muslim first and an American second," said Finnell, 41, a preventive medicine doctor in Los Angeles, in an interview today. "He was always concerned that Muslims in the military were being persecuted."...

YankeeJim

at 14:22 on November 6th, 2009

I find my disdain for Muslims distasteful, though I cannot find an argument for otherwise.

rng

at 14:24 on November 6th, 2009

I find my disdain for Muslims distasteful, though I cannot find an argument for otherwise.

A very human reply. I applaud your honesty and openness,

smkovalinsky

at 14:29 on November 6th, 2009

I agree rng, YankeeJim is being open, honest, vulnerable, and decent. It is the covert bias which exists in many "liberal" people which is frightening. The conflict between the world of Islaam and the West, and its wars, is real: It is serious, it is human, it is frightening. No one is to blame: 2 ideologies are clashing. But we cannot put a black hat on one side. It is a clash of 2 opposing forces in life, and 2 stances which are irreconcilable.

rng

at 14:39 on November 6th, 2009

I do not think the war between the West and Al Qaeda et al is a war of religion. It is IMHO a secular war for power, territory, relevance and control. It is dressed in the cloak of religion, but I think its objectives are definitely of an earthly dimension/

PeaceFrog

at 14:44 on November 6th, 2009

This story is better than many of the leading media sources. It is a shame that basic questions are not answered in a story of this magnitude.

What is the name of the military lawyer who represented his attempt to leave the service, and what did he tell that lawyer?

Was he harassed off-base indicating community-based harassment/ gang stalking?

Did his unnamed military lawyer feel he had legal grounds to sue the military, including discrimination and harassment constituting a legally "hostile work environment"?

Hopefully, a NowPublic writer can clarify these issues and add substance to the heretofore repetitive accounts lacking any real investigatory journalism.

smkovalinsky

at 14:51 on November 6th, 2009

Thanks PeaceFrog: I believe you raise important questions, which I hope we can find the answers to. This is obviously a far more complex story than the media would like anyone to believe: I intuit it.

rng

at 15:32 on November 6th, 2009

I just got this email from Jamal Dajani thought I would share

Don't Ask Me About Hasan

Seven messages and counting on my voice mail from different Bay Area reporters, all wanting to know the Muslim community's reaction about the recent heinous killings of Nidal Malik Hasan. All wanting to know what had driven a 39-year-old Muslim to go on a killing rampage, murdering 13 people in Fort Hood, Texas. "He had it all," someone said, "he's an educated man, he's a doctor." Why did he do it?

Apparently, I fit the profile of someone who has these answers: I am a Muslim Palestinian American: I must know what one out of the 1.5 billion Muslims around the globe is thinking at any given time.

"Hey, Jamal...sorry to disturb you so early. But you know the Hasan story is big, and I was wondering if you're willing to come for an interview and talk about how it feels being a Maahzlem (Muslim) and all," a television producer says to me on my cell, while I was driving to work.

"How did you feel being a Christian, with Timothy McVeigh and Adolf Hitler being Christians?" I fired back.

Silence... I probably should not have said that, but there it is.