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Fort Hood rampage an 'isolated incident', Army says

by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | November 8, 2009 at 12:13 pm

359 views | 24 Recommendations | 9 comments

The shootings at the Army's Fort Hood in Texas Thursday have been declared "an isolated incident" by US Military official spokesperson.

The fact remains, though: there have been a number of incidents involving US military personnel in recent years. According to statistics, although a number of these have occurred within the US, the war zone in Iraq has also been the scene of stress wreaking havoc within the US Army. Sustained combat and multiple deployments have increasing numbers of soldiers experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and committing suicide.

Officials are just beginning to learn the relevant details about Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 11 people and wounded 31 before being killed himself. He was a medical doctor and a licensed psychiatrist. The shootings took place at Ft. Hood's "Soldier Readiness Center," where troops are helped to prepare for deployment. Early media reports suggest that Hasan had been heard complaining about orders to deploy and that he had been heard complaining about that.

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René

at 13:23 on November 8th, 2009

first of all he ain't dead. second of all if this murderer was the treating psychiatrist, no wonder the suicide rate went up at Ft Hood.

Hugh Askew

at 14:35 on November 8th, 2009

“A Muslim should see himself as a Muslim only. His loyalty should be to Islam only.”

Therein lies a problem. Just a minor one, kinda, sorta, maybe a little one.

Mritunjay

at 14:36 on November 8th, 2009

The US Army Chief seems to be more concerned than what the Army officially stated:

General George Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said on Sunday that he was concerned that speculation about the religious beliefs of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, accused of killing 12 fellow soldiers and one civilian and wounding dozens of others in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, could “cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers.”

“I’ve asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that,” General Casey said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union. “It would be a shame — as great a tragedy as this was — it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well.”

NY Times Article here: Army Chief of Staff Concerned for Muslim Troops

YankeeJim

at 15:12 on November 8th, 2009

When the Army makes such an early declaration, rest assured they just want the real problem and the facts to go away.

bettermaker (not verified)

at 16:32 on November 8th, 2009

Not many people scream "God is Great!" while killing people. Actually, it's most likely Palestinians who say that. I'm not being prejudice. It's the truth, and the truth can't be denied. SURE, Israelis might kill Palestinians, but they're not screaming "God is Great!" while they do. We should assume that this shooter's nationality and/or religion influenced him. Statistics show that Palestinians support suicide-bombers more than most other Muslim-nationalities. Sorry if this comment is offensive to anyone.

Mritunjay

at 17:47 on November 8th, 2009

Ebbe Skovdahl wrote "Statistics are like mini-skirts .. they give you good ideas but hide the most important parts".

While I respect the view; the case in point is: Lets not close or turn eyes from the reality because some statistician collected data from a bunch of respondents.

Michelle1 (not verified)

at 11:14 on November 9th, 2009

Him screaming "God is great" was a rumor and probably not true. You must have been one of those kids in highschool that made rumors even worse and ruined kid's childhood. Have a great life =)