Hot on HuffPost:

See More Stories

MAIL

Politics Daily

Obama: Allies Will Soon Take Control of Libyan Campaign
- Politics Daily Staff
Democrats Could Lose Senate, Biden Warns Party
- Politics Daily Staff
South Dakota Governor Signs Tough Abortion Bill Into Law
- Politics Daily Staff
Obama Getting Heat From Left and Right for U.S. Role in Libyan Attacks
- Politics Daily Staff
Allied Airstrikes Buoy Libyan Rebels; Obama Stresses Limited Military Goal
- Politics Daily Staff
Opposition Rises to Increased Nuclear Power Use; Offshore Drilling Support Rebounds
- Bruce Drake
French Warplanes Enforcing Ceasefire in Libya After Gadhafi Keeps Up Attacks
- Politics Daily Staff
Economic Issues Underpin Obama's Trip to Brazil, Chile, El Salvador
- Politics Daily Staff
Obama to Gadhafi: Stop the Attacks or Face Military Action
- Politics Daily Staff
House to Consider Bill to Defund National Public Radio
- Politics Daily Staff
New Fire Breaks Out at Damaged Japanese Nuclear Plant
- Carla Baranauckas
Japanese Nuclear Power Plant Rocked by Second Explosion in Quake's Aftermath
- Carla Baranauckas and Bruce Drake

Fort Hood Rampage: Worst Military-on-Military Violence Ever

2 years ago

0 Comments Say Something »

Text Size

David Wood

Chief Military Correspondent

Author Bio »

Contact Author »

Subscribe :

How could Maj. Hasan have gone unnoticed?

As details of the Fort Hood gunman begin to emerge, that question has taken on a chilling urgency, for even with the military's tight-knit community, there may be others who are angry about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and who are determined not to take part for religious or other reasons.

Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist who treated soldiers suffering from combat stress, remained hospitalized Friday, unconscious and breathing with the help of a ventilator but in stable condition, a day after he went on a shooting rampage and killed 13 people and wounded 28. The New York Daily News reported Friday that Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar'' ("God is great") as he opened fire at a troop processing center crowded with soldiers.

Hasan, 39, was an increasingly devout Muslim who was deeply opposed to the U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and who was desperately seeking to avoid being deployed. An American citizen, he is the son of Palestinian immigrants from Jordan. Prominent American Muslims condemned the "cowardly'' shootings.

Investigators have linked Hasan to a series of Internet postings about terrorism, including one that compared a suicide bomber to a soldier who throws himself on a grenade to save his buddies, the Associated Press reported. It is unclear whether Hasan himself is the author of the posts.

According to the Washington Post, Hasan had sought for years to be discharged from military service, in part because he had been taunted about his Muslim faith. In an interview with the Post, Hasan's aunt, Noel Hasan of Falls Church, Va., said Hasan had even offered to repay the Army for the cost of his medical training. "Some people can take it, and some cannot," the aunt told the Post. "He wanted out.''

Being sent into a war zone was Hassan's "worst nightmare,'' a family member told Fox News, because Hassan had engaged in counseling sessions with so many soldiers who spoke of the terrible stress of combat.

Hasan had been a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington for six years before being assigned to Fort Hood, military officials told the Associated Press. The officials said he had a poor performance report while at Walter Reed.

Military officers said the Fort Hood shootings appear to be an isolated incident. There are about 4,000 Muslims on active duty with U.S. armed forces, and many military bases provide Islamic worship services.

Hasan frequented local Muslim services in Silver Spring, Md., while he was stationed at nearby Walter Reed, officials said. He often wore his Army fatigues to the Muslim Community Center for worship services. A spokesman for the center said Hasan was pious but kept to himself.

In a statement Thursday night, Hasan's family said they were "shocked and saddened by the terrible events at Fort Hood" and "filled with grief for the families" of victims, according to the Post.

"Our family loves America," said the statement. Noting that Hasan was an American citizen, the family said: "We are proud of our country, and saddened by today's tragedy. Because this situation is still unfolding, we have nothing else that we are able to share with you at this time."

The shootings ironically took place in a facility at Fort Hood where soldiers can receive counseling and other treatment for stress.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others have urged military personnel and their families to seek help in coping with stress, and have taken steps to ensure that soldiers who do seek help are not penalized for it.

At the Soldier Readiness Center, where the shootings took place, outbound soldiers receive thorough physical and mental health examinations. Those results are used as a base line to assess the impact of the deployment, determined at the center in a second set of exhaustive tests after they return.

These procedures were established several years ago after Army mental health teams found that at least one in five soldiers suffers from acute stress. The Army and the other military services have mounted unprecedented efforts to identify and treat mental health problems.

But Defense Department mental health officials acknowledge they do not fully understand the mechanisms of stress injuries. And the overwhelming ethos of the military services is to absorb the stress -- to "complete the mission.''

"Stoicism is necessary for their survival,'' said Dr. William Nash, who directed the Marine Corps' combat stress program until last year. But coping with stress by ignoring it or "toughing it out'' only lasts so long.

"Everybody,'' Nash told me, "has a breaking point.''

Fort Hood is home to the tank-heavy 1^st Cavalry Division. Three of its four brigade combat teams, with more than 10,000 soldiers, are currently deployed in Iraq. The base also has housing for tens of thousands of families, as well as schools, shopping centers, day-care facilities and a military hospital.

Officials said security personnel arrived at the scene of the shootings almost immediately. Hasan was attacked first by Sgt. Kimberly Munley, a civilian officer with the Fort Hood police department, who shot Hasan four times despite being wounded herself .

"She was quite effective, one of our most impressive young policemen," the Fort Hood commander, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, said on ABC's "Good Morning America'' Friday. "She walked up and basically engaged him. I think, certainly, this could've been far worse." Munley remained hospitalized in stable condition.

Immediately after the shooting, Cone said, soldiers began treating the wounded, ripping off their shirts to make improvised tourniquets and pressure bandages. Most soldiers are trained as combat first-aid experts.

"As horrible as this was, it could have been a lot worse,'' Cone said Thursday night. He said both the quick arrival of a mixed force of civilian and military police, and the first aid provided by fellow soldiers, helped save lives.

Tagged: fort hood, FortHood, nidal malik hasan, NidalMalikHasan

Our New Approach to Comments

In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers – a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss – we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive additions to the conversation will not be published, period, to make room for a discussion among those with ideas to kick around. Please read our Help and Feedback section for more info.