Friday November 6, 2009, 1:00 pm
Broadcast station "CNN" News of America band around the Arab officer who killed 13 U.S. soldiers and wounded dozens in a "Fort Hood", Texas Southern United States.

And the officer, Major Nidal Hassan, a psychiatrist responsible for dealing with soldiers who travel to the war in Iraq, told recently that he would travel to Iraq and has refused.

And the colorful stories about his nationality, and with his colleagues said that a Jordanian, she pointed out that news sites of Palestinian origin.

In a video broadcast network, "CNN's" American struggle appears good as he entered the shop in the "Fort Hood" was mentioned in the sixth time on Thursday morning prior to 7 hours of operation and wearing Arab robes - as seen bar image camera store - bought coffee as usual.

The owner of the shop, "I learned from the struggle that a Jordanian Arabic-speaking but with difficulty and there is not married but he was joking with the shop owner and asked him to find him a bride."

Interestingly, the station reported, "CNN," that the struggle has been granted earlier Medallp Security Service and the National Service Medal Global War on Terror, but he was dissatisfied with the resolution sent to Iraq for some time.


American and Muslim convictions

He denounced U.S. President Barack Obama attack and described the incident Palmrua and vowed to reveal the circumstances of the incident, Obama said that the Ministry of Defense and the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security on high alert.

The rule of "Fort Hood" in Texas, the biggest U.S. military base in the world and has strict security measures, and an area approaching the size of New York City also has more than 50 thousand troops.

Organizations condemned the Muslim American fire, which killed 13 people in the Fort Hood army base in Texas (south) and expressed fears it could lead the name of the owner of the shooter struggle of good Muslims to target Americans.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), one of the main organizations of Muslim Americans in a statement "We condemn this cowardly act in the strongest terms and call to condemn the perpetrators."


Call for revolution against America

, The station quoted the "Fox News" American "Cole Terry Lee", a retired officer from the military base in Texas, saying that the struggle was "calling on Muslims to rise up against America after the invasion of Iraq, and gets to heated arguments between him and other officers on the consensus ".

"He was critical of U.S. foreign policy and says it is the right of Muslims to stand against it."

With the U.S. officer referred to "the struggle for later converted to Islam and was in favor of suicide operations," his cousin "rare" so to speak, and pointed out that "a Muslim born in the United States and has treated many of the American soldiers when they return from the trauma of war," he said that he "hates to be transferred to Iraq and is a nightmare."

Said Nader "We are shocked by what has been a struggle .. a good American citizen," stressing that "he is a Muslim is not always true that it converted to Islam recently

Friday November 6, 2009, 1:01 pm
This is so sad. This man is a Major and did not believe in fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan. He was shooting the people who love the war and wanting to; kill, kill, kill.

Has Nothing to do with his religion. Period.
He loved his job helping post trauma patients.
He was not a warrior, and they were going to send him along with the 'gun-hoe' type.

I almost think a superior should be in question here.
Who decided his orders, and why?
Army is full of politics, revenge, and power-trippers.

This is sad and I hope people understand it has nothing to do with religion or being Muslim.
In fact, quite contrary.

ty Uhoud A.
can you translate these pages youv'e selected, for us. Please.

Friday November 6, 2009, 2:03 pm
Carol, you stated that he was shooting the people who love the war and wanting to kill, kill, kill. Really? Well since he was in the military and did not love the war, how would he know that the people who he was shooting and killing loved the war? He was shooting to kill everyone he saw without knowing how they felt.

Friday November 6, 2009, 2:10 pm
(CNN) -- U.S. Army Pfc. Michael Pearson wasn't much with words, his older brother said through tears, but when he picked up a guitar he let his music speak for him.

"He was a genius as far as we were concerned," Kristopher Craig told CNN affiliate WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois, late Thursday, reeling from the news that his 21-year-old "little kid brother" was among the 12 soldiers and one civilian killed in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.

Pearson grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois, with two brothers and a sister. "He was really living his life playing guitar," Craig said. "When he picked up a guitar, we all understood that he was expressing himself."

Pearson enlisted in the Army more than a year ago so he could some day go to college to study music theory, his brother said. Basic training toughened him up and matured him, Craig said, adding, "Even though it's hard and it hurts, he loved every minute of it."

Pearson was scheduled to return home in a week or two to catch up with family and friends before deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan in January, his brother said.



Video: 'It could have been a lot worse'

Video: Wounded not 'out of the woods'

Video: Nidal Malik Hasan's home
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"He was accepting the possibility of what might happen over there, but we were completely blindsided by this," Craig told WGN. "He didn't even get the chance to leave."

Craig, who also had been stationed at Fort Hood and now serves in the Illinois National Guard, said he cannot accept a fellow soldier gunned down his brother.

"It's unfathomable," he said. "I couldn't imagine something like that -- attacking another soldier. It's just ridiculous. I don't understand it."

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39-year-old psychiatrist who worked at Darnell Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, is suspected of fatally shooting 12 soldiers and a civilian, military officials said. He was shot four times by a female police officer and taken into custody, ending the rampage.

Like Pearson, Hasan was due to be deployed -- to Afghanistan, Army officials said.

As he first heard news over the radio about the Fort Hood shootings, Craig said he assured their mother that Michael couldn't possibly be at the scene of the carnage -- a processing center where soldiers go right before they deploy or immediately upon returning from duty.

"I figured he's on his way home, there's no way. I told my mom there's no way he could have been there," Craig told WGN.

"He was an amazing kid," Craig said "Everybody says theirs is the perfect kid. It's the same old song and dance. But he really was. He didn't smoke, didn't drink, never wanted to. ... Everybody loved him. He was my mom's best friend."

Sheryll Pearson told CNN affiliate WLS-TV in Chicago that her son been training to deactivate bombs. He had just received an anthrax inoculation and was looking forward to coming home, she added.

Military officials told the family that Pearson was shot three times in the spine and chest and died on the operating table, she said.

"His father is still in shock and very angry," Sheryll Pearson said. "We're all very angry."

"Nobody knows how to handle it. It's hard to believe he's gone," Craig told WGN, choking back tears.

It is a sentiment likely to be repeated a dozen more times as military officials continue the grim task of notifying families of the dead.

Later Friday, authorities released the names of more fatalities. They are: Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka, of West Jordan, Utah; and Spc. Jason Dean Hunt, of Tipton, Oklahoma.

Officials also are releasing the names of the 30 people wounded.

Among them are Justin Johnson of Punta Gorda, Florida; George Stratton II of Post Falls, Idaho; Kimberly Munley, the Fort Hood police officer who returned fire and halted the suspect; Nathan Hewitt of Lafayette, Indiana; and Keara Bono of Independence, Missouri, Ray Saucedo, hometown unspecified; Spc. Grant Moxon, of Lodi, Wisconsin; Amber Bahr, of Random Lake, Wisconsin; Matthew Cooke, hometown unspecified; and Staff Sgt. Joy Clark, of Des Moines, Iowa; Pfc. Joey Foster, of Ogden, Utah;

Friday November 6, 2009, 2:15 pm
Fort Hood, Texas (CNN) -- Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged Fort Hood gunman, cleaned out his apartment the morning of the shooting, his neighbors told CNN on Friday.

Residents at the apartment complex in Killeen, Texas, said he gave them copies of the Quran hours before the shooting as well.

FBI agents helping investigate Thursday's massacre at the largest U.S. military base, which left 13 people dead, raided Hasan's apartment while investigators pieced through the gruesome crime scene, the military processing center at Fort Hood Army Post.

Hasan, 39, a psychiatrist who worked in a hospital at the post, is blamed for the deaths of 12 soldiers and one civilian, military officials said. He is in a hospital in stable condition, officials said.

The base's commander, Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, said witnesses have reported that the gunman yelled "Allahu akbar" -- Arabic for "God is great" -- during the rampage. Cone said investigators had not confirmed that.

The police officer who shot Hasan, ending the massacre, was among the wounded. Officer Kimberly Munley of the Fort Hood Police Department "just happened very fortunately to be very close to the incident scene," Cone told CNN's "American Morning," calling it "a pretty amazing and aggressive performance by this police officer."



Video: Tragedy at Ft. Hood

Video: Shooting at U.S. army base

Video: 'Shocked and bewildered'

Gallery: Shooting at Fort Hood Another 30 people were wounded; 28 of them required hospitalization. About half required surgery, and all were in stable condition Friday morning, said Col. Steven Braverman, hospital commander at Fort Hood.

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Officials were looking into whether some soldiers may have been shot accidentally by others trying to shoot the gunman. Investigators are analyzing "all the rounds, the trajectories, all the weapons, all the shots, where they came from," said Col. John Rossi, deputy commanding general at Fort Hood. "That will be determined by the investigators."

President Obama, in remarks Friday morning, cautioned against "jumping to conclusions" about what had triggered "one of the worst mass shootings ever to take place on an American military base."

He ordered that flags at the White House and other federal buildings be flown at half staff until Veterans Day, on Wednesday of next week. "This is a modest tribute to those who lost their lives, even as many were preparing to risk their lives for their country," the president said.

"It's also a recognition of the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect our safety and uphold our values. We honor their service, we stand in awe of their sacrifice, and we pray for the safety of those who fight and for the families of those who have fallen."

Obama said he met with FBI Director Robert Mueller and representatives of other relevant agencies to discuss the investigation. And he promised that his administration will provide updates.

Hasan's next-door neighbor, Patricia Billa, told CNN he gave her his furniture and paid her $60 to clean his apartment hours before the shooting.

"He told me he was leaving for Iraq or somewhere," Billa told CNN. "I didn't think much of it."

Jacqueline Harris, who lives in the apartment on the other side of Hasan, told CNN the FBI has taken her boyfriend's computer because Hasan frequently used it. She also said Hasan left a voice mail message the morning of the rampage thanking her boyfriend for being a "good friend."

Miguel Rivera, another resident of the apartment complex, said he saw Hasan throwing items away the morning of the shooting.

FBI agents searched a trash bin and removed another from the apartment complex.

"He took care of soldiers with behavioral health problems and also evaluated people who had disability evaluations," Braverman told reporters Friday morning.

Asked whether Hasan had seemed adequately prepared for his job, Braverman responded, "We had no indication otherwise."

Hasan had received deployment orders, military officials said. There were conflicting reports as to whether he was to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan. It was to be his first overseas deployment.

Since 2001, Hasan had been telling his family that he wanted to get out of the military but was unsuccessful, said a spokeswoman for his cousin, Nader Hasan. She added that he told his family he had been taunted after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

CNN obtained surveillance video from a 7-Eleven convenience store in Fort Hood that shows a man -- who according to the store owner is Hasan -- at the cashier's counter about 6:20 a.m. Thursday, about seven hours before the mass shooting. The man is dressed in traditional Arab garb.

Hasan came in for coffee and hash browns most mornings, the store owner said.

Nader Hasan issued a statement late Thursday on behalf of the family, saying they were "shocked" by the shootings. "We are filled with grief for the families of today's victims," the statement says. "Our family loves America. We are proud of our country, and saddened by today's tragedy."

Military officials sought to make sure that military personnel worldwide feel safe on base.

"This is a time for 'Army Strong' to mean what it says," Army Secretary John McHugh told reporters Friday at Fort Hood. "And this is a time to know that we are working every moment to ensure that their safety and security is met to the highest possible degree."

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey vowed the military will provide all resources necessary to those in need. He added, "We will grieve as a family, and we will maintain our focus on our missions around the world."

Even as they searched for answers to the questions surrounding the case, officials at Fort Hood had an equally tough task Friday: notifying the families of those killed.

"Today on Fort Hood, we will observe a day of mourning," Rossi said Friday morning, "remembering in our thoughts and prayers the victims of this incident."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/06/texas.fort.hood.shootings/index.html

Friday November 6, 2009, 2:16 pm
Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama on Thursday called the Fort Hood, Texas, shootings "tragic" and "a horrific outburst of violence."

He expressed his condolences for the shooting victims.

"These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk and at times give their lives to protect the rest of us on a daily basis," he said.

"It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil."

Government authorities are working to ensure that Fort Hood is secure, he said. The president asked for all Americans to keep the soldiers from the base "in their prayers."

There is no greater honor or responsibility as president than making sure U.S. soldiers are properly cared for, he added.

"We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident," he pledged.

Twelve people died in the shooting - including a gunman - and about 30 were wounded, a Fort Hood spokesman told CNN.

Friday November 6, 2009, 2:39 pm


Horror at Fort Hood Inspires Horribly Predictable Islamophobia

By John Nichols

Because a soldier identified as the gunman had a name that led to the presumption that he was Muslim, the incident inspired an all-too-predictable outbreak of Islamophobia.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23915.htm

Friday November 6, 2009, 2:42 pm
Ester the man is sick they inform him he will go to serve in Iraq shock from that ... He is American born and study in America his roots phalistainan .. Thats happen in Iraq too before years of the troops kill his friends .. they refuse the war scare from dead depression let them to crime ...

Friday November 6, 2009, 2:57 pm
Uhoud, I don't know what motivated him. It could be that he was mentally ill, etc. My point was that it was wrong for someone to say that he shot people who loved the war in order to justify what was done. People are people regardless of what religion or nationality they are. There can be good people and there can be bad people in every religion and/or country. I read that some Americans were nasty to him because he was a Muslim. I hope that did not contribute to making him so angry that he got so violent and wanted to kill all of them because not all Americans who are not Muslims feel the same way. Many of us know that every Muslim is not to blame for what happened on 9/11. I am glad that Muslim groups in America condemn such acts of violence and terrorism. That needs to get more attention in the U.S. media so all Americans would be aware of that .

Friday November 6, 2009, 2:58 pm
I am sorry about that .. and i asking god to give Patience to them families and asking god to give the officers and soldiers Forgiveness and Mercy
but i want to say important thing about the accident the Arab are not responsible about what he did .. why the news saying the Arab officer .. and put all the bad things on Arab and Islam .. he is an American citizen and he born in there and he is in the army since long time and dealing with the army and they want to send him to Iraq and he is a fear man and sick so this is not because he is from arab no because he don,t want to go some where he don,t like .. and there is two same accidents in the same base from two other American officers before this is not the first time in that base so we are not responsible about what he did .. are you agree with that Uhod

Friday November 6, 2009, 3:19 pm
Farok the web that I get my story is Dona Alwatan its phalistanian web from Gaza the Arab said that not the American Imagin ....he is American born grow study serve in Army as officer and docyor phscycarist but his root is phalistanian he refuse the war refuse what happen in Iraq he scare shoock get depression from coming to Iraq he is sick .. thats the reason of doing that shoot .. before years One of the troops kill his friends thats happen in Iraq .. I am sad for the troops .. they succied or get shock and depression let them to do crimes .. because they dont want to do what they dont like ..

Friday November 6, 2009, 3:22 pm
Horror at Fort Hood Inspires Horribly Predictable Islamophobia

By John Nichols

November 06, 2009 "The Nation" -- Thursday's shootings at Fort Hood army base in Texas -- which have left at least 11 people dead and 31 others wounded -- were of course the "horrific outburst of violence" that President Obama bemoaned and condemned Thursday.

But, because a soldier identified as the gunman had a name that led to the presumption that he was Muslim, the incident inspired an all-too-predictable outbreak of Islamophobia.

News reports named the man who used two handguns in the assault on his fellow soldiers at a base that is a prime point of departure for troops headed to Iraq and Afghanistan as Major Malik Nidal Hasan. The major, who was wounded during the incident, was reportedly a psychiatrist who had served in the Department of Psychology at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Bethesda Naval Facility in Bethesda, Maryland, before his transfer to Fort Hood. Hours after the incident, and hours after news anchors and politicians cited his religion as an explanation for the shootings, a family member told reporters Major Hasan was indeed a Muslim.

But that was hardly the only relevant detail about the major.

For instance, according to Texas Senator Bailey Hutchison, preparing to deploy to Iraq. However, the senator said, "I do know that he has been known to have told people that he was upset about going (to Iraq)." Several new reports suggested that the major saw a deployment to Iraq as his "worst nightmare" and recounted how he had treated victims of combat-related stress and was upset about the war.

Military officials at the base and in Washington refused to speculate about motivations or intents. And Paul Sullivan, executive director of the group Veterans for Common Sense, noted that the incident might well be the latest in a series of stress-related homicides and suicides involving soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan or are being dispatched to those occupied lands.

No one knew on Thursday whether stress, fear, anger over mistreatment, mental illness or a warped understanding of his religion might have motivated Major Hasan. The point here is not to defend the soldier or his alleged actions. Rather, it is to question the rush to judgment regarding not just this one Muslim but all Muslims.

It should be understood that to assume a follower of Islam who engages in violence is a jihadist is every bit as absurd to assume that every follower of Christianity who attacks others is a crusader. The calculus makes no sense, and is rooted in a bigotry that everyone from George W. Bush to Pope Benedict XVI has condemned.

But that did not stop right-wing web sites from exploding with incendiary speculation about a "Jihad at Fort Hood?" and a "Terrorist Incident in Texas."

Fox News host Shepard Smith asked Senator Hutchison on air: "The name tells us a lot, does it not, senator?"

Hutchinson's response? "It does. It does, Shepard."

Neither Smith nor Hutchison had any information to suggest that Major Hasan's name offered even the slightest shred of information regarding the incident at Fort Hood.

What could Hutchinson have said that might have been more responsible response?

She could have emphasized that the investigation of the shooting spree has barely begun.

She might also have noted that thousands of Muslims serve honorably, indeed heroically, in the U.S. military; that American Muslim soldiers have died In Iraq and been buried at Arlington Cemetery; that some of the first condemnations of the slayings at Fort Hood came from Muslim veterans such as Robert Salaam.

"I'm sad for those killed and wounded by a traitor to both God and our country, and I regret that I even feel that I have to write something on the subject. Words cannot express my emotions and the instant headache I received when notified by my dear sister Sheila Musaji over at The American Muslim (TAM) concerning the alleged culprit," wrote Salaam, who served in the Marine Corps, within minutes after learning the gunman's name. "They have not yet released further details such as the motive but I will state for the record that no true Muslim could ever commit such a crime against humanity. As Muslims we are reminded that to take one innocent life is as if one killed all of mankind. Muslims are also commanded to keep their oaths when given."

Salaam is not alone in regretting that, as a Muslim, he feels a need to respond to the incident with an explanation of his religion.

But the conversation between Fox's Smith and Senator Hutchinson reminds us why it is necessary to respond.

And so Muslim groups have responded quickly and unequivocally.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, issued a statement that read: "We condemn this cowardly attack in the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators be punished to the full extent of the law. No religious or political ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence. The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured."

Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, declared that, "Our entire organization extends its heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed as well as to those wounded and their loved ones. We stand in solidarity with law enforcement and the US military to maintain the safety and security of all Americans."

Those are sentiments that are worth noting, especially by news anchors and senators who are in a position to inform the discussion of a horrific incident -- rather than to inflame it.

John Nichols is Washington correspondent for The Nation and associate editor of The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin. A co-founder of the media reform organization Free Press

© 2009 The Nation

Friday November 6, 2009, 3:59 pm
Islamophobia....Im afraid this is what IS going to happen. I just hope all my friends that are arab, pakisanian, Jordanian and so far stay safe....This isnt going to be good at all I fear...

Big Gorilly Hgs

Friday November 6, 2009, 7:22 pm
This breaks my heart. Here we have a broken man who saw only one way out. He has a torn soul. I don't believe he meant any real harm. Fear of certain death in warfare has broken souls before. My heart and love goes out to the victims and their famalies. My love and compassion go out to a soul so wounded he only saw one way out. May Goddess bless us all and help end the madness. My my brothers and sisters who follow the laws of Islam be safe in these frightening times. Love to you all. Noted and thanks.

Friday November 6, 2009, 9:29 pm
I amwith Carol. he didn't want to go and kill is islamic brothers and sisters in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was angry with those who wanted to kill them. I understand his frustration. He must have been soo tormented.

P. S. I love you Uhoud. (Shukran habibte)

Saturday November 7, 2009, 3:14 am
AniTa, I repeat how did he know that all those people who he shot wanted to kill your Islamic brothers and sisters in Iraq? After all he was in the military and did not want to kill them.
Faroq, I want to let you know that I watched the coverage of this news story on several tv channels in the U.S. and I did not hear any of them refer to this man as an Arab.

Saturday November 7, 2009, 5:44 pm
I cannot say i know that with certainty..nonetheless if i were in his shoes it would be a very difficult thing not to feel resentment and anger toward those who would go to kill his moslem brothers and sisters. (His name is obviously moslem)
I do not say the boys who were killed WANTED to go and murder Iraqis, or Afghanistanis, in fact probably half did NOT want to go and murder for the US government but they got themselves into that predicament when they joined the military.

Saturday November 7, 2009, 6:37 pm
At approximately 1:30 p.m. CST today, a soldier went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, killing 12 people and wounding at least 31 others, according to base commander Lieutenant-General Bob Cone.

Truthout spoke with an Army Specialist who is an active-duty Iraq war veteran currently stationed at the base. The soldier spoke on condition of anonymity since the base is now on “lockdown,” and all “non-authorized” military personnel on the base have been ordered not to speak to the press.

“A soldier entered the ‘Soldier Readiness Center (SRC)’ with two handguns and opened fire,” the soldier, who is currently getting treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) explained. “That facility is where you go just before you deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.”

The soldier named the gunman as Major Malik Nadal Hasan, and said he was about 40 years old. According to the soldier, Hasan was a member of the base’s Medical Evaluation Board, and worked there as a counselor.

At a news conference Thursday evening, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said Maj. Hasan, who was shot four times, is alive and in stable condition at a nearby hospital where he is being guarded by military personnel.

“I can confirm Major Hasan was the gunman, and I actually saw him this morning,” the soldier explained. “I was over in the area doing some paperwork, and saw him at the facility. He seemed fine to me, and I spoke with one of my friends who had an appointment with him this morning. They said Major Hasan seemed OK to them too.”

The soldier believes that at least one Killeen Police Department officer was killed before the gunman was shot.

Fort Hood, located in central Texas, is the largest US military base in the world and contains up to 50,000 soldiers. It is one of the most heavily deployed bases to both Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, the shooter himself was facing an impending deployment to Iraq.

The soldier says that the mood on the base is “very grim,” and that even before this incident, troop morale has been very low.

“I’d say it’s at an all-time low - mostly because of Afghanistan now,” he explained. “Nobody knows why we are at either place, and I believe the troops need to know why they are there, or we should pull out, and this is a unanimous feeling, even for folks who are pro-war.”

In a strikingly similar incident on May 11, 2009, a US soldier gunned down five fellow soldiers at a stress-counseling center at a US base in Baghdad. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a news conference at the Pentagon that the shootings occurred in a place where “individuals were seeking help.”

“It does speak to me, though, about the need for us to redouble our efforts, the concern in terms of dealing with the stress,” Admiral Mullen said. “It also speaks to the issue of multiple deployments.”

Commenting on the incident in nearly parallel terms, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that the Pentagon needs to redouble its efforts to relieve stress caused by repeated deployments in war zones; stress that is further exacerbated by limited time at home in between deployments.

The condition described by Mullen and Gates is what veteran health experts often refer to as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

While soldiers returning home are routinely involved in shootings, suicide and other forms of self-destructive violent behavior as a direct result of their experiences in Iraq, we have yet to see an event of this magnitude take place in Iraq.

Prior to the May incident, the last reported incident of this kind happened in 2005, when an Army captain and lieutenant were killed when an anti-personnel mine detonated in the window of their room at a US base in Tikrit. In that case, National Guard Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez was acquitted.

The shocking story of a soldier killing five of his comrades does not come as a surprise when we consider that the military has, for years now, been sending troops with untreated PTSD back into the US occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to an Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center analysis, reported in the Denver Post in August 2008, more than “43,000 service members -- two-thirds of them in the Army or Army Reserve -- were classified as nondeployable for medical reasons three months before they deployed” to Iraq.

Mark Thompson also has reported in Time magazine, “Data contained in the Army’s fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of US troops taken last fall, about 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq and 17 percent of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope.”

In April 2008, the RAND Corporation released a stunning report revealing, “Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan - 300,000 in all - report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment.”

President Barack Obama, speaking during an event at the Department of the Interior in Washington, said that the mass shooting at Fort Hood was a "horrific outburst of violence". He added, "It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on American soil."

Victor Agosto, an Iraq war veteran who was discharged from the military after publicly refusing to deploy to Afghanistan, has had firsthand experience with the SRFC at Fort Hood, where he too was based.

“I knew there would be a confrontation when I was there, because the only reason to do that process is to deploy,” Agosto explained, speaking to Truthout near Fort Hood . “So the shooter clearly intended to stop people from deploying.”

Agosto was court-martialed for refusing an order to go to the SRC to prepare to deploy to Afghanistan.

“I was court-martialed for refusing the order to SRC in that very same building. I didn’t enter the building, but I didn’t go in because I was refusing the process,” Agosto continued. “It’s a pretty important place in my life, so it’s interesting to me that this happened there.”



»

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist, is the author of "The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan," (Haymarket Books, 2009), and "Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq," (Haymarket Books, 2007). Jamail reported from occupied Iraq for nine months as well as from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Turkey over the last five years.


Comments
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One possibility is that
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 01:53 — Terrin Haley (not verified)
One possibility is that Major Hassan was suffering from secondary trauma after so much time spent trying to help soldiers with their own combat-related traumas. This can be a problem for any professional health care provider who deals with PTSD.
It also shows the widespread
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 01:57 — Anonymous (not verified)
It also shows the widespread "failure" of psychiatric medications. These are being prescribed as the "solution", much the same as in our civilian lives when other interventions and changes would help people who are suffering much more effectively with a cure rate of 100%. Instead, broken Army administration has been putting out fires with gasoline. Things that make people happy are generally easy to understand: love, good jobs, a roof over ones head. The Army is fighting America's imperial wars; violence for supremacy and with it the death, the destruction, the epic waste and the breaking of soldiers hearts and minds.
How long will it take for
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 02:49 — Anonymous (not verified)
How long will it take for everyone to realize that both Iraq and Afghanistan are nothing more than profit centers for the military industrial complex? These businesses which are funded by taxpayer monies have no feelings for the real people who are in these counties actually engaged in the conflict, whether our own or natives of the nations on whose soil we fight. WAR IS FOR PROFIT as was so succinctly stated years ago by twice Medal of Honored Marine General Smedley Butler. These wars are a disgrace to humankind and are ruining our once great nation.
Obama - Listen, please,
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 03:31 — Anonymous (not verified)
Obama - Listen, please, really listen. Time to bring all our troops home. In the hard times that this country is having, families need to be together.
obombem would have impressed
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 03:34 — Anonymous (not verified)
obombem would have impressed me more if he said, "we'll have to get to the bottom of this senseless violence. maybe this horrific outburst is telling us we are fundamentally flawed in our outlook and should protect our soldiers by genuinely working for peace, instead of domination in the world."
Dahr Jamail's use of an
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 03:42 — EmeraldGreenSea (not verified)
Dahr Jamail's use of an anonymous source here is entirely appropriate and ethical; and for the Soldier quoted it's heroic. And this brave Service Member better not ever have to suffer ANY repercussions of any kind for talking openly and honestly about moral from inside (on) one of our Military Bases deploying to Iraq and Afganistan. As a civilian, I want to know, but never get the chance to hear, but more importantly since less than one third of one percent of our population is actually bearing this sacrifice for the Nation, the sense of isolation among military personnel and their families must be unbearable and surely the isolation itself must contribute to their already heavy load. Now, contrast this anonymous quote with any --of many-- self-serving lies reported anonymously by our major reputable news organizations by or from Karl Rove (4 draft deferments), Dick Cheney (5 draft deferments) or Paul Wolfowitz (6 draft deferments). Chicken-Hawk is too kind an expression for these cowards.
P.S.---The U.S. government
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 03:46 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)
P.S.---The U.S. government is now greatly about instilling fear in order to coerce silence and acquiescence to the process of the eradication of freedom(s) that is going, and to stifle descent against it. And far too many of the "Americans" who even know this is taking place have become, or are fast becoming, too fearful to speak out against it, just as the powers that be behind it designed. This is almost exactly what happened in 1930s Germany when Nazism was rising to and obtained power, and then dissenters were themselves eradicated. Fully think, People, and don't allow yourselves to be made cowardly and traitors to the Constitution and the United States itself. Please realize that if we don't ALL be True Patriots and stand up against this fast encroaching darkness, most of us are doomed anyway. Patrick Henry, one of the U.S.'s greatest founding fathers made the exceedingly famous American Revolutionary declaration, "Give me liberty or give me death", meaning that if we don't secure and/or preserve True Liberty, life would and/or will not be w0rth living anyway. Thus, you've got nothing to lose. If you die standing up against this darkness, at least you will have the satisfaction of knowing you're dying a True Patriot. But if, as a result of not standing up against it, you die, you will die a coward and traitor against God, the United States and the world. So isn't the best, and most right, course obvious? And isn't it obvious as well that we have little other choice than to stand up against it, unless we choose to be cowards and traitors?
I am so very surprised this
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 04:44 — Jeff Key (not verified)
I am so very surprised this sort of thing doesn't happen more often. I sincerely hope, since this Major was so outspoken against the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan that we, the other veterans of those wars who also oppose them won't get any fallout. But we will. As soon as Rush Limbaugh and his ilk get ahold of it, they'll say the killer was wearing an IVAW T-shirt! Unfortunately there will be many more killings by this current crop of vets. The help is simply not there and when it is, it's sometimes very, very hard to get the veterans to accept it. This I say not out of malice but out of experience.
The Ft. Hood incident is
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 05:57 — David Brookbank (not verified)
The Ft. Hood incident is just further indication that the U.S. imperialist policies of illegal invasion, occupation, torture, extraordinary rendition, etc., are reaching their end. The U.S. is a broken empire which has over-reached both its capacities and its credibility. After 60 years of post-World War II adventurism, covert action, human rights abuses, support of dicatators (Somaza, Noriega, Shah of Iran, Saddam Hussien, etc), death squads (El Salvador, Colombia), and corrupt regimes (Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia), the U.S. now faces large numbers of military suicides, out of control soldiers and contractors, and now this fragging on an unprecedented scale inside the largest U.S. military base in the world, soldiers refusing to return for back to back to back tours, an economy stressed to the point of staganation if not collapse, and a society falling apart at the seams and without cohesion. All this indicates that it is time to shut down this bloody, genocidal, out of control U.S. military-industrial complex which has turned the vast majority of the world against the U.S., ruined any claim to moral superioity that it may once have laid claim to, and divided the people of this country in a way that has diplomats resigning, military men grumbling out loud, soldiers killing themselves and other soldiers, and the public turning its back on this failed, worthless, bloody fiasco that is about to turn into another U.S. defeat in Afghanistan. U.S. out of Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia and elsewhere. Bring the troops home now. David Brookbank — “Hasta donde debemos practicar las verdades?
I hate all war and oppose
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 07:08 — Anonymous (not verified)
I hate all war and oppose the Afghanistan and Iraq occupation. However unless he is found to be unaware of his actions, what he did is inexcusable. Why shoot others, take their lives? Why not take your own, or run, or anything other than a damn shooting spree! What he did is criminal and wrong. For any other soldier who isn't a criminal, as it appears in this situation, i have deep sympathy for what they deal with and the ptsd they absolutely are going to have.
My sympathies. Sadistic
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 07:40 — Anonymous (not verified)
My sympathies. Sadistic torture as policy is purposely dehumanizing and ruinous. Why Afganistan indeed. via Max Keiser http://maxkeiser.com/2009/10/30/ote25-on-the-edge-with-catherine-austin-fitts/#comment On the Edge with Catherine Austin Fitts of http://solari.com
A lot of conflicting reports
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 09:31 — Anonymous (not verified)
A lot of conflicting reports over this incident. The police were there enmasse in an instant...hmmm check this link for a very different view on what else may have happened at Fort Hood . http://www.worldreports.org/news/244_fort_hood_recovery_of_the_chinese_currency_boxes
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 09:41 — Anonymous (not verified)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KK06Df01.html http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KK06Df02.html Don't give up hope, soldiers, things behind the scenes are being done to solve this quagmire.
This sounds as childish and
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 09:53 — Andrew (not verified)
This sounds as childish and knee-jerk as Rush saying that the recent wins by Republicans in Governor elections in NJ and Virginia show a breakdown in Obama's presidency. This was the act of the sick and twisted, not an act of the US military as a whole. Our enlisted men and women are good people.
PTSS? From what? Hearing
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 11:19 — Anonymous (not verified)
PTSS? From what? Hearing others talk about PTSS? What nonsense! Perhaps, this was simply the military version of an attempted "suicide by cop." If there were a military draft in this country, both these wars would have been finished or never started long ago.
War is killing madness, in
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 11:57 — Anonymous (not verified)
War is killing madness, in Fort Hood,Irak Afghanistan,Colombia the new beachhead in Southamerica, stop it now!
Here's the original message
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 13:02 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)
Here's the original message I wrote which didn't make it before I posted the "P.S.": "Welcome" to the "Roman Empire, Part II". The U.S. empire will also fall very soon. But the problem is that this is ALL by design. The powers that be are intentionally bringing down the U.S., and particularly destroying its Constitution and sovereignty as the means to bring the U.S. into world government. Technically, Obama is already "King (or President) of the World" because he now presides over the Security Council of the international body, the United Nations. Remember when the U.N. was brought into existence? So all of this has been planned and being worked towards incrementally for a very long time. If We, the People don't take this republic back very quickly, most of us, except for the elitists, are screwed. EVERYONE, stand up in defense of the supreme law of the land, the U.S. Constitution, and against all of this erection of a corporate fascist, militarized police and repression state in the U.S., and an enslavement and prison state for the entire world! That is what, and is all that, world government really is, though the powers behind it put a "good" face on it; but it's ALL a lie, and it will NOT be our savior or salvation from the problems in the world, though that is what most American and world citizens will be falsely convinced "it (supposedly) will be"! God save the republic of the United States, and the world, from all of this madness and insanity!
Having been a medical
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 13:04 — Anonymous (not verified)
Having been a medical corpsman in S.E.A. during the Viet Nam conflict and later working with vets at Wadsworth VA hospital I saw first hand the destructive effects of PTSD on patients and their families. Most of us only served one tour over there, that was enough to impact each of us tremendously for the rest of our lives. Multiple tours that our troops are pulling today is absolutely mind boggling to me. What is even more insane (than the wars themselves) is the the fact that the military historically never taken PTSD treatment seriously. To do so would require using most of their budget. It's all about the money and military priorities... cryin' shame!
EmeraldGreenSea Its no
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 13:36 — Anonymous (not verified)
EmeraldGreenSea Its no secret, the military does not represent American humanity. It does represent the BiMMETs Banks, insurers, Media pundits, Military, wealth redistribution purchasing Establishments that benefit from the rule of law: copyright or patent monopoly, state grant of franchise, and the like; and the Traders of paper empires (money, stocks, bonds, financial instruments and hidden credits/debits). The BIMMETs are mostly non human but the military does their bidding so its easy to see how a person with a conscious would be disturbed by a discovery of the truth.
Great sadness & indicative
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 13:51 — Anonarcmous (not verified)
Great sadness & indicative of the fact our immoral, illegal point of sending our military to various parts of the world by Bush, Cheney &al is borne by those who go fight. Obviously NOT daughtesr Bush/Cheney/ &al along with all the righteous Boehner Republicans --their children never fight or suffer--& I will include the young Home Depotchap 'wearing' his love god/country button--to show real love, go fight--did he serve his country in the military.? The answer to this is always a resounding 'NO'!!! Few in this country would object to taking arms & giving their life, or seeing their children die, to actually defend this country--but not dispatched out to foreign lands out of political grandioseness. 9/11 was indeed a tragedy--we got caught with our miitary guard down AROUND OUR OWN BORDERS, but then , for all our greatness, our mass destructiveness, a few lo-tech guys got overlucky in their ends. So the taliban on motorcycles keeps us tied up & bankrupt in foreign lands for decades while we CANNOT AFFORD HEALTHCARE 4 ALL..Get a grip america & start taking care of your own--from the inside, I am sure all the Repuclican supporting voters from NJ & VA are going to be the first family names to be enlisting & sending their kids to Fort Hood?
Use Occam's Razor and avoid
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 14:00 — WITAN (not verified)
Use Occam's Razor and avoid wild guesses or specious explanations like PTSD. The straightforward explanation is really quite simple, but it is an unpalatable truth and cannot be mentioned in a public forum.
Well said S. Wolf Britain.
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 14:49 — Anonymous (not verified)
Well said S. Wolf Britain. Unfortunately, most people are brainwashed enough that they don't see the reality of how much the USA has changed for the worse in recent times.
To me it’s obvious to me
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 15:31 — binnsb4tyrs (not verified)
To me it’s obvious to me that S. Wolf Britain in his/her article P.S.>>>>> is either part of our problem or is completely out of touch with reality. Either one, it should have been removed by the moderator. When just a hand full of people in power are continuing this war that should have never been started in the first place by the last idiot President, why in the name of God do I feel like I am one of the few who continues to object?
Ball you can be--Choose
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 15:58 — Anonymous (not verified)
Ball you can be--Choose ARMY. And... choose TEXAS.
We have shooting rampages
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 18:24 — Anonymous (not verified)
We have shooting rampages all the time in this country. Seriously, what makes this one any different?
"Allahu Akhbar" was shouted
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 20:02 — Anonymous (not verified)
"Allahu Akhbar" was shouted by the gunman just before he began shooting, according to witnesses. He had also been disciplined for proselytizing while on the job.
It was an act of terror. It
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 21:58 — Anonymous (not verified)
It was an act of terror. It is totally disingenuous to say we don't know why he did it. What did he shout before he began shooting? Google it.
Good reporting. I'm able to
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 22:01 — NRI1969 (not verified)
Good reporting. I'm able to communicate only sporadically with a few friends who are active military, but other than that, I never hear much about troop morale from an insider's point of view. It's an issue the mainstream media has very little interest in investigating; it seems they have a narrative to push . . .
I live in Los Angeles, a few
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 23:06 — florence chapgier (not verified)
I live in Los Angeles, a few blocks away from the Veterans buildings. I can tell you PTSD does exist. There is a garden behind the psychiatric ward that has been created as one of the means to help into stabilizing released Vets from the ward. I have volunteered at that garden, and there is now a weekly farmers market there. Anyone who disbelieves PTSD should come visit. Seldom elsewhere, have I seen so much compassion from visitors, and admiration for the Vets. Wars will stop, they have to.
Excellent report! I'm old
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 23:19 — jim of Olym (not verified)
Excellent report! I'm old now, almost 74 but I served in the Navy during the cold war, and I couldn't understand much of that, either. Unless we are fighting for what we believe, like in WWII, we are heading down a slippery slope, and all those soldiers and marines are coming home (well, most of them). and if VietNam was any indication, we will have yet another of underserved, under-cared-for, former military who will be standing out there begging for food. Can't we do better than that?
Excuse me, I meant the word
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 00:06 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)
Excuse me, I meant the word "dissent", not "descent", in the "P.S." message above. Sorry.
Why doesn't OBMAMA lead the
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 00:57 — Katman (not verified)
Why doesn't OBMAMA lead the troops into battle? Is OBAMA a coward?
False generalization One or
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 01:33 — Anonymous (not verified)
False generalization One or a few crimes like the Ford Hood shooting do not indicate that our military has broken down. What percentage of soldiers follow orders and support their team? I'm not in favor of the wars. Far from it. But from Truthout I expect something more intellectually honest than what this article offers.
Volunteer army my butt. No
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 03:03 — Rodrian Roadeye (not verified)
Volunteer army my butt. No one in his right mind would volunteer to go back for multiple tours unless he had a death wish. Damn political cronies and their buddy bankers need to be sent over as punishment for just one tour to atone for their treasonous behavior in bringing the world to it's knees. Bonuses still for CEOs while someone fights their bloody "Oil Wars". May God have mercy on their souls, and you too Mr. Obama for your gutless failure to bring our boys home.
This article is NOT a "false
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 03:41 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)
This article is NOT a "false generalization...", and this article IS just one of many, by Dahr and others, which point a broader pattern of, and evidence that, the U.S. military breaking down. "Anonymous... Sat, 11/07/2009 - 01:23", you are not putting the pieces of the puzzle together; and, thus, you are simply, like others, making an unsupported and unfounded criticism of this article. Read more the context of Dahr's writings as a whole; put the pieces together as he and other have done; and then you should see "the forest for the trees", or see "the writing on the wall", and start to see the much broader pattern of what's really going on, or at least that larger part of the pattern that brings you (much?) closer to recognizing all or most of the broader picture.
[WITH CORRECTIONS:] This
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 15:41 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)
[WITH CORRECTIONS:] This article is NOT a "false generalization...", and this article IS just one of many, by Dahr and others, which point to a broader pattern of, and evidence of, the U.S. military breakdown... "Anonymous... Sat, 11/07/2009 - 01:23", you are not putting the pieces of the puzzle together; and, thus, you are simply, like others, making an unsupported and unfounded criticism of this article. Read more of the context of Dahr's writings as a whole; put the pieces together as he and others have done; and then you should see "the forest for the trees", or see "the writing on the wall", and start to see the much broader pattern of what's really going on, or at least that larger part of the pattern that brings you (much?) closer to recognizing all or most of the bigger picture.
No, it doesn't indicate a
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 15:53 — Anonymous (not verified)
No, it doesn't indicate a breakdown in the military. It confirms a breakdown in our federal government with respect to how the civilian government manages the military. The military is the last place for political correctness and "progressive" attitudes. Anything that can degrade the cohesiveness of our military should not be allowed in our military - politically correct or not. If a person has or develops ties to our enemies, including Muslim ties, they should be discharged. If being gay degrades the cohesiveness, they should be discharged. It is ridiculous to put our military personnel's lives at greater risk than they already are just to be politically correct. Maybe we should put all of the liberals, those who insist on political correctness, and the disruptive people in a single unit whose job is to run in front of the real military as a shield for the enemy to use up their ammo on.
I do NOT hate muslims. I
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 17:32 — Anonymous (not verified)
I do NOT hate muslims. I do NOT in any way recommend mistreating them. I am NOT pro war either. HOWEVER: It is an absolute FACT that ANYONE who actually believes the hideous lies and rubbish that fills the koran and especially the hadith, IS UNFIT to be put in ANY position of responsibilty, especially the military. Inarguable FACT..... NO exceptions to this TRUTH. Belief in islam is serious mental handicap, not a mere 'religious' persuasion. When will we learn? It is the height of absurdity that we allow muslims in the military.
I believe this was an
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 20:39 — radline9 (not verified)
I believe this was an example of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. Hasan's roots and muslim faith probably had little to do with it. I just wish he had had the guts just to do himself in or better yet turn himself into the authorities and tell them what he was planning.
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Saturday November 7, 2009, 6:42 pm
I am fixing to get hung and dragged and bashed on this comment on this comment Im sure but I feel for him....and I do feel for the familys love ones lost.

Big Gorilly Hugs

Saturday November 7, 2009, 10:16 pm
Some fear backlash against Muslims in US military
By RACHEL ZOLL and MICHELLE ROBERTS (AP)

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s family says he confided in them that he felt harassed as a Muslim in the U.S. military — and wasn’t treated as an American and soldier should be.

He visibly lived his faith, wearing his military uniform to services and a cap and tunic around his apartment complex. But one day, he discovered his “Allah is Love” bumper sticker was ripped up and torn, and his car was keyed. A fellow soldier was charged, and the apartment manager where the two lived said the serviceman had recently returned from Iraq and was upset that Hasan is Muslim.

Authorities don’t know if Hasan’s faith or encounters with other soldiers played any role in the attack at Fort Hood, and a motive is still not clear. They say he jumped atop a desk and began firing on his fellow soldiers, yelling “Allahu akbar!” — a phrase that means “God is great!” in Arabic — as he set off on a rampage that killed 13 and wounded 29 others.

Still, some of the thousands of Muslims in the U.S. military worry that one burst of violence could unravel all of their work to be accepted as loyal, dedicated soldiers, and that their reputation could be another casualty of the attack.


“Just as this guy in Fort Hood doesn’t represent every single Muslim in the world or in this county, the few ignorant or racist people that remain in the military, they are so few and far between, they do not represent the military at large,” said Ashkan Bayatpour, 25, a U.S. Navy veteran and the American-born son of Iranian immigrants.

Army Chief of Staff George Casey said this week he worried about a backlash after the shootings. However, leaders of the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council predict that any backlash will be limited. Military personnel often have a more sophisticated world view after traveling the globe and working with people from diverse backgrounds, said Abdul-Rashid Abdullah, a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1991 to 1998.

Most importantly, he said, they form strong bonds with their fellow soldiers. In his weekly radio and Internet address, President Barack Obama noted those bonds, too.

“They are Americans of every race, faith and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers,” Obama said. “They are descendants of immigrants and immigrants themselves. They reflect the diversity that makes this America. But what they share is a patriotism like no other.”

There is no exact count of Muslims in the military. The Pentagon lists 3,557 Muslims out of 1.4 million U.S. servicemembers, however the figure is likely low because the disclosure is voluntary, military officials said.

The Army trains officers to be sensitive to Muslim culture because the nation is anxious to hand over security responsibilities in Iraq and Afghanistan to local authorities. But when combat troops are trained with war games, the soldiers playing “enemy” are often wearing head scarfs or traditional Muslim caps and knee-length tunics in mock villages or other surroundings with fake roadside bombs and exchanges of “gunfire.”

Bob Jenkins, a spokesman at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, said that the notion of fighting an enemy with commonalities to U.S. servicemembers is not new — and that other soldiers have had to come to terms with that in past conflicts.

“There is really no difference if you get someone who is of Italian heritage in World War II and send them into Italy to fight the people who backed Mussolini,” he said. “There are some things you have to come to grips with.”

The armed services have a clear, well-known policy against discrimination, said Imam Yahya Hendi, a Georgetown University chaplain who has worked for more than a decade with U.S. military personnel. The military requires servicemembers to respect others’ beliefs, and he has found officers take complaints of prejudice very seriously.

He noted that the U.S. military is desperate to recruit American Muslims and make them feel welcome because, like many government agencies, the Armed Services need people with knowledge of Islam, Muslim culture and the Arabic language. Hendi has traveled to military bases nationwide, including several visits to Fort Hood, holding classes for soldiers deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Still, Hendi said policies and sensitivity training can’t stop every snide comment. He said rank-and-file Muslim servicemembers have complained to him of being asked whether “you guys always pray to destroy us,” or “Are you going to do what your people do?’”

Hendi said he has encountered a few people during his trainings who consider the Muslim religion, not extremism, the real threat to national security.

“There are always individuals who don’t want to believe what you’re saying about Muslims or Islam,” he said. “They think you’re evil.”

Bayatpour, who grew up in Mobile, Ala., and served in Iraq, said it was rare to hear offensive comments about his religion from fellow servicemembers. He said he found his presence in the Navy encouraged questions about what Islam teaches, and would often spark conversation about commonalities between Islam and Christianity.

There have been pockets of conflict over religion in the military in recent years with accusations that Christian officers are evangelizing and creating an uncomfortable environment for underlings. However, Bayatpour said no one ever tried to persuade him to convert. The closest anyone came was giving him a copy of the best-selling book “The Purpose-Driven Life.”

Lt. Col. Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad, 57, the U.S. military’s first Muslim chaplain, said he’s experienced little prejudice in the Army because of his religion and has heard of few complaints from other Muslims on base. Off base is worse, he said. He has been delayed at airports and had his luggage searched.

Retired Marine Col. Doug Burpee, 52, who converted to Islam three decades ago to marry a Muslim woman, said fellow Marines were more curious about his religion than upset by it. He does remember Marines of similar rank chiding him, saying things such as, “Burpee’s a traitor. He was a Christian and he’s a Muslim.” But he dismissed the comments as “guy stuff.”

“It is that kind of football banter that goes on,” said Burpee, a business development manager from Glendale, Calif.

___

Roberts reported from San Antonio and Zoll reported from New York.


Associated Press writers April Castro in Killeen, Texas; Samantha Henry and Brett Zongker in Washington; Katrina Scoggins at Fort Jackson, S.C.; Kevin Maurer in Wilmington, N.C.; and Amy Taxin in Tustin, Calif., contributed to this report.

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Sunday November 8, 2009, 12:05 am
So, he didn't want to go kill his Islamic brothers and sisters, but it was perfectly ok with him if he killed his American and army brothers and sisters? He is just a cold blooded murderer and deserves no mercy.

Sunday November 8, 2009, 10:42 am
A cold blooded murderer? The man was ill, suffering from PSD and probably on medication.

To me, the blood is on the hand of the Bush government and the Americans who pushed for the war against Iraq. They are the ones who need to be held accountable and deserve no mercy.

"“It does speak to me, though, about the need for us to redouble our efforts, the concern in terms of dealing with the stress,” Admiral Mullen said. “It also speaks to the issue of multiple deployments.”

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that the Pentagon needs to redouble its efforts to relieve stress caused by repeated deployments in war zones; stress that is further exacerbated by limited time at home in between deployments.

The condition described by Mullen and Gates is what veteran health experts often refer to as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

While soldiers returning home are routinely involved in shootings, suicide and other forms of self-destructive violent behavior as a direct result of their experiences in Iraq, we have yet to see an event of this magnitude take place in Iraq.

Prior to the May incident, the last reported incident of this kind happened in 2005, when an Army captain and lieutenant were killed when an anti-personnel mine detonated in the window of their room at a US base in Tikrit. In that case, National Guard Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez was acquitted.

The shocking story of a soldier killing five of his comrades does not come as a surprise when we consider that the military has, for years now, been sending troops with untreated PTSD back into the US occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. "

Monday November 9, 2009, 3:07 pm
Brigitte, PTSD refers to the people who were in the war zones. I have read that this guy had never been in either of the war zones.

Monday November 9, 2009, 3:36 pm
As far as I know, PTSD can affect humans regardless of age or location, and unfortunately not just in war zones.

There is NO excuse for killing, but there can be explanations, and they shouldn't be ignored as it could happen again. I hope that the investigations will lead somewhere so that perhaps other lives can be spared in the future.

Here the reaction the man's grandfather was reported to have:

"07 Nov 2009 The grandfather of a U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of
shooting dead 13 people and wounding 30 others at a base in Texas said on
Saturday he found it impossible to believe his grandson had committed the
act. "He is a doctor and loves the U.S." Ismail Mustafa Hamad told Reuters
in an interview at his home in the Palestinian town of al-Bireh. "America
made him what he is."

Wednesday November 11, 2009, 9:43 am
Big Story when we have a muslim name to exaggerate.

Where the big, when US Friendly Fire murdered Tillman?!

I agree with one above....The US Commanders made this man snap.

He had heard and nurtured all those coming home filled with terror.
Makes no difference weather he was there,
He knows better than most what would be expected once there.

Fuck power tripping Commanders, who believe life must be made a hell for them to prove their power.

I hate all the heresay...BS etc... Our Military has NO respect for those serving their country. None.


I agree: "America
made him what he is." ..........As well as who his commanders are made of.

Christ if these people hate Obama's name - how much easier is it to pick on others with funny names.???