Stephenville Online

Published: Thursday, November 12, 2009 8:58 AM CST

A tragedy as stunning as Thursday’s mass killings at Fort Hood evokes extreme emotions.

Perspective is difficult — but absolutely necessary to understanding what happened and its implications.

The rush of information after 13 people were shot to death at the U.S. Army base was at once extensive, incomplete and occasionally wrong.

Military officials believe Maj. Nidal Hasan, a 39-year-old Army psychiatrist, fired a handgun in a center where about 300 soldiers were waiting to get vaccinations and eye tests as they prepared to deploy overseas.

A female police officer is credited with wounding Hasan, who was taken to an area hospital under custody.

Many details about his background emerged quickly: He was born in Arlington, Va., to Palestinians who moved to the U.S. from Israel. He grew up in Virginia’s Roanoke Valley and graduated from Virginia Tech University. He received a medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., and worked six years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A lifelong Muslim, he attended a mosque in Silver Spring, Md. He moved to Fort Hood in July.

But much is not publicly known yet, including his motive, partly because officials had not interviewed him. He was in a coma on Friday and on a ventilator, according to news reports. Investigators will have to determine whether his behavior had provided warning signs that he might engage in such mindless violence. And the public will want to know what would cause a military officer to fire on unarmed fellow soldiers.

A key point to remember is that even though authorities believe Hasan was the gunman, even if he is formally charged in the killings, he’s entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until the government proves he’s guilty.

Some news outlets seem obsessed with Hasan?s religion. Some online commentators have seized the opportunity to spew hateful denunciations based on ignorant stereotypes.

But Hasan?s personal faith might have had nothing to do with his actions. The New York Times quoted his cousin as saying that Hasan dreaded his imminent deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan and that he was shaken by the horrors conveyed to him by patients who had been traumatized by war.

It could be months before important details are sorted out and become public. It took until October for the Army to release a report about Sgt. John M. Russell, who’s accused of killing five people at the Camp Liberty combat stress clinic in Baghdad in May. The 325-page report detailed how Russell’s fellow soldiers were worried about his behavior but procedures for dealing with him weren’t clear enough.

Military personnel and their families face enormous stresses. These are exacerbated by the long wars the nation has been involved in. The Army is trying to improve its suicide-prevention efforts. But officials must determine what more can be done to improve safety on military bases.

The public can help most by avoiding baseless speculation and instead offering support and thanks for those who serve and their families.

Despite the old ad campaign slogan, there is no such thing as an “Army of One.” We’re all indebted, and the Army’s loss is a loss for all our nation.

URL: http://www.star-telegram.com

–Fort Worth Star Telegram

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Hasan’s brother hopes for fair treatment

Associated Press

STERLING, Va. — A brother of the man authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood said the Army psychiatrist is peaceful person — and hopes he will be treated fairly by the legal system.

Eyad Hasan said in an e-mail statement released on Saturday that he hopes authorities will give his family information on Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s condition. He also said he hopes his brother is allowed the right to an attorney when he regains consciousness.

The brother said the Army major is a compassionate person who has never committed an act of violence.

He added that his family is praying for everyone affected by the “horrific events that transpired at Fort Hood.”

Thirteen people were killed and about 30 others were wounded in Thursday’s attack.

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WASHINGTON — The House has passed a resolution honoring the victims of the attack at Fort Hood, Texas.

House members passed the resolution 428-0 late Saturday, just minutes after passing the Democrats’ health care overhaul bill.

The resolution was authored by Republican Congressman John Carter, who represents the area around Fort Hood. It expresses sorrow over the shooting spree that killed 13 people — 12 soldiers and one civilian — and wounded about 30. It reads: “The American people share the pain and grief of this tragic loss.”

Authorities have said Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire at the military base on Thursday.

Associated Press

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FORT HOOD — Federal and military officials have interviewed more than 170 witnesses as part of an intensive search for answers into the deadliest massacre on a U.S. military installation.

Law enforcement officers seized computers and e-mails belonging to Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan in an attempt to piece together what might have motivated the Army psychiatrist to allegedly open fire on the post, killing 13 and injuring 29.

Hasan, 39, was in stable condition at Brooke Army Medical Center, where he was taken off a ventilator late Saturday. Hospital officials reported he was conscious and talking, although none of his statements was made public.

Seventeen of his victims remained hospitalized.

“There is a possibility that some of these patients have been physically impaired for the rest of their lives, and there is certainly no doubt that many of them will be psychologically impaired for the rest of their lives,” said W. Roy Smythe, chief of surgery for Scott & White Hospital in Temple.

Sgt. Kimberly Munley, the civilian officer praised as a hero for exchanging gunfire with Hasan, was reportedly doing well after undergoing a second surgery Saturday. She was shot in one wrist and in her left leg and knee.

Gov. Rick Perry met with some of the injured, praising GIs and police who “raced towards the sound of the gunfire” as the rampage began.

“What I heard time after time in those hospital rooms was that it’s their honor to be able to serve our country, and that is a very humbling thing to watch a young man or woman whose life has been irreparably harmed in a violent act, yet their concern and their interest is in continuing to be able to serve this country,” Perry said in a written statement.
A post on guard

Back on the post, Fort Hood assumed the appearance of an armed camp. A soldier with an M-4 rifle stood guard outside the visitor center, where a large international media contingent has assembled. Others stood sentinel at other sensitive locations on the post.

FBI agents and Army investigators continued to comb the grounds of Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Center. Soldiers kept visitors from strolling near the knoll where investigators believe the gunman fired into hundreds of unarmed soldiers.

The Army said no motive for the shooting had yet been established. Others surmised that the Virginia native, who counseled soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder, might have internalized his patients’ issues. Those who know him have said Hasan was opposed to the wars and was stressed about being stationed overseas.
Sergeant’s story

One of two police officers who confronted the suspect says he shot Hasan before kicking the man’s weapon away, handcuffing him and ending the nation’s worst killing spree on a military base.

Sgt. Mark Todd joined Munley in a firefight with Hasan that lasted less than a minute. Todd, 42, was not wounded, but the exchange left Munley injured and Hasan critically wounded.

Seconds after Todd arrived on the scene, he said, he saw a calm-looking Hasan, his gun drawn and his fingers pointing at people.

“He was firing at people as they were trying to run and hide,” Todd told The Associated Press on Saturday.

That’s when Todd, a retired soldier who now works as a civilian police officer at Fort Hood, said he shouted at Hasan. “I told him, ‘Stop, and drop your weapons.’ I identified myself as police, and he turned and fired a couple of rounds at me. I didn’t hear him say a word. … He just turned and fired.”

There has been confusion since Thursday’s rampage about whose bullets actually brought down Hasan, who was shot four times. At first, Munley’s supervisor said it was her shot to Hasan’s torso , but Army officials would say only that an investigation was under way.

Authorities recovered two handguns believed to have been carried by Hasan during the assault, a 5.7mm pistol and a .357 magnum. Both were sent to a federal crime lab in Atlanta. A Fort Hood official said it appears that only one weapon was fired.
Obama to visit

President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service Tuesday honoring the victims. He praised those who ended the shootings and lauded the armed services’ diversity — a move designed to calm tensions about Hasan.

“They are Americans of every race, faith and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers,” Obama said in his radio and Internet address Saturday.

The Department of Veterans Affairs sent four Mobile Vet Centers to the Fort Hood area to bolster counseling services. As Sunday services neared, Col. Frank Jackson said his talk at the 73rd Street Chapel would be about communities of faith and how hope, encouragement and healing can help overcome the tragedy.

“This is a painful time,” said Jackson, a 58-year-old Southern Baptist who acts as the post’s garrison chaplain. “It’s painful, but it’s powerful.”

Some veteran soldiers of the Iraq war said they were not surprised by the tragedy.

“In a way, it was like it’s waiting to happen,” Spc. Travis McRae said. “The Army has an awesome way of getting you ready for war. It gets you in that mind-set to go over there and fight, but whenever you come back, they don’t have a way of turning that switch off.”

The Washington Post and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

schristenson@express-news.net

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