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Fort Hood Investigators Focus on Motive

This is only the first half of the story at link. I can't decide if I agree
with Kris, that the guy was just nutty, or with Comj, who said the guy was
just a cowardly ay aitch (ahem, paraphrasing here). Maybe both?
jc
---
Fort Hood Investigators Focus on Motive

Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
The American flag flew at half-staff at Fort Hood on Friday morning.

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and JACK HEALY
Published: November 6, 2009
KILLEEN, Tex. - Amid a public outpouring of grief on Friday for those gunned
down at the Fort Hood Army base, new details emerged about the chaotic
moments of the shooting and the Army psychiatrist suspected of opening fire
on dozens of his fellow soldiers.

Emergency personnel removed a wounded person from Fort Hood after a rampage
left 13 dead and 28 wounded.
The gunman, identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, was shot four times by
a Fort Hood civilian police officer responding to the scene. He remained
hospitalized on a ventilator on Friday in stable condition and was expected
to live, Army officials said.

The death toll rose to 13 people, including 12 soldiers, in what is thought
to have been the most lethal shooting on an American military base in
history. Another 27 people were still hospitalized on Friday afternoon, all
in stable condition.

Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, and John M. McHugh, the
Army secretary, traveled to Fort Hood as a widespread investigation into the
shooting began, and promised to provide whatever resources the staff at the
base might need. The Army is already sending chaplains and mental-health
counselors.

But General Casey acknowledged that the wounds from the shooting would not
heal quickly.

"This is a tough one," he said in a news conference at the base. "It is
inside. And it's a kick in the gut. There's no doubt about that."

As military and law-enforcement investigators waited to interview Major
Hasan, a contradictory portrait of him emerged. Neighbors described him as a
man who dressed alternately in a military uniform and flowing white robes,
and who gave a copy of the Koran to his next-door neighbor a day before the
shooting.

Reports from the shooting suggested that soldiers may have heard him shout
something like "Allahu Akbar" - Arabic for "God is great!" - just
before he
fired two automatic handguns. He was shown on a security video tape from a
local convenience store wearing white robes just hours before the shooting.
And family members said that he had complained about being harassed
expressly because he was a Muslim, and that he had expressed deep concerns
about deploying.

Acquaintances said Major Hasan was upset about his future deployment in a
war zone, and heatedly opposed United States foreign policy in discussions
with fellow soldiers. Earlier this year law-enforcement officers monitoring
Islamic Web sites identified a man of the same name as a blogger who posted
comments on suicide bombings in which he equated such acts to those by
soldiers who use their own bodies to shield fellow soldiers from exploding
shrapnel.

But Major Hasan also reportedly required counseling at different times in
his life, including for a time as a medical student before United States
involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan were issues.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, said Army officials were
trying to determine "if there is something more than just one deranged
person involved here." She said in remarks at the base on Friday that while
he was the only one who had fired at the other soldiers, it was still
unclear if he had planned this completely alone.

"That is a question still to be asked," she said. "That is not a question
that has been resolved."

Senator Hutchison said the shooting had prompted Army officials to examine
procedures in tracking people who may have problems.

"Was enough done?" she asked. "Should there have been more triggers? I
think
that's what we're trying to learn right now. And I think that it's a
legitimate question and it's a question the Army is asking itself."

"I don't think that anyone would have ever expected a psychiatrist trained
to help others mental health would be the one who would go off himself,
unless there's more to it, and that's what they're looking for," she added.

President Obama asked people to avoid "jumping to conclusions" while the
investigations continued.

Army officials said Friday morning that Major Hasan had not caused any
problems since transferring to the Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood
this year. Col. John Rossi, an Army spokesman, told reporters that
investigators were examining whether Major Hasan had registered the two
handguns used in the shooting.

Major Hasan is the sole suspect, after three others who were immediately
taken in custody were released.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/us/07forthood.html?pagewanted=1&hp

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