FORT HOOD, Texas -- The base commander at Fort Hood says soldiers who witnessed a shooting rampage that left 13 people dead reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar!" before opening fire at the Texas post.
Lt. Gen. Robert Cone told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, made the comment, which is Arabic for "God is great!" before the rampage Thursday that also left 30 people wounded.
Military officials say they are still piecing together what may have pushed Hasan, an Army psychiatrist trained to help soldiers in distress, to turn on his comrades.
Cone says Hasan was not known to be a threat or risk.
Hasan was shot four times during the rampage. Cone says he is hospitalized in stable condition and that military officials will interrogate him as soon as possible.Link.
Neighbors report he had begun wearing Arabic clothing in recent weeks.
And out-birthing the birthers, and the 9/11 conspirators (Bush did it), here's the conspiracy theory--Hasan was a patsy to gin up support for the war in the Middle East.
Police woman Sergeant Kimberly Munley on routine duty brings down the shooter.
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13 comments:
OK, so here's the question.
How is it that you label Hasan as a radical Islamic terrorist, but Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were never called "radical Protestants"? Seung-Hui Cho, George Jo Hennard, Jiverly Wong, James Huberty, Loy Yeung - they're all "mass murderers." Why should Major Hasan get different treatment?
This horrible set of wars has taken so many. War is not the answer and we never seems to get it.And our rush to Judgment on everything and everyone has just got to stop.Whatever this guy is -he is first a war casualty...then whatever in that order.
I didn't label him anything--I asked some questions based on his behavior as reported in the news. But yes, he is a mass murderer, your term, and he is reported to have called on Allah as he did it, tried to convert other soldiers he was treating to Islam (that gets you in big trouble if you're a Christian), disagreed with the war (after acquiring his education at our expense). It's possible he just flipped out and no one turned him in. I'm open to that. And no, he is definitely not a casualty of the War; nor are his victims. They are murder victims.
Actually, proselytizing will get you in trouble regardless of your religion. But I hadn't heard that - there were incorrect rumors that he was a recent convert to Islam, but they've been disproved. Where did you find that?
They may be rumors--also read he was frustrated he couldn't find a wife. What I didn't miss and saw and heard with my own eyes, was Obama's shameful news conference.
Those rumors have not been disproven. In fact, and yes, this is a fact, this vile 'thing' was supposed to give a presentation at a medical conference, and he spoke at length about the Koran instead. The war didn't make him kill anyone, his interpretation of Islam did. Get YOUR facts straight, Nameless.
OK, Kelli. Go ahead. Tell me which facts I got wrong. I suggested that a mass murderer isn't always a terrorist. And your argument against that is what, exactly?
He was a man under a great deal of pressure, facing bigotry every day, and he snapped. The military should have caught the signs, but they didn't.
So what did I get wrong?
Nameless: Facing bigotry every day? Perhaps his colleagues and classmates were responding to his anti-American, anti-war comments, and the speeches he gave? Sort of like you might do defending your mother or sister if someone started calling them whores, and then complaining you were being bullied.
All of which is unverified supposition at this point.
Was he acting alone? Everything points to the fact that he was, at this point.
Was he simply an insane man, looking for a way to commit suicide-by-proxy? That's the best theory, at this point. Until there's evidence pointing to anything else, don't you think it's a little premature to be jumping to conclusions and trying to prosecute one of the top three religions in the world?
What's the evidence that he was a radical Islamic terrorist? That he yelled "Allahu akhbar"? And he's Islamic?
I suppose you're not aware that "Allahu akhbar" is an extremely common Muslim phrase, used essentially as punctuation in a lot of situations. Like "hoo-ah" to a Marine or "Amen!" to a Baptist.
There's some evidence that he made an internet posting - on the other hand, both "Nidal" and "Hasan" are common Middle Eastern names.
I'm just saying that there isn't enough evidence out there. (Here's another piece of t he puzzle, if you're interested.)
I'm a little confused about your "shameful news conference" remark, though. less than three hours after the shooting, Obama went ahead with a scheduled speech at the Tribal Nations Conference. He commented there on the shooting:
What we do know is that a number of American soldiers have been killed, and even more have been wounded in a horrific outburst of violence. My immediate thoughts and prayers are with the wounded and with the families of the fallen, and with those who live and serve at Fort Hood...I hope in the meantime that all of you recognize the scope of this tragedy, and keep everybody in their thoughts and prayers.
And his statement when he asked people not to jump to conclusions was given the next day. It was actually just an update. He didn't need to repeat his horror and outrage, which he had communicated the day before.
I don't see a lot of reason for shame. I don't even particularly see a reason that he should have cancelled his speech, as I've heard suggested. What exactly would he have done?
You apparently didn't see the first part of the news conference. I think it was only shown on Fox--at least when I pulled up CNN it wasn't there. We were watching it live. Or you could compare his outrage and demeanor with that about Tiller or Gage. Look, you'll never see anything wrong with his beliefs, politics or behavior, so move to a new topic.
And I also said--before you did--
"It will take awhile for the truth of the others stories about him to be checked out, . . " however, so much more has come out since I wrote that.
"To those not terrorized by fear of offending Muslim sensitivities, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's motive was instantly clear: It was an act of terrorism by a man with a record of expressing virulent, anti-American, pro-jihadist sentiments. All were conspicuous signs of danger his Army superiors chose to ignore." Dorothy Rabinowitz commenting on the media and nameless cynics
Norma:
Could you please find me a link to the "shameful" portion of the speech. Because I'm not finding anything objectionable, except to someone who refuses to see anything that isn't wrong with his beliefs, politics or behavior.
Anonymous:
You really don't know me very well if you think I'm particularly concerned with anybody's sensibilities. Oh, and incidentally,
"Jmping to conclusions is like playing with damp gunpowder: Both likely to go off in wrong direction." Charlie Chan, on a rush to judgement and anonymous idiots.
This is rich: "Nameless" said to "Anonymous" 'You really don't know me very well if you think I'm particularly concerned with anybody's sensibilities.' Well doh! Neither one knows the other at all. Unless one is the sock puppet chatting with himself.
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