Fort Hood Massacre

6 November 2009

It is the day after the horrific massacre at Fort Hood, Texas. I refrained from making any comments as soon as the attack took place yesterday, as I believe only fitting to hear some of the details of the incident before formulating any thoughts of my own.
Surprisingly, but not much, the FBI was awfully quick in stating, just few hours after the shooting, that it was NOT an act of terrorism. It became obvious to me that the order had quickly come down from the DOJ and the White House that the gunman was not a terrorist, especially after the news broke about his name and the strong possibility the coward was a Muslim.

So what we know so far is this:

• Major Hasan was an Army psychiatrist about to be deployed to Afghanistan.
• He had expressed his dissatisfaction with American foreign policy
• He had argued strongly against any person who supported our war on terror.
• He is a lifelong Muslim
• Investigation is looking at the possibility of some internet posting he made justifying suicide bombers.

According to a cousin of his, this was an educated man with no violent nature (could have fooled me) who hated to go to the firing range. Paraphrasing, he did not have the violent mind set that can be associated with the Military. Really?

On a personal base, I have encountered this kind of elitism from almost every Middle Easterner I have ever met. I have witnessed a mind set based on the fact that violence against terrorists is not acceptable and it is "uncivilized", all the while having no problem with the Saudi authorities cutting people hands for theft.

Anyway, it is still premature to come to any definite conclusion, but I feel very uncomfortable with the premise that this was an isolated incident, that it was not a terrorist act. Besides, how else one would describe a man walking into a crowded room and start shooting indiscriminately?

What is certain is that there are families grieving today because of the actions of one man, a Muslim Army officer who considered the Military good enough to fund his education, but did not consider his duty to the oath he took to be of any importance. His objection to US foreign policy should have not had any bearing, because in his capacity as an Army psyachiatrist, he would have never been in the position of having to hurt a fellow Muslim. But obviously, this man of peace, this educated Muslim had no qualm in killing fellow Americans indiscriminately.

But no, it wasn't terrorism!

And this are my thoughts

Frank Semperpapa