Twelve dead in shooting rampage at Fort Hood

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Twelve dead in shooting rampage at Fort Hood
Topic Started: Nov 6 2009, 12:21 PM (73 Views)
post_man	Nov 6 2009, 12:21 PM Post #1
Small Star Member Posts: 919 Group: Member Member #532 Joined: February 25, 2007	Too early to make a comment. Nothing is clear yet. --------------------------- Twelve dead in shooting rampage at Fort Hood US military base in Texas. . At least 12 people have been killed and more than 30 injured in a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood US military base in Texas. The Army said one of the gunmen had been killed and two other men apprehended in connection with the shooting. Lieutenant General Bob Cone: "A shooter opened fire. That person was killed. At this time, we are looking at 12 dead and 31 wounded. They are dispersed among the local hospitals in this area in Texas. "The shooter was killed. He was a soldier. We since then have apprehended two additional soldiers who are suspects, and I would go into the point that there were eyewitness accounts that there may have been more than one shooter." The massacre happened at a training centre on the sprawling grounds of the largest US military base in the world. Four police officers were shot and wounded before they were arrested. Eyewitnesses said the gunmen were dressed in military uniforms. According to one report the shootings happened shortly before a graduation ceremony involving universities located on the base. . http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6510941/Twelve-dead-in-shooting-rampage-at-Fort-Hood-US-military-base-in-Texas.html



post_man	Nov 6 2009, 03:08 PM Post #2
Small Star Member Posts: 919 Group: Member Member #532 Joined: February 25, 2007	Soldiers are highly trained killers. Many have mental problems after spending some time in war conditions. They need help to deal with them. ------------------------- Currently, the US military is dealing with a rising number of stress-related homicides and suicides among soldiers either serving in Iraq and Afghanistan or who have returned from duty in those conflicts. Many troops are on their third or fourth tour of combat. Some studies suggest that about 15% of soldiers returning from Iraq suffer from emotional problems. Last year there were 128 confirmed suicides by serving US army personnel, and 41 by serving marines – the highest number since records began in 1980. Another 15 army deaths were still under investigation when the figures were released in February. The confirmed rate of army suicides was 20.2 per 100,000 last year– higher than the overall US suicide rate of 19.5 people per 100,000. In 2002, the army suicide rate was just 9.8 per 100,000. The last time it exceeded the civilian rate was at the height of the Vietnam war. Yesterday's killings at Fort Hood are also likely to have other consequences for relations within the US army if reports that the rampage was carried out by a soldier from a Muslim background prove to be accurate. There was also shock that the soldier believed to be responsible for yesterday's killings, Nidal Malik Hasan, was a mental health professional in the US army, a man used to helping his fellow soldiers through difficult times. A report by the Associated Press suggested that he had received a poor performance evaluation for hospital work. However, a Texas senator, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, told CNN she had been told that the psychiatrist was soon to be sent to Iraq and had aired grievances about the planned deployment. . http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/06/nidal-malik-hasan-fort-hood-shooting



Delphi51	Nov 7 2009, 02:42 PM Post #3
Blue Star Member Posts: 1,531 Group: Member Member #441 Joined: October 10, 2006	What effect will the shooter's ethnicity have in the United States? Likely the US government as well as the Canadian one has apologized to their citizens of Japanese and German who were interred during World War II, but an incident like this could bring back those fears.



Kahu	Nov 7 2009, 03:48 PM Post #4
Admin Posts: 9,264 Group: Administration Member #150 Joined: December 14, 2005	Apparently this man was US born of Iraqi immigrant parents .... a military trained psychiatrist ..... soon to be deployed in Iraq. From what has been said is that he was unhappy about the US army killing Muslim families and unhappy about being sent to Iraq. It seems to me looking at this from afar is that many in the US can only afford a higher education by becoming 'apprenticed' to the armed services. In today's 'war against terrorism' there is the obvious disadvantage of being a Muslim.



Trotsky	Nov 10 2009, 03:23 AM Post #5
Gold Star Member Posts: 4,014 Group: Member Member #79 Joined: September 8, 2005	The man was a MAJOR, and a psychiatrist and a devout Muslim. I can appreciate completely his being psychically torn into little pieces with the U.S. policy of decades long destruction of his homeland. Probably what a devout Catholic would feel if the United States decided to fire-bomb the Vatican, or a Jew would feel if he was ordered to carpet bomb Tel Aviv. What I find most compelling in the story was that before the complete news shutdown of Fort Hood there were two additional soldiers being held as accomplices to the act. Then all that became hush-hush and it devolved to the the same old "one shooter" story and thus no conspiracy to explain (Sirhan Sirhan, Lee Harvey Oswald, early Watergate, etc., etc, etc.) It's always easy to explain the actions of a person once he has been declared the sole insane perpetrator. I remember back in Vietnam there was spreading policy called "fragging" which involved a soldier or soldiers shooting their commanding officers who gave them an order to move forward...and they though otherwise. It seems likely that there are MANY soldiers who feel exactly as this Major does especially after being forced into extended tours of duty against their will...aka, slavery, indentured servitude. We may see more of this although I'm sure the Army, now alerted, will NOT let the news media get wind of it. Who knows how many soldiers have been killed this way over the years. Remember the outright lie about the famed footbal player who was killed by his own men and the Army changed the story to a battlefield death. It's probably quite common-place. You cannot train killers and then expect to be able to turn off the killing response like a light switch...they remain killers. Probably the fact of the United States being involved in continuous war after war after war since 1941 accounts for its being the most violent of "civilized" societies. Edited by Trotsky, Nov 10 2009, 03:28 AM.



Begete	Nov 10 2009, 05:12 AM Post #6
Blue Star Member Posts: 1,738 Group: Member Member #85 Joined: September 18, 2005	This morning's news reports he attended the same mosque as two of the 9/11 bombers in early 2001 which at the time was led by a radical imam.



post_man	Nov 10 2009, 09:30 AM Post #7
Small Star Member Posts: 919 Group: Member Member #532 Joined: February 25, 2007	Some people have come forward and testified that the shooter behaved strangely in the last few days. They could have saved 13 lives by talking to colleagues of the shooter. . It all has to do with whistle blowers and the vicious attacks they endure. Some of these citizens have been driven to suicide. In a country where corruption is rife, one does not like honest people. Whistle blowers are personae non gratae; it breaks your heart but it's true.



Trotsky	Nov 10 2009, 11:06 AM Post #8
Gold Star Member Posts: 4,014 Group: Member Member #79 Joined: September 8, 2005	A couple recent develpments: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091109/ap_on_re_us/us_fort_hood_shooting Major Hasan has hired a lawyer who is flying down to Fort Hood.



post_man	Nov 10 2009, 02:35 PM Post #9
Small Star Member Posts: 919 Group: Member Member #532 Joined: February 25, 2007	It all looks like all the copy cat suicides. He wanted to die but take a few with him to make headlines. He did not even have the guts to kill himself.



Trotsky	Nov 11 2009, 04:31 AM Post #10
Gold Star Member Posts: 4,014 Group: Member Member #79 Joined: September 8, 2005	Postman, they usually refer to that phenomenon as "suicide by cop." It's not uncommon in suicide circles. :happens: Just 2 factoids, There have been 10 REPORTED suicides at Fort Hood THIS YEAR...and I'm sure the Army is under strict orders to mitigate these deaths. So unless one is found hanging from the rafters with a suicide note pinned to one's chest any death is viewed as an accident if at all possible. Probably the same is done for homicide as in "He accidentally shot himself 4 times in the head with his service weapon." Seemingly this Major Hasan has tried to resign from the army many times over a period of several years but his requests have all been denied. Probably one stated that as a psychiatrist he judged himself to be mentally unstable. Why do people snap: Quote: The possibility of more troops for the war in Afghanistan was discussed Sunday on “Meet the Press.” Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania noted candidly that “our troops are tired and worn out.” More than 85 percent of the men and women in the Pennsylvania National Guard have already served in Iraq or Afghanistan. “Many of them have gone three or four times and they’re wasted,” said Mr. Rendell.



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