Attack at Fort Hood
Posted on November 5, 2009
I just got off of work, and came home to reports of a massacre at Fort Hood. The motive is unclear, and it’s also not known exactly how many shooters there are. The details keep varying. What is known is this: we have twelve soldiers murdered and thirty-one soldiers wounded. One gunman has been captured and identified as Major Malik Nadal Hasan. His religion and motive is unknown. Two other suspects are in custody. And one other shooter was killed.
(And before we get too carried away calling this a terrorist attack, let’s wait for the facts.)
All three of the people believed to have carried out the shooting were soldiers, Lt. General Bob Cone told reporters Thursday evening, though the motive remains unclear.
AP cites an unnamed source saying the gunman was Major Malik Nadal Hasan, though authorities have not publicly identified him.
Cone said witnesses reported seeing more than one shooter, but that couldn’t be confirmed. The primary shooter used two handguns, he said.
The shooting took place 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the post’s Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers undergo medical screening before being deployed or after returning from overseas.
“We have a terrible, tragic situation here,” said Cone. “Soldiers, family members and the civilians that work here are absolutely devastated.”
Cone said the injuries “vary significantly” among the victims wounded in the shooting. The victims include one civilian police officer.
… Covering 339 square miles, Fort Hood is the largest active duty armored post in the United States. Home to about 52,000 troops as of earlier this year, the sprawling base is located halfway between Austin and Waco.
The only thing we know right now is that Kay Bailey Hutchinson is reporting that Major Hasan was about to be deployed to Iraq. This is the murderer:
President Obama’s statement is below:
I personally found it extremely underwhelming. Sure, he said all the right things. But there was no emotion there, no sincerity. My take is this: he was speaking about Fort Hood because he had to. He had the exact same amount of feeling put into his words about the murdered soldiers at Fort Hood as he did about the Native American conference he apparently went to. I know that our president relies completely on his teleprompter and was definitely reading prepared remarks about the attack. But he couldn’t muster one ounce of emotion? One little smidgeon of feeling? Maybe it was just me, but I don’t know how sincere Obama was in his remarks.
As we get more details, I’ll update. Stay tuned, and please keep the families of the fallen and the wounded soldiers in your thoughts and prayers.
NOTE: I’m reading now that apparently Hasan is the gunman who was killed. It’s still not clear how many shooters there were.
UPDATE: One witness is saying that he heard shouting in Arabic during the shooting. It’s just hearsay, but if it’s true, it makes it look more like a terrorist attack. Hasan’s religion is confirmed as Muslim; unclear as to whether he was a convert or not.
UPDATE: Velvet Hammer is reporting that Hasan was angry about the war in Iraq and said that Muslims should “stand up to the aggressors” and that we shouldn’t have been in Iraq at the first place. A cousin is saying that he has always been Muslim. One of the wounded has died, making the death toll thirteen if you include Hasan.
UPDATE: Here is video from Shep with more information making it look more and more like jihad to me:
UPDATE: It appears that Hasan sympathized with suicide bombers.
Federal law enforcement officials say the suspected Fort Hood, Texas, shooter had come to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats.
The officials say the postings appeared to have been made by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was killed during the shooting incident that left least 11 others dead and 31 wounded. The officials say they are still trying to confirm that he was the author. They say an official investigation was not opened…
One of the Web postings that authorities reviewed is a blog that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades.
UPDATE: Reports are now coming out that Hasan is still alive and in stable condition. He wrote the following about suicide bombers:
“To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause,” said the Internet posting. “Scholars have paralled (sic) this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers.”
Cross-posted from Cassy’s blog. Stop by for more original commentary or follow her on Twitter!
» Filed Under Crime, Fox News, Islam, News, Video, military
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I listened to the President’s comment live, via Fox News on Sirius radio. The thought that kept repeating in my head was…. when the hell are you going to mention Fort Hood? His first thought was to thank people for putting on a conference? Thank his staff members? Then talk about the conference, thank the participants, etc? THEN comment on Fort Hood? Maybe I am being overly cynical…