Pondering Fort Hood...

I'm not sure if I believe that Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan yelled "Allahu Akbar" as he went on his recent murder spree at Fort Hood or not, I'm hesitant to automatically believe it since it's not been confirmed and it's not as if the initial reports of the shooting were accurate. It was initially stated the gunman was "neutralized" and it was believed more than one person was involved. I do not disbelieve that Hasan was harrassed, teased, called names, we live in a fairly cruel society where racism and bigotry still reign. I'm not sure however, that a psychiatrist, even one being sent to the Middle East, against his will, would murder people based on that alone. It's not as if he was being sent into combat...

This left me with thinking that there had to be more to this, I understand the desire of some to make Hasan a more sympathetic figure. In all of the cases I've followed, locally and otherwise, most times the family of the murderer shares with you their disbelief, telling you what a "great guy" the killer was. Very few say, "Yeah, we knew he'd turn out like that, it was a matter of when."

I'd like to think that William Murchison, is wrong in his opinion piece where he suggests:

It makes sense to ponder deeply -- I did not say "conclude," I said ponder deeply -- the possibility that in Maj. Nidal the Army had, unwittingly, in its bosom a treasonable viper; a supporter of Islamic jihad against the West and the United States; a soldier who, in violation of military oath and citizenship, opened fire on soldiers as he cried, "Allahu Akbar." "Allahu Akbar" is the familiar cry of Islamic terrorists all over the world as they pounce on the unwitting.

As I said, first I'd have to discount the "Allahu Akbar" portion, but even then, something happened to make Hasan decide to turn into a murderer. We may never know his real motivation, and in a way it is racist to assume since he was Muslim that he could have been some type of a psycho closet case Islamic terrorist that fooled us all. Yet when something happens we try to make sense of it, it's possible the bullying and harassment could have driven him to kill, others have, yet thousands have managed to endure and not turn into killers...