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Web post by Fort Hood gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan could shed light on motives

London Times

Investigators trying to understand why a US army psychiatrist launched into a shooting spree on a military base in Texas will be poring over an internet posting he is thought to have made comparing the sacrifice of Islamist suicide bombers and American military heroes.

Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 were injured when Major Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood yesterday afternoon in a part of the base where soldiers are prepared for deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq.

The gunman himself was shot four times and was reported last night to be unconscious and on a ventilator in a nearby hospital. The female officer said to have shot him is also in hospital.

Major Hasan, 39, whose job involved counselling soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after overseas tours, had himself fought a long and unsuccessful campaign against deployment to Iraq – which a cousin described as "his worst nightmare".

As President Obama said in his first statement on the slaughter, the killings were all the more "horrifying" for having happened at an army base on American soil. But Major Hasan's background – he is a Muslim of Palestinian descent – prompted immediate speculation that the attack was a premeditated act of terror.

It was reported that Major Hasan had come to the attention of the FBI after a user named NidalHasan posted on the Scribd.com website in May, comparing the actions of an American soldier who threw himself on a grenade in Iraq with those of Islamist suicide bombers. No action was taken against him.

"He intentionally [sic] took his life (suicide) for a noble cause i.e. saving the lives of his soldier. To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its [sic] more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause," NidalHasan wrote.

"Scholars have paralled [sic] this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory."

The posting was analysing rather than glorifying the actions of suicide bombers, but the distinction was lost in a slew of angry comments left after the news emerged of the slaughter in Texas.

"Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims," one commenter wrote. "Texas will fry your ass," wrote another.

Flags outside churches and cemeteries around Fort Hood were at half-mast as the occupants of America's largest military base tried to comprehend the killings.

Major Hasan had been armed with two non-military issue pistols, including a semi-automatic, as he entered the pre-deployment station together.

Within minutes, a dozen soldiers at the base were dead or dying in the worst mass shooting ever at a military base in the US.

Terry Lee, a retired colonel who worked with the gunman, said that Major Hasan had told him that he hoped Mr Obama would pull troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq and got into frequent arguments with others in the military who supported the wars.

Faizul Khan, a former imam at a mosque that Major Hasan attended in Silver Spring, Maryland, said he spoke often with him about how he wanted to find a wife. Major Hasan is a lifelong Muslim and attended prayers regularly, often in his army uniform, Mr Khan said.

The rampage, the worst ever to take place on a US military base, began at a "soldier readiness centre" used for final medical and dental check-ups for troops about to be sent overseas.

President Obama condemned what he called "a horrific outburst of violence" and said of its victims: "These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk and at times give their lives to protect the rest of us ... It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on American soil."

Major Hasan, whose family said he was born in suburban Washington, is single with no children.

“We are shocked and saddened by the terrible events at Fort Hood today,” his cousin, Nadar Hasan, said in a statement issued on behalf of the family. “We send the families of the victims our most heartfelt sympathies.”

The cousin said that Major Hasan had been ordered to serve a term in Iraq and had been resisting the deployment.

“We’ve known over the last five years that was probably his worst nightmare,” he said.

He had served as a psychiatrist at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC, which treats many badly wounded troops.

Major Hasan had transferred to Fort Hood in July after receiving a poor performance evaluation.

Military police surrounded a supermarket on the sprawling base soon after the initial attack had sent soldiers and civilians running for cover. There was confusion about the number of attackers, with reports suggesting that at least one other suspect might have been at large and armed with a high-powered sniper's rifle.

Major Hasan used two pistols, one of them semi-automatic, neither of them military issue. Soldiers at Fort Hood do not carry weapons unless they are doing training exercises.

In Washington, a senior official said that authorities had initially thought one of the victims who had been shot and killed was the gunman. The mistake resulted in a delay of several hours in identifying Major Hasan as the alleged assailant.

Officials are not ruling out the possibility that some of the casualties may have been victims of “friendly fire,” that in the mayhem and confusion at the shooting scene some of the responding military officials may have shot some of the victims.

The wounded were dispersed among hospitals in central Texas. Lisa Pfund, whose daughter Amber Bahr, 19, was shot in the stomach, said: "We know nothing, just that she was shot in the belly."

She said that her daughter, who was in a stable condition, had joined the reserves at 17 and loved being in the military even though none of her friends was interested in joining the Army.

Set in hill country in central Texas, Fort Hood is home to more than 70,000 people – including soldiers' families – from the US 1st Cavalry Division and 4th Infantry Division. It has deployed more troops to American-led military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan than any other base.

Most combat troops at Fort Hood have served multiple tours in Iraq, Afghanistan or both since 2001.

The base, midway between Houston and Fort Worth, was closed and schools inside the perimeter were shut as a search started for any gunmen still at large. "Effective immediately. Fort Hood is closed," a message on the base website said. "Organisations/units are instructed to execute a 100 per cent accountability of all personnel. This is not a drill. It is an emergency situation."

News helicopters were kept out of the airspace over the base.

Fort Hood is the only army base in the US able to accommodate two full armoured divisions. Described as a world unto itself, it has multiple schools, cinemas and suburbs as well as some of the country's most extensive firing ranges and training facilities.