The tragedy that occurred at the US Army installation, Ft. Hood, dominates American media coverage, but it is also being reported in Saudi media. The facts, insofar as we know them at the moment, is that an officer, Muslim and of Palestinian descent, went mad and started shooting up the base. He killed 13 and wounded around 30 others before being himself shot. The man, US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was a psychiatrist who earned his degree under a military education program that exchanges the cost of the education for a period of active military service. We know that Hasan was not happy with his situation, that he was a devout Muslim, that he had serious concerns about being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan, and that he tried, unsuccessfully, to make an arrangement through which he would reimburse the government for the cost of his education in return for permission to leave the Army. We know further that he felt very strongly about the US being engaged in fighting with Muslims and had been quoted approving acts that most consider terrorism.
The limited information is suggestive, but it suggests many possible things. This ambiguity has provided great space for Islamophobes to point to him as a covert jihadist or as part of a terrorist plot. Earliest media reports that suggested that there was more than one person shooting fed this frenzy.
I am sure that Hasan’s religion played a role in his behavior. It was not religious instruction, though, so much as the fact that a religious sense telling him not to fight other Muslims gravely conflicted with his military obligations to follow lawful orders as well as his contractual obligations to serve in return for his education. In his mind, Hasan was faced with two compelling orders that created a dissonance he could not rationally solve. He ended up with an irrational solution that killed innocents.
We will learn more when Hasan goes on trial—actually, when he faces a court martial. He could certainly face capital punishment under military law, though I think it equally possible that he would be committed to a mental institution.
This sad incident ought not point any fingers of blame at Islam. It is, I believe, a situation in which an individual, faced with impossible choices, simply snapped. While some of his motivation, likely the major part of it, was due to his religious beliefs, it was not his religious beliefs that led him to start shooting. People do snap, as happened yesterday in Orlando, Florida, where a fired employee went on a shooting spree at his former place of employment. This man was not Muslim. He was a man faced with issues he couldn’t solve rationally.
The more compelling question about Maj. Hasan, I think, is how the US Army missed the various signs that he was deeply disturbed. His behavior had been reported to his superiors and had become significant enough that the FBI was investigating him, as much as six months ago. There are suggestions in some American media that Political Correctness is to blame, that Americans are now frightened of reporting any suspicious behavior on the part of any Muslim. The fear is largely a fear of being sued, but as the fiasco with Yale University Press and its decision to excise illustrations from a book about the ‘Mohammed Cartoons’ controversy, some also cite fear of physical violence.
Arab News’s American correspondent files a useful report:
Army psychiatrist goes berserk at Fort Hood
Barbara Ferguson | Arab NewsWASHINGTON: An Army psychiatrist, trained to treat soldiers dealing with anxiety and stress, opened fire Thursday in a crowed medical building at Fort Hood, Texas.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is suspected of shouting “Allahu Akbar!” seconds before opening fire on a crowd of people near a Soldier Readiness Center at Fort Hood on Thursday. Hasan is suspected of shooting more than 40 people before he was shot four times by a civilian police officer.
Minutes later, when the carnage ended, 13 people were killed and at least were 28 wounded in what is believed to be the largest mass shooting ever to occur on a US military base.
Once the gunfire stopped, soldiers schooled in battlefield medicine tore their clothes to create makeshift tourniquets and bandages for the wounded, which doctors later said helped save lives. One soldier escaped the attack and quickly sealed off an auditorium in the same building where 138 were marking their graduation from college.
…
Saudi Gazette runs what is labeled an opinion piece on the subject, but is in fact an AFP report:
A blow for US army strained by wars
The lethal shooting spree at a US Army base Thursday dealt a blow to an American military already under severe strain from years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan and plagued by a rise in suicides and depression.
Revelations that an Army psychiatrist had allegedly opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas came as a shock for an organization that likes to portray itself as a family.The rampage occurs at a time of stress for the armed services burdened by two wars, with commanders struggling to ease the effect of repeated combat tours on troops and their families.
Suicides in the Army hit a record level last year, with at least 128 taking their lives, and are on track to set a new high this year – surpassing the rate among the wider civilian population.
…
The American paper, The Chicago Tribune has an editorial which best sums up the situation:
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November:07:2009 - 10:30
When I first heard about this and the Major’s name, inwardly I cringed. I was worried that the press would have a field day with the fact that he was a Muslim and try to make more of a connection between the two than necessary. Sensationalism sells!
If his devoutness to his religion caused him to snap then it is an integral part of what happened and should be examined. For example, did years of teasing and harrassment play into his actions? If so I think looking at the fact that he was Muslim and had to endure a lot of crap from people well after 9/11 is important and hopefully will stimulate the military to take steps to reduce this for it’s troops. Did he secretly harbor extremist views? Who knows at this point. And it shouldn’t have become the focus of the news stories until things were better sorted out…it does everyone a diservice…
BUT that does not make it a terrorist attack. Terrorists have a planned out agenda…very thoughtful, trying to do the most damage possible. I think the Major had a mental malfunction perhaps that existed for a long time prior to this attack as he needed some “intervention” previously. His religion might have been the thing that set him off… That doesn’t mean he was a terrorist no more than the guy in Orlando who killed a lot of people on the same day was a terrorist.
It seems that he tried to sort it out in a rational way…pay back his schooling, hired a lwayer to get him out. Clearly he wasn’t in it for terror. I think he found himself in an emotionally impossible situation and chose a VERY bad way to express himself.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I cringed as well. I’m thinking based on what I’ve heard, it wasn’t terror- but his beliefs played a role in it. But why is it when people snap they go on shooting spree’s? Go postal, if you will. How does that resolve anything in their minds? I don’t get it. It sounds like this guy left road signs all over that trouble may be coming. Like the V Tech student. But we always put it together after.
So very sad for the victoms and families.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Enjoyed reading your thoughts on this. Thank you!
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I have no sympathy for this guy. If you are faced with two choices in conflict with other, pick the one that is most important to you, resign from the other. If that resignation causes problems, well, that is the price you pay for following your conscience. There is no excuse, none whatsoever, for randomly opening fire on your co-workers (which this is) because you can’t deal with the job you voluntarily signed up for in full knowledge of its requirements and contractual obligations.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I cringed too. All that crossed my mind is how Fox News is going to have a field day with this, pointing to the his religion as the cause. John, you said it correctly, it was his beliefs and not the religion that drove him to the edge. I am so so sad about this because I feel that the fear of muslims is just going to get worse now. I really hope the media does not talk about his religion and focus more on his past, the bullying, the harrassment, and the stress handling case after case of soliders injured in Afghanastan and Iraq.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
The current problem is that by avoiding to mention his religion, it feeds the sense that Muslims either get preferential treatment or that they have so intimidated authority that it fears to take actions it would take against non-Muslims!
Both are flakey analysis, but I’m reading it all over.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I thought this man’s (Hassan’s) job was to make sure people, like him, wouldn’t go beserk. If he had any type of morals or the slightest sense of right and wrong, he wouldn’t have done what he did. No excuse! O.K. he snapped but as a psychiatrist I suppose he didn’t see it coming? He is a snake…
This story is disturbing. I found it more disturbing because he was in a position of great influence and one of great trust. Please and I mean please do not tell me religion ( or at least his take on religion) did not SCREW with his head Big Time. I know there are stories of people randomly shooting and killing but he did so in a position where great trust was put upon him and where no one was seeking to harm him. He was going to be deployed. Personally, I consider that the people being fought in these Muslim countries are deserving of the wrath that falls upon them because they have turned their backs on Allah and pretend to follow the right way while the truth is that most of them are mentally disturbed like this Hassan who have been getting too high on the Deen.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
John I agree with you. It does seem that people are afraid to talk about it and it does make it look like non Muslims have been intimidated…which is exactly what the guys at the top who want to keep everyone under control want. i think sometimes people try to avoid appearing as racist and therefore don’t want to bring it up. But I don’t think it can be helped if it was a contributory cause… too much political correctness is not a good thing,doesn’t get to the heart of the situation and helps no one, except putting a band aid on the feelings of people at large. Don’t be hate mongering BUT if it is part of a situation then it must be looked at as a contributor and we can’t hide it or dance around it…It must be talked about if it was his religious beliefs that was a significant contributor to the attack. If he was just another person who snapped who happened to be Muslim then I don’t think it fair to play up the Muslim angle.
Hope that was not confusing…
November:07:2009 - 10:30
look at this guy! http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/take_look_at_hasan_old_mosque_tqVGxjbLxWz8SV5tnpmV2N
despite my hatred of the saudi regime, this guy manages to make a connection specifically to saudi arabia!!!
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Why was I not surprised? This is not the first nor will it be the last.
I am in a minority here (there and everywhere!) but it is my sincere belief that Muslims cannot live in peace with other peoples, at least not if they are more than a handful. The only option is for non-Muslims to have as little contact as possible with them and that includes getting out of the Middle East and South Asia altogether. We are not going to solve the problems of Iraq, Afhganistan or Pakistan. Sooner or later Muslim radicals will take over these countries, it is just a matter of time. 30 days after we pull troops out of Kabul they will be shooting women in soccer stadium, again. I am glad I don’t have to make that decision.
What about the nice, kind, sweet Muslims we see everywhere? Yes, what about them? Why do these same Muslims refuse to look at the many verses in the Quran that teach hate and violence? Why do they pretend these verses don’t exist or that they are a “distorted” interpretation of Islam. Do these Muslims think that Allah can’t write? Doesn’t the Quran say it is easy to understand? Will Muslims blame Allah for poor writing skills? Also why do Muslims ignore all the violence in the ahadeeth? (I won’t even go into detail on that but if you read the 30+volumes of Tabari, as I have, you may notice this, maybe). Why can’t I find a discussion on a Muslim site about the morality of these passages and their effect on relations with non-Muslims? Why do Muslims ignore what Muslims do where they dominate? Why should we believe that these nice, sweet, good American Muslims are any different from the average Muslim in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Algeria, Turkey, Malaysia and so on? Why should be believe that Muslims in the West really believe in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equality, separation of religion and state and human rights when these are viewed as non-Islamic in so many Muslim societies, or these concepts are distorted and twisted so that Muslims can say they accepts these in an “Islamic context.”
Of course, separation is not possible. Maybe up to WW2 this was the situation but Islam was different then. Now millions of people, Muslim and non-Muslim, live with each other so we must deal with this. Multicultalism and political correctness (and other circumstances) have been a fertil garden for a comeback of the Islam of the 7th century. The world is a mess, it will get worse.
Anyway… what is my take on this. I hope I am wrong but probably not. In my 7 decades I have found that when it comes to human nature, thinking the worst is a safe bet. I follow news closely; I read lots of Muslim sites — I see no desire by Muslims to look beyong superficial explanations for this latest tragedy and others. In a way it reminds of the last scene in the old 1960s “Planet of the Apes” movie in which the ape warns the humans that if he goes looking for answers, he might not like what he finds. Well, at least Taylor when looking.
Here I am raining on the parade again.
Kactuz
November:07:2009 - 10:30
^ This is hate.
Sorry, “we” are in a political mess, so we can’t be an “example” in everything. But you have a preconceived notion that Islam is evil and will look for everything that confirms it.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Did you notice who wrote it? Stephen Schwartz is notorious for his hatred of ‘Wahhabism’. He thinks normative Islam is of the Sufi tradition.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Parade? I didn’t see a parade! I bet I missed the elephants…
Seriously, though, I don’t think it useful to go back to see what primary religious texts say in their every word. Christians, for example, don’t pluck out eyes that offend, nor do Jews adhere to Deuteronomy’s call to ‘not suffer a witch to live’. Just because it’s in a holy book doesn’t mean that it must be acted upon.
Now some certain believe otherwise. We have Creationists and abortion clinic bombers as examples of those who insist that every word means exactly what they think it means (bypassing the not trivial fact that English-language bibles have been translated from at least three different languages). Many Muslims, because they believe that the Quran is the direct word of God, find it hard to separate those things that must be done from those things that might have fit the context of 7th C. Arabia exclusively. They need to fix that.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I will be praying for this man, and that he has suffered a brief psychotic episode that made him not criminally responsible at the time of the offense, yet will leave him without a permanent impairment. In which case. he would be found sane to stand trial, not guilty by reason of insanity, and not requiring commitment to a mental institution as the episode of psychosis would have resolved. Unlikely to happen though, even if it were true.
The direct conflict of 2 opposing obligations in a highly ethical person, and no other rational way out is what leads to a “breakdown” or rationale failure. The “trigger event”, being this close to deployment, doesn’t imply any longstanding mental impairment, nor is one necessary for this type of action to occur.
My greatest concern is that the most responsible factor, the failure of the system to take this man’s concerns and attempts at positive solutions seriously, will go unrecognized and unchanged. As a psychiatrist, or even just a thinking man, he did have insight into the conflict within himself, and did try to seek a resolution. How much better it would have been for all to release him from the military and allow him to payback his military “student pay”. Or to find him work stateside in a capacity where he could serve the military in a way consistent with his training and beliefs. He could have done the PTSD work with the Muslim members of the military, the Muslim chaplains, the military lawyers trying to defend Muslims in the Guantanamo system. As it was, he as treating addictions which is a difficult area of psychiatry. Why force him into a battlefield psychiatrist role, in countries where he would be witnessing carnage of Muslim civilians and militants in a war even the mainstream is saying should have been an international police action, not a war against nations?
Workplace bully has been found to be the worst in the “helping” professions, including medicine, nursing, teaching, and of course the military environment mitigates against appearing “soft”. No one ever says “we hate the guy because he is a quiet devout Muslim”, they make up incompetencies to get him displaced, fired, etc. He was promoted recently, so obviously those in the know thought his evaluations were decent enough, whether some of his colleagues objected to him or not.
I once intervened at an international conference when a presenter, who was Japanese, presented on the ideal of a leader, using the ideal of the traditional Japanese military commander. Though he carefully explained that the obligations were to not start wars, to not use force except under highly restricted conditions, etc, the Vietnam era members of the audience couldn’t hear what he was actually saying, and were nasty in a highly professional way. I can well imagine this man’s MPH (Masters of Public Health) presentations being misunderstood in a similar way, as they seem to be part of the evidence against him, yet he did get the degree.
He and his family are to be prayed for as much as the victims and theirs, for surely he and they are victims here, too.
John–you have done infinitely better than any of the panelists on CNN, including the military psychiatrists. Some of them started out reasonably but then tossed in the jihadi hypothesis and messed it all up. Or maybe they were just afraid they wouldn’t be invited back to CNN.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I don’t disagree at all. I think it likely, though, that he will be committed to a psychiatric institution for some years. I’m just seeing reports that due to his injuries he is now quadraplegic. That might serve to get him out of a mental facility, though at a significantly high cost.
You watch CNN? You must make up a major portion of their viewership, then, as they’re now the lowest-ranking of all the cable TV news networks. Or do you get iCNN (international) in Canada? That’s a somewhat different proposition with very different programming.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
When faced with a dilemna, a psychotic episode is a reasonable reaction? That is what it seems John and Chiara believe and of course you have a right to your opinion.
I cannot compare a man in this capacity to a normal civilian who snaps because he lost his job or was bullied.
Anyways, I am not wasting anymore of my typing on this person. I hope he gets capital punishment.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
It is odd that he purported to have given away belongings and especially so of giving away his Quran. There has been no further mentions whether anything else has been found amiss in his personal effects. If he calculatingly prepared for this act as a “jihadi” I imagine he would have gone through additional preparations such as getting his body in the right manner in which to enter Jennah. Yet that is something that would unlikely be released to the media as it would certainly stir up further dissent.
I do believe this is an isolated incident but it does indeed do great damage and extensive setbacks on the perception of muslims and Islam.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
O.K. I lied about not wasting any more typing on him. You stirred that in me AmericanBedu. Why couldn’t he have refused to be deployed and go to prison. No, he had to take innocent lives yet not his own. He is not a martyr even if he thinks he would be one.
He was so getting high on the deen and I am sure there are plenty more like him waiting on their so called psychiatic eposide. If anything, being religious should have helped temper any such savage inclinations but unfortunately it couldn’t curb what was brewing inside of him.
The fact that he was put into such a position of trust demonstrates how free America is and how they value diversity and respect people of all faiths and backgrounds contrary to what you will find in many other countries. Chiara, he is not a victim! He made choices out of his own free will. Those on the other end of his gun did not!!!
They say psychiatrists are some of the most screwed up individuals. He even tarnishes their reps along with the Muslim world. He can just be added to the list of fundamental idiots.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
@Sparky,
Sorry…sometimes my comments do that to people!
I certainly do not in any way condone his actions. And I will be optimistic that the US Armed Forces (and many others) will be more sensitive in the reactions and views of those who are to be deployed or have been deployed and return.
Living/working in a war zone environment can change one for life in many different ways. If you are associated with individuals or in a place where lives are not given value and everyone is viewed as an enemy or a target it is not surprising to have individuals snap…in a sense perhaps the Armed Forces are fortunate that not more have snapped?
On one hand it could be positive for those returning from Iraq or Afghanistan with PTSD to be seen by a Muslim psychiatrist but on the other hand it seems pretty obvious that the various consultations had more an impact on the psychiatrist that anyone would have ever expected.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Sparky, I’m with you on this one. Choosing prison would be much more honorable than choosing to snap and murder. And I think it was a choice. He purchased that weapon- it was not military issue.
I do think this has become somewhat acceptable in modern society- particularly the U.S. Experience a stressful, perceived as hopeless situation and “snap”. Upset with school? Go shoot ‘em up…lost your job? Shoot wife, kids then self… and/or co-workers. This is not “what happens”- or it shouldn’t be.
@j. Kactuz
You are not the expert you like to think you are on Islam. And luckily you have very little sway over anything, and all the “nice kind sweet Muslims” will continue live there lives without taking any direction from you on how they ought to understand their own faith.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Sparky, I never said it was a reasonable reaction, just an understandable one. People do freak out. Freaked out people do crazy things, like go on a murder spree. That’s not a good thing, but it happens for all sorts of motivations: getting fired, getting divorced, losing custody of the children, or being put up against a wall where two great moral drives are in total conflict.
I see no major difference between this guy and the civilian in Orlando. One difference is that there was truly supposed to be a safety net to catch guys like Maj. Hasan. I think the US Army really screwed up here. I hold them responsible at least in part for not listening to what Hasan was telling them in all sorts of ways.
What he did was despicable, no argument. The only arguments are about why and how it might have been prevented.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I’m sure he has an agenda. But those pictures are real. They don’t tell the whole story and they’re certainly provided with no context, but they’re not false.
There is bone-crushing poverty in some parts of Saudi Arabia. It took then-Crown Prince Abdullah’s visiting a Riyadh slum in 2002 to make the issue even discussable in public.
Yes, slums are a problem with all developing and most developed countries. Some are worse than others. All call out for being fixed.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I’ve not seen reports of his preparing for a martyrdom and would really want to check the sources on that. If that is the case, then we’re indeed talking of a different matter.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Sparky, from what we know for sure at present, I don’t think ‘getting high on Deen’ was what was going on. He was facing an insoluble problem and instead of making a rational choice he made one that’s completely crazy. If he’d made a rational choice, he would have either gone to Iraq or to the brig. Neither of those worked for him, for whatever reasons he had in his mind. He ended up taking just about the worst of all possible choices.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
John, perhaps your unique perspective allows you to understand his violent reactions to the stress while my unique perspective allows me to understand how someone could become high on the deen and become so conflicted that fighting the kuffar is an easier way out than selling out.
The army should have listened to Hassan as the many conspiracy theorists say the govenment should have listened or knew what would happen with 911. IS it that people sometimes just choose to see what they want, choose to ignore or choose not to see?
They should have taken his feelings into consideration I suppose. Worst choice…I agree
Nothing was gained and IF something positive does comes out it then it just proves violence does work in bringing about wanted change.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
The problems with news organizations, diplomats, and others who immediately spout the line, “Don’t jumpt to conclusions and blame the religion, only blame the shooter” are (1) that itself is jumping to a conclusion, and (2) a fundamental conflict that damages their credibility.
For Islam is a religion some of whose followers kidnap and kill those who claim Islam itself is at fault for violence. Parties who interact with Muslims may therefore feel they must either publicly toe the Islam-isn’t-to-blame line or else withdraw from the field out of fear for the safety of their staffs or offices.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Yes, there’s a strain of violence that has become identified with Islam. My question is whether the religion results in the violence or the violence finds a convenient cover in the religion. Those who cherry-pick quotations to either prove or defend the violence can find some sort of justification in their conclusions. There are certainly Muslims who use their religion as an excuse for violence and terrorism.
As I’ve said, Maj. Hasan’s religion definitely played a major role in his actions. What is not clear yet is whether he acted as he did because his religion told him to do so or did he act as he did because his religion put him in a conflict for which he could find no useful, rational solution? This looks to me to be a case of a guy ‘going postal’ due to irreconcilable conflicts in his head.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I believe certain religious doctrination without a doubt results in violence. If violence can find a cover in religion, there is something inherently flawed in the religious doctrine.
A useful rational solution to Maj. Hassan’s dilemma would be IMO, not be deployed and face the consequences of his beliefs.
Take Mohandas Ganndi as an example…”You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.
Mohandas Gandhi”
This is not cherry picking…There is a whole philosophy and story behind it just like there is for Islam etc., or just following by example (Random Acts of Violence) attributable to reasoning that such acts of violence are understandable…
P.S. This excuse of going postal is no excuse at all. I think a person should be held accountable for allowing irreconcilable conflicts in their head make them murder people. God knows I had more than a few of those but I managed to keep my attached and those around me heads attached. In short, I haven’t lost my head. One is bound to face such conflicts in their heads and they must find a peaceful resolution if they want to live in a peaceful world.
Ghandi also said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
Perhaps losing yourself can mean losing one’s ego and also literally losing one’s mind. I have no idea what I am rambling off right now…lol I just thought if you lose your ego you may find yourself but if you have lost your mind…there is no way to truly find yourself.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
no one said going postal is an excuse! what i have seen of americans’ description of “islamic” terror is simply that; terror. FEW try to understand the motives under pressure from being a called terrorist-sympathizer or rationlizing the act.
i don’t see alof of people describing blacks as evil despite the fact that there are disproportionately more blacks in jail.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
John—I think it is likely he will be committed to a psychiatric facility but for political/Political reasons not mental health ones. If he is a quadriplegic he would be more likely to be in an institution capable of that level of medical care with consultation from psychiatry for the issues he will have because of the repercussions of his actions, and going from being able bodied to quadriplegic.
I certainly hold the Army responsible for poor employee management. They could so easily have addressed his concerns and taken someone they valued highly enough to spend mega-bucks training, and also promoted, and re-directed his career to more useful pursuits to them than reluctant battlefield psychiatrist, or even just got their money back with interest. He could have done military psychiatry totally unrelated to the Iran/Afghanistan wars, and freed up another psychiatrist to do that type of work. He could have put his MPH to better use for the Army, any number of options not pursued it seems.
Yes, I have to confess I do sometimes watch CNN–the pure, unadulterated by the higher level of CNN International, US variety–mostly to see what balderdash they will come up with on certain topics, and the occasional bit of news worth pursuing in other venues. It does at times have me vociferating at the TV (or any unfortunate person in my vicinity)—most recently at Sibelius’ misinformation about swine flu, and the military psychiatrists analyzing this case–but so far none of the announcers has replied to me directly. Jenny McCarthy might except that I now deem watching her masochistic, and so have stopped. LOL ?.
Sparky—like John I find his actions understandable rather than excusable, and they are certainly irrational, but that is the point. Being unable to find a rational solution, his mind became irrational, and came up with this (as opposed to suicide only, severe depression, going AWOL, etc). No one genuinely chooses to snap or do this–their judgment is severely impaired by the time they are making these kinds of decisions so out of character with their normal selves. Part of the definition of “free will” or voluntariness is to be free of psychological impairment. There is a lot written on this; let me know if you want references.
To understand why this and not some other irrational response one would have to know more about him and whether there is a family psychiatric history that makes him vulnerable to psychosis. I treated a patient who was a high functioning, very healthy and sociable professional woman until she was raped in a particularly gruesome fashion—I spare you the details but her rapist had a number of perversions and sadistic fetishes. She functioned well enough for about 2 years, though with a depression and suicidality. When that was treated she began remember more details of the rape, whereupon she became psychotic—for months, while still being able to function in other spheres of her life. She herself had had no history of psychiatric problems prior, but one of her brothers had psychotic episodes. She made a full recovery and is happily married to the same stellar man she was involved with prior to the rape, and has resumed her career.
As I stated above there is no evidence this man was impaired for a long time, and there is evidence that he had functioned well enough to be recently promoted even as he did the rational thing and try to leave the army, and pay his student debt back monetarily. This is a common solution for those who have had their medical training paid by a 3rd party and don’t wish to repay it with service commitments eg to a home state, province, or country. Other military medical students repay their training with service on national bases or at the Ministry/Department of Defense.
Psychiatrist are no crazier than other people, but it definitely makes a better story when they have difficulties, including, as one friend told me, it made her feel like a better parent to read about a psychiatrist’s parenting difficulties in the local newspaper. That said, there is a phenomenon called secondary traumatization which comes from treating the traumatized. However, most psychiatrists and mental health workers in an institutional setting are protected from this by the variety of their work and the collegiality available to them (unlike one in independent practice). This man was treating addictions (probably some of whom also had PTSD), and there is only evidence that the stories he heard from returning soldiers about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars made him even more loathe to participate—my guess is about civilian casualties, well documented in the British Journal of Medicine by reliable researchers.
There is no evidence of “jihadi” intent or suicidal intent. His giving away some of his belongings, which has been much described, is compatible with being deployed; and his going to a shop in traditional clothing that morning is less significant than news announcers seem to believe.
Sandy—unfortunately it seems that, while not uniquely American, this shooting up people en masse phenomenon is more prevalent in the US, and may well derive from some aspects of the culture, or of how the culture is portrayed to Americans themselves. Regarding cactaceous commentary in general, I agree. It ultimately holds little suasion, and even less with its targets.
Me—I agree that it is easy to underestimate the impact of workplace bullying especially on core values (the “best bullying” does attack the person’s core values and treat them as deficiencies leaving the person in an inescapable position), and on inescapable aspects of one’s self identity—he is a devout Muslim and an Arab, and others have projected onto him that that equals terrorist. Interesting that in his “snap” he did just that—conformed to expectations!
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Sparky–PS congratulations on your ability to correctly use and spell lose, losing, etc. This is a sincere compliment and in no way facetious. I have read many intelligent educated American commentators who can’t spell it to save their comment from loosing (sic)its impact! LOL
November:07:2009 - 10:30
If he’s judged guilty I think he should go to Leavenworth. His paralysis will doubtless further his frustrations, and since he’s a shrink the words from his mouth can be dangerous. He meant to flame out to seek the virgins of paradise; does it not seem just that he end his days not as a man but as a withered marshmallow?
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I don’t care if my grammar/spelling is correct on this blog to be honest Chiara because I am not getting paid to comment here nor am I trying to impress anyone
I am just speking my mind!
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I’m not sure Leavenworth is set up to deal with a possibly deranged quadriplegic. In that state, any place is going to be hell.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Solomon2–there is no evidence he meant to “flame out to seek the virgins of paradise” and what you describe is not justice but vengeance.
Sparky–no worries, I am happy, as seeing commentators ruin there comments with loosing this and loosing that is sad to me. Otherwise I know we all make typos and I admire the content not the stylistics, and especially admire the non-anglophones who comment with whatever level of English they have.
John–yes on both accounts.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I just enjoy rubbing people the wrong way and trust me nothing is lost. Your interest in people’s writing makes me think you might have a second major in English or linguistics.
Ruining “there” or “their”?
Anyways I don’t care
I come across the way I wanna come across and you can come across the way you want to and so on and so forth. This is the freedom I like.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I’m proud to be an American and drop F-bombs at will. That does not make me in any fashion inferior. HAH!
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Chiara, what, exactly, is the “vengeance” part?
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Sparky–LOL
their their their their their their their their their their LOL 
Doctorate including English lit and linguistics (prefer the Continentals!)
F-bomb away!
Solomon2–”…does it not seem just that he end his days not as a man but as a withered marshmallow?”
Since there is no evidence his motive was seeking virgins in jannah, there is no justification for punishing him on that account. The normal punishment for murder in Western countries, when one is found to be in one’s right mind at the time of the murder, is life imprisonment, with/without parole–not capital punishment as in the US, and not quadriplegia with no erectile function.
There is also no evidence that, as a psychiatrist, his words are any more suspect than anyone else’s; that is a myth and a popular stereotype. Psychiatry is a specialty within medicine and doesn’t involve being a psychic (as some seem to think) or a mind-control expert.
Since we seem to be in Abrahamic territory:
O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. (Psalm 94)
Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (Romans 12:19)
Yea, and without these might they have fallen down with one blast, being persecuted of vengeance, and scattered abroad through the breath of thy power: but thou hast ordered all things in measure and number and weight. (The Wisdom of Solomon–Apocrypha–11:20)
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Sandy, I think I know more about Islam than most people and that includes Muslims (except the Arabic – I’m too old to learn another language).
Me.. or rather, You… This is hate? Is having on opinion ‘hate’? Wouldn’t it be better to explain why you think I am wrong instead of throwing a 10 cent word at me? Of course it is easier because you don’t have to think. Is this what they teach in schools today? What happened to that “Question everything” of my youth. Boy I miss the 1960s.
This horrible event at Ft Hood was jihad. It was a cold-blooded, premeditated, rationally planned murder. It was a Muslim doing 9:111 as mandated. Almost as much as Hasan, political correctness killed those people. There were too many signs to ignore, too clear, too extreme, so much that one can only conclude that Army officials were afraid of the lawsuits should they dismiss this man. This was a man that gave a Powerpoint presentation in medical class about pouring burning oil (or metal, I don’t remember which, but you get the idea!) down the throats of infidels. Is it just me or was these some very wrong going on in the Army?
I may seem mean or evil or hateful or islamophobic or whatever…. but the issue is not me or my words. The issue is an ideology that causes these things to happen, and causes people to bomb schools, buses, markets and weddings (to mention a few in the last few days). Things will not change because people are afraid to hurt Muslims’ feelings. They don’t want to be accused of racism or who knows what. This will only make things worse. Muslims need to hear the truth. And they need to be condemned for the things they do, not for who they are. Again I call your attention to how Muslims treat others where they dominate. Will somebody please tell me why this is not an issue? Do you think we ended segregation and apartheid by not condemning those ideologies and the people that suppoted them, actively and passively? Do you not think there were were white people in those societies who had never discriminated themselves but had to bear the stigma of their societies? Yes, of course.
I check the news and the media and Muslims can only talk of a backlash. I must have missed it, unless having an opinion is a backlash. They tell us not to condemn others because of the actions of one man. I agree. I condemn people for what they do and do not do. I condemn them for their silence and denial, for their consent to discrimination and lack of honesty.
This wall of silence around Islam will only multiply the sorrows that are to come. The willful decision to ignore the obvious will only add to the blood in the streets. Mark my words, bad times are coming.
So what happens when the next Muslim goes on a rampage? What if it is another Beslin? I am sure Muslims will pull out their excuse sheet, the same one used here, and start reading from item 1, again.
I find these things disturbing. It is almost like things are set and controlled by forces beyond us, beyond reason. Passion, pride and egos have displaced common sense. People follow ideas and ideologies blindly, with little thought about tomorrow or consequences. People put feelings above flesh and blood. This is not good for anybody, Muslims or infidel. Humanity is a train wreck, waiting to happen.
Boy, am I a Jeremiah or what!
Kactuz (cactacious oldus and tiredus)
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Kactuz- “Sandy, I think I know more about Islam than most people and that includes Muslims (except the Arabic – I’m too old to learn another language).”
I know that’s what you think. And a person could “memorize” the Periodic Chart of elements and still know nothing about Chemistry. And a person could “memorize” the constitution and know nothing about democracy.
You’ve memorized a lot of stuff- and you think you know what it means.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
@Kactuz
While I cannot conclude all that you seem able to, based on what is known about the Ft. Hood massacre- it certainly seems he left a trail of breadcrumbs that trouble was brewing, and that perhaps political correctness played a role in it being overlooked. If true- then that is wrong- call a spade a spade- because letting it go doesn’t benefit anyone, and causes a lot of damage.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
I agree with Sandy on this. While there are suggestive bits of information now coming to light, they are only suggestive so far. That’s if they’re even true.
I am not an apologist for radical Islam; I’ve had too many friends and colleague killed by radical and political Islam to allow that. What I am, though, is one that prefers to wait for the accumulation of the most information possible before coming to a conclusion. Here, so far, the information is leading me to conclude that a man deeply into his religion found himself in an impossibly conflicted mental situation. He tried to find a solution and the one he picked was just about the worst possible.
There’s no question that this man’s belief in Islam played a major role in his actions. Whether he was a ‘crypto-jihadi’, though, is far from proven. Rather, I see that line of thought as simply self-confirmation coming from the usual crypto-Islamophobes (and those not so crypto-).
Interviews with Maj. Hasan should help clarify things. But of course there will be those who will immediately declare that whatever he says–if it doesn’t confirm their prejudices–is just taqqiya…
On your expertise on Islam: Maybe, maybe not. We don’t have the evidence to support your assertion, but perhaps you are expert. One thing I learned in living in the Middle East was that you certainly didn’t get the best information about any religion from the mouths of those not following that religion. That Muslims or Christians or members of any other religious group ‘don’t know what their religion preaches’ isn’t very revelatory either. Most people do not know their doxologies inside and out.
Now being deep within a religion can blind one to the awkward aspects of that religion. That’s human nature, not devious doings. We don’t even have to be talking about religion to find that sort of behavior.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
Sandy, the evnts of last week are past. They were tragic and unnecessary. A bigger issue is what we have learned – or if we have learned anything at all. When I say “we” I mean Muslims and non-Muslims. This will not be the last action of this type. There will be more terror and worse.
Will America put aside its political correctness? Will things change? Will Muslims ask why hate and violence come so easily to Islam? Will Muslims stop making excuses. My guess is no, no, no and no.
It is clear that Hasan was out of control, that the Army ignored the obvious. It is also clear that this was terror done in the name of Islam. Or do you think that Allahu Akbar was all about?. Read Bukhari, chapter 51, verse 530. Here is the link:
http://lexicorient.com/e.o/texts/bukhari/059.htm
While you are at it, read the whole book.
John, I don’t consider you “an apologist for radical Islam”. You have tried to be fair. If anything, your sin is being too timid, too understanding. That is also a virtue, until a line has been crossed. I am also not in your shoes and I don’t know your circumstances.
I think you have a great blog, and not because you live in an interesting part of the world but because you choose a wide variety of subject matter that interests me – not just religion, or a certain religion. Keep up the good work.
Krypto Kactuz, Knot.
November:07:2009 - 10:30
@J
I do agree that I hope everyone takes an opportunity to learn what they need to from these tragic events. As for your Bukhari recommendation- that is something I’ve read plenty of over the years, and it is something that I read at my own discretion.