Army says 13 people dead and 30 wounded in attack at Fort Hood, Texas

[David]

AP


SAN ANTONIO – A U.S. Army hospital spokesman says the man suspected in a deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, is conscious and able to talk.

Dewey Mitchell, a spokesman at Brooke Army Medical Center, says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan remains in stable condition. Mitchell says Hasan has been awake and able to talk since he was taken off a ventilator Saturday.

Hasan is at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Hood.

Authorities say the 39-year-old Hasan opened fire at a processing center Thursday at Fort Hood, the country's largest military installation. Thirteen people were killed and 29 were wounded.

The rampage ended when civilian police shot Hasan.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — A U.S. Army spokesman says the man suspected in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood is in critical but stable condition at Texas hospital.

Col. John Rossi told Fox News early Monday that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's condition has not changed since he was taken off a ventilator Saturday.

Hasan is at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Hood.

Authorities say the 39-year-old Hasan opened fire at a processing center Thursday at Fort Hood, the country's largest military installation. Thirteen people were killed and 29 were wounded.

The shooting spree ended when a civilian police officer shot Hasan.

Rossi says the center remains a crime scene, but that the base is "working on healing."

[David]

AP


FORT HOOD, Texas – Pvt. Joseph Foster took a bullet in the leg during the Fort Hood shooting rampage. He pauses when he's asked about the mayhem, then credits a stout heritage with bringing him through the ordeal and leaving him eager for his scheduled January deployment to Afghanistan.

"I'm Irish. It hit the bone and bounced out," Foster, of Ogden, Utah, said Sunday of the bullet that tore into his left hip. His wife is uneasy about the deployment, but the 21-year-old Foster is resolute. "I'm a soldier. It's my job."

Across Fort Hood, signs point to a post on the mend after the shooting spree Thursday that killed 13 and wounded 29. Accused gunman Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, shot in the torso by civilian police to end the rampage, was in stable condition and able to talk Monday at an Army hospital in San Antonio.

Authorities continue to refer to Hasan, 39, as the only suspect in the shootings but they won't say when charges would be filed and have said they have not determined a motive.

Sixteen victims remained hospitalized with gunshot wounds, and seven were in intensive care.

Even as the community took time to mourn the victims at worship services on and off the post Sunday, Fort Hood spokesman Col. John Rossi said the country's largest military installation was moving forward with the business of soldiering. The processing center where Hasan allegedly opened fire remains a crime scene, but the activities that went on there were relocated, with the goal of soon reopening the center.

"There's a lot of routine activity still happening. You'll hear cannon fire and artillery fire," Rossi said. "Soldiers in units are still trying to execute the missions we have been tasked with."

President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service Tuesday honoring victims of the attack, amid growing suggestions that Hasan's superior officers may have missed signs that he was embracing an increasingly extremist view of Islamic ideology.

Sen. Joe Lieberman said Sunday he wants Congress to determine whether the shootings constitute a terrorist attack and whether warning signs were missed. A day earlier, classmates who participated in a 2007-2008 master's program at a military college told The Associated Press that they complained to faculty during the program about what they considered to be Hasan's anti-American views, which included his giving a presentation that justified suicide bombing and telling classmates that Islamic law trumped the U.S. Constitution.

"If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance," Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said on "Fox News Sunday." "He should have been gone."

The personal Web site for a radical American imam living in Yemen who had contact with two 9/11 hijackers praised Hasan as a hero.

The posting Monday on the Web site for Anwar al Awlaki, who was a spiritual leader at two mosques where three 9/11 hijackers worshipped, said American Muslims who condemned the attacks on the Texas military base last week are hypocrites who have committed treason against their religion. Two U.S. intelligence officials told The Associated Press the Web site was Al Awlaki's. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence collection.

Army Chief of Staff George Casey warned Sunday against reaching conclusions about the suspected shooter's motives until investigators have fully explored the attack. "I think the speculation (on Hasan's Islamic roots) could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers," he said on ABC's "This Week."

Sgt. 1st Class Frank Minnie was in the processing center Monday and Wednesday, getting some health tests and immunizations in preparation for his deployment. The mass shooting happened Thursday, but Minnie said Fort Hood soldiers have the attitude that "the mission still goes on."

"Everybody's going to grieve a little bit. It hurts a lot because it's one of your battle buddies, and someone lost a mom, dad, brother or sister," said Minnie, 37, who served in Iraq in 2006. "But it doesn't change my perspective of going to war. I've got a job to do."

















Pvt. Joseph Foster, who was wounded during the Thursday's Fort Hood shooting, along with his wife Mandi and 6 month old daughter Keilee, speaks to the media outside his home Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 in Fort Hood, Texas.

[darrels joy]

Hoekstra to FBI, CIA: Save All Fort Hood Papers

Monday, November 9, 2009 12:00 PM

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, following up on multiple conversations with the Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, requested over the weekend that Blair and the heads of the FBI, the NSA and the CIA direct their agencies to preserve all documents and materials relevant to the Fort Hood attack and any related investigations or intelligence collection activities. "President Obama said people should not jump to conclusions about what happened at Fort Hood, but the administration is in possession of critical information related to the attack that they are refusing to release to Congress or the American people," Hoekstra said. "I intend to push for intense review of this and other issues related to the performance of the intelligence community and whether or not information necessary for military, state and local officials to provide for the security of the post was provided to them." Hoekstra said he was concerned that more information had been provided, piecemeal, to the news media by anonymous sources than had yet been provided to the Committee. He criticized the Obama administration for not being more immediately forthcoming with details and specifically requested information, and for restricting the limited information provided so far to the so-called "Gang of Eight." "I have requested this information be preserved because I believe members of the full committee on a bipartisan basis will want to scrutinize the intelligence relevant to this attack, what the agencies in possession of that intelligence did with it, who was and wasn’t informed and why, and what steps America’s intelligence agencies are taking in light of what they know," Hoekstra said. "At some point, it becomes necessary for us as a nation to address the uncomfortable threat of homegrown terrorism and radicalism, and Congress has an obligation to review how federal agencies are handling and disseminating information related to the threat. "The horrific shootings at Fort Hood are a tragic reminder of the potential deadly consequences of the threat posed by homegrown jihadism and the failure of the government to adequately respond to it."

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/h...09/283677.html

[darrels joy]

...

A disgruntled doctor

Hasan was born in Virginia and graduated from Virginia Tech, according to The Roanoke Times archives.

He later received two degrees from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., according to Hasan's military record and a university newsletter.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Austin, was briefed by military officials and said Hasan had taken some unusual classes for someone studying about mental health.

"He took a lot of extra classes in weapons training, which seems a little odd for a psychiatrist," McCaul said.

McCaul said Hasan had received poor grades for his work at Walter Reed and was not happy about his situation in Fort Hood, where Hasan apparently felt like "he didn't fit in."

"He's disgruntled because he had a poor performance evaluation, he doesn't believe in the mission, he's looking at getting transferred to Afghanistan or Iraq," McCaul said. "He's not happy about all that."

McCaul added that officials planned to interview Hasan to try to determine for sure that he was not working with foreign agents.

"From an intelligence standpoint, that's key, finding out if he talked to anyone overseas," McCaul said.

Hasan had come to the attention of federal law enforcement officials at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

The official said investigators were trying to confirm that Hasan was the author of the postings, one of which was a blog that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades. One of the officials said federal search warrants were being drawn up to authorize seizure of Hasan's computer.
...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/militar...ort-Hood_N.htm

[darrels joy]

Major Muslim's Calling Card: "SoA", "Soldier of Allah"


Here is the card that major Muslim Nidal Hasan gave to the infidels along with a quran before meeting his 72 raisins.

Could this lowlife jihadi be any more devout? He mosqued every day. Hated America, hated the troops, proselytized his co-workers, planned his jihad and completed his mission. His head was shaved. What else was shaved? If his body was shaved like his head, then the military guys and law enforcement know and have known that this was jihad, and they are scamming us now.

Now look at the card. Notice the SoA on the card? Soldiers of Allah. Followed by SWT, an abbreviation that usually follows the word Allah. (hat tip Robert)

When writing the name of God (Allah), Muslims often follow it with the abbreviation "SWT." These letters stand for the Arabic words "Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala," or "Glory to Him, the Exalted." Muslims use these or similar words to glorify God when mentioning His name.

Definition: When writing the name of God (Allah), Muslims often follow it with the abbreviation "SWT." These letters stand for the Arabic words "Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala," or "Glory to Him, the Exalted." Muslims use these or similar words to glorify God when mentioning His name.

Pronunciation: sub-han'-a-hoo wa ta a la
Also Known As: Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
Alternate Spellings: subhana wa ta'ala; subhanna wa ta'ala
Examples:
Muslims believe that Allah SWT created the universe.

UPDATE: Check this out:
Mosque: Dar Al-Hijrah
The suspected Fort Hood terrorist's former mosque in Maryland is controlled by the radical Muslim Brotherhood, a Saudi-funded worldwide jihadist movement which controls many of the mosques in America.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/a...-of-allah.html

[eriksale]

Is there a chance Sgt Munley could be Commander in Chief? The current one doesn't have a clue!

Just wondering?

[darrels joy]

Nidal Hasan was on Obama's Presidential Transition Task Force

[David]

TIME


As officials continue to investigate the alleged Fort Hood killer, it is looking increasingly likely that the Army missed several red flags in Major Nidal Malik Hasan's behavior. Many observers say it wouldn't be surprising if such signals had been missed, given that Hasan was a psychiatrist whom the Army desperately needed to help tend to the mental wounds of two wars. But at the same time, some members of the military are quietly discussing the more troubling possibility that the Army looked the other way precisely because Hasan was Muslim.


Army officials strongly deny any suggestion that Hasan's religion resulted in his being given special treatment. But one officer who attended the Pentagon's medical school with Hasan disagrees. "He was very vocal about being a Muslim first and holding Shari'a law above the Constitution," this officer recalls. When fellow students asked, "How can you be an officer and hold to the Constitution?," the officer says, Hasan would "get visibly upset - sweaty and nervous - and had no good answers." This medical doctor would speak only anonymously because his commanders have ordered him not to talk about Hasan, he says.


This officer says he was so surprised when Hasan gave a talk about "the war on terror being a war on Islam" that he asked the lieutenant colonel running the course what Hasan's presentation had to do with health care. "I raised my hand and asked, 'Why are you letting this go on - this has nothing to do with environmental health.' The course director said, 'I'm just going to let him go.' " The topic of Hasan's presentation, the officer says, had been approved in advance by the lieutenant colonel.


The officer says he and a colleague complained to staff at the Uniformed University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., but got nowhere: "It was a systemic problem - the same thing was happening at Walter Reed," the Army medical center several miles away, where Hasan was working as a psychiatrist. (The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Hasan gave a similar presentation at Walter Reed in which he said Muslims should be released as conscientious objectors rather than forced into combat against fellow Muslims.) But "political correctness" inside the military, the officer asserts, insulated Hasan. "People are afraid to come forward and challenge somebody's ideology," he says, "because they're afraid of getting an equal-opportunity complaint that can end careers."


A retired four-star officer says that, on the basis of the evidence gleaned so far, it was Hasan's career that should have been cut short. "They could have given him a dishonorable discharge and said what he's doing works against good order and discipline," says the general, who also requested anonymity. But rather than it being a matter of giving preferential treatment to Hasan because of his religion, "my guess is he fell through the cracks," the general says.


Whether he fell through the cracks or was cut slack because of concerns about appearing to impinge on his religious freedom will be a focus of the investigations under way. "The Army was just under such pressure that they planned to send him to Afghanistan," says Lawrence Korb, Pentagon personnel chief during the Reagan Administration. But Korb says he's perplexed by reports that Hasan received poor evaluations and still got promoted. "That tells me the Army didn't do its job," he says - though he attributes that to the unrelenting demand to keep mental-health professionals on duty rather than to Hasan's religion.


But Ralph Peters, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who now writes military books and a newspaper column, contends that Hasan's religion protected him from punitive action by the Army, a view shared privately by many in uniform. While stressing "there shouldn't be witch hunts" against Muslims in uniform, Peters insists "this guy got a pass because he was a Muslim, despite the Army's claim that everybody's green and we're all the same."


Congress is already beginning to look into why an Army psychiatrist who reportedly had to be counseled against sharing his antiwar views with soldiers back from combat could have possibly been promoted in May. Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said on Monday that he will hold a hearing next week to see "whether the government missed warning signs that should have led to [Hasan's] expulsion" before he killed 13 people on the Texas post last Thursday. Hasan's former classmate, for one, says he wasn't surprised to see Hasan's face flash across his television screen. "After the shock," he says, "the first thing that went through my mind was, Hey, I remember everything this guy said."

[darrels joy]

Lawyers for Hasan want trial conducted off military base
China National News
Wednesday 11th November, 2009

Lawyers for US Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who is alleged to have shot 13 people dead at Fort Hood, Texas, say he will not get a fair trial on the base.

Army officials have been overseeing the care of Major Hasan, after he was shot by a civilian police officer following his alleged shooting rampage at the Fort Hood installation.

Hasan's lawyer, retired Colonel John Galligan, has said his client's condition in hospital is stable and he is aware charges will be laid.

The attorney declined to answer any questions about the shooting spree that left 13 people dead and dozens wounded or what may have motivated the attack.

But, speaking to CBS, he said he thought a fair trial would be difficult to achieve at Fort Hood, given the national media attention.

Galligan said. "Anytime you have a high-profile case, as this one is, concerns about a fair and impartial jury will be present in any defence counsel's mind."

More details have emerged about the suspect's alleged communication with a radical Muslim cleric, who has praised Hasan as a "hero."

It is believed US intelligence officers intercepted emails between Hasan and the Muslim imam Anwar al-Awlaki, who is known for radical anti-American teachings.

The cleric now lives in Yemen but once taught at a mosque in Virginia that Hasan attended.

Al-Awlaki is known to be a supporter of violent Islamists.

Since the shooting, Awlaki's English-language Website has praised Hasan as a "hero" and a "man of conscience."

A memorial service for the 13 victims of the shooting at Fort Hood took place Tuesday with the families of those killed attending and President Barack Obama addressing the gathering.

Thousands of US Army soldiers wearing black berets stood in the crowd as the families entered the open air location on the base.

Obama said the murders on the base could not be justified by religious beliefs.

He said: “It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know: No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts. No just and loving God looks upon them with favour. And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice in this world, and the next.”

http://story.chinanationalnews.com/i...d/564129/cs/1/

[LarryO1970]

Originally Posted by darrels joy

Nidal Hasan was on Obama's Presidential Transition Task Force

... really makes ya wonder if Obama realizes that he had a radical (as if others in his administration aren't?) on his Security Team ?

Larry O