Fort Hood Shootings: What's Religion Got to Do With It?

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter in yesterday's Fort Hood massacre, is alive and reported in stable condition. The death toll in the Fort Hood shootings has now risen to 13, and 30 are listed as wounded.

Shortly after the shootings yesterday, cable news anchors began to report that the suspect had a "Muslim-sounding name." I immediately felt a sense of dread not only for those killed and wounded -- or the possibility that this assault was an organized terrorist act -- but also for all of the Muslim Americans who might find themselves having to defend their allegiance to America due to the act of one man.

So is Hasan a "spree killer," "a terrorist" or just a lonely, angry soldier who "snapped," despite being a U.S. Army psychiatrist specializing in helping others deal with traumatic stress? We don't know. It's still too early in the investigation to slap a simple label on this crime.

But as more information emerges about Hasan's mind-set and worldview, the military is going to have hard questions to answer about why someone as disgruntled and conflicted as Hasan was permitted to continue to serve as an officer in the United State's military:

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. Source: 'Horrific' rampage stuns Army's Fort Hood - USA Today

Here is the excerpt attributed to Hasan:

If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard, that would be considered a strategic victory. Their intention is not to die because of some despair.

The same can be said for the kamikazee in Japan. They died (via crashing their planes in to ships) to kill the enemies for the homeland.

You can call them crazy if you want but their act was not one of suicide that is despised by Islam. So the scholars main point is that "IT SEEMS AS THOUGH YOUR INTENTION IS THE MAIN ISSUE" and Allah (SWT) knows best. Source: NidalHasan - Scribd

Questions will be asked regarding why the feds didn't contact the military sooner. Or maybe they did, and we just don't know about it yet. But one thing is clear, even if Hasan was motivated by politics, he showed warning signs of breaking, and he did not get the mental health care intervention that may have altered the course of yesterday's events.