One thing that really baffles me is the fact that Military bases are gun free zones, military personell aren't supposed to carry guns-WHAT!!!!!? It is a MIlitary base for petes sakes, not a school or church were guns shouldn't be allowed-but the military-c'mon! Carrying and using weapons is their business!! It is only natural for Army personell to carry weapons-especially on base, yet they cannot-that is weird actually. A couple of solodiers carrying sidearms could have prevented this shooting.

Deepest condolences to those military families whose loved ones gave all. Shame on the officers and the FBI for allowing this treasonous imposter of an officer to walk among the brave and dedicated heroes at Fort Hood putting them (and all of us) at great risk. I don't know if the intelligence wall has been resurrected between the people charged with protecting innocent Americans from such a slaughter but if I were to round up the usual suspects, I guess the current administration would be a reasonable place to start. And finish.

We in military families turn a blind eye to the blatant stupidity exhibited by officers every day and tend to give them a pass, rationalizing, "when it comes down to life and death, they'll know what the right thing to do is. " The political correctness paranoia that this piece of garbage (Major Hasan) survived and thrived under has become a deadly problem, and my true fear is that the people who constructed the intelligence wall, which led precipitously to the 9/11/01 disaster/massacre, might be cheering the dysfunction.

Extremely tragic situation at Fort Hood. I feel sorrow for the families and those who lost their lives.

Who would have thought that somebody who was in the profession that he was in would have went off the deep end? He was supposed to be helping people, and instead, this poor pathetic soul needed help himself. It was obvious he was a radical because even people who have the same beliefs that he has will tell you that their religion promotes peace.

I sure feel bad for everybody who lost their life on this tragic event. The families of the ones that got killed or injured need all the support that they can get.

Actually, I'm surprised this sort of thing hasn't happened more often.

I remember asking the kindly draft board lady [back in '59] whether it was true that they planned to give me a loaded weapon and then yell at me a lot?

Freaked out the poor dear... but I was only joking... in a grim sort of way.

UPDATE:

Do stories about the public reaction to this tragic event suggest there might be a "Christian" demagogue in our future - a "Generalisimo", or in a worst case scenario, a "Fuhrer"?

I don't have access to mass media, so I'm not sure.

Sad to say, these type of stories have become so numbingly ubiquitous in recent years...disturbed loser goes on a rampage with a gun, killing others and then themselves...that they tend to pass through your awareness without making a lasting impression, other than the thought that modern life becomes more de-personalized and more horrific (in general) as the years pass by. The incidents all seem to blend together; the names of the guilty parties become difficult to recall (I suspect that if Richard Speck and Charles Whitman went on their mass-murder sprees now, they and their crimes would pretty much be forgotten in a month by most people). For instance, can anyone recall, off the top of their heads, the name of the Asian kid responsible for that massacre in Virginia a year or so ago? I can't. Or the pederast in Great Britain some years ago who killed all those schoolchildren (I think his name might have been Hamilton, but I could be wrong). Or the stock-broker (or insurance salesman) in Atlanta.

What's different about this case, of course, is that the perpetrator is still alive, and that he is, as someone noted in one of these reviews, what bigots would refer to as a "raghead". Puts me in mind of an incident I witnessed at a nearby soup shop yesterday at lunch, which I had with a friend of mine and his 5-year old son. A woman at the next table, a middle-aged blonde, was talking loudly to her friend...as well as everyone else in the room, who couldn't help but overhear her. She had been somewhere public earlier in the morning...a post office, I think, but I could be wrong about that...and had started commenting loudly on how this crime clearly demonstrated that all "sand niggers" needed to be kept out of the country. Those already here needed to be unceremoniously thrown out, the quicker the better. At the time, she was confronted by another woman, and it escalted into a near-physical confrontation.

The leathery blonde, wearing a NOBAMA HEALTH CARE button, then started in on how everyone in the restaurant knew it was a free country, she could say whatever in hell she wanted, and everyone needed to start writing to their Congressmen, their Senators, etc. It was the "progressives" she said in a withering tone, making imaginary marks around the word with her fingers, that were responsible for how far down this country had come in recent years. But there was hope. If only we'd write to our Senators, Congressmen, etc., we'd all be ok. And got the "sand niggers" out of the country, of course.
(In deference to my friend's 5-year old son, I didn't tell the woman to get the fuck out of the restaurant and let me eat my meager meal in peace-- I later accused my friend, a former neo-con now calling himself "an old-fashioned conservative", with setting the whole spectacle up for my benefit. He just laughed.")

The point? In my cynicism, I think all the furor has less to do with the fact that innocent people were brutally, senselessly slaughtered...yet again...than it does with the fact that the sick scumbag who did it was named "Hasan."

I'm not suggesting that the fact of his origins might not have had a place in the development of his delusional system of belief. But nobody blamed all Jewish people because of Berkowitz, or all blond all-American looking guys because of Whitman, or all black Jamaicans because of Colin Ferguson, or all WASP stock-brokers (or insurance salesmen) because of that guy in Atlanta (Barton: his name comes to me now), or all maladjusted high school kids because of those 2 at Columbine....etc., etc.,...

A very Tragic and needless act, and we still don't yet have all the Answers. Maybe we never will. Because it is so early, this post is subject to change as more Facts come to life. So far there are thirteen dead with more injured. All we know so far is that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is the chief Suspect and was wounded but captured alive. It is still too soon to tell whether or not some of the Victims were killed by "Friendly fire" when the Civilian Officers tried to take down Hasan.
Hasan was set to Deploy soon, but had had problems with the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although, it is unclear at this point whether or not that was his Motive. Hasan, apparently was a very devout Muslim as well as a dedicated soldier and was not considered a risk until after the fact. He had been trying to leave the Army but had Shown no signs of mental illness. Before the incident, he had cleaned out his apartment, given away various possessions to family and friends and otherwise behaved as a man about to be deployed...Not as a man about to go on a Rampage.
It is horrible when Soldiers die over seas in some Politicians war, but it is unconscionable when it happens here by one of their own. My heart goes out to the Victims and their families. May they rest in peace.

An undoubted tragedy, particularly for the families of the victims.

It's worth noting that this is just the worst and most recent of shootings at U.S. military bases in the last few years. Two were killed by a colleague at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait in 2003, two more were killed in their barracks by a colleague in Bahrain in 2007, another two were murdered by a fellow soldier at Jurf as Sakhr, Iraq also in 2007, and five others were murdered by a colleague at Camp Liberty in Iraq in May of this year. In Fort Carson, Colorado, 14 soldiers allegedly committed or were charged with murder between 2005 and 2008 - most from the same brigade. An Army study concluded that the brigade "experienced slightly higher levels of combat than any other brigades." In 11 of the 14 alleged murders there were documented problems with alcohol and drugs - less than half got help from the military.

And to go back a little further, to the same crime scene... In October 1991 a civilian drove a pickup truck into a Fort Hood cafeteria and fatally shot 23 people, wounding 20 more before killing himself. It was the deadliest shooting rampage in American history until the Virginia Tech Massacre

Its very early days for this story, but it strikes me that it shouldn't be surprising that the U.S. military is not immune to distraught, disturbed or otherwise violent employees. This is a disturbing pattern that has been going on in workplaces for some decades, and it is foolish to expect that the Army is immune from it. In point of fact, the day after the Fort Hood shootings, another disturbed individual (apparently a disaffected former employee) shot six people in an office building in Orlando, killing one of them.

The facts aren't adding up here, as I see it. In particular, there are some extreme contradictions between what the government is saying and what the media is reporting. On the one hand, it appears as if he was in good standing with the army, he was indeed very recently promoted to Major according to most reports. Yet his family and close associates claim that he was unhappy with the Army, saying that he disapproved of American policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he had a strong presence online that highlighted these views. In fact, his positions were so strong that he was reportedly being tracked by the FBI.

Given this, why would this Hassan guy be lined up for a promotion? I think that perhaps Numbah has a good point here: their recruitment and retainment standards are so laxed that they'll overlook big things like open disagreement with the government's policies or public statements. Why would they promote someone who didn't want to deploy onto foreign soil, and who made himself a security threat? Furthermore, it now appears as if the guy was a religious fanatic; he said "Allhu Akbar" or "Allah is Good" as he methodically gunned down the victims.

These are the same questions that I had about the 9/11 terrorists. How could the FBI and other intelligence agencies, who were keeping tabs on these people for 2 years before the actual incident occurred, not moved in on the situation before it happened? The length and depth of the ineptitude of our security agencies was mindblowing there, and it's the same here. Very tough questions need to be asked, of both the army and the FBI.

I think that there is a lot more to this story than is being revealed. I hope that an honest investigation is conducted here, and that constructive policy changes occur so that a tragedy like this never occur again on one of our military bases.

I’m appalled at this horrible tragedy of life but as an ex- serviceman I'm just as appalled that this not only happened on US soil but at a US Army Base!!!! I feel for the many that have passed on because of this lapse on this base. I feel for the families because this was friendly fire, I feel for the Children of those who have passed on! What was the security on this base thinking to allow a soldier to bring arms onto the base!!! I feel that the security of this base needs to be more stringent and change it's rules!!! I'm a little dismayed by the fact that the Media was able to find out details concerning this man and his website! I'm also sure there is a protocol for people who show dismay at service in Iraq. Obviously someone was thinking about numbers, rather than the fact that this man/soldier aired his views so clearly !!! May the US Army learn by this and make sure these lives have not been taken in vain!!!! The blame should not entirely be put on this mad man, he was the trigger but others should have seen the loaded gun! I salute all those passed on by this tragedy and my strongest condolences go to the family of these brave men and women!!!! God bless you! My review is not an attack on the US armed forces but meerly stateing that this could have been prevented!!!! I have a deep respect for the Men and Women I have served with and a deeper respect for them since I have moved to the US. (Don't take this review the wrong way!)

What a terrible, senseless, cowardly act. My thoughts go out to the people who have been impacted by this, those mourning the loss of family, friends, colleagues. As always, the heroic acts of some will help to fuel hope and optimism for a better day and restore our belief in humanity in the aftermath of such an inhumane act.

There are no excuses for this man's behavior and to blame it solely on his religion is far too simplistic. Clearly he has had issues with others in his day to day activities, and although quite possibly his religion could have been a motivating factor, but no real sane person could have committed that sort of act solely on the basis of his religion. Yes, there are some psychiatrists who need more help than their clients, just as there are some judges/police officers/government officials who are more corrupt than those behind bars.

This man was born and raised in America, educated in America, trained as an American soldier and served for several years.

I suspect that once people start to delve into his psychological profile, once he is poked and prodded and interviewed and his life and those of his family/etc are examined, we'll find out that he likely fits the profile of other disgruntled mass murderers who have gone to their places of employment/public places and killed and/or tried to kill as many people as possible.

Religion may very well be one part of the motivation, but it can not be the sole reason for him doing this- otherwise no person raised as a Christian, for example, could be capable of commiting crimes/atrocities of their own... could they?

It's quite possible that this American Muslim joined the miltary as many others have, to obtain an education, never really believing that he would have to go to another part of the world and actually kill people. He was lokign at his first deployment and after some time of counseling/listening to people who have been there, he more than likely hoped that with his out int he open ramblings/etc, they'd discharge him from the military and he could leave with his education in tact- but it appears as though he was being shipped over. Add to this his religioous upbringing and other frustrations in his life, and it could very well be that it was this man's PERSONALITY deficits that contributed more to his decision to kill than his religion.

At any rate, people will debate their varying beliefs. People will blame his religion, or blame that he was being picked on. People will blame the politicians-- Bush, for sending the troops over there, and Obama for not pulling them out like he said he would and the ongoing stress on military personel, etc. This will not bring the deceased back, this will not at this moment comfort the families, and this will not help make children on other bases around the world feel secure that their mommy's and daddy's are safe when they're at home.

Just a bit of a rambling post- trying to make sense of it like everyone else.

I "knew" a Muslim did it before I read who did it;but this jes' ain't business as usual at an American military base?What did he have to put up with,a little trash talk?And I gotta think there oughta be a little shock about a shrink that's crazier than his patients..although,there was that deliberate crash by an Islamic Air Egypt pilot a few years ago.In

contrast,his fellow psychiatrist,the late Victor Frankl,who spent three years in concentration camps during the Holocaust,had it figured out:'There are only two races,the decent and the indecent.'

I just can't imagine a soldier intentionally killing other soldiers. Not at Ft. Hood. Its just crazy!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_fort_hood_shooting

You want a nightmare scenario, here it is. I've been saying for some time that we don't care enough about who gets into the military, be it crazy people or terrorists. One of these things is in play, and media outlets are now reporting the dead shooter as having a middle-eastern name. This could get uglier than it already is.