Originally published November 8, 2009 at 1:08 AM | Page modified November 8, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print
Share
Fort Hood shooting suspect had shown troubling signs
Some who knew Nidal Malik Hasan said they saw clear signs the Army psychiatrist — who authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and 30 others wounded — had no place in the military.
The Associated Press
Obama delays trip
President Obama and his wife, Michelle, will attend a memorial service at Fort Hood on Tuesday, and he won't arrive at his planned first stop in Asia until Friday, a day later than expected, an official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the Obama administration plans to release a revised schedule to reflect Obama's plans to travel to Fort Hood, Texas.
Meanwhile, Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to celebrate the diversity of the armed forces. "They are Americans of every race, faith and station," Obama said. "They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers. They reflect the diversity that makes this America."
In tribute to those killed, he ordered flags at government buildings to fly at half-staff until Veterans Day.
The Associated Press
![]()
FORT HOOD, Texas — There was the classroom presentation that justified suicide bombings. Comments to colleagues about a climate of persecution faced by Muslims in the military. Conversations with a mosque leader that became incoherent.
Some who knew Nidal Malik Hasan said they saw clear signs the Army psychiatrist — who authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and 30 others wounded — had no place in the military. After arriving at Fort Hood, he was conflicted about what to tell fellow Muslim soldiers about the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, alarming an Islamic community leader from whom he sought counsel.
"I told him, 'There's something wrong with you,' " Osman Danquah, co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, said Saturday.
Danquah assumed the military's chain of command knew about Hasan's doubts, which had been known for more than a year to classmates in a graduate military medical program. His fellow students complained to the faculty about Hasan's "anti-American propaganda" but said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim student kept officers from filing a formal written complaint.
"The system is not doing what it's supposed to do," said Dr. Val Finnell, who studied with Hasan from 2007-08 in the master's program in public health at the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. "He, at least, should have been confronted about these beliefs, told to cease and desist, and to shape up or ship out."
Not part of plot
Investigators have tentatively concluded that the attack was not part of a terrorist plot. Rather, they have come to believe that Hasan acted out under a welter of emotional, ideological and religious pressures, according to interviews with federal officials who have been briefed on the inquiry.
There was some good news Saturday. Four of the 10 shooting victims who were taken to Scott & White Hospital in Temple were released. Two people remained in intensive care but were no longer on ventilators, said the chairman of surgery at the hospital, Dr. W. Roy Smythe.
"Some are out of the woods," Smythe said at a news conference, "but some of them, again, their injuries are so severe, only time will tell how they will do in the long run."
Hasan's family described a man incapable of the attack, calling him a devoted doctor and devout Muslim.
"I've known my brother Nidal to be a peaceful, loving and compassionate person who has shown great interest in the medical field and in helping others," said a brother, Eyad Hasan, of Sterling, Va. "He has never committed an act of violence and was always known to be a good, law-abiding citizen."
Others recalled a pleasant neighbor who forgave a fellow soldier charged with tearing up his "Allah is Love" bumper sticker. A superior officer at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, Col. Kimberly Kesling, has said Hasan was a quiet man who provided excellent care for his patients.
Still, in the days since authorities said Hasan fired more than 100 rounds in a soldier-processing center at Fort Hood, a picture has emerged of a man who was forcefully opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was trying to get out of his pending deployment to a war zone and had struggled professionally in his work as an Army psychiatrist.
He said, "that as a Muslim committed to his prayers he was discriminated against and not treated as is fitting for an officer and American," Mohammed Malik Hasan, 24, a cousin, said from his home near the Palestinian city of Ramallah. "He hired a lawyer to get him a discharge."
Twice this summer, Danquah said, Hasan asked him what to tell soldiers who expressed misgivings about fighting fellow Muslims. The retired Army first sergeant and Gulf War veteran said he reminded Hasan that these soldiers had volunteered to fight, and that Muslims were fighting against each other in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories.
"But what if a person gets in and feels that it's just not right?" Danquah recalled Hasan asking him.
"I'd give him my response. It didn't seem to satisfy."
Disturbing queries
Danquah said he was so disturbed by Hasan's persistent questioning that he recommended the mosque reject Hasan's request to become a lay Muslim leader at Fort Hood. But he never saw a need to tell anyone at the sprawling Army post about the talks, because Hasan never expressed anger toward the Army or indicated any plans for violence.
"If I had an inkling that he had this type of inclination or intentions, definitely I would have brought it to their attention," he said.
Finnell said he did that during a year of study in which Hasan made a presentation "that justified suicide bombing" and spewed "anti-American propaganda" as he argued the war on terrorism was "a war against Islam." Finnell said he and at least one other student complained about Hasan, surprised that someone with "this type of vile ideology" would be allowed to wear an officer's uniform.
No formal complaint
But Finnell said no one filed a formal, written complaint about Hasan's comments out of fear of appearing discriminatory.
"In retrospect, I'm not surprised he did it," Finnell said. "I had real questions about what his priorities were, what his beliefs were."
Hasan received a poor performance evaluation while at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. And while he was an intern at the suburban Washington, D.C., hospital, Hasan had some "difficulties" that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time.
Hasan was promoted from captain to major in 2008, the same year he graduated from the master's program. Bernard Rostker, a military personnel expert at the RAND Corporation, said Hasan's advancement was all but certain.
"We're short of officers, particularly at the major and lieutenant-colonel level because of the war, and we're short of psychiatrists," said Rostker, who served as undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness during the Clinton administration. "There would have had to be something very detrimental in his record before there would have been a banner that would have said, 'No, we don't want to promote him.' "
Military and civilian investigators have yet to talk with Hasan, who reportedly jumped up on a desk and shouted "Allahu akbar!" — Arabic for "God is great!" — at the start of Thursday's attack. He was seriously wounded by police and transferred Friday to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Army spokesman Col. John Rossi said late Saturday that Hasan had been taken off a ventilator but remained in intensive care.
Associated Press writers Dalia Nammari in Ramallah, West Bank, and Richard Lardner, Pamela Hess and Jessica Gresko in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Material from The New York Times is included in this report.
UPDATE - 10:01 AM
Rebels tighten hold on Libya oil port
UPDATE - 09:29 AM
Reality leads US to temper its tough talk on Libya
UPDATE - 09:38 AM
2 Ark. injection wells may be closed amid quakes
Armed guards save Dutch couple from Somali pirates
Navy to release lewd video investigation findings
More Nation & World headlines...

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
nwautos
Turismo upgrade "Gran Turismo 5: XL Edition" for PlayStation 3 has features such as new car-tuning settings, new NASCAR vehicles, better replay video...
Post a comment
- Lakewood cop accused of embezzling $150K meant for slain officers' families
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Agency set to investigate handling of 911 call about Josh Powell
- Quick decisions: How Washington hired its new football staff
- Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looms
- Justin Wilcox's versatile defensive style is the right fit for Huskies | Jerry Brewer
- Social worker recounts minutes before Powell fire
- It's Terrence Time: Enigmatic Ross leads Huskies
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- Club promoter convicted in brutal 2010 murder of Des Moines prostitute
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature
471 - Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looming
359 - Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
291 - 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
243 - Source: NY, California to sign mortgage settlement
231 - Oregon live game thread
155 - Council members get briefing on arena proposal, minus details
143 - Pac-12 picks ... including the UW game
140 - AP Source: Obama to change birth control rule
129 - Worker: Josh Powell told son he had 'surprise'
101
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
- One man's audacious pursuit of sailing history
- Darren Berg gets 18-year sentence for Ponzi scheme
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- Economy, blogs give survivalists new reason to look to Northwest
- State's share of mortgage settlement: $648 million
- Bellevue College adds a third bachelor's degree program
- 'Gauguin and Polynesia': dazzling mix-and-match | Art review










