Massacre at U.S. Army Base, Fort Hood, Texas

The killing of 12 soldiers and the wounding of 31 others at Fort Hood Texas occurred in the early afternoon. The huge Army installation is still locked down as of 06:30 and so are most of the facts associated with this disaster. The authorities who are investigating the case, which include the FBI, are under strict advisory not to provide details. An Army spokesmen told news reporters that a terrorism link is "not being discussed" but 39 year old Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan is reported to be an American born Muslim, angry at being deployed to Iraq. Hasan was an Army psychiatrist and was not authorized to carry weapons, leading to speculation he planned the massacre.

For now, any facts that are known are closely guarded by the authorities and not released to news organizations. What has been widely reported is that Major Hasan was shot to death by a civilian policeman after his shooting spree. That civilian policeman was killed also in the firefight. According to the many media outlets covering the massacre, Hasan used two handguns to commit violence upon soldiers at the processing center where people are deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Right now, there are more questions than answers and the President went on television to assure Americans that all questions will be answered. No doubt they will be, but one wonders how much of political correctness will be spoon-fed to Americans who mourn these victims, described by one military expert as veteran "war fighters." Certainly, there is a need to restrain anti-Muslim anger which might tend to run amok, but another question can be legitimately asked, too. How much of Islam is religion in the sense of redeeming human spiritual life, how much of it is politics, and how much of it is deadly?

Brian Kensel, a base security expert interviewed by Brett Baier of Fox News pointed out one significant problem with any so-called nutcase theories. Kensel pointed out the odds against killing and wounding so many people with handguns alone. That pointed to a planned attack with the specific purpose of killing American war fighters as some sort of political-religious statement. Hasan would have had to carry multiple magazines and organize his attack in such a way that the victims could not escape. Also, the use of personal handguns on a military base could only have been for purposes of concealment, as military weapons are checked and accounted for immediately after use.

Fox News located and interviewed a colleague of Major Nidal when both men worked at Walter Reed Army Hospital in the rehabilitation of war veterans. Retired Colonel Terry Lee said that Nidal had made repeated remarks voicing support for persons who acted violently against U.S. authorities and troops. Outside of a conference room, and in conversation with other officers, Nidal voiced the notion that President Obama would now pull troops out. According to Lee, Hasan frequently made his anti-war views known about Iraq and Afghanistan. As time went on, Colonel Lee said , Hasane became more and more agitated. He argued with other soldiers, enlisted and officers, mainly about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was trying to get his deployment cancelled by appeals through the chain of command.

There are also reports that two other persons have been detained and questioned, though this is unclear. Other reports say these two others have been released and that authorities are seeking a third man.