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A sailor salutes a U.S. flag flying at half mast in honor of the victims at Fort Hood.
President Obama has issued a proclamation that the flag is to fly at half-staff at the White House, all public buildings, military installations, embassies, and anywhere else flying an American flag. This is to honor the victims of the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas last Thursday by Major Malik Nidal Hasan.
Major Hasan was an army psychiatrist working with patients who had come back from Iraq, and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. On Thursday morning, he walked into the Fort Hood medical Center and opened fire. When it was all over, 13 were dead and 29 wounded, including the officer who shot Hasan.
There is a great deal of speculation about what caused Major Hasan to commit such a violent act. Many speculate the attacks are due to his religion and ethnicity. He was not a convert to the Muslim religion; this has always been his faith; he became more devout after his parents died. His parents immigrated here, and ran several businesses in Roanoke, Virginia. He wanted to serve his country. Family, friends, and coworkers agree that although he was disturbed at the possibility of deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan, he gave no indication to anyone that he held any views contrary to the oaths he took when he joined the military.
What is known is that Dr. Thomas Grieger was counseling him for an unspecified problem while Hasan studied psychiatry at Walter Reed. Dr. Grieger saw and heard nothing to indicate that the Major held views that would have lead to the attacks on Thursday.
Hasan did try to end his contract with the army early, citing extreme harassment due to his Muslim faith. Hasan was told by his lawyer he would have to finish his contracted time with the Army.
The FBI is currently in possession of Major Hasan’s computers, since 6 months ago he, or someone like him posted terrorist threats on a website. Other than that, there were no indications to family, coworkers, neighbors or friends that he was going to launch this attack. However, just before the attack, Major Hasan started giving away food, possessions, and saying goodbye to friends and neighbors. It is what soldiers do before they are deployment. This would seem to indicate that the Major planned this attack. Many Islamic immigrants live in the U.S. peacefully, and are grateful to live here. It is very unclear what caused Major Hasan to attack his coworkers at Fort Hood.
For more information:
Presidential Proclamation:
Breaking News: Fort Hood, Texas "Shooting Spree" by Cyber Safety Examiner Joshua B. Seth
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