Essay on Fort Hood Shooting

Today Americans pay special attention to the acts of domestic terrorism, as the situation in the United States is a serious one and “requires prompt solutions” (Mantri, 2011, p.1). The newspapers and magazines, as well as TV programs inform of numerous acts of domestic terrorism rather often. Of course, the acts of domestic terrorism which represent the illegal use of violence in relation to innocent people horrify all citizens of the United States. In many cases, terrorist acts are organized by terrorist groups, but there are such domestic terrorist acts that are committed by single persons. Fort Hood Shooting is one of them. This terrorist act, which was committed on November 5, 2009 in Texas, attracted attention not only the U.S. citizens including local population, government and law enforcement officials and other experts, but also foreign counterterrorism specialists. Fort Hood Shooting took place on one of the military bases located not far from Killeen, Texas. Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. military psychiatrist who managed to survive in this shooting and was arrested. The shooting had serious consequences: 13 men were killed and 30 men were wounded (Frayer, 2010, p.1).

My goal in this paper is to discuss and analyze Fort Hood Shooting, the act of domestic terrorism in the USA paying special attention to the events that led up to the shooting, and any failures that could have prevented the shooting, and how the U.S. has responded.

THE SUSPECT OF THE FORT HOOD SHOOTING AND HIS RELATION TO THE IDEOLOGY OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM’S TEACHINGS

The sole suspect of the Fort Hood Shooting, the U.S. Major Nidal Malik Hasan who was 39 years old, served in the U.S. Army as a military psychiatric or a mental health professional. He helped other soldiers to cope with stress situations, including the consequences of PTSD, depression and other mental disorders. He served at the base’s Darnall Army Medical Center (Nasr et al., 2009, p.1).

Nidal Malik Hasan was born in Virginia, the USA.  According to the federal official’s records, he was of Jordanian descent (Nasr et al., 2009, p.1). Nidal Malik Hasan was not married and he had no children. He was known as a calm and religious man (Nasr et al, 2009, p.1).

The interviews with his numerous patients, American soldiers, war veterans, prove the fact that Hasan was a good specialist in the field of psychiatry. For example, one of his patients, Staff Sgt. Mark Molano based at Fort Knox was treated by Dr. Hasan from PTSD which prevented him to live a normal life. He told that Dr. Hasan provided him with good care and helped him to get good results in treatment. Mark Molano said, “He was a very well-mannered, polite psychiatrist and it was just a shock to know that Dr. Hasan could have done it”. (Nasr et al., 2009, p.1) The same statements were given by other Hasan’s patients who were treated at Military Medical Centers where Dr. Hasan worked (Nasr, et al., 2009, p.1).

Nidal Malik Hasan got his appointment to the U.S. Army in 1997 when he “graduated from Virginia Tech with the degree in biochemistry.” (Nasr et al., 2009, p.1). In 2003, Hasan graduated from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences’ Edward Herbert School of Medicine and successfully worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as an intern. In 2003, Hasan obtained a rank of a captain. In May, 2009 he was promoted to the rank of a Major. Besides, in 2009, Hasan “completed a fellowship in disaster and preventive psychiatry” (Nasr et al., 2009, p.1). In July, 2009 he was assigned to Darnall Army Medical Center as a highly qualified mental health specialist to provide services to war veterans and to those American soldiers who came back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Moreover, according to the military data, Major Hasan had the following awards: the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon (Nasr, et al., 2009, p.1).

It is necessary to say that Hasan may have direct relation to the ideology of international terrorism’s techniques. It is clear that his communication with radical Islamic cleric via Internet led to changes in Hasan’s ideology. He became more religious and more confident in his Islamic ideas. Hasan’s supervisor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center noticed that Major Hasan had changed his views. Hasan’s supervisor even wrote a memo several years ago in which he stated that Major Hasan showed a so called “pattern of poor judgment and lack of professionalism.” (Frayer & Silverleib, 2011, p.3) However, this document was ignored by the military officials. Hasan served at the military base where there were severe rules and regulations. (Frayer & Silverleib, 2011, p.3)

THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE FORT HOOD SHOOTING

It is known that the events leading up to the Fort Hood Shooting have been discussed by a number of counterterrorism  experts and representatives of the U.S. law enforcement services who studied the details of the case and the biographical data concerning the sole suspect. It was found that “Hasan had been telling his family since 2001 that he wanted to get out of the military.” (Nasr et al., 2009, p.1) However, he remained in the Army due to some unknown reasons. The experts of that case represented many reasons for Hasan’s desire to leave the Army. The family members reported that “Hasan had been taunted after the September 11 attacks.” (Nasr., 2009, p.1)

Moreover, Hasan was a religious man. He attended Friday prayers and wore traditional Arab garb. It means that religion played an important role in his life. Hasan did not tell his family members that he would be deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq soon. However, he knew that it was an order and he would have to obey. The above mentioned fact proves that Hasan’s act of domestic terrorism was closely connected with his deployment to Iraq. (Jayson, 2009, p.1) He did not want to take part in war actions against Muslims in Iraq; he was against killing and bloodshed. However, something made him commit this crime (Jayson, 2009, p.1).

In addition, Hasan was a military psychiatrics who treated the U.S. soldiers from post-traumatic stress disorder and other severe mental disorders that prevented soldiers to live a normal life. Major Hasan heard a lot of horror stories about bloodshed from soldiers who came from Afghanistan and Iraq. Many experts consider that hearing these stories could have negative impact on Hasan’s mental health. It means that these negative consequences of this profession could lead to the mass shooting. However, some experts do not agree with this statement. Mindy M. Mechanic, an Associate Professor of Psychology at California State University, is sure that “listening to horror stories” cannot lead to shooting.(Nasr et al., 2009, p.1) He states that those therapists who work with traumatized individuals can have “vicarious traumatization or compassion fatigue”, but their depressed state cannot lead to mass shooting (Nasr et al., 2009, p.1).

According to the reports of the federal investigators, there was no evidence that Hasan was involved into any terrorist organization, although “he was communicating with some American Islamic cleric in Yemen who had ties to some of the 9-11 hijackers.” (Martin, 2009, para.9) This fact proves that Major Hasan could have been influenced by Islamic extremists. However, some documents suggested that Hasan had been evolved into “a personally troubled and radical Islamic extremist” (Barnes, 2009, para.3) It is known that his behavior at the Medical Center where he served as a military psychologist was rather troubling and even aberrant. Major Hasan got several warnings concerning his poor work at the Medical Center. However, he continued to express his ideas concerning Islam and pressed other people to accept his views of Islam. It means that Major Hasan as a true Muslim was seriously influenced by Islamic extremist activity and behaviors. (Barnes, 2009, para.5)

ANY FAILURES THAT COULD HAVE PREVENTED THE FORT HOOD SHOOTING

It was found that there were some failures that could have prevented the Fort Hood Shooting. The military officials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Major Hasan served as a military psychiatrist, failed to control weapons policies on their military base and to implement appropriate procedures to discipline and treat personnel who “exhibit the kind of aberrant behavior that Hasan allegedly showed.” (Barnes, 2009, para.3) They missed these obvious signs of trouble that led to massacre on the military base. Moreover, they missed the purpose of Hasan’s communication with Islamic cleric from Yemen. It is found that in several weeks before the shooting, the military psychiatrist Hasan was accused of having e-mail correspondence with Islamic cleric in Yemen who probably had ties to Al-Qaida. One more fact is that the witnesses at Fort Hood Center heard that Hasan exclaimed: “Allahu Akbar!” what means “God is the greatest”. (Frayer, 2010, para.7) It means that the life and behavior of the U.S. military soldiers who hold such positions in the U.S. Army as military physicians are not examined and controlled. It is one of the failures that could have prevented the Fort Hood Shooting if special rules for the military staff had been applied.

According to the report A Ticking Time Bomb written by Joseph Lieberman, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Susan Collins, the top Republican of the Committee, both the FBI and the U.S. Army officials failed to pay due attention to the numerous warning signs that could have prevented the shooting at Fort Hood. The report concluded that “the inability to act was a result of both bureaucratic inefficiency and an unwillingness to identify and confront homegrown Islamic extremism.” (Keyes & Silverleib, 2011, p.1)

Moreover, the above mentioned report states that Pentagon has no “institutional culture” which could help to inform commanders at all levels and to identify radicalization to violent Islamic extremism actions as well as to find out the difference between this ideology and the peaceful practice of Islam in the USA (Keyes & Silverleib, 2011, p.1).             It means that there is no appropriate strategy to define terrorists in the U.S. Army. This failure can lead to more serious consequences and to bring more victims.

Besides, the report A Ticking Time Bomb proves the fact that the FBI has some internal challenges which are focused on cultural barriers in the U.S. Army that can easily “frustrate ongoing institutional reforms”, specially developed and implemented “to facilitate better intelligence sharing.” (Keyes & Silverleib, 2011, p.2) This failure should be taken into consideration by the FBI officials.

One more failure that led to such a violent act of terrorism on the territory of the military base of the United States is that Major Hasan had access to weapons which he used in his own purposes. Paul Helmke, the President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in the USA, reported that the tragedy at the Fort Hood military base “ought to convince more Americans to reject the argument that the solution to gun violence is to arm more people with more guns in more places.” (Statement on Fort Hood Tragedy, 2009, para.3) Of course, it is a serious mistake of the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Justice Department to provide access to guns to war veterans who are considered to be ‘mentally incapacitated’ or ‘mentally incompetent’ (Statement on Fort Hood Tragedy, 2009, para.2).

THE U.S. REACTION TO THE FORT HOOD SHOOTING

The reaction to the Fort Hood Shooting in Texas was negative. The U.S. President Barack Obama response to the shooting at Fort Hood is clear. He does not believe that the U.S. military physician was influenced by Islamic views when he decided to kill American soldiers at the military base. Moreover, he wants all American citizens to change their opinion concerning the role of Islamic fundamentalist who failed to convert his patients to Islam. It is known that many American citizens do not like Obama’s speech at the Tribal Nations Conference where 564 federally recognized American Indian tribes gathered to discuss the urgent problems. Although his speech lasted only two minutes, the U.S. President Obama managed to clearly comment on the Fort Hood Shooting which took place on November 2, 2009. Barack Obama refused to make conclusions concerning the role of Islamic terrorists in the shooting. He said, “We don’t yet know all the details at this moment… It’s difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.” (Lee, 2009, para.3) Barack Obama told that the shooting at the Fort Hood was “a horrific act of violence”, and that all American people should pray for the victims of that crime (Lee, 2009, para.4).

The reaction of the Fort Hood military officers to the shooting at Fort Hood military base was negative. General Cone, the military base spokesman, told that “terrorism was not being ruled out but that preliminary evidence did not suggest that the rampage had been an act of terrorism.” (McFadden, 2009, p.1). The other military man, Terry Lee, who served with Major Hasan, stated that Major Hasan hoped that the U.S. President Barack Obama would pull the American soldiers out of Afghanistan and Iraq’s territories. He often argued with other military officers who supported the war actions held in Iraq and Afghanistan. Moreover, Major Hasan wanted to protest against his deployment to Iraq (McFadden, 2009, p.1).

The reaction of the U.S. government to the shooting at Fort Hood military base was represented by Robert Gates, the Secretary of the U.S. Defense Department, Carl Levin, the Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a great number of other politicians and government officials. All of them expressed condolences to the victims who survived and to the family members of those people who were killed in the shooting. The Senator of Texas Kay Bailey Hutchison called this act of violence “a senseless and random violence” (Sen. Cornyn: Don’t Jump to Conclusions over the Fort Hood Shootings, 2009, p.2).

The reaction of the Muslims in the USA was also negative. It is known that the Muslim Public Affairs Council expressed condolences to the victims of this tragedy and to their families. Moreover, many Muslim organizations condemned the actions of Hasan at the Fort Hood military base. Thus, the Council on American-Islamic Relations located in Washington reported to mass media that there was no reason for such a violent action. The officials of this Muslim organization told, “We condemn this cowardly attack in the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators be punished to the full extent of the law. No political or religious ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence.” (Sen. Cornyn: Don’t Jump to Conclusions over Fort Hood Shootings, 2009, p.1).

However, the reaction of Anwar al-Alwaki, the initiator and motivator of many acts of terrorism was a positive one. He encouraged other Muslims who served in the U.S. Army to commit the same acts of violence in order to prevent mass killing of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said, “The fact that fighting against the U.S. army is an Islamic duty today cannot be disputed. Nidal has killed soldiers who were about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in order to kill Muslims.” (Isikoff, 2009, p.1) This fact gives an opportunity to suppose that Major Hasan may have direct relation to the activity of Anwar al Alwaki and his followers (Isikoff, 2009, p.1).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, it is necessary to say that the Fort Hood Shooting is one of those violent acts of domestic terrorism which should be prevented by all members of our society. In case the officials pay due attention to each member of our society whose behavior is inadequate and violent and whose ideology is close to an extremist one, there will be no similar tragedies in the United States. Major Hasan should be punished for his severe violence in relation to his military colleagues and to the ordinary civilians. It is known that the suspect Major Hasan was arraigned on July 20, 2011, but he failed to enter a plea. The next trial date is March 5, 2012. Of course, Major Hasan deserves death penalty. Such violent acts as the mass shootings of American soldiers at the Fort Hood military base should be stopped. Domestic terrorism requires special attention of the U.S. Government, the U.S. Army and law enforcement agencies.