Tag Archives: nidal hasan

A Deployed Soldier’s Look Back at Fort Hood Shooting

This is a great piece from Neon Tommy that I had to share a year after the horrible Fort Hood shooting by an Islamic Extremist who had penetrated our ranks:

It has been a year since I have even looked back at this initial response to the Fort Hood shooting. In retrospect, I am glad that I and many of my fellow soldiers took the time to breathe and think about what happened–not just with anger and frustration, but with thought and understanding. It is through the most trying of times that we grow and learn more about ourselves and the world around us. So, let us remember the people who lost their lives, the heroes who risk their own to save lives and the men and women who continue to serve despite the emotional and physical dangers that they are faced with each and every day. Below are my thoughts as I wrote them down and ironed them out in Baghdad the day after the Fort Hord shooting on Nov. 5, 2009.

You really have to read the rest of this thoughtful piece.

Words of Wisdom

Last year around this time, we interviewed LTG Jerry Boykin. Having worked under Boykin, I know the kind of man he is. He’s inspirational and someone I’d follow anywhere. Thankfully, I know a few general officers that fit that bill.

Boykin is now speaking out about the Nidal Hasan case in which the Army dropped the ball on removing an Islamic extremist from within the ranks while attempting to shut me down and a man like Boykin was forced out of uniform for talking about Christianity and denouncing extremism. His frankness was labeled “Islamaphobia” by the MSM, including the New York Times and spelled the end of his career.

Honoring SGT Munley

On November 5, 2009, a religious extremist entered a Soldier processing facility and opened fire, killing or injuries 43 people. There’s some controversy over who exactly felled Hasan that day. The point is that ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Sergeant Kimberly Munley went charging up to protect those troops and civilians in the building, whether she fired a shot or not. She placed herself in harm’s way without knowing exactly what the threat was. Her valor and heroism should still be commended and used as an example.

Great Americans has a blog tribute up to SGT Munley.. Please take a moment to read it and leave a comment. I also wanted to share this great video they have on their site as well.

America’s Military Under Attack At Home

I’m fed up with the reluctance or outright lack of desire to call what happened at Fort Hood an act of terrorism. This was brought up in a Facebook discussion and a journalist – a member of the media – said “it’s not our job to read into things. we can analyze, and find the “why,” but we can’t say it’s terrorism.”

I find that interesting considering all the media ever does is read into things. When was the last time the media waited until the results of an election were certified before declaring a winner? They didn’t have any problems blaming PTSD as soon as it was discovered that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan worked with troops suffering from the disorder. Yet, they ignored the facts of PTSD which are obvious that it isn’t contagious.

Militant and extremist Islam has declared war not only on this country, but on our military specifically. Recently, it started in March 2003 when SGT Akbar tossed a grenade on Camp Pennsylvania and killed his fellow 101st Airborne Troops. Akbar was a Muslim and didn’t kill those troops because he snapped, but because of his religion.

Two years ago, six Muslim extremists were charged in a plot to kill Soldiers at the Army’s Fort Dix military installation in New Jersey. The plot involved “assault rifles” and grenades with the intent to kill as many Soldiers as possible. Because these guys weren’t Soldiers and didn’t fall under the political correctness of coddling extremist religious views, this plot was thankfully foiled before any Soldiers were killed or injured.

In June of this year, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad – a 24-year-old Little Rock resident formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe – killed one Soldier and injured another in a shooting that took place at an Army recruiting center. Police said that based off interviews with the killer, he executed the shooting because he was angry with the military’s supposed treatment of Muslims. A young Soldier – Pvt. William Long whom had nothing to do with the cause of Muhammad’s anger – was killed. Muhammad stated to police that he would have killed more if they had been outside at the time.

Now, we have the case of Maj. Nidal Hasan, in which he killed 13 people (including a pregnant Soldier) and wounded over 30 others earlier this month at Fort Hood. The media continues to pound the drum beat that he just “snapped.” A man who had never deployed in his military career somehow snapped and that is why he killed those brave warriors and Americans. They are painting HIM as the victim of this because he was “teased” in his military career. (Side note: will a Soldier of any faith who has never been teased please send me an email. That is worthy of a story in itself.) The media is further eroding their credibility by ignoring statements and evidence that prove this was an extremist ideological attack and not a mere case of stress.

The media is searching far and wide for so-called mental health professionals to support their biased positions of a Soldier broken by a failed war policy. They refuse to interview prominent Muslim scholars and religious leaders who could easily diffuse the religious backlash being heaped upon Muslims. These scholars could explain that this man was no Muslim in the strictest terms, but a radicalized terrorist who bent the teachings of Islam. But, that’s not the slant the media wants us to believe. Instead of reporting on the elephant in the room, they’ve taken the easy road of expounding upon the terrible tragedy that war brings to our troops, either real or made up.

They ignore the more than 34 clues as to why Hasan REALLY committed those premeditated murders and attempted murders of 43 Americans. Never mind that he visited websites espousing radical Islamist ideas. Never mind that he was disciplined for proselytizing about his Muslim faith with patients and colleagues. Never mind that he wrote an internet posting defending suicide bombers: “…..Suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory…..”

And yet the military is expending great deals of energy to ensure that the rest of us don’t unfairly blame the religion of peace for what is happening to our troops around the world and in this country at their hands. They are worried that Muslims will be victimized, not that more troops will be victimized by Muslims. They are expending resources – at least publicly – in the hunt for more radical Islamic extremists within our ranks, but the the radical non-Muslim elements that may be seeking revenge, whoever these people are. They can continue to spout their rhetoric free of consequences until Soldiers die.

Political correctness is the friend of the extremist Islamic radical. They know that we have no backbone to seek out more potential perpetrators and will use that against us. The military is so publicity shy, that they don’t want to risk being called bigots for searching the ranks for more like-minded extremists. Instead, the rest of us who are concerned about the impact of all these attacks against us by a religious philosophy that doesn’t value life but exalts martyrdom will be treated like racists, bigots, and extremists in our own right. They will get away with it, but if you’re not a Muslim, don’t you dare stand up for anything you believe in. The military will attack you for it.

Eyewitness Reports From Ft. Hood

I wanted to share with you some eyewitness accounts of those personally affected by the Ft. Hood shootings. This first one is a unedited email I got from an Army Captain (I’ll protect his position and job as it would be too easy to identify him).

Since I don’t know when I’ll sleep (it’s 4 am now) I’ll write what happened (the abbreviated version…..the long one is already part of the investigation with more to come). I’ll not write about any part of the investigation that I’ve learned about since (as a witness I know more than I should since inevitably my JAG brothers and sisters are deeply involved in the investigation). Don’t assume that most of the current media accounts are very accurate. They’re not. They’ll improve with time. Only those of us who were there really know what went down. But as they collate our statements they’ll get it right.

I did my SRP last week (Soldier Readiness Processing) but you’re supposed to come back a week later to have them look at the smallpox vaccination site (it’s this big itchy growth on your shoulder). I am probably alive because I pulled a ———- and entered the wrong building first (the main SRP building). The Medical SRP building is off to the side. Realizing my mistake I left the main building and walked down the sidewalk to the medical SRP building. As I’m walking up to it the gunshots start. Slow and methodical, but continuous. Two ambulatory wounded came out; then two soldiers dragging a third who was covered in blood. Hearing the shots but not seeing the shooter, along with a couple other soldiers I stood in the street and yelled at everyone who came running that it was clear but to “RUN!”. I kept motioning people fast. About 6-10 minutes later (the shooting was continuous), two cops ran up, one male, one female. We pointed
in the direction of the shots. they headed that way (the medical SRP building was about 50 meters away). Then a lot more gunfire. A couple minutes later a balding man in ACU’s came around the building carrying a pistol and holding it tactically. He started shooting at us and we all dived back to the cars behind us. I don’t think he hit the couple other guys who were there. I did see the bullet holes later in the cars. First I went behind a tire and then looked under the body of the car. I’ve been trained how to respond to gunfire…but with my own weapon. To have no weapon, I don’t know how to explain what that felt like. I hadn’t run away but stayed because I had thought about the consequences or anything like that. I wasn’t thinking anything through. Please understand, there was no intention. I was just staying there because I didn’t think about running. It never occurred to me that he might shoot me. Until he started shooting in my direction and I realized I was unarmed. Then the female cop comes around the corner. He shoots her (according to the news account she got a round into him. I believe it, I just didn’t see it, he didn’t go down.) She goes down. He starts reloading. He’s fiddling with his mags. Weirdly he hasn’t dropped the one that was in his weapon. He’s holding the fresh one and the old one (you do that on the range when time is not of the essence but in combat you would just let the old mag go). I see the male cop around the left corner of the building. (I’m about 15-20 meters from the shooter.) I yell at the cop, “He’s reloading, he’s reloading. Shoot him! Shoot him!) You have to understand, everything was quiet at this point. The cop appears to hear me and comes around the corner and shoots the shooter. He goes down. The cop kicks his weapon further away. I sprint up to the downed female cop. Another captain (I think he was with me behind the cars) comes up as well. She’s bleeding profusely out of her thigh. We take our belts off and tourniquet her just like we’ve been trained (I hope we did it right…we didn’t have any CLS (combat lifesaver) bags with their awesome tourniquets on us, so we worked with what we had).

Meanwhile, in the most bizarre moment of the day, a photographer was standing over us taking pictures. I suppose I’ll be seeing those tomorrow. Then a soldier came up and identified himself as a medic. I then realized her weapon was lying there unsecured (and on “fire”). I stood over it and when I saw a cop yelled for him to come over and secure her weapon (I would have done so but I was worried someone would mistake me for a bad guy). I then went over to the shooter. He was unconscious. A Lt Colonel was there and had secured his primary weapon for the time being.

He also had a revolver. I couldn’t believe he was one of ours. I didn’t want to believe it. Then I saw his name and rank and realized this wasn’t just some specialist with mental issues. At this point there was a guy there from CID and I asked him if he knew he was the shooter and had him secured. He said he did. I then went over the slaughter house that was the medical SRP building. No human should ever have to see what that looked like. And I won’t tell you. Just believe me. Please. There was nothing to be done there.

Someone then said there was someone critically wounded around the corner. I ran around (while seeing this floor to ceiling window that someone had jumped through, movie style) and saw a large African-American soldier lying on his back with two or three soldiers attending. I ran up and identified two entrance wounds on the right side of his stomach, one exit wound on the left side and one head wound. He was not bleeding externally from the stomach wounds (though almost certainly internally) but was bleeding from the head wound.

A soldier was using a shirt to try and stop the head bleeding. He was conscious so I began talking to him to keep him so. He was 42, from North Carolina , he was named something Jr., his son was named something III and he had a daughter as well. His children lived with him. He was divorced. I told him the blubber on his stomach saved his life. He smiled. A young soldier in civvies showed up and identified himself as a combat medic. We debated whether to put him on the back of a pickup truck. A doctor (well, an audiologist) showed up and said you can’t move him, he has a head wound. We finally sat tight. I went back to the slaughterhouse. They weren’t letting anyone in there. Not even medics. Finally, after about 45 minutes had elapsed some cops showed up in tactical vests. Someone said the TBI building was unsecured. They headed into there. All of a sudden a couple more shots were fired. People shouted there was a second shooter. A half hour later the SWAT showed up. There was no second shooter. That had been an impetuous cop apparently. But that confused things for awhile. Meanwhile I went back to the shooter.

The female cop had been taken away. A medic was pumping plasma into the shooter. I’m not proud of this but I went up to her and said “this is the shooter, is there anyone else who needs attention…do them first”. She indicated everyone else living was attended to. I still hadn’t seen any EMTs or ambulances. I had so much blood on me that people kept asking me if I was ok. But that was all other people’s blood. Eventually (an hour and a half to two hours after the shootings) they started landing choppers. They took out the big African American guy and the shooter. I guess the ambulatory wounded were all at the SRP building. Everyone else in my area was dead.

I suppose the emergency responders were told there were multiple shooters. I heard that was the delay with the choppers (they were all civilian helicopters). They needed a secure LZ. But other than the initial cops who did everything right, I didn’t see a lot of them for a while. I did see many a soldier rush out to help their fellows/sisters. There was one female soldier, I don’t know her name or rank but I would recognize her anywhere who was everywhere helping people. A couple people, mainly civilians, were hysterical, but only a couple. One civilian freaked out when I tried to comfort her when she saw my uniform. I guess she had seen the shooter up close. A lot of soldiers were rushing out to help even when we thought there was another gunman out there. This Army is not broken no matter what the pundits say. Not the Army I saw. And then they kept me for a long time to come. Oh, and perhaps the most surreal thing, at 1500 (the end of the workday on Thursdays) when the bugle sounded we all came to attention and saluted the flag, in the middle of it all.

This is what I saw. It can’t have been real. But this is my small corner of what happened.

This second account comes from retired Soldier and Copperas Cove city councilman, Bill Herridge, W.M.

I was at Fort Hood yesterday afternoon and got caught up in the events surrounding the shooting. I was in the Howze Theater to play my bagpipes as a processional to bring in the soldiers who were receiving their college diplomas from area colleges and universities.

They have one big ceremony each November for all the soldiers who have completed their degree requirements. I play for them every year.
At about 1:30, I was sitting on the front row of the theater on the far left side. A side entrance to the theater was located directly to my left about three feet away. I heard three or four muffled popsˇ and thought it sounded a little odd. Suddenly, the door near me flew open and a man fell into the theater with a gunshot wound in his back. I started for the man to see what was wrong but two NCOs jumped up and grabbed the man and laid him on the edge of the stage. One of them shouted Are there any medical personnel in the building?ˇ Two of the graduates ran to the stage, threw off their caps and gowns and began treating the man as best they could. They announced that his wound was not life threatening. As the man was being loaded onto a stretcher, five or six heavily armed civilian security personnel entered the back of the auditorium with their rifles and pistols pointing upwards. One of them shouted that everyone should take a seat immediately, and believe me, that happened very quickly.

They asked that all senior NCOs in the building proceed to one of the eight entry doors in the building, and again, that was done immediately. One the security guys ascertained that the wounded man being removed from the stage would survive, they walked across the front of the stage and slowly opened a door on the opposite side of the auditorium˜one which opened out onto a parking lot that separated the Howze Theater from the Soldiers Dome where the rest of the shooting occurred. We could hear rapid gunfire coming across the parking lot. One of the security guys again shouted a request for any doctors and nurses in attendance, and about 15 people immediately moved to the door where the security guys were standing. I heard one of the security folks tell the assembled medical personnel that there were many wounded people in the adjacent building, and that they were needed to help out. The medical people were told to follow the security guys, keep low, and move quickly without stopping. There was no hesitation on their part, they just moved out to do their jobs.
There were three officers in the building, and to their credit they just got out of the way and let the NCOs handle the situation. I was extremely proud of the professionalism that everyone displayed. The only people complaining were the civilians who were there for the graduation ceremony, and soldiers continually moved among them to calm them down.

One interesting thing about all this˜about an hour after the shooting died down, the loud speakers all over the base started playing the old Cavalry bugle call called Recall.ˇ I have never heard that on an active duty base before, but apparently the soldiers knew what it meant, that they were to drop what they were doing and return to their units.
At about 7 p.m. they brought several cases of MREs (combat meals) and starting handing them out. I figured we would be there all night when that happened. However, about 30 minutes later, we were allowed to depart in small numbers. I had to pass through four check points before I reached FM116, and even after driving off the post, I had to negotiate two Texas DPS road blocks before being allowed to drive at highway speed to return home.

I hope you will all keep the families of the slain soldiers in your prayers. I know that the Good Lord was looking after me˜that shooter could just as easily have followed the wounded man into the theater, where he would have ˛enjoyed many more victims. Anyway, that is a brief eyewitness report of what happened at Fort Hood yesterday afternoon.

34 Clues to US Army Major Nidal Hasan’s Motivations

The media are still quite puzzled by Major Nidal Hasan’s motivations that led him to gun down his fellow American soldiers at Ft. Hood. Yet in the same media’s reporting, the below clues emerge. When gathered together, you would think the dots could easily be connected.

I’m not going to jump to any conclusions, but I’m going to put on my investigator hat and pull information from various MSM reports and let you decide:

1. At the shooting, Hasan first bowed his head in prayer and then shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) as he shot over 50 soldiers in a calm and measured manner.

2. Store video the morning of the shooting shows Hasan wearing a traditional Muslim WHITE robe and hat. He had began wearing Arabic/Muslim-style clothing in recent weeks.

3. Hasan handed out Qurans to his neighbors a few days before and the day of the shooting, including giving a Quran to his neighbor at 9 am the day of the shooting, telling her, “I’m going to do good work for God” before leaving for the base. Here is the AP photograph taken on Friday, Nov 6 in Killeen, Texas showing the Quran and the business card that Hasan gave to his neighbor the day of the shooting.

4. A recent convert to Islam described how he frequently prayed with Hasan at the town mosque after Hasan was deployed to Fort Hood in July. They last worshipped together at predawn prayers on the day of the massacre when Hasan “appeared relaxed and not in any way troubled or nervous.”

5. Hasan told the convert that the ‘war on terror’ was really a war against Islam. Hasan also expressed anti-Jewish sentiments and defended suicide bombings.

6. During dinner the night before the shooting, Hasan felt he should not go to Afghanistan, that he was supposed to quit. “In the Koran, it says you are not supposed to have alliances with Jews or Christians, and if you are killed in the military fighting against Muslims, you will go to hell.”

7. Hasan’s deceased parents were Palestinians immigrants from the West Bank/Jordan. Hasan’s father was 16 years old when he immigrated to America and later operated a bar and grill in Roanoke, VA.

8. On a form Hasan filled out at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, he gave his nationality not as “American” but as “Palestinian.” Yet he was born in Arlington, Virginia on 8 Sep 1970. (See Allegiance in a Time of Globalization, DOD PERSEREC, Dec 2008)

9. Hasan has family in the Middle East, including a grandfather, uncle and cousins which he and they would visit each other.

10. Hasan’s cousin in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, Mohammad Munif Abdallah Hasan, said the Army major had wanted to leave the military because he felt disrespected over his religion.

11. His cousin said: “If he had killed one or two, I could say that he was defending himself. I could say that there could have been a problem between two sides which led to the use of weapons.”

12. Hasan visited websites espousing radical Islamist ideas.

13. Hasan made these kinds of statements to coworkers: Muslims have the right to rise up against the U.S. military. Muslims have a right to stand up against the aggressors. He spoke favorably about people who strap bombs on themselves and go into Times Square.

14. Hasan gave a presentation to military masters degree students in which he argued the war on terrorism was a war against Islam. This was in an environmental health class at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. When challenged about what does his topic has to do with environmental health, Hasan became agitated, sweaty, nervous and emotional.

15. Hasan “made himself a lightning rod by making his extreme views known to everyone.”

16. Hasan was “put on probation early in his postgraduate work” and was “disciplined for proselytizing about his Muslim faith with patients and colleagues.”

17. Hasan was a “very devout” member of and daily visitor to the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Md. Attended prayers at least once a day, seven days a week. (See Saudi Publications On Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques. Important reading for security professionals)

18. A friend who also attended the mosque said, “He was my role model when it came to the Islam life. He was so devout. He would come to the early morning prayers — even in the summer when it began at 4 am or 5 am, the early prayers I wouldn’t go to, he would be there.”

19. Hasan wrote “Allah” on his door in Silver Spring, MD according to his neighbor.

20. Hasan wrote an internet posting defending suicide bombers: “…..Suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory…..”

21. At the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, MD, he asked for feedback about a talk he had prepared for his Army supervisors on the role of Muslims in the military. Hasan argued that if military duties contradicted a soldier’s religion, the soldier should be released from duty.

22. After 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hasan seemed to grow more disenchanted with his duties. “He did not talk war or politics, but he did tell me once the war started that what he worried most about was having to fight against other Muslims. He did not feel it was right.”—Friend at Muslim community center

23. Hasan attended two matchmaking events at his Muslim community center to find a “good Muslim woman” for his wife but he “had too many conditions” for his match . He wanted a very religious wife who adheres to the Quran, wore the hijab and prayed five times a day. First preference was an Arab woman followed by someone of Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi descent.

24. Hasan avoided contact with his female coworkers. Refused to be photographed for an office Christmas photo since women were in the photo.

25. Hasan worshiped at the Texas mosque each day at 6 am, and often prayed there five times a day, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. (See Saudi Publications On Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques)

26. Hasan had been mentoring an 18-year old Catholic man on the ways of Islam. Only once during their 12 meetings did Hasan NOT talk about religion. Hasan told this man that Muslims shouldn’t be in the U.S. military, because obviously Muslims shouldn’t kill Muslims. He told him not to join the Army.

27. At the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, Hasan told his fellow military master degree students, “I’m a Muslim first and an American second.” (See Allegiance in a Time of Globalization, DOD PERSEREC, Dec 2008)

28. Hasan gave an hour-long talk on the Koran in front of dozens of other doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington DC. He said non-believers should be beheaded and have boiling oil poured down their throats. That non-Muslims were infidels condemned to hell who should be set on fire.

29. Fellow doctors have recounted how they were repeatedly harangued by Hasan about Islam.

30. During a conversation with a leader of the Texas mosque he attended, Hasan seemed obsessed with the question of what to tell Muslim soliders about fighting fellow Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.

31. Hasan attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists.

32. This mosque was led by radical imam Anwar al-Awlaki said to be a ‘spiritual adviser’ to three of the hijackers who attacked America on 9/11. al-Awlaki was born in the US but now lives in Yemen. He is an al-Qaeda supporter who targets US Muslims with radical online lectures on Islam.

33. Hasan’s eyes “lit up” when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki’s teachings, according to a fellow Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas.

34. Today (9 November 09), al-Awlaki wrote on his blog a post titled, “Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing.”

“Nidal Hassan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people.
…..Any decent Muslim cannot live, understanding properly his duties towards his Creator and his fellow Muslims, and yet serve as a US soldier. Nidal opened fire on soldiers who were on their way to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done? In fact the only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the U.S. army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal.
The heroic act of brother Nidal also shows the dilemma of the Muslim American community. Increasingly they are being cornered into taking stances that would either make them betray Islam or betray their nation. Many amongst them are choosing the former.
The fact that fighting against the US army is an Islamic duty today cannot be disputed. No scholar with a grain of Islamic knowledge can defy the clear cut proofs that Muslims today have the right — rather the duty — to fight against American tyranny.
Nidal has killed soldiers who were about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in order to kill Muslims. The American Muslims who condemned his actions have committed treason against the Muslim Ummah and have fallen into hypocrisy.
Allah(swt) says: Give tidings to the hypocrites that there is for them a painful punishment……May Allah grant our brother Nidal patience, perseverance and steadfastness and we ask Allah to accept from him his great heroic act. Ameen.”

Among the reader comments to his post:

• “May Allah grant our brother Nidal patience, perseverance and steadfastness and we ask Allah to accept from him his great heroic act.”
• “That’s the first thing that came to my mind, may Allah reward this man for his bravery. Allah has enlightened him with his duty unlike the hypocrites of this age and time. May he be accepted as a shaheed.”
• “May Allah give brother Nidal ease and may Allah give pain to the enemies.”

34 “clues”, probably more to come.