Fort Hood Massacre begs the question: Was it terrorism or plain insanity?
David Angelatos
Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: Opinion
His cousin, Nader Hasan, told Fox News, "He hired a military attorney to try to have the issue resolved, pay back the government, to get out of the military. He was at the end of trying everything."
Forensic Psychologist, J. Reid Meloy identified two types of mass murderers: the first being predatory, premeditated and emotionless, while the second is angry, afraid and responding to perceived imminent threat.
It is impossible for this reporter to say that Hasan did not possess the first type of mass murderer's qualities. It is clear, however, that he was angry and afraid of being sent into a battle zone for a war he disagreed with. It seems logical then that the attack was in response to the imminent threat of being deployed.
While it cannot be ruled out that Hasan's attack was committed as an act of terrorism, it must be noted that attacks such as this one are not uncommon. Several violent outbursts such as Hasan's have been reported in the past few years, including the murder of five soldiers at a base clinic in Baghdad on May 11, 2009 by a 44-year-old Caucasian male.
After many years of war zone rotations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rate of Army personnel experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental health problems has risen alarmingly -- not to mention increased rates of drug and alcohol abuse.
This could potentially be the source of the increased rates of violent outbursts and of suicides on military bases.
In 2009 alone, 81 reports of active-duty Army soldiers committing suicide have been confirmed. Ten of those were at Fort Hood. Hasan, although not a combat soldier, worked in a stressful setting.
It is not uncommon for psychiatrists treating patients for post-traumatic stress disorder to experience some of the symptoms vicariously after hearing many horrific accounts of battle zone activities.
Although Hasan's motives for the attack are still unclear, it is clear that he does fit the profile of many solo mass murderers.
To declare Hasan as either a Muslim extremist or a regular soldier with mental illness would be to oversimplify the situation. Hasan is indeed a Muslim American with strong Muslim beliefs and this did play a part in the murders he committed, even if it was only minimal.
Therefore, before jumping to conclusions and demanding racial discrimination, all the facts should be assessed in order to reach the right conclusions and take the right steps to correct the problem of military base shootings and suicides that have become all too common.
Forensic Psychologist, J. Reid Meloy identified two types of mass murderers: the first being predatory, premeditated and emotionless, while the second is angry, afraid and responding to perceived imminent threat.
It is impossible for this reporter to say that Hasan did not possess the first type of mass murderer's qualities. It is clear, however, that he was angry and afraid of being sent into a battle zone for a war he disagreed with. It seems logical then that the attack was in response to the imminent threat of being deployed.
While it cannot be ruled out that Hasan's attack was committed as an act of terrorism, it must be noted that attacks such as this one are not uncommon. Several violent outbursts such as Hasan's have been reported in the past few years, including the murder of five soldiers at a base clinic in Baghdad on May 11, 2009 by a 44-year-old Caucasian male.
After many years of war zone rotations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rate of Army personnel experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental health problems has risen alarmingly -- not to mention increased rates of drug and alcohol abuse.
This could potentially be the source of the increased rates of violent outbursts and of suicides on military bases.
In 2009 alone, 81 reports of active-duty Army soldiers committing suicide have been confirmed. Ten of those were at Fort Hood. Hasan, although not a combat soldier, worked in a stressful setting.
It is not uncommon for psychiatrists treating patients for post-traumatic stress disorder to experience some of the symptoms vicariously after hearing many horrific accounts of battle zone activities.
Although Hasan's motives for the attack are still unclear, it is clear that he does fit the profile of many solo mass murderers.
To declare Hasan as either a Muslim extremist or a regular soldier with mental illness would be to oversimplify the situation. Hasan is indeed a Muslim American with strong Muslim beliefs and this did play a part in the murders he committed, even if it was only minimal.
Therefore, before jumping to conclusions and demanding racial discrimination, all the facts should be assessed in order to reach the right conclusions and take the right steps to correct the problem of military base shootings and suicides that have become all too common.
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