7 killed in shootings at Fort Hood, Pentagon says

[AL the Inconspicuous]

If you don't want to discuss this rationally, then what's the point of talking about it at all?

[Riddler]

The one thing helping is that the various factions hate each other even more than they hate everyone else.

Actually, wars between Muslim fractions have historically been very mild compared to wars between Christians - even before the Reformation.  And that's in spite of the various Christian fractions mostly having been split along national lines, while the Muslim world has always been very diverse and cosmopolitan.  And millions of Muslims make pilgrimage to the same city, year after year!

do they have their own mathematics??

[AL the Inconspicuous]

s/fraction/faction/g;


Stupid English phonetic mumble mumble mumble ...

[TimeLady Victorious]

If you don't want to discuss this rationally, then what's the point of talking about it at all?

I was talking about it seriously, sort of.

I've noticed that most "Christian Patriot" blaming Israel for anything is actually anti-Semitism, especially when it comes form Texe Marrs.

[Bill Brasky]

The thing about the military is that guns are banned (except for military cops and some others) on base so everyone is partly defenseless.

That is weird. I remember carrying around an army issued rifle on base all the time. No ammo, but I had a gun and a bayonet.

Sure, there are military weapons for military use.  However, try to carry a weapon for self defense.  If your friend finds out, it may be years in jail.

I'm pretty sure I could defend myself with a military weapon. 

[hellbilly]

There will still be nutcases like this peaceful son of islam regardless of whether the troops are killing babies in Iraq. I'm certainly not pro war, but the whole thing is a little deeper than that.

Why was this shithead in the military?

You are joking right? 90% of the people I encountered in the military were shitheads. That is 9 in 10. 9 in 10, and I am being generous. The military is were shitheads go. That is a fact.

I'll buy that. What I meant was, the US has been at war with Terrissts for years. Many of the shitheads would be happy to go and blow up anyone, but this guy signs up, joins the invading forces who want to kill his holy brethren, and then flips out when he's called to do so.

Unless he had the goal of shooting up 'Murkins all along, it doesn't make much sense.

[blackie]

There will still be nutcases like this peaceful son of islam regardless of whether the troops are killing babies in Iraq. I'm certainly not pro war, but the whole thing is a little deeper than that.

Why was this shithead in the military?

You are joking right? 90% of the people I encountered in the military were shitheads. That is 9 in 10. 9 in 10, and I am being generous. The military is were shitheads go. That is a fact.

I'll buy that. What I meant was, the US has been at war with Terrissts for years. Many of the shitheads would be happy to go and blow up anyone, but this guy signs up, joins the invading forces who want to kill his holy brethren, and then flips out when he's called to do so.

Unless he had the goal of shooting up 'Murkins all along, it doesn't make much sense.

He joined before 9/11.

[hellbilly]

Weren't we kinda sorta fightin' a War on Terror before 911? I'm not up to date on enlistment terms, but wouldn't he have had to reenlist somewhere along the way?

[Harry Tuttle]

Weren't we kinda sorta fightin' a War on Terror before 911? I'm not up to date on enlistment terms, but wouldn't he have had to reenlist somewhere along the way?

No, officers don't "enlist". The get a "commission" to become an officer which lasts until they either resign or until they are forced out for some reason. Doctors in the Army often got financial aid from the Gubbermint to complete their schooling and have some sort of minimum commitment before they can get out.

Frankly though, without any details, I would guess that if he has been an Army officer since before 2001 that he has passed whatever minimum commitment he had. More likely, he got settled into the security of the Army system and stayed in because he didn't know what he would do with himself if he left the service.

[davann]

I heard he was only in for six years. My guess is he "found" religion along the way and recently.

[hellbilly]

Thanks Tuttle.

[blackie]

Frankly though, without any details, I would guess that if he has been an Army officer since before 2001 that he has passed whatever minimum commitment he had. More likely, he got settled into the security of the Army system and stayed in because he didn't know what he would do with himself if he left the service.

It sounds like he went to medical school on their dime during that time, so he still owed them for it.

http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/major-nidal-malik-hasan-fort-hood-shootings-110509

Dr. Val Finnell, a classmate of Hasan's at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, attended a master's in public health program in 2007-2008. Finnell says he got to know Hasan because the group of public health students took an environmental health class together. At the end of the class, everyone had to give a presentation. Classmates wrote on topics such as dry cleaning chemicals and mold in homes, but Finnell said Hasan chose the war against terror. Finnell described Hasan as a "vociferous opponent" of the terror war. Finnell said Hasan told classmates he was "a Muslim first and an American second."
Hasan recently was involved in a spat with another Fort Hood soldier residing in his apartment complex, apparently related to his Muslim beliefs.

The manager of the complex, John Thompson, said the other soldier, John Van de Walker, allegedly keyed Hasan's car and also removed and tore up a bumper sticker that read "Allah is Love." Thompson said Van de Walker had been in Iraq and was upset to learn that Hasan was Muslim.

A report filed with Killeen police on Aug. 16 indicates that Hasan's vehicle, a 2006 Honda Civic, had been scratched by an unknown object causing an estimated $1,000 worth of damage. The report indicates that Van de Walker, 30, was arrested on Oct. 21 and charged with criminal mischief. The matter has been referred for prosecution, according to the report.

The phone number for Van de Walker wasn't in service Friday, and Thompson, the apartment manager, said he had moved out of the complex.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Hasan's aunt, Noel Hasan of Falls Church, Va., said he had been harassed about being a Muslim in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and he wanted to get out of the Army. She said he had sought a discharge for several years, and even offered to repay the cost of his medical training.

...

He served eight years as an enlisted soldier. Military records show he also served in the ROTC as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry there in 1997.

But college officials said Friday that Hasan graduated with honors in biochemistry in 1995 and there was no record of him serving in any ROTC program.
 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6905760.ece

it emerged that the Army paid most of Major Hasan's college fees, committing him to at least five years' military service on graduating.

He once hired a lawyer to help him wriggle out of his contractual obligations to the army. He did not win.

[Riddler]

fuckin muslim anyway.
no matter how you slice 'em....
they all come up the same

[The Muslim Agorist]

I'm really just pinging the thread because I want to follow the conversation and read the updates. I don't know what to say about it exactly, except this...

terrorism, -n. (the calculated use of violence, or the threat of violence, against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear)

treason, -n. (a crime that undermines the offender's government; disloyalty by virtue of subversive behavior; an act of deliberate betrayal)

It's not an act of terrorism because terrorism targets civilians by definition. It is an act of treason, which is already a capital offense. The guy is clearly an extremist based on previous statements he made, and he should never have been permitted to stay in the military, and I'm perfectly comfortable with the military rejecting Muslim recruits. Frankly, I don't see why they'd ever want to sign up.

[blackie]

WTF

The dude is still alive.