Truth and Speculation Behind the Fort Hood Massacre

Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s alleged killing of thirteen innocent people and wounding thirty eight others was a depraved and evil act. That much is clear. What remains unclear is why? Despite that ambiguity, many have already pronounced the “truth” behind why Hasan committed such a heinous crime. Whatever the truth may be, no motive can justify such an act. However, understanding why this happened will help us formulate the appropriate response going forward.

Some in the media have claimed Hasan was driven to kill because he was going to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan or because he was harassed by fellow Army members for being a Muslim in a post 9/11 world. Still others have argued Hasan’s shooting rampage was an act of radical Islamic terrorism and have criticized President Obama for not calling it as much. Indeed, when President Obama said he wanted to wait for all the facts to come in, one commentator I heard yesterday said the President should call it an act of terror now. The reasoning given was that since Mr. Obama has irresponsibly drawn conclusions on matters he did not have all the facts on in the past, e.g., the Professor Gates/Cambridge Police incident; he should do the same on the Hasan matter. That's nonsense. I would hope that President Obama learned from his mistake regarding the Cambridge Police incident and would not repeat it in a situation as serious and tragic as this one. Thus, the President is wise to wait, but cannot shy away from the facts, whatever they may be and wherever they may lead.

I’ve learned from first hand experience over the years from incidents ranging from the 9/11 attacks to the 2005 London transit bombings, and many others, that initial reports and “facts” from incidents such as the Fort Hood massacre are invariably wrong. In fact, on the day of the attack, for hours, most of the media was reporting that Major Hasan was shot dead when in fact he was alive and under medical treatment. In addition, the same media was reporting that Hasan was shot by one hero police officer when in fact it appears there were two officers who took Hasan down. If we cannot get those facts right are we really in a position to declare the truth behind why the event happened?

At this very moment there is an FBI led investigation into what happened and why and we must let that investigation play out before we reach a conclusion. I know that is hard in this era of “instant analysis” an oxymoron if there ever was one. The truth is Hasan’s motive may be any one or a combination of factors. Moreover, whatever conclusions the FBI reaches, Congress must independently investigate the matter. With that, there are some critical homeland security related questions that must be addressed head on as part of the overall investigation into this tragedy:

Did Hasan post on the internet a statement that equated Muslim suicide bombers with heroic acts of bravery? Did the FBI know of the posting and did they share it with the Army and if not, why not? Did Hasan scream “God is Great!” before opening fire? Did Hasan make anti-American statements and/or sympathetic statements towards America’s enemies throughout the years since 9/11 and were those statements passed up Hasan’s chain of command? Assuming the statements were made, was that information fused with the alleged internet posting to create a more complete intelligence threat picture regarding Hasan? Did Hasan visit radical Islamic websites and/or have contact with members of any radical Islamic groups?

Answers to the above questions, and many more, will help explain the motive behind Hasan’s depravity and help determine if this tragic act of evil was in fact avoidable, and how we should respond going forward. Reaching an affirmative conclusion as to why Hasan acted as he did, before those and other questions are fully investigated and answered, is not truth, but is sound and fury signifying speculation.