Mass Shooting on the base at Fort Hood

[Oblong]

Originally Posted by Mark The Shark

That was bizarre and off-putting, the "light and fluffy" bit for two minutes before he comments on the massacre of US soilders on American soil.

I'm hoping that once he got up there he realized someone screwed the pooch and didn't prioritize his prepared remarks. And that someone is now added to the 10.2%.

[Mark The Shark]

Originally Posted by Oblong

I'm hoping that once he got up there he realized someone screwed the pooch and didn't prioritize his prepared remarks. And that someone is now added to the 10.2%.

I would hope so too. But the fact that his speechwriter screwed up doesn't immunize Obama from knowing better than to deliver "light" remarks before speaking to the American public about a mass shooting at an Army base.

[DGTigers]

Originally Posted by Mark The Shark

I would hope so too. But the fact that his speechwriter screwed up doesn't immunize Obama from knowing better than to deliver "light" remarks before speaking to the American public about a mass shooting at an Army base.

He can't use the Ron Burgundy excuse for EVERYTHING.

[Mark The Shark]

Originally Posted by DGTigers

He can't use the Ron Burgundy excuse for EVERYTHING.

Maybe he didn't expect that they would go live with his statement? That seems kind of lame, but the "shout out" before speaking of a national tragedy is so stunning that I want to believe almost any lame excuse.

[billms]

Melody - there is a lot of stress and breakdowns based on the psychiatric and support staff here in the states dealing with returning vets. Its obviously not as intense but it *is* intense enough to be a known risk to them.

[DaYooperASBDT]

Fry him. Let God show him mercy, but we shouldn't.

[Edman85]

Eh... it's really hard to instantaniously grasp the magnitude of a tragedy. I'll give Obama the same benefit of the doubt I gave Bush.

[JohnJMS]

Originally Posted by Edman85

Eh... it's really hard to instantaniously grasp the magnitude of a tragedy. I'll give Obama the same benefit of the doubt I gave Bush.

I'm confused. What does President Obama have to do with this that he needs the benefit of a doubt?

[Edman85]

Originally Posted by JohnJMS

I'm confused. What does President Obama have to do with this that he needs the benefit of a doubt?

Joking around in the same speech as aknowledging the tragedy... He was getting some heat in this thread.

[JohnJMS]

Originally Posted by Edman85

Joking around in the same speech as aknowledging the tragedy... He was getting some heat in this thread.

Oh. I missed those comments. Sorry. Hence my confusion.

[Los Gatos]

Originally Posted by Edman85

it's really hard to instantaniously grasp the magnitude of a tragedy.

Are you serious? When American soldiers get murdered on U.S. soil, I believe it's really easy to instantly grasp the extreme magnitude of how bad it is.

[JohnJMS]

Does anyone else get that sickeningly numb feeling and neck strain from shaking their heads when these tragedies happen? 2 days in a row of these senseless random attacks in areas where you certainly don't expect them........................it's just disgusting.

[Boilerfan]

Did anyone see the discussion on CNN last night with the JAG and former POW?

YouTube - Larry King - Anger at idea Islamist ideology was a possible motivation in Ft. Hood attack

At about the 3-3:30 minute mark things get a bit heated and asks a lady who is a former POW and was shot if she has ever been to Iraq. OOOPS. Needless to say things got a little more heated.

[billms]

Originally Posted by Los Gatos

Are you serious? When American soldiers get murdered on U.S. soil, I believe it's really easy to instantly grasp the extreme magnitude of how bad it is.

I found it shocking, didn't you? I think thats what Ed was saying - he cuts the pres a break on 9/11 and yesterday because the events were so shocking.

[Mark The Shark]

Originally Posted by Boilerfan

Did anyone see the discussion on CNN last night with the JAG and former POW?

YouTube - Larry King - Anger at idea Islamist ideology was a possible motivation in Ft. Hood attack

At about the 3-3:30 minute mark things get a bit heated and asks a lady who is a former POW and was shot if she has ever been to Iraq. OOOPS. Needless to say things got a little more heated.

Ms. Johnson (the POW) handed the pencil-neck his arse.

[billms]

Originally Posted by Mark The Shark

Ms. Johnson (the POW) handed the pencil-neck his arse.

Did he bring up combat on her? Did he? Oh no he didn't. Oh no he didn't!

That woman was ready to break him in half with her hands *and* her head and he knew it.

[Boilerfan]

Originally Posted by Mark The Shark

Ms. Johnson (the POW) handed the pencil-neck his arse.

He was toast as soon as that came out of his mouth. All he needed to do was listen to her introduction. King said former POW.

[hueytaxi]

I disagree with our bald doc also. It is easy to equate this action as from a person who is not well. I tend to challenge that thought. As a Muslim, he took the extreme path and could rationalize what he set out to do. Of course my assumption is premature. What I am saying is that all terrorists are not sick. They believe in what they are doing. Am I calling Hasan a terrorist? Of course I am.

[Oblong]

Was she one of the POW's that Jesse Jackson went and got? I remember her.

[Edman85]

Originally Posted by billms

I found it shocking, didn't you? I think thats what Ed was saying - he cuts the pres a break on 9/11 and yesterday because the events were so shocking.

Yeah... bingo. People are too hard on these guys for the wrong reasons.

[Boilerfan]

Originally Posted by Oblong

Was she one of the POW's that Jesse Jackson went and got? I remember her.

No. Wiki says she was part of the Jessica Lynch group. I did not realize that.

[Oblong]

Originally Posted by Boilerfan

No. Wiki says she was part of the Jessica Lynch group. I did not realize that.

Ok, that's what I'm thinking of then. I do remember he being on TV previously and the name.

[Los Gatos]

Originally Posted by billms

I found it shocking, didn't you? I think thats what Ed was saying - he cuts the pres a break on 9/11 and yesterday because the events were so shocking.

Of course it was shocking. I was more angered than shocked, though. Still am.

[keystone]

I read where George and Laura Bush went to Fort Hood and visited with the victims families for a couple of hours. He insisted that there be no publicity. Nice touch.

[MrDeeds]

Originally Posted by keystone

I read where George and Laura Bush went to Fort Hood and visited with the victims families for a couple of hours. He insisted that there be no publicity. Nice touch.

Then how'd you find out about it.

[keystone]

Originally Posted by MrDeeds

Then how'd you find out about it.

Ssssssh. I listen to Radio Free America aka Fox news....Don't tell Obama.

George W. Bush Secretly Visits Fort Hood Victims - FOXNews.com

[MrDeeds]

Originally Posted by keystone

Ssssssh. I listen to Radio Free America aka Fox news....Don't tell Obama.

George W. Bush Secretly Visits Fort Hood Victims - FOXNews.com

Good stuff. I think it would be great for the post President GW Bush to dedicate his life to serving and supporting the troops.

[keystone]

FT. HOOD ATTACK WAS TERRORISM at DickMorris.com

In his nationally televised remarks following the horrendous killings at Ft. Hood, President Obama never mentioned the T word. The attack was an act “of violence.” No mention of terrorism.

In fact, the Ft. Hood shooting is the first terror attack on American soil since 9-11. But Obama, reluctant to take the rap for inadequate protections against such attacks, is doing everything he can to make it look like an adult version of the Columbine school shootings. We are treated to stories about the killer’s dread of being sent back to Afghanistan and his deformed personality.

But, the fact is that Major Nidal Malik Hasan jumped on a table, yelled “Alah Hu Akhbar” and began the shooting rampage that killed 13 people and wounded 30 more.

Ilana Freedman, CEO and Senior Analyst for the Gerard Group International, which provides intelligence analysis for business and homeland security, describes Hasan as a “lone wolf terrorist” who acts without apparent coordination with any other person or organization. But that does not make him any less of a terrorist.

The dividing line, of course, between a terrorist and a psychopathic killer is political motivation. His statements right before opening fire would indicate that Hasan was motivated by fanaticism and a commitment to Islamic fascism, even though President Obama bends over backwards to avoid saying so.

Obama’s refusal to call the attack terrorism, and to heed the warning signs about the porous nature of our security system that allowed it to happen on a military base, recalls President Clinton’s deliberate decision to downplay the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. He did not visit the site of the attack and treated it as a crime, promising to find those guilty and punish them, rather than to attack the international groups that funded and enabled them.

There may be no groups behind Major Hasan’s attack, but the fact that he was an officer in the Army, with full access to a military base and its arsenal of weapons, while holding the views he did, is the first indication of a laxity in security under President Obama. This attack did not take place in a shopping mall or a school, where security procedures are, understandably, relaxed. It happened on the highest security place of all - a military base! That the military failed to spot the possibility of an attack and had no measures in place to prevent it must be laid at the feet of the commander-in-chief of that military: President Barack Obama.

Many commentators have warned that the diminution of security and the weakening of our anti-terrorist protections would leave us vulnerable to be hit again. Now it has happened. And the president is doing everything he can to blur the distinction between murder and terrorism.

It was his failure to understand the difference between an act of war and a crime that undermined President Clinton’s administration’s anti-terror efforts and led directly to 9-11. It would appear that President Obama is going down the same road of denial and minimization of political harm. There may be casualties at Ft. Hood, but Obama is determined that his popularity will not be among them.

[ToledoTigerFan]

Not every mass murder is terrorism. Even if it's done by a Muslim.

[Mark The Shark]

Originally Posted by ToledoTigerFan

Not every mass murder is terrorism. Even if it's done by a Muslim.

When the Muslim yells "allahu Ackbar" before committing said mass murder, its probably terrorism.

[ToledoTigerFan]

Even then, not necessarily. With this kook, it looks more like that butthole at VT than an act of defined terrorism.

[Oblong]

Why wasn't both terrorism?

[JohnJMS]

I'm not sure the value of a debate on what is or isn't terrorism.

What it was was terrible, and I'm sure there was a lot of terror. Good enough for me. Especially when I did a quick search for an agreed upon definition of terrorism and found this:

"At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism"

So me thinks we won't definitively define it here on MTS.

[tiger337]

If someone yelled Jesus is Great and then went on a shooting rage, would it be terrorism? It's not uncommon for a mentally ill person to start yelling things about God when they are having a breakdown.

I'm not convinced this is terrorism unless it can be proved that it was a systematic effort. The result is just as bad as terrorism but I don't know that this was necessarily terrorism.

[Edman85]

To me McVeigh, the VT prick, and the DC Sniper are all terrorists... I don't see why this guy isn't.

[baseballbruce30]

Plain and simple it was an act of cowardism.

[Oblong]

Major Jihadist hit the strip joints first « Don Surber

I think the difference is strip joints. If you go to one before hand then it's terrorism.

[holygoat]

Originally Posted by tiger337

If someone yelled Jesus is Great and then went on a shooting rage, would it be terrorism? It's not uncommon for a mentally ill person to start yelling things about God when they are having a breakdown.

I'm not convinced this is terrorism unless it can be proved that it was a systematic effort. The result is just as bad as terrorism but I don't know that this was necessarily terrorism.

How about now?

U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.

It is not known whether the intelligence agencies informed the Army that one of its officers was seeking to connect with suspected al Qaeda figures, the officials said.

For Hassan's part, it's clear that he though he was doing a Allah a solid:

But this morning, Hasan said that he would be deploying to Afghanistan soon and that he did not want to go. He gave her a copy of the Koran.

"I'm going to do good work for God," he told her.

Then he walked downstairs, through the grassy courtyard, stepped into his silver Honda Civic and drove to Fort Hood. Four hours later, he allegedly opened fire in the Soldier Readiness Center in a rampage that killed 13 people and wounded 38, the deadliest shooting ever on a U.S. military installation.

[Oblong]

If all of that is true then how did this guy slip through the cracks??? Are we that afraid of offending people?

[sub rosa]

i did a search of the forum to find out if the matter reference below was discussed, and, if so, how the discussion went. i didn't find anything. did i just miss it? or was it not discussed?

i was especially interested to see if there was any discussion of the soldier's religious affiliations.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. soldier who authorities say killed five fellow troops -- including a Navy commander -- at a stress clinic in Iraq on Monday apparently used a weapon he wrested away from another soldier, a Defense official said.

The Camp Liberty shooter has been identified as Army Sgt. John M. Russell of Sherman, Texas.

The shooter was identified as Army Sgt. John M. Russell, according to Maj. Gen. David Perkins, the military spokesman who briefed reporters in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday.

Russell has been charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault after the shooting at Camp Liberty, near Baghdad's international airport, Perkins added.

U.S. soldier charged with murder in Iraq shooting deaths - CNN.com