[Vision2020] Details on Fort Hood Suspect Emerge

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the Army Times

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A 2007 photo of Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan from a pdf file of Masters of
Public Health students at Uniformed Services University of the Health
Sciences.

http://tinyurl.com/MajorNidalHassan

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Details on Fort Hood suspect emerge

Major had attracted federal authorities’ attention because of Web postings

By Brett J. Blackledge - The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — His name appears on radical Internet postings. A fellow
officer says he fought his deployment to Afghanistan and argued with
soldiers who supported U.S. wars. He required counseling as a medical
student because of problems with patients.

There are many unknowns about Nidal Malik Hasan, the man authorities say
is responsible for the worst mass killing on a U.S. military base. Most of
all, his motive.

For six years before reporting for duty at Fort Hood, Texas, in July, the
39-year-old Army major worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center
pursuing his career in psychiatry, as an intern, a resident and, last
year, a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry. He received his
medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the
Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001.

While an intern at Walter Reed, Hasan had some "difficulties" that
required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who
was the training director at the time.

Grieger said privacy laws prevented him from going into details but noted
that the problems had to do with Hasan's interactions with patients. He
recalled Hasan as a "mostly very quiet" person who never spoke ill of the
military or his country.

"He swore an oath of loyalty to the military," Grieger said. "I didn't
hear anything contrary to those oaths."

But, more recently, federal agents grew suspicious.

At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement
officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other
threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who
throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.

They had not determined for certain whether Hasan is the author of the
posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the
shooting, said law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of
anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case.

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, terror attacks and he wanted out of the
Army.

"Some people can take it, and some people cannot," she said. "He had
listened to all of that and he wanted out of the military."

She said he had sought a discharge from the military for several years,
and even offered to repay the cost of his medical training.

A military official told the Associated Press that Hasan was in the
preparation stage of deployment, which can take months. The official said
Hasan had indicated he didn't want to go to Iraq but was willing to serve
in Afghanistan. The official did not have authorization to discuss the
matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A second military official said Hasan's family has Palestinian roots.
There have been reports that he was harassed for his Muslim religion, but
the official says there is no indication Hasan filed a complaint within
the military about that.

Terrorism task force agents plan to interview several of Hasan's relatives
Friday, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition
of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the case.

Noel Hasan said her nephew "did not make many friends" and would say "they
military was his life."

A cousin, Nader Hasan, told the New York Times that after counseling
soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress
disorder, Hasan knew war firsthand.

"He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy," Nader Hasan said. "He
had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there."

Federal law-enforcement agents ordered an evacuation of the apartment
complex where Hasan lived in Killeen, Texas, Thursday night and conducted
a search of his home, said Hilary Shine, director of public information
for the city. She didn't say what was found during the search.

Officials said earlier that federal search warrants were being drawn up to
authorize the seizure of his computer.

Retired Army Col. Terry Lee, who said he worked with Hasan, told Fox News
that Hasan had hoped President Barack Obama would pull troops out of
Afghanistan and Iraq. Lee said Hasan got into frequent arguments with
others in the military who supported the wars, and had tried hard to
prevent his pending deployment.

Col. Kimberly Kesling, deputy commander of clinical services at Darnall
Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, said she had known Hasan.

"You wouldn't think that someone who works in your facility and provided
excellent care for his patients, which he did, could do something like
this," Kesling said. She praised his work ethic, saying, "In my personal
interactions, there was never any indication he would do something like
this." Kesling described him as "a quiet man who wouldn't seek the
limelight" and says she was 'shocked' when she heard that he was the man
suspected of carrying out the shootings.

Hasan attended prayers regularly when he lived outside Washington, often
in his Army uniform, said Faizul Khan, a former imam at a mosque Hasan
attended in Silver Spring, Md. He said Hasan was a lifelong Muslim.

"I got the impression that he was a committed soldier," Khan said. He
spoke often with Hasan about Hasan's desire for a wife.

On a form filled out by those seeking spouses through a program at the
mosque, Hasan listed his birthplace as Arlington, Va., but his nationality
as Palestinian, Khan said.

"I don't know why he listed Palestinian," Khan said, "He was not born in
Palestine."

Nothing stood out about Hasan as radical or extremist, Khan said.

"We hardly ever got to discussing politics," Khan said. "Mostly we were
discussing religious matters, nothing too controversial, nothing like an
extremist."

Hasan earned his rank of major in May 2008.

He served eight years as an enlisted soldier. He graduated from Virginia
Tech in Blacksburg, receiving a bachelor's degree in biochemistry there in
1997.

Associated Press writers Lara Jakes, Pam Hess, Lolita C. Baldor and Brett
Zongker in Washington and Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this
report.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown