When War Comes Home: Massacre At Fort Hood, Suspect, A Major, in Custody, Afghan Agony

November 5th, 2009 - by: danny

THIS JUST IN, FRIDAY MORNING: NG FOR BO: U.S. unemployment rate hits 10.2 percent in October, the highest rate since April, 1983. Job losses total 190,000.

From Mark Stenzler: (Bernie) Kerik turned sideways spells Rikers!

FT HOOD SHOOTING, SUSPECT IN CUSTODY
US WANTS TO BUY THE TALIBAN
TRIBUTE: ANTHROPOLOGIST CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUS

WAR COMES HOME:

A gunman in the mass shooting at the Army base was a Doctor, a U.S. military officer, the commanding general Robert Cone of Fort Hood says. 12 soldiers were killed, 31 wounded in the Fort Hood shooting earlier in the day. (There has been a another death since, making it 13.) The suspect, a veteran officer, whose motives were not clear was shot and is alive, in stable condition.

Fort Hood is the largest military base in the world, often the home, a transitory home, to 50,000 soldiers. It is a portal to deployments worldwide, with soldiers coming and being shipped out. Its the place that Elvis Presley was stationed back in l958, and also a center of dissent, a possible issue in the reasons that an Army Psychiatrist had an apparent psychiatric breakdown. The NY Times reports, “Having counseled scores of returning soldiers over combat stress, Major Hasan knew war’s realities, a cousin said.”

Born In Virginia, an ROTC grad at Virginia Tech, Major Nadal Malik Hasan had worked with people suffering from trauma and in disasters, people who threatened and possibly committed suicide. He had, we were told, been given orders to deploy overseas at the end of this month. He didn’t want to go. He had also apparently hired a military lawyer to handle cases of alleged harassment, including attacks on his religion. None of this has been confirmed yet.

CNN Had reported in June on familiy tensions on the base and even suicides. “No soldier has been killed on the roads around Fort Hood in more than 200 days. And although the base has seen two suicides since the start of the year, that is much less than some other major Army bases.”

Chris Matthews said there have been 75 suicides at Ft. Hood in an unspecified timeline.

As seen on C-SPAN’s coverage of Veterans’ Mental Health Services, Veterans Affairs and Defense Departments Mental Health Summit (November 2) – General Eric Shinseki (retired), Veterans Affairs Secretary: “Since 2001, more US soldiers have committed suicide than have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Major Hasan had been said to question the wars, perhaps because of his experience with troubled soldiers. A man who knew him told Sean Hannity Thursday night that he had dismissed his anti-war statements because many soldiers there felt the same way.

I first heard about dissent at Fort Hood back in l966 when three soldiers, “THE FORT HOOD THREE” challenged the Vietnam War. One of them, Dennis Mora, read a statement in New York on June 30th 1966:

“We are Pfc. James Johnson, Pvt. David Samas, and Pvt. Dennis Mora, three soldiers formerly stationed at Fort Hood, Texas in the same company of the 142 Signal Battalion, 2nd Armored Division. We have received orders to report on the 13th of July at Oakland Army Terminal in California for final processing and shipment to Vietnam.

We have decided to take a stand against this war, which we consider immoral, illegal and unjust. We are initiating today, through our attorneys, Stanley Faulkner of New York and Mrs. Selma Samols of Washington, D.C. an action in the courts to enjoin the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Army from sending us to Vietnam. We intend to report as ordered to the Oakland Army Terminal, but under no circumstances will we board ship for Vietnam. We are prepared to face Court Martial if necessary.
We represent in our backgrounds a cross section of the Army and of America. James Johnson is a Negro, David Samas is of Lithuanian and Italian parents, Dennis Mora is a Puerto Rican. We speak as American soldiers.

We have been in the army long enough to know that we are not the only G.l.’s who feel as we do. Large numbers of men in the service either do not understand this war or are against it.

When we entered the army Vietnam was for us only a newspaper box score of G.l.’s and Viet Cong killed or wounded. We were all against it in one way or another, but we were willing to “go along with the program,” believing that we would not be sent to Vietnam.
We were told from the very first day of our induction that we were headed for Vietnam. During basic training it was repeated often by sergeants and officers, and soon it became another meaningless threat that was used to make us take our training seriously.”

Wikipedia notes: “Fort Hood has served as a hub for anti-war activity during both the Vietnam War and the current War on Terror.

From 1968-1972, the Oleo Strut was a G.I. coffeehouse located near post in Killeen, Texas. The coffee house was featured in the documentary Sir, No Sir! (2005).

In 2009, the tradition of The Oleo Strut continued when the Under the Hood Cafe opened. The location serves as an outreach center for antiwar activists to reach out to area soldiers, and provide them with support.

Recently several soldiers supported by Under the Hood have taken public acts of resistance, including Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience Travis Bishop and Victor Agosto.”

There has also been a history of violence in the area as Mark Ames reports on Alternet.org:

“The most shocking thing about Major Malik Nadal Hasan’s shooting rampage in Fort Hood, Texas. I’ll start with this: there’s nothing all that ground-breaking about it. Happens all the time, it’s just that we’re a nation of amnesiacs who forget all the unpleasantries, and refuse to learn the valuable lessons.

For starters, Fort Hood is located in Killeen, Texas — where one of the deadliest rampage shootings in American history took place in 1991, when an unemployed ex-Navy enlistee, George Hennard Jr., crashed his pickup into a popular cafeteria, pulled out two handguns (Hasan also used two handguns), and murdered 23 people before taking his own life. The day before the massacre, Hennard was eating a hamburger in a local restaurant watching the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and, according to the manager, “When an interview with Anita Hill came on, he just went off. He started screaming, ‘You dumb bitch! You bastards opened the door for all the women!’”

So yesterday’s Fort Hood shooting isn’t the worst or most deranged mass-killing in Killeen’s history — not by a longshot.”

SO MANY QUESTIONS, SO FEW ANSWERS

So there was a tradition of dissent and protest on that base, but nothing like what happened yesterday, when an Army Major and professional shrink opened up with automatic weapons on fellow soldiers. Did he see himself as a terrorist? Had he been recruited? Was there some kind of “transferance” going on with him feeling estranged and then identifying with the “enemy”–because of his religion and culture?

Remember many of those the US government is fighting believe, rightly or wrongly, that the US is waging war on Islam. What was behind his decision to go to war on the institution he was part of? At this moment, we don’t know. Will we find out? Was this a reaction in some ways to the recent killing of a Muslim religious leader in Detroit that has been challenged. Was his hate crime a response to other hate crimes/ The questions pile up. Asking them does not excuse or rationalize his actions.

Quick action by soldiers there limited the casualaties.

The base was locked down and but is now open with the commanding General saying they believe there was a “lone” gunman, a somehow a historic phrase in Texas. Three other suspects were questioned and released.

At a press conference the man in charge would not comment about Major Hasan although he did say he is expected to live and is not yet cooperating with authorities or answering questions. We do not know the names of the dead or wounded, although apparently it was a female soldier that shot Hasan.

President Obama called the base to express his sympathy. (10:03 PM)

MORE ON THE MAJOR FROM THE AP

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.

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.”

THE MEDIA OF THE DAY: SHOOTING GETS THE ATTENTION

DXM had been monitoring tv coverage:

Because of the shooting in Texas, the “(Teabagger) House Call” event is getting no cable coverage – at least on CNN (which is taking commercial breaks), and MSNBC that is running it wall-to-wall

The Republican “House Call” event in Washington was organized by “conservative” U.S. government officials; elected House of Representatives leadership and members.

While Democrats were touting AARP’s endorsement…
By Jed Lewison

Michele Bachmann and the House leadership were rallying amidst images of Holocaust victims, shoulder to shoulder with 2,000 teabaggers.

Keep in mind the “House Call” protest wasn’t some Glenn Beck-organized 9/12 stunt. This was an event staged by the House Republican leadership — actual elected officials, members of the U.S. government.

[SNIP]

Other Republican members of Congress were on stage, too: Minority Leader John Boehner (OH), Minority Whip Eric Cantor (VA), Roy Blunt (MO), Jeb Hensarling (TX), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), Michele Bachmann (MN) — who was a key organizer of the event — Virginia Foxx (NC), Ginny Brown-Waite (FL), Jean Schmidt (OH), Sue Myrick (NC), and many more [to be posted].

If Republicans wonder why most Americans view them as part of the fringe extreme, they need not look beyond this “House Call” event. While Democrats were touting the endorsement of AARP, Michele Bachmann and the House leadership were rallying amidst images of Holocaust victims, shoulder to shoulder with 2,000 teabaggers.

A KRIEG:, Huffington Post, “Fans Of House Health Option Cite Rights Hopes, But Risk Big Defeat,” (Nov. 5, 2009)
SINGLE PAYER SPONSORS CONYERS AND KUCINCH NOW OPPOSE THEIR OWN BILL

Because the process has assured, guaranteed that it will be defeated and “would be interpreted as a defeat for single payer.”

Want a condemnation of how Congress “works,” read this:

“Here are the facts: There has been no debate in Congress over HR676. There has not been a single mark-up of the bill. Single payer was “taken off the table” for the entire year by the White House and by congressional leaders. There has been no reasonable period of time to gather support in the Congress for single payer. Many members accepted a “robust public option” as the alternative to single payer and now that has disappeared. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has scored the bill scheduled for a vote tomorrow in a manner which is at odds with many credible assumptions, meaning that it will appear to cost way too much even though we know that true single payer saves money since one of every three dollars in the health care system goes to administrative costs caused by the insurance companies. Is this really the climate in which we want a test vote?

While state single payer movements are already strong, the national single payer movement is still growing. Many progressives in Congress, ourselves included, feel that calling for a vote tomorrow for single payer would be tantamount to driving the movement over a cliff. The thrill of the vote would disappear quickly when the result would be characterized not as a new beginning for single payer but as an end. Such a result would be seen as proof that Congress need not pay attention to efforts to restore in Conference Committee the right of states to pursue single payer without fear of legal attacks by insurance companies.

We are always grateful for your support. We are now asking you to join us in suggesting to congressional leaders that this is not the right time to call the roll on a stand-alone single payer bill.”

After reading this, Michael wrote from Detroit: “To deal with the United States Congress requires nothing less than certified mental illness. Not to be described as mere major depression. No. It requires schizophrenia, bipolar or chronic state of hallucination.”

TRANSLATION: SINGLE PAYER WAS KILLED BEFORE IT WAS EVEN VOTED ON, A SCANDAL AND A SHAME!

EURWEB: ELECTION NOT ABOUT OBAMA

U.S. defense bill would pay Taliban to switch sides

IF YOU CAN’T BEAT EM, TRY TO BUY’EM

TD: NICK TURSE: THE LONG WAR AHEAD

This is real reporting on the build-up in Afghanistan… largely ignored in the mainstream!

From TomDispatch this morning, a striking account of how, in Afghanistan — whatever the Afghan War debates in Washington — the Pentagon is already digging in, contract by contract. (And, by the way, just the sort of piece Nick Turse has long specialized in for TomDispatch, based in part on investigative Internet reporting and the mining of Pentagon contracts, government and corporate websites, and military publications.): Turse, “2014 or Bust, The Pentagon’s Building Boom in Afghanistan Indicates a Long

In his latest TomDispatch post, Turse explores not the arguments in Washington for a widening war in Afghanistan, but the facts on the ground in that country where the Pentagon is already creating the infrastructure for a widening war and passing out massive construction contracts to private companies that are not due for completion until at least 2011.

Turse first considers what we already know about the Pentagon’s build-up at Bagram Air Base, its key hub in Afghanistan — with more than $200 million in construction projects planned or in-progress at this moment on “just the Air Force section of that base.” Then he digs into more recent, largely un-reported contracts for a major Pentagon build-up in southern Afghanistan, including at Kandahar Air Base and at a raft of forward operating bases now being constructed.

GREG PALAST: THE BIGGEST MEDIA LIE

On September 11, 2001, my office building, the World Trade Center, was attacked by al Qaeda, a murder cult of Saudi Arabians, funded by Saudi Arabians. And so, in response to the Saudis’ attack, America invaded … Afghanistan. Like, HUH?

And here we go again. New York Times headline last Friday: “Pakistani Army, In Its Campaign In Taliban Stronghold, Finds A Hint Of 9/11.”

Google it and you’ll find the Times report repeated and amplified 5,785 times more.

Taliban = 9/11. Taliban = 9/11. Taliban = 9/11.

Your eyelids are getting heavy. Taliban = 9/11. Taliban = 9/11.

It’s the latest hit from the same crew that brought you Saddam = 9/11 and its twin chant, Saddam = WMD, Dick Cheney’s chimerical tropes which the New York Times’ Judith Miller happily channeled to the paper’s front page.

And they’re at it again.

Every war begins with a lie. In addition to Saddam = WMD, I’m old enough to remember the Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorizing the war in Vietnam, based on a fictional Vietnamese gunboat attack on our Navy. (White House recordings have Lyndon Johnson gloating privately, “Hell, those damn stupid [US] sailors were just shooting at flying fish.”)

Islamabad: Americans Dressed as Afghans Caught With Illegal Weapons and Explosives

ISLAMABAD — FOUR American citizens were caught red-handed by Capital Police in the early hours of Tuesday for photographing sensitive buildings. All four were dressed in traditional Afghan outfits and were found to be in possession of illegal weapons and explosives

According to details, police personnel deployed here at Nawaz Chowk, sector F-8, intercepted two suspicious vehicles in the early hours of Tuesday. During the search, police recovered weapons from their custody. The riders of these vehicles were found to be American citizens. They were all dressed as Afghans.

CURRENT TV REPORTS ON THE DEFEAT OF SRI LANKA’S TAMIL TIGERS

In Mexico, fears of a ‘lost generation’
Violence among young soars as drug cartels recruit more minors
By William Booth and Steve Fainaru, Washington Post Foreign Service

REAL NEWS: DANIEL ELLSBERG: WHY AFGHANISTAN IS BECOMING ANOTHER VIETNAM

UN VOTED TODAY TO FOLLOW UP ON JUDGE RICHARD GOLDSTONE’S REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE GAZA GAZA WAR

114 Countries Voted Yes
44 Abstained
18 Voted NO including the United States Of America, Israel and the Marshall Islands

The News Dissector