Community | November 08, 2009 | 221 comments

Ft. Hood Shooter was Mistreated

source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33766545/ns/us_news-washington_post/

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JonRaymond
"Everyone else just sat down there and drunk their beer and looked at him and giggled at him," the woman said, starting to cry. "They just would laugh at him when he walked down with his Muslim clothes. . . . He was mistreated. He didn't have nobody. He was all alone. He went to his apartment there and was all alone."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33766545/ns/us_news-washington_post/

The pervasive racism toward Muslims in the military is obviously at the heart of why Nidal Malik Hasan went to the breaking point. This is all too familiar as we have seen with the kids at Columbine.

"In mid-August, just a few weeks after moving to Killeen, Hasan had a run-in with a soldier living in apartment No. 12. One night after he had been drinking, John Van de Walker scraped a key along the full length of the passenger's side of Hasan's car. Then he removed and destroyed a bumper sticker that read, 'Allah is Love,' according to several residents, including live-in managers John and Alice Thompson."

The U.S. military has a long standing policy of racism toward the peoples of countries we are "at war with" (See http://current.com/items/90486086_the-u-s-military-has-a-racist-genocidal-policy...). It is standard procedure to dehumanize these foreign populations so that soldiers can more easily deal with the rampant death of innocent people that they see in war. I use the term racism loosely here as it actually applies to the Muslim religion. But few make the distinction between the Muslim religion and Arab ethnicity.



Hasan was known to his comrades in his apartment complex as "number 9", a reference to his apartment number. Many are calling him a terrorist because he is a Muslim, and in the context of the wars against Muslim nations that we are engaged in. Has Tim McVeigh ever been called a terrorist? Perhaps. But that hasn't given white middle-state Americans the stigma of terrorism.

I think Hasan has a lot more in common with Timothy McVeigh than he does with Muslim terrorists in Afghanistan. They are (or were) both U.S. military members who were disgruntled enough with the military to retaliate and kill innocent victims.

Every religion has the concept that people should not kill. We don't know for sure and probably never will, but in addition to be driven to the brink by the incessant tormenting he suffered, I believe it was this devotion to his religion that may have lead him to open fire upon deploying troops to an unjust war that dehumanizes and kills the innocent as a matter of policy. But that is purely my conjecture in trying to explain the unexplainable.

Killing is not justified in civilian life or even in war when the innocent die. But this may help to explain what happened, why it happened, how it might have been prevented, and could be prevented in the future.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/07/AR2009110703449....

The BBC reports that Hasan had long wanted to leave the military due to suffering harassment because of his religion, and that many Muslims in the U.S. military suffer harassment and this shooting has raised fears among them. The reports states the following:
________________________________________
According to the Pentagon, there are 3,572 Muslims in active service. However, some Muslims in the military say the real number is as high as 20,000.

The US government has made no secret of the fact that it would like to see more people from Arab and Muslim communities joining the armed forces.

More American Muslim troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan has long been seen as a vital part in helping the US in its missions to win hearts and minds in those countries.

"They are a great asset to the army," Lt Col Nathan Banks, army spokesman for the Pentagon, told the BBC.

"When they do deploy they help facilitate a lot of our missions. American Muslims in the army work hand in hand with local Muslims, and we welcome that."

He said the army did not foresee heightened tensions within its ranks as a result of Fort Hood.
_______________________________________
Meanwhile tensions have risen sharply around the country, as we see on internet posts like this one, where many accuse Hasan of being a terrorist, sympathetic to the Muslims we fight against. This BBC article also reports that Muslims in the U.S. military now have a growing fear of harassment as a result. It's obviously very hard for people to distinguish between Muslims in general (including those in our own military) and the Muslims we fight as members of the Taliban or Al Qaeda.

See the BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8347586.stm
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221 comments // Ft. Hood Shooter was Mistreated

  • keithponder
    • 0
      keithponder  
    • keithponder:

      anglcazn,

      Your profile says, and I quote," If you make a ridiculous statement, I will make fun of you, and if I make fun of you, at least you have my respect "

      What right do you have to fun of anyone that you don't know.That's what the doctor said the other American soldiers did to him. He said that they made fun of him.What's stupid to you probably means that you just don't understand because you might not have the ability to comprehend. I don't want your respect, thank God.

      That has got to be the most mindless quote that I've ever seen printed on this website. Why don't you do a story on that quote. Enlighten us please or just try sticking to monkey bar wrestling and 2 on one experiments.

      Now I completely understand all of the rest of your quotes.

    • 2 years ago
  • Lecti
  • clownpuncher
  • EdJoyProductions
  • mojojuju
  • clownpuncher
  • EdJoyProductions
  • Nettle
  • Ihatethemall
  • JuliusBC
  • Lurkistan
  • Nettle
  • Vierotchka
  • Nettle
    • 0
      Nettle  
    • clownpuncher:

      Male genitals, penis, tally wacker, veg and two bits, happy stick...

      You hold the shaft right below the head in one hand and then take the other, ball it into a fist, and slam it down onto the head of the penis as hard as you can. I don't have a dick (although I sometimes am one) but I imagine it would hurt a great deal.

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • clownpuncher:

      Well, Nettle - just look at clownpuncher's avatar... it looks like he just did exactly that to himself... Rightwingnuts and Islamophobes are notorious masochists who like to self-inflict grief and torture...

    • 2 years ago
  • EdJoyProductions
    • 0
      EdJoyProductions  

    • It is unfortunate that he was picked on and disrespected, but he was a psychiatrist. It is hard to see the warning signs in the people that you trust to seek them out in others.

      Personal observation & question: why is it that most of the people that need the most psychiatric help go into the psychiatric field?

    • 2 years ago
  • FishaHouse777
  • EdJoyProductions
  • FishaHouse777
    • 0
      FishaHouse777  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      Actually it isn't required but recommended, we go through intensive medical school and then an internship with medical doctors and then psychiatrists. Once we start interning with other psychiatrists it's kinda like being in therapy, with everybody analyzing each other. It should be required though now that I think about it haha

    • 2 years ago
  • EdJoyProductions
  • 02
    • 0
      02  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      Thinking is very much like working the muscles. When you think thoughts, you make them strong and a part of you.
      If you want thoughts, feelings and "problems" to go, stop making them stronger by re-creating them anew every time you re-think them.
      When you stop thinking things, they become suspended in the river of time, that simply passes on by. Something you thought two minutes ago becomes something you thought two months ago, something you thought 20 years ago - 'cept you can't remember anymore cause it's long gone.
      You become the new you that is thinking the new thoughts - those thoughts are the new you.

      The old you, - is gone.

      Forget psychiatry - you're just begging for trouble.

    • 2 years ago
  • EdJoyProductions
    • 0
      EdJoyProductions  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      I am very anti-therapy personally, but for people that are not dangerously insane. I do think a rehashing of the past and going over it again and again with a therapist for most people is probably more harmful than good.

      It is also not a very precise science. Unfortunately psychiatry is the only game in town for the seriously mentally ill.

    • 2 years ago
  • anglcazn
    • 0
      anglcazn  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      Psychiatry, but more psychology, uses therapy to treat their patients. It's not only for "the seriously mentally ill" but for anybody that seeks one. It can be a simple, "No one listens to me and I just need to tell somebody" to "I'm hearing voices."

      To your statement, "why is it that most of the people that need the most psychiatric help go into the psychiatric field?"
      That is not applicable for everyone. People go into fields for whatever reason it may be. One person's experience should not be generalized upon the population.

      But, I'm curious to know why many of you are "anti-therapy." Just a curiosity. I have some information that contradicts your statements. But, I would like to know your reasons first before I assume.

    • 2 years ago
  • 02
    • 0
      02  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      You are quite strong enough to figure yourself out. The buffeting oscillations of 'not knowing' and insecurities that rake many - are largely an affect of youth.
      It's a crime that some people get stuck thinking there are therapists around who will take care of them and get them through whatever vexes them; - when, growing up is all that is really needed.

      But then doctors are making money with their many money-making therapy strategies that simply drag out what is really only temporary emotional pain.

      But then, - what else are the cash-cows good for? Right?

    • 2 years ago
  • EdJoyProductions
    • 0
      EdJoyProductions  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      "Personal observation & question: why is it that most of the people that need the most psychiatric help go into the psychiatric field?" Operative words there were personal observation. I am in the social work field and have found that the psychiatrists and psychologists are more often than not in need of help. I am not making a blanket statement for everyone in the field and I opened it up for discussion. That is why I brought it up.

      My personal feelings about therapy are based on some unethical behavior that I have witnessed from a number of therapists in 25 years of social work. I also stated my anti-therapy was personal. I have seen many people benefit from therapy but I have seen even more victims of bad therapists.

      You are welcome to debate my statements but you can not contradict personal experience. I can not make a blanket statement about the entire profession because it is not an exact science. Sometimes it is helpful and sometimes it is detrimental. I am just expressing my belief.

      I welcome opposing opinions. :)

    • 2 years ago
  • Twistisking
    • 0
      Twistisking  

    • This is a really sad story that ends in another American tragedy. You can't help but to feel a little sympathy for the guy. If we can't, than there is a more serious problem laying here.

    • 2 years ago
  • RickLD
    • 0
      RickLD  
    • Twistisking:

      Before he went on a rampage and started killing, i might have felt sorry for him. But now. not one red cent of sympathy. Other than in the act of preserving your own life should taking another be excuseable..

    • 2 years ago
  • FishaHouse777
    • 0
      FishaHouse777  

    • Stereotypes bring upon racism, racism brings upon prejudice, and prejudice brings upon internal and external wars. This man was a victim of the system, but it still doesn't mean what he did was justified he needs to be severely punished to redeem his actions.

    • 2 years ago
  • JonRaymond
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  
    • FishaHouse777:

      Sad thing is his actions only re-enforce the whole concept.
      It was his job to handle situations like these and he could not do it for the soldiers or himself. Sounds like he wasn't a very good candidate for his job and he picked the wrong major in school.

    • 2 years ago
  • JonRaymond
    • 0
      JonRaymond  
    • FishaHouse777:

      I don't care who you are or what your profession is. Everyone can be driven to the breaking point and this kind of cruel racism and taunting is exactly what does it. Just because he's in his profession, that doesn't make him a superman, impervious to pain and suffering.

    • 2 years ago
  • Nephwrack
  • samthesixth
  • JulianCommongold
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