General George Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said on Sunday that he was concerned that speculation about the religious beliefs of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, accused of killing 12 fellow soldiers and one civilian and wounding dozens of others in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, could “cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers.”
“I’ve asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that,” General Casey said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union. “It would be a shame — as great a tragedy as this was — it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well.”
General Casey, who was appeared on three Sunday news programs, used almost the same language during an interview on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” an indication of the Army’s effort to ward off bias against the more than 3,000 Muslims in its ranks.
“A diverse Army gives us strength,” General Casey, who visited Fort Hood Friday, said on “This Week.”
At a news conference in Fort Hood, near Killeen, Tex., the Army announced that 16 of the wounded remained hospitalized, with seven in intensive care. Major Hasan, who was shot by a base police officer, was listed in stable but critical condition.
The major, a 39-year-old psychiatrist, is the American-born son of Palestinian immigrants. He vocally opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and seems to have moved toward more extreme religious beliefs in recent years, according to the investigators. Investigators have tentatively concluded that he acted alone and was not part of a terrorist plot.
“If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance,” Senator Lieberman said. “He should have been gone.”
end of excerpt
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/us/politics/09casey.html
“I’ve asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that,” General Casey said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union. “It would be a shame — as great a tragedy as this was — it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well.”
General Casey, who was appeared on three Sunday news programs, used almost the same language during an interview on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” an indication of the Army’s effort to ward off bias against the more than 3,000 Muslims in its ranks.
“A diverse Army gives us strength,” General Casey, who visited Fort Hood Friday, said on “This Week.”
At a news conference in Fort Hood, near Killeen, Tex., the Army announced that 16 of the wounded remained hospitalized, with seven in intensive care. Major Hasan, who was shot by a base police officer, was listed in stable but critical condition.
The major, a 39-year-old psychiatrist, is the American-born son of Palestinian immigrants. He vocally opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and seems to have moved toward more extreme religious beliefs in recent years, according to the investigators. Investigators have tentatively concluded that he acted alone and was not part of a terrorist plot.
“If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance,” Senator Lieberman said. “He should have been gone.”
end of excerpt
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/us/politics/09casey.html
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- current89
- added this
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This war on Islam is ridiculous. End the stress that is the root of deep phycological
problems many of our troops are suffering from.-
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- kennymotown
- 15 days ago
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It's great that the army chief of staff has his head on straight and is telling his inferiors to keep an eye out for more racial hazing's. But this should of been done when the war first started.
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- FishaHouse777
- 15 days ago
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19 Arabs on 911 and Bush backed the Saudies and started a "Holy war" on 1 billion muslims,what did you think would happen!
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- ras_menelik
- 15 days ago
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