WTF?

[Mark in Vancouver]

A US army major has opened fire on fellow soldiers at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, killing 12 people and injuring 31, officials say.

Base commander Lt Gen Bob Cone said that the gunman had not been killed, as earlier stated, but was in custody.

Two other suspects were questioned, but the army now says only one gunman was involved in the incident.

Lt Gen Cone said the motive for the shooting was not known. One of the dead was a policeman, others were soldiers.

President Barack Obama described it as "a horrific outburst of violence".

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, he said: "It is difficult enough when we lose these brave men and women abroad, but it is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on US soil."

He extended his condolences to the families of the victims, adding: "We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident."

Eleven victims were initially reported dead, but one of the injured died, bringing the death toll to 12.

Barack Obama: 'A horrific outburst of violence'

The gunman has been named as Major Nidal Malik Hasan. He is now said to be wounded after being shot a number of times, but in a stable condition in custody.

"His death is not imminent," said Lt Gen Cone.

Maj Hasan, aged 39, was a military psychiatrist and was reportedly due to be sent on a mission to Iraq.

His cousin said Maj Hasan - a US-born Muslim - had been resisting such a deployment.

"He hired a military attorney to try to have the issue resolved, pay back the government, to get out of the military. He was at the end of trying everything," Nader Hasan told Fox News.

He also said that Nidal Malik Hasan had been battling racial harassment because of his "Middle Eastern ethnicity".

Prior to Fort Hood, Maj Hasan served as a psychiatrist at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, which treats wounded troops from combat zones.

The shooting had begun at about 1330 (1930 GMT) on Thursday at a personnel and medical centre at Fort Hood, where soldiers who are preparing to deploy go for last-minute medical check-ups, Lt Gen Cone said.

He said the gunman had two weapons, one semi-automatic, which "might explain the rate of fire".

Asked whether the shootings were a terrorist act, Lt Gen Cone said: "I couldn't rule that out but I'm telling you that right now, the evidence does not suggest that."

Two more suspects were apprehended in an adjacent facility, he said, but eyewitness accounts suggesting there might have been more than one gunman were later discounted.

A serviceman stationed at Fort Hood who asked to remain anonymous told the BBC: "I heard the emergency announcement over the speakers outside and saw people rushing to get indoors."

Local congressman John Carter, speaking to NBC News, said gunfire had erupted half an hour before a graduation ceremony was due to begin.

Fort Hood, near the town of Killeen, is the largest US base in the world.

Home to about 40,000 US troops, the base lies between Austin and Waco, about 60 miles (100 km) from each city.

The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says units at Fort Hood are among those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some will have returned from there.

The base has a centre that deals with combat stress, our correspondent adds.

Hilary Shine, of the Killeen Fire Department told the BBC's News Channel Fort Hood was like a small city.

"It has schools, a hospital, a convenience store even. And it has a large daytime population - including civilians working on the base - with as many as 80,000 in this area during the daytime."
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Your vantage point determines what you can see.

[MTS]

And, today another gunman in Orlando. The newspaper may have to start a "mass murder du jour" section.

Why so many crazies? How do we even begin to try and stop it?
Very sad.

[Martin Thoene]

Quote:

How do we even begin to try and stop it?

It requires an entire nation to come kicking and screaming out of a frontier mentality, legislation and true control over supply.

Good luck.

Martin.
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Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

[Jonas]

"WTF?" is the proper title for this post Mark...

Do we have "just" an Army Soldier/Officer that saw too much on his last deployment to a Middle-Eastern War Zone? Or a 2nd generation Middle-Eastern (Jordainian/Palistinian)-American that has seen too much that was expected to go back to a Middle-Eastern War Zone & kill his cousins?
I'm sure that some will say that his being a Moslam trumped his citizenship... Thus, he was just acting out his "Anti-American/Anti-Freedom destiny"...

You gotta admit, it's hard being anything but a "Christian" here in the US. We've finally, & only recently accepted (marginally) "Papist's" as Christian... (Unless they're Southern or Central American immigrants-legal or not!) "Jews, Moslams, Pagans & Aethiests need not apply..."

When George "Gee Dubya" Bush declared that we were on a "Crusade", the majority of the US understood that as "a fight to the finish" (ala WWII)... Unfortunately Moslams understood that as "fighting words"... "Crusade"="We will destroy you... & your religion..." As the Templar Knights did in Centuries past...
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Jonas

[Mark in Vancouver]

Actually, I didn't go to any of those places when I posted this, Jonas.

I'm not particularly interested in the motives of any mass murderer - at least not more than in the existentialist sense. It makes a great novel, but these stories are pathetic and lame the instant you hear about them.

This is the same symptom of whatever sickness it is that makes a man shoot up an Amish classroom, a women's studies university class, or his fellow high schoolers. Looking for motives is probably a waste of time.

What blew my mind is that it occurred on an army base - THE army base. I don't know what it does for morale when officers start shooting everyone in the room. I guess morale sometimes hinges on resolve alone.

When I first heard the news, all I could think of was George C. Scott fretting about his precious bodily fluids.
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Your vantage point determines what you can see.

[Jonas]

Well, they were my initial thoughts...

I guess the last 8 years of mindless war has struck my American brain...

I rather want to know what mass murderers think, I want to know the warning signs, I want to know some how in my "Polly Anna fantasies" how to stop things like this...
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Jonas

[Martin Thoene]

Shoulda used.........



Martin.
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Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

[Ken]

Jonas wrote:

I rather want to know what mass murderers think, I want to know the warning signs, I want to know some how in my "Polly Anna fantasies" how to stop things like this...

It sounds like there were plenty of warning signs in this instance but no one bothered to mention them to anyone else.
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“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”

James Beard

[Martin Thoene]

A picture from 1943 that kind of says it all.



Sad.

1973



Martin.
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Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

[Ken]

I can easily understand why this sort of thing happens. Someone with a screw loose gets overly stressed, blames others for this stress and has access to guns or explosives. "I'll show them!"

Of course this is simplified but IMHO, that covers the basics.
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“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”

James Beard

[aRifleman2]

Martin for some reason the pics you are posting on threads are not showing up for me. What site is hosting the pics you are posting?

~aRifleman2
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Maybe, just once, someone will call me 'Sir' without adding, 'You/re making a scene'.

[Dave C]

aRifleman2 wrote:

Martin for some reason the pics you are posting on threads are not showing up for me. What site is hosting the pics you are posting? ~aRifleman2

Right click on the broken icon, click on view image. Hitting refresh on what comes up sometimes works. Otherwise, remove the http:// from the address and hit enter.
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“Scientists are saying the future is going to be far more futuristic than they originally predicted.”