Disgruntled Soldier Attacks

On November 5, 2009, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist at Fort Hood, killed 13 people and wounded 30. Hasan himself was shot four times but is still alive. The shooting took place at 1:30 P.M.. at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center of Fort Hood and it was not until after 7 P.M. that the gates of Fort Hood could be reopened.

Why did Major Hasan decide to go on a shooting rampage just before deployment? In the army, Hasan faced anti-Muslim harassment. Hasan was ordered to be deployed and wanted to be discharged but was told that it was practically impossible. According to the NY times, Hasan “was wrestling with the quandary of being a Muslim officer in an army fighting other Muslims”. Many people are asking if this disaster could have been prevented. Did the Army overlook obvious signs of Hasan’s discontent? It is obvious that the Army missed something otherwise the shooting would not have happened.

During this time of chaos, the people have looked to the President for answers. America has turned to Obama for two reasons. The first reason is that U.S. system of government fuses the head of state and head of government into a single individual, the president. Obama urges everyone to stay calm until all the facts are out. The second reason has to do with Wildavsky’s idea of two presidencies. He argues that the president is in charge of foreign policy and congress and others are in charge of domestic policy. Because there has been suggestions that Hasan’s rampage was an act of terrorism, we look to the president who is responsible for foreign policy to explain.