Who is the Killer at Ft. Hood?

Now that there has been a few days for those involved and those watching around the world to look back and reflect on the tragic events that unfolded at Fort Hood, it seems as if these shootings could have been avoided. As a few military personnel have now publically spoken about the shooter that claimed 13 lives while injuring an additional 30 others; they say that Major Nidal Malik Hasan was a ticking time bomb that’s clock was long over due to expire.

Some might call it ironic that a man whose primary job at the military base was to council “shell-shocked” soldiers back to normalcy was actually the one that actually needed counseling. However, Mr. Hasan was described by all that knew him as a calm and loving man, but in recent weeks colleagues claimed that something in his behavior had drastically changed. In recent weeks his attitude and demeanor was a mix of nerves, anger and anxiety as the possibility of deployment to Iraq was growing ever increasingly likely. Perhaps one of the most shocking and demented views that Hasan had developed was that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were actually wars on Islam and Islamic culture.

Those that knew Hasan and saw the downward spiraling path his life was taking said they were not at all shocked that he committed this horrendous crime. They recently began questioning his priorities, beliefs and commitment to the United States military. What is most shocking about these revelations and comments from fellow brothers in arms was that something wasn’t said or done sooner to prevent such a situation from happening that eventually led to the loss of 13 innocent lives. There is no question that something needs to be done to prevent future situations similar to the one at Fort Hood and if someone is acting suspiciously, action needs to be taken immediately as opposed to being analyzed and scrutinized after the fact. It seems that we need to be much more proactive as opposed to reactive.