VIA EURWEB:
The man police say went on a shooting rampage that left 13 people dead at Ft. Hood, Texas last Thursday was harassed because of his Muslim faith.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had been giving away his belongings and cleaned out his apartment telling friends and neighbors he was being deployed to Iraq.
But according to officials, the 39-year-old Army psychiatrist has emerged as a study in contradictions: a polite man who stewed with discontent, a counselor who needed to be counseled himself.
According to the AP Wire, a recent classmate said Hasan once gave a jarring presentation to students in which he argued the war on terrorism was a war against Islam, and “made himself a lightning rod for things” when he felt his religious beliefs were challenged. Soldiers reported that the gunman shouted “Allahu Akbar!” — an Arabic phrase for “God is great!” — before opening fire, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base commander. Now base officials worry about a backlash against the thousands of Muslim soldiers serving dutifully in uniform.
Born in Arlington, VA., Hasan entered a psychiatry residency program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which he completed in 2007. He had completed a disaster and military psychiatry fellowship in 2007. Phase one of that the fellowship is earning a master of public health degree, which he completed in 2008. He completed the fellowship program in June. A month later, Hasan reported for duty at Fort Hood.
