FORT HOOD, Texas - An Army psychiatrist who authorities say wenton a shooting rampage at Fort Hood was so conflicted over what totell fellow soldiers about fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan that alocal Islamic leader was deeply troubled by it, the leader saidyesterday.
Officer hailed as hero had been waitress at local pub. B1
Osman Danquah, cofounder of the Islamic Community of GreaterKilleen, said he was disturbed by Major Nidal Malik Hasan'spersistent questioning and recommended the mosque reject Hasan'srequest to become a lay Muslim leader at the sprawling Army post.
Danquah said Hasan never expressed anger toward the Army orindicated any plans for violence, but during the second of twoconversations they had over the summer, Hasan seemed almostincoherent, he said.
'But what if a person gets in and feels that it's just notright?' Danquah recalled Hasan asking him.
'I told him, `There's something wrong with you,' ' Danquah saidduring an interview at Fort Hood yesterday. 'I didn't get thefeeling he was talking for himself, but something just didn't seemright.'
Authorities accuse Hasan of firing more than 100 rounds Thursdayin a soldier processing center at Fort Hood, killing 13 and wounding29 others in the worst mass shooting on a military facility in theUnited States. At the start of the attack, Hasan reportedly jumpedup on a desk and shouted 'Allahu akbar!' - Arabic for 'God isgreat!' Hasan, 39, was seriously wounded by police and is beingtreated in a military hospital.
The military has said Hasan was scheduled to deploy toAfghanistan, but family members suggested he was trying avoidserving overseas.
A brother of Hasan said yesterday that the Army psychiatrist is apeaceful person - and he hopes he will be treated fairly by thelegal system.
Eyad Hasan said in an e-mail statement released yesterday that hehopes authorities will give his family information on his brother'scondition. He also says he hopes his brother is allowed the right toan attorney when he gains consciousness.
The brother says the Army major is a compassionate person who hasnever committed an act of violence. He also says his family ispraying for everyone affected by the 'horrific events thattranspired at Fort Hood.'
A former classmate has said Hasan was a 'vociferous opponent ofthe war' and 'viewed the war against terror' as a 'war againstIslam.' Dr. Val Finnell, who attended a master's in public healthprogram in 2007-2008 at Uniformed Services University with Hasan,said he told classmates he was 'a Muslim first and an Americansecond.'
'In retrospect, I'm not surprised he did it,' Finnell said. 'Ihad real questions about what his priorities were, what his beliefswere.'
Danquah said his conversations with Hasan occurred after tworeligious services sometime before Ramadan, the Islamic holy monththat started in late August. He said the soldier, who transferred toFort Hood from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in July, regularlyattended services at the Killeen, Texas, mosque in his uniform.
During his talks with Hasan, Danquah, 61, said he told him thatMuslims were fighting one another in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and thePalestinian territories and that American soldiers with objectionsto serving overseas had recourse to voice such concerns.
'As a Muslim, you come into a community and the way you integratenormally - I didn't see that kind of integration,' he said.Danquah, a retired Army First sergeant and Gulf War veteran, didnot tell the military about his conversations with Hasan.
'I didn't think it rose to that level of concern,' he said,adding that he thought the military 'chain of command should havepicked it up' if Hasan had issues.
Most of the wounded from Thursday's attack remained hospitalized,many in intensive care. Hasan was transferred Friday to Brooke ArmyMedical Center in San Antonio, about 150 miles southwest of FortHood. Army officials late Friday gave no indication of his conditionexcept to say he was 'not able to converse.'
Hasan's family says he confided in them that he felt harassed asa Muslim in the US military - and wasn't treated as an American andsoldier should be.
He visibly lived his faith, wearing his military uniform toservices and a cap and tunic around his apartment complex. But oneday, he discovered his 'Allah is Love' bumper sticker was ripped upand torn, and his car was keyed. A fellow soldier was charged, andthe apartment manager where the two lived said the serviceman hadrecently returned from Iraq and was upset that Hasan is Muslim.
Authorities don't know if Hasan's faith or encounters with othersoldiers played any role in the attack at Fort Hood, and a motive isstill not clear.
Still, some of the thousands of Muslims in the US military worrythat one burst of violence could unravel all of their work to beaccepted as loyal, dedicated soldiers, and that their reputationcould be another casualty of the attack.
'Just as this guy in Fort Hood doesn't represent every singleMuslim in the world or in this county, the few ignorant or racistpeople that remain in the military, they are so few and far between,they do not represent the military at large,' said Ashkan Bayatpour,25, a US Navy veteran and the American-born son of Iranianimmigrants.
Army Chief of Staff George Casey said this week he worried abouta backlash after the shootings. However, leaders of the AmericanMuslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council predict that anybacklash will be limited. Military personnel often have a moresophisticated world view after traveling the globe and working withpeople from diverse backgrounds, said Abdul-Rashid Abdullah, a USArmy veteran who served from 1991 to 1998.
There is no exact count of Muslims in the military.
