Ft. Hood: Official story full of holes

 

Any topic that can be construed as a conspiracy theory is a writers' worst nightmare. That label has negative connotations and writing about anything that can be put in that category usually creates more problems than it is worth. It generates hate mail from both sides of the political spectrum and that is a headache that most writers would rather not deal with.

One of the ironies in dealing with the plethora of information that is available through print, television and electronic media is that it often does not add up and at times is contradictory. The more information there is, the more inconsistencies that can be found. That does not make any topic a conspiracy theory, it just makes it what it is...questionable. A good example is what allegedly happened at Ft. Hood last week.

For the record, any theories regarding what happened at Ft. Hood are up to readers to make. This commentary will not try to tell you what happened, but the information at hand does suggest what did not happen. Yet again it is the "official" story that should be questioned. You can come to your own conclusions. I must, however, start with a few conversations I have had with ex-military personnel since the incident.

After the horrible massacre at Ft. Hood, I spoke with a few people who served in the military. A retired army Capt. who served 7 years in the 173rd Airborne including time as a S-3 in a RSTA squadron said this: "There is no way a psychiatrist - basically an intellectual desk jockey - shot off hundreds of rounds with two pistols and hit about 40 people without being subdued by someone. Come on! He wasn't a trained assassin or a special ops commando shooting up a mall. He would have had to reload and that means putting one of the pistols down and reloading the other with seasoned combat vets in that deployment center. It only takes seconds to reload, but it only takes a second to subdue him."

A retired MP, Michael Martinez also said: "No way! That would be impossible. Even if he had two semi-auto pistols [according to early reports he used a 9mm and a .357 revolver to gun down over 40 people] he would still have had to stop to reload and someone would have jumped his ass. Most people on base aren't carrying [weapons], but MPs are and they would have been there in a heartbeat."

SFC Donald Buswell said, "I spent 10 years at Ft Hood. There is no way this 'official' story is legitimate. No way would a room full of combat vets allow this one shooter to get off over 100 rounds! And, it is not normal for the outside security guards to be there. They are at the MP station, and at the main gates. This means the room full of soldiers processing must have been pinned down; multiple shooters is the only plausible scenario. This sounds like Maj. Hasan has been used, and perhaps is a patsy."

Michael Gaddy, an army veteran of Vietnam, Beirut and Grenada writes: "The facts as presented by the Army and the media [about] the shooting at Fort Hood just don’t compute. People on the ground have told me cell phone towers were jammed to prevent unauthorized dissemination of information after the shooting."

A look at these articles in chronological order paints a very confusing picture. I am not even going to speculate on what really happened at Ft. Hood, but my bovine excrement meter is maxing out at the official story. I encourage you to read and come to your own conclusions.

Lori Price, writing for Citizens for Legitimate Government, did an excellent job of compiling articles from the media that came out in the early moments and the aftermath of the shootings. Here are some of her articles as well as some that I have found.

Nov. 5, 2009: Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, the commander of III Corps, said that at least one gunman opened fire at the base's Soldiers Readiness Processing Center where soldiers were receiving medical and dental exams prior to deployment. The gunman's fire was returned (Cone did not say by whom) and the gunman was killed. "The shooter was killed. He was a soldier. We since then have apprehended two additional soldiers who are suspects, and I would go into the point that there were eyewitness accounts that there may have been more than one shooter."
 

Nov. 5, 2009: CNN reports that a senior officer who was playing golf near Fort Hood, Texas, told CNN he witnessed the arrest of one of the two surviving suspects of the shooting at the Army installation. After being told by MPs to clear the area, he ducked into a nearby house for cover as 30 to 40 cars carrying more MPs approached. He said he saw a soldier in battle-dress uniform, his hands in the air. The MPs ordered him to lie on the ground and open his uniform, presumably to ensure he was not carrying explosives, the senior officer said. He said an MP told him that authorities considered the man to be a suspect in the shootings after having overheard the man say he was with the shooter. The man was surrounded for 25 to 30 minutes, until a convoy of vehicles arrived, led by a Ford Crown Victoria and carrying men in suits, and he was taken away, the senior officer said.

Nov. 5, 2009: In an interview with Fox News, a man claiming to be the suspect's cousin, Nader Hasan, said that Major Hasan considered an upcoming deployment to Iraq "his worst nightmare." Nader Hasan added that his cousin wasn't violent, telling Fox News: "He wasn't somebody who even enjoyed going to the firing range." It was unclear whether Hasan acted alone. Lt. Gen. Cone said three soldiers who'd been taken into custody as possible accomplices had been released.

Nov. 5, 2009: Federal law enforcement officials say the suspected Ft. Hood shooter had come to their attention at least six months ago because of internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats. He is a graduate of Virginia Tech University, where he was a member of the ROTC and earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1997. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001. At Walter Reed, he did his internship, residency and a fellowship.
 
Nov. 5, 2009: The New York Times reports: Clad in a military uniform and firing an automatic pistol and another weapon, Major Hasan, a balding, chubby-faced man with heavy eyebrows, sprayed bullets inside a crowded medical processing center for soldiers returning from or about to be sent overseas, military officials said. The victims, nearly all military personnel but including two civilians, were cut down in clusters, the officials said. Three other soldiers, their roles unclear, were taken into custody in connection with the rampage. The office of Representative John Carter, Republican of Texas, said they were later released, but a Fort Hood spokesman could not confirm that.
 

Nov. 6, 2009: Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, about to be deployed to a combat zone overseas, shouted a religious slogan in Arabic before going on the rampage at the Central Texas base Thursday, the base commander said. Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said that witnesses heard Hasan exclaim "Allahu Akbar!" before opening fire. The phrase means "God is great!" in Arabic. Early Thursday, Hasan showed no signs of worry or stress when he stopped at 7-Eleven for his daily breakfast of hash browns, said Jeannie Strickland, the store's manager. “He came in (Thursday) morning just like normal,” she said.

Nov. 6, 2009: CNN, however, claims he was wearing religious clothing and supposedly has a video to prove it. Federal law enforcement officials then told the Associated Press that Hasan had come to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats. CNN also reports that Hasan used a FN 5.7-millimeter pistol, a semi-automatic with a high-velocity 20-round capacity (unlike a 9mm) purchased legally at Guns Galore, a Killeen gun shop and another gun, identified only as a type of revolver. The high casualty rate is attributed to the "more than 100 rounds" fired by the gunman and the relatively small size of the room. More than 100 rounds fired means Hasam would have had to reload at least five times in close quarters with combat veterans surrounding him.

Nov. 6, 2009: From the Guardian UK. Ford Hood's deputy base commander, Colonel John G Rossi, said about 500 soldiers were in the area when Hasan entered the facility wearing a military uniform. He shot some victims at close range and others were injured as the bullets ricocheted, Rossi said. Troops are not allowed to carry firearms on the base and armed military police quickly swarmed to the scene. The base went into lockdown for several hours amid fears other gunmen were involved.

Nov. 7, 2009: The LA Times reports, Hasan, who had prayed at his mosque that morning, allegedly mumbled something to himself -- it may have been a prayer -- then jumped up. Witnesses reported that he said: "Allahu akbar," Arabic for "God is great." Inside the Readiness Center, Pfc. Marquest Smith, 21, was in a cubicle, across the desk from an employee, finishing paperwork ahead of his deployment in January to Afghanistan. Smith dragged several victims outside and returned to help others. He kept hearing popping. Then a pause. Then whispers: "He's reloading!" Smith saw the gunman, whose back was to him. He ran outside. The gunman fired after him. It takes seconds to place a new magazine into a pistol's grip; the gunman reloaded more than once, investigators said, and moved around the crowded room in a half-moon pattern before going outside into a courtyard.

Nov. 7, 2009: AP report claims that at least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades. They had not confirmed Hasan is the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case. Federal authorities seized Hasan's computer Friday during a search of his apartment in Killeen, Texas, said a U.S. military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

Confusing enough yet? Now let's simplify it: