re: Fort Hood (tears shed for you!)

Quoting lolliepop:“ ..PLEASE!! I truly tried to refrain from becoming involved in this thread. WHERE are you getting your ... [snip!] ... One of the women killed was pregnant. I am sure her innocent child had no say in his so called being discriminated against.”

Terrorism is still somewhat psychologic in nature so I will continue to hold my opinion that he is a mentally ill individual.

Anyone knew the pregnant woman that was killed?

Quoting lolliepop:“ ..PLEASE!! I truly tried to refrain from becoming involved in this thread. WHERE are you getting your ... [snip!] ... One of the women killed was pregnant. I am sure her innocent child had no say in his so called being discriminated against.”

I agree with just about everything you posted. The only thing I would like to point out is the deep animosity that some of the returning soldiers have for the general populations of both Iraq and Afghanistan. They have many good experiences with them (my husband for example played soccer with Iraqi soldiers regularly and befriended them despite the language barrier) but they still come back using horrible slurs and talking about how disgusted they were with the people in general. Racial slurs toward any group should be 100% unacceptable in the military, and it is not.. in fact, the NCO's and other "superior" ranks are in on the big joke too. Its just not right, especially when our soldiers are sent there to protect Iraqi and Afghani civilians just as much as they are there to kill insurgents.
No one said "poor Maj. Hasan," I'm just trying to point out how American attitudes may have exacerbated his already unstable condition. Like I said before, the only we're gonna beat the terrorists, ie. get rid of the terrorists, is to embrace them as if they were just another American.
And also... this man was not only American, but he was a SOLDIER. That's what gets me. I understand soldiers are human and definitely not perfect (I'm married to one!), but I can't understand how this man reconciled his service with the horrible act he committed. Its completely contradictory. That's what I'm trying to figure out.
I don't mean to elevate the man or exonerate him in any way. Like you said, he was a terrorist just like any other who kills innocent people. But the words "terrorist" and "innocent" are always subjective, and there is always more to it than what the media will talk about. I figured an online thread would be a good place to talk about it.