Fort Hood has enough victims already

In the aftermath of an American soldier's tragic outburst of violence at Fort Hood, Texas — the army's largest US post, with some 40,000 troops — a fear-mongering hysteria concerning his supposed religious motivations is taking priority over questions regarding his mental health.

Although the facts and clues about motive are still being uncovered, we know that the alleged shooter, 39-year-old Major Nidal Malek Hassan, is an American-born medical doctor and licensed psychiatrist, who also happens to be a Muslim born to Palestinian immigrant parents.

When Hassan was revealed as the alleged shooter, the blogosphere and message boards lit up with the predictable assortment of anonymous bigoted bile vilifying Islam, blaming Muslims as harbingers of violence and questioning the loyalty of American Muslims.

Thankfully, most mainstream voices, such as Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, urged caution and moderation, stating, "It is imperative that we take the time to gather all the facts, as it would be irresponsible to be the source of rumours or inaccurate information regarding such a horrific event".

But some, such as Republican Representative Michael McCaul of Austin, Texas, alarmingly responded with inflammatory histrionics: "Whether it was domestic or foreign, clearly when a US military base is attacked in this fashion, that is an act of terror in my book".

If it is discovered that this lethal rampage was motivated by an inexcusable and misplaced sense of religiosity, it would provide ammunition to those extreme right-wing, minority voices in America who are convinced their Muslim neighbours are stealth extremists. These proponents of modern-day McCarthyism find their allies in members of the ‘Birther movement', who remain convinced US President Barack Obama is not an American citizen. Their esteemed colleagues include those who pontificate idiotically about Obama being a closet Muslim and an agent of socialism.

It should comfort most Americans that mainstream Muslim American organisations, which often espouse a sense of victimhood and unnecessary rationalisations, unequivocally denounced Hassan's alleged actions as "heinous" and incompatible with Islam. The Council of American Islamic Relations issued a statement saying, "No political or religious ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence".

Ultimately, this use — or misuse — of fear and rumour over Hassan's Islamic faith should be moot in light of the record of the thousands of Muslim American soldiers who have served and made sacrifices. There are currently 20,000 Muslims serving with honour in the US military, according to the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council.

Sadly, although Thursday's violent outburst against fellow soldiers was the most deadly in US history, it was not the first of its kind. In May this year, five soldiers were shot dead at Camp Liberty in Baghdad by Sergeant John Russell. In February 2008, an Air Force sergeant diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) upon returning from Iraq fatally shot his son and daughter after a domestic argument with his ex-wife. Religion was not the common link between these soldiers; it was mental instability. Even if such individuals purported to be religious, their wanton acts of barbarism reflect rather their tenuous grasp on sanity.

A cousin of Hassan, interviewed by reporters, has suggested an alternative motivation, not necessarily influenced by religious conviction. "He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy", said Nader Hassan. "He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there [in Iraq and Afghanistan]".

From the evidence thus far, it seems tragic and ironic that Hassan, a psychiatrist who helped heal soldiers suffering from PTSD, would allegedly turn against them upon learning of his deployment to Iraq. In the interview with Fox News, his cousin described going to Iraq as Hassan's "worst nightmare". He went on: "[Hassan] was doing everything he could to avoid that — He wanted to do whatever he could within the rules to make sure he wouldn't go over". Hassan's aunt told the Washington Post that her nephew had consulted an attorney to see if he could leave the army before his contract expired due to harassment he had received from colleagues because he was Muslim.

Whatever the FBI investigation and any subsequent prosecution following the terrible shootings at Fort Hood may finally reveal, incidents such as these warrant a re-examination of how to treat and discharge or excuse those soldiers who are troubled or conflicted psychologically, politically or religiously over US foreign policy and, in particular, the current war in Afghanistan and occupation of Iraq.

No mere factual, evidential explanation could ever justify or excuse in any way Hassan's alleged actions. But it ought to broaden the horizon of those in the media who seem infatuated with the need to pin the blame for this perverse tragedy solely on a man's religious faith and Arabic last name, rather than exploring the possibility of a more complicated truth involving some combination of mental state, divided loyalty or conscientious objection, and prior experience of harassment and discrimination.