As far as the incidents Hasan had with soldiers returning from the theater of war, he seems to be guilty of a failure to divorce his personal feelings from the job he volunteered to do.  He let his growing suspicions about the United States’ intentions seep into personal interactions with individuals who have no influence on government policy and with whom, for the most part, it is senseless to argue.  His job was to listen to these men and women and help them come to grips with some of the terrible things they experienced.

This war, more than any other, has caused a growing number of problems for returning veterans.  Incidents of homicide and suicide by veterans of the current Middle Eastern conflict have been disproportionally higher than in previous wars.  The Portland Tribune reported that in 2005, 19 soldiers from died in Iraq and Afghanistan during combat, and that 153 Oregon veterans (not necessarily of the Iraq and Afghanistan fronts) committed suicide.  The Denver Post reported that reported suicide attempts increased 500% from 2002 to 2007, and that “20 of the 59 soldiers who killed themselves while in Iraq [in 2006 and 2007] were deployed from a single base.”  The name of the base: Fort Hood.

While arguments have raged about who is ultimately to blame for this phenomenon, what is important to us here today is not blame, but situation.  And it becomes more obvious as time passes that, although Hasan had never been deployed anywhere, his experiences listening to other soldiers who had been deployed combined with his conflicted religious view created panic in a man that, for the most part, was a completely rational individual.  He was not a man equipped for war, and he was probably, in more recent years, not meant for military service.

The issue of whether or not the war on terror is a war on Islam is perhaps the most important issue that could be addressed…almost.  Based on his experiences as a Muslim living in the United States post 9/11 and his experiences serving in our military, Hasan began to believe this war against terrorism was nothing more than a campaign to wipe out a religion.  Several people reported that Hasan had said things that made them believe that he thought insurgents and suicide bombers were essentially fighting off their oppressors.  These may have been misguided beliefs, but they must be addressed nonetheless because this is something that we have been hearing more an more of in recent months.  This is disturbing on two levels.

One, it means that terrorism is effective.  One of the main messages that extremist groups belch out is that the United States wants to destroy Islam.  And it’s somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy.  The more negative activity one witnesses from individuals belonging to one particular group, the more one begins to suspect the entire group.  This is exactly what terrorists want to happen.  They desire nothing more than to see their accusations proven true.  When a terrorist leader can show the members of his cell videos from American television of people saying that we should round up and “screen” all Muslims in our military, their job has been done for them.

Read Part V of this post here.