Heartbreak at Fort Hood - Mentally Ill or Evil?

Ft. Hood is not far at all from where I live. I grew up on military bases, and am tremendously grateful to our soldiers. My thoughts and prayers are with them and their families.

In the aftermath of his killing spree, it seems awfully twisted to speculate that Dr. Hassan "snapped" or was "stressed" or had "mental illness," and as a result, killed all those people. If the media's going to speculate at all for the sake of rolling a good story and pulling in viewers, why not examine his many previous comments and behaviors realistically? It appears he planned the crime. He said many worrisome things, such as comparing a suicide bomber to a soldier who saves lives by covering a grenade, he discussed the murder of Infidels at a medical meeting, and he pushed his Islamic radical views on co-workers and patients. Oh! Did I mention his religion? I must not be politically correct. If a non-Muslim did this, say a Christian or a Jew, his religious faith would be fair game. The "terrorist" word would be trotted out by now.


The reporters are yammering about the guy's mental health and spinning like tops to avoid discussing his other issues.

All this pointing at mental illness seems shockingly unfair to people with actual mental illness!


I worked at a mental health non-profit for several years, and the professionals there told me that:


1. People with serious mental illness, and their families, suffer terribly.


2. Many people do not seek treatment and do not receive available relief because of societal stigmatization of mental illness.



3. The vast, vast majority of people with mental illnesses do not commit acts of violence.


4. Millions of people with mental illness live loving, productive lives, requiring on their part considerable struggle and courage.


Let's make a strong distinction, please, between "ill" and "evil." Let's not be soooo politically correct that we compare murder and mental illness in the same breath.


America has been good to Dr. Hassan. I don't know what his life would have been like in Palestine, but in America, he had a free education - including free medical school, fully paid by Uncle Sam. He lived in beautiful parts of the country, and he worshipped freely. He was a Major, a high rank in the U. S. Army, with great pay and benefits. We have an amazing, generous, free and tolerant people, and he ought to have been loyal to his country and fellow soldiers.

Americans are generally a fair people, and we know hooey when we hear it. We know that for every radicalized hater, there are a million other people of minority backgrounds who want to worship, live and prosper in peace. We must protect all our people from killers, their manipulators and apologists.