Monarchs Glen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yjd4ify6Ko

this just happened.......

Army officer opens fire at Fort Hood, killing 12
AP

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Sgt. Anthony Sills, right, comforts his wife as they wait outside the Fort Hood AP – Sgt. Anthony Sills, right, comforts his wife as they wait outside the Fort Hood Army Base near Killeen, …

* Fort Hood Slideshow:Fort Hood
* Military: Fort Hood shooter, suspects soldiers Play Video Video:Military: Fort Hood shooter, suspects soldiers AP
* Army Post on Lockdown After Shootings Play Video Video:Army Post on Lockdown After Shootings ABC News

By APRIL CASTRO and DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writers April Castro And Devlin Barrett, Associated Press Writers – 9 mins ago

FORT HOOD, Texas – An Army officer opened fire Thursday with two handguns at the Fort Hood military base in an attack that left 12 people dead and 31 wounded. Authorities killed the gunman and apprehended two other soldiers in what appears to be the worst mass shooting at a U.S. military base.

There was no immediate word on a motive. The shooting began around 1:30 p.m., said Lt. Gen. Bob Cone at Fort Hood. He said all the casualties took place at the base's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening.

"It's a terrible tragedy. It's stunning," Cone said.

A law enforcement official identified the shooting suspect as Army Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan. The official said Hasan, believed to be in his late 30s, was killed after opening fire at the base. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

A defense official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hasan was a mental health professional — an Army psychologist or psychiatrist. Officials say it was not clear what Hasan's religion was, but investigators are trying to determine if Hasan was his birth name or if he may have changed his name and converted to Islam at some point.

A graduation ceremony for soldiers who finished college courses while deployed was going on nearby at the time of the shooting, said Sgt. Rebekah Lampam, a Fort Hood spokeswoman.

Greg Schanepp, U.S. Rep. John Carter's regional director in Texas, was representing Carter at the graduation, said John Stone, a spokesman for Carter, whose district includes the Army post.

Schanepp was at the ceremony when a soldier who had been shot in the back came running toward him and alerted him of the shooting, Stone said. The soldier told Schanepp not to go in the direction of the shooter, he said.

The base was locked down after the shootings. The wounded were dispersed among hospitals in central Texas, Cone said. Nine were taken to Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple. A hospital spokeswoman says all had been shot and are adults. A Fort Hood spokesman said he could not immediately confirm any identities of the injured.

Lisa Pfund of Random Lake, Wis., says her daughter, 19-year-old Amber Bahr, was shot in the stomach but was in stable condition. "We know nothing, just that she was shot in the belly," Pfund told The Associated Press. She couldn't provide more details and only spoke with emergency personnel.

"I ask that all of you keep these families and these individuals in your prayers today," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said.

The shootings on the Texas military base stirred memories of other recent mass shootings in the United States, including 13 dead at a New York immigrant center in March, 10 killed during a gunman's rampage across Alabama in March and 32 killed in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history at Virginia Tech in 2007.

Around the country, some bases stepped up security precautions, but no others were locked down.

"The bottom line for us is that we are increasing security at our gates because the threat hasn't yet been defined, and we're reminding our Marines to be vigilant in their areas of responsibility," said Capt. Rob Dolan, public affairs officer for the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz.

In Washington, President Barack Obama called the shooting "a horrific outburst of violence." He said it's a tragedy to lose a soldier overseas and even more horrifying when they come under fire at an Army base on American soil.

"We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident," the commander in chief said. "We are going to stay on this."

Covering 339 square miles, Fort Hood is the largest active duty armored post in the United States. Home to about 52,000 troops as of earlier this year, the sprawling base is located halfway between Austin and Waco.

About a mile from Fort Hood's east gate, Cynthia Thomas, director of Under the Hood Cafe, a coffee house and outreach center, was calling soldiers and friends on the post to make sure they're OK.

"It's chaotic," Thomas said, as a SWAT team just drove by. "The phones are jammed. Everybody is calling family members and friends. Soldiers are running around with M-16s."

Fort Hood officially opened on Sept. 18, 1942, and was named in honor of Gen. John Bell Hood. It has been continuously used for armored training and is charged with maintaining readiness for combat missions.

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Associated Press Writers Anne Gearan, Lara Jakes, Suzanne Gamboa and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, D.C., Jay Root in Temple, Linda Stewart Ball, Anabelle Garay and Andre Coe in Dallas contributed to this report.

I used to live there. Used that PX weekly. My dad was a Captain at the time and we lived off base in Harker Heights, Killeen. Mom called me today about it. She has friends who still live there.

Oh god why did the shooter have to have a middle-eastern name? this is going to get the conservatives SO riled up.
[edit]Actually, this reads like a military motivational piece. Anonymous source. Middle-eastern shooter who may or may not have converted to Islam. Graduation ceremony. 19 year old girl shot. You couldn't ASK for a better piece to get people to believe that the wars we are in are a good thing.

And no, I am NOT saying it didn't happen just as written. It just seems so damned convenient as a rallying cry.[/edit]

I got a lot to say about this, but I'm pre-occupied by dealing with a certifiable crazy ex-girlfriend over the phone and resisting the effort to drive four hours off my mountain and boot stomp some fucking wanna-be paratrooper.

-sigh-

I hate people. Especially crazy ones.

Right now - I've got mixed feelings about this. I'm not given to knee-jerk reactions, but I think that banning Islmaists from the military right now should maybe be considered. I'll have to think about that for a bit before I back it up 100%.

BUT - at the moment, I'm 100% behind the fact that Military Bases should NOT be Gun Free Zones.

We are in an Unconventional War, there have been several plots of terrorists cells to enter American bases and kill military personnel. Our troops ought to be armed on base. PERIOD. I believe we can thank that moron Klinton for this current state of military unpreparedness.

Gerien wrote:Oh god why did the shooter have to have a middle-eastern name? this is going to get the conservatives SO riled up.
[edit]Actually, this reads like a military motivational piece. Anonymous source. Middle-eastern shooter who may or may not have converted to Islam. Graduation ceremony. 19 year old girl shot. You couldn't ASK for a better piece to get people to believe that the wars we are in are a good thing.

And no, I am NOT saying it didn't happen just as written. It just seems so damned convenient as a rallying cry.[/edit]

From what I've heard he was a practicing muslim who compared suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save their buddies.'Was about to be sent to Iraq and didn't want to go.

I'm sure that's not all there is to it, but I think the convervatives have a pretty good reason to get riled up over this sick act.

Apparently another victim died, upping the body count to 13.

I want to know about the other two they got into custody.

Evidence points to Jahadist activity. Conservative or not, those were Americans who were killed. This fear of looking into people's activity because they are in a certain gruop of people is continuing to get people killed.

It is interesting the conclusions people come up with to support their own machine.

The shooter was AMERICAN. He was born in America, lived in America his entire life and served in the American armed forces.

Being American's we are free believe what we want.

Do I believe this was some sort of terrorist plot?

No, I believe that it was the act of a single person, or group of people who felt that they had no way out. (I think the newest reports are that there is only 1 suspect.)

This is the price of freedom, bad things are going to happen. But it is the price we must pay if we truly want to have a free country. You cant prevent muslims or any other religious group from joining the military, the second we do, we are no better than them.

Fort Howard gunman still alive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HSuKQkO2jQ

Soldiers reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar!" — an Arabic phrase for "God is great!" — before opening fire, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base commander.

Full story, here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091106/ap_ ... d_shooting

Yes, just an angry man....Nothing to do with anything else. They can try and white wash the story so no one is offended, but the bottom line is folks need to be reported when they are putting out these kind of ideas while in uniform. This guy was defending suicide bombers. You can't do this crap when you're in the service. It is a crime. We've got people so scared of being accused of not being tolerant that they are not doing their jobs and investigating the numerous acts this guy has committed that should have put his job in jeopardy.

This is serious stuff.

As for him being American, you're right, Mav. So was the DC sniper, John Walker Linn, ect. Far as I'm concerned, this type of act is treason. That is the reason I didn't explicitly state, "oh yeah, he's American". You lose certain rights when you put on the uniform. That's understood.

Maverick wrote:You cant prevent muslims or any other religious group from joining the military, the second we do, we are no better than them.

This is the fourth or fifth time the Army has had soldiers(who were converted Muslims) frag their fellow soldiers.

What do you suggest? We just let it continue happening?

What a crappy situation...as if military families don't already go through enough emotional drama.

I thought I heard somewhere that skinheads and white supremacists were banned from the military. and maybe even former boneheads that changed their views, but still had swastikas/racist tatoos.
Just b/c a worldview's founder calls for a jihad against Albino Liliputians doesn't mean that they can't be good upstanding citizens in the community...*scratches head*

Yes, anyone with gang tattoo's or racism/supremecy crap aren't allowed in anymore.

The Army used to have a big problem with gang members back during the early 90's I believe

I've an idea, lets round up all the japanese american's and put them in concentration camps. We can take all of thier belongings and rob them of every civil librety being a citizen of our great country entitles them to, and say its for the nation's well being.

*cough

Sorry Frost is me, didn't mean to post under an alt

I think the internment camps were a horrible abortion of our civil rights, under the Democrat's douchebag hero Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Great foreign policy, royally fucked us economically.

A random act of craziness from a guy who used to speak with people about mental health issues. Happens.

Middle Eastern or not, I think it should be noted that he became Muslim as he was going crazy.

You kind of have to be. I have read the Koran. It is a warrior religion and pretty clear and what you can do to nonbelievers.