Archive for November 7th, 2009

Some of the theories currently being touted by the mainstream media regarding the motivation of 39-year-old army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who shot 13 of his colleagues dead  and wounded dozens more on Thursday, include:

• That he had been ‘increasingly unhappy’ in the military
• He was apprehensive about his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan
• Widespread stress with the long and repeated tours the US military personnel are expected to undergo (although my this might have affected Maj. Hassan is not made clear – he had reportedly never been on a tour of duty and certainly in his position would have been highly unlikely to have seen any combat even if he had)
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – that Maj. Hasan was affected by the PTSD he saw in some patients returning from active duty

Now let’s take a look at some of the salient, verified facts of the case: Read the rest of this entry »