ROOT: Speculating misguided facts about Fort Hood tragedy won’t help

Happy Veterans Day! Doesn't really feel happy, does it? Seems like sick and cruel timing. Today is supposed to be about the honor, respect and love we have for our brave men and women who serve our country. Instead, today seems to be underscored by the tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas. In such devastating times, it's important that we keep our wits about us. We need the truth, no matter how complicated – not a witch hunt.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan worked as a psychiatrist for the army. He is a devout Muslim of Jordanian heritage and was about to go to the front lines of battle. He worked with his fellow soldiers to help them with their problems. He shot his comrades, killing 13 of them and injuring 29.

My heart goes out to all those who were involved with this tragedy. This isn't fair to you. You don't deserve to have to deal with such an awful situation.

What triggered Hasan to commit such an atrocity is the subject of much speculation. His friends and family are shocked by his actions, as are the friends and families of his victims. Small pieces of things Hasan has said or done are starting to fit together, but it is too soon to form a full picture yet.

It's scary too – the military, whatever its flaws, is intended to protect the American people. When one of our own attacks us, it's beyond comprehension and damn frightening. I'm terrified for my friends and family who are in our country's service. Bases are supposed to be a secure place. If they can't be safe there, can they be safe anywhere?

While Hasan's motives aren't clear, some other things are. Hasan happens to be a Muslim and allegedly shouted "Allahu akbar!" a cry that means "God is great," during the shooting. It is a shout used by many Muslim terrorists before they harm others.

The Muslim population is understandably freaked out. It's been eight years since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and Muslims are still treated like dirt in this country when they personally had little to do with it. Kamran Pasha, a columnist for the Huffington Post, had this to say: "There are currently over 10,000 Muslim soldiers in the U.S. military, men and women who are patriotic and love their country and their fellow service members. Hasan's evil actions, the murder of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, have now brought those honorable soldiers' loyalties into question."

Indeed, after a tragedy such as this, we're all looking for explanations as to how something like this could happen. And we're damned impatient, too, which leads us to a scapegoat or worse, a witch hunt. Anything that made the attacker an outsider by society's standards instantly becomes the reason why a person would do such a thing. In this instance, it's Hasan's faith in Allah.

Right now, we don't know how much of a factor this played in Hasan's actions. But it's ridiculous to say one way or the other. Fortunately, Hasan isn't dead yet, and it's possible he'll explain himself and we'll have our answers.

However, there are those who are using Hasan's faith to promote religious intolerance, bigotry and Islamophobia. Check out this comment on topix.net, "ISLAM is the key to all these killing. (sic) None of these killings was done by any other religion. There is a sect in Islam that believes it's all right to do these type killings. Everyone is trying to excuse this Major for what he did. He wasn't mentally disturbed. He knew what he was doing. DON'T MAKE EXCUSES FOR KILLERS LIKE THIS. SEE THEM FOR WHAT THEY ARE, COLD BLOODED KILLERS!"

Sure, buddy. Tell me, were the Irish Catholics persecuted after the Oklahoma City bombings? Timothy McVeigh grew up in such a family. Were the Jewish and Lutherans communities persecuted after the Columbine massacre? Dylan Klebold celebrated these traditions with his family before he shot his classmates with Eric Harris. In the case of Columbine, the most blame was hurled at the media (remember the false Marilyn Manson ties?) and that the two killers were bullied by their classmates and finally snapped. This was not the case at all. Dave Cullen's "Columbine" goes heavily into detail about it, but suffice to say, Klebold was a manic-depressive, and Harris was a psychopath.