[Discussion] American Army's shooting tragedy:Why did they point the gun at their fellows?

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In the afternoon of Nov 5, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, who’s about to be deployed to Iraq, killed 11 soldiers and wounded 31 others on Thursday afternoon at Fort Hood Military Base in Taxas. The gunman was then killed by police. According to the spokesman of Ford Base, Hasan was upset about his pending deployment these days and that may be the reason for shooting. Further investigation will be carried out immediately.

Background information:

1) Shooting incidents in Ford Hood in the year 2008 and 2009.

Sep, 2008, a 21-year-old soldier shot his superior official and then killed himself.

Nov, 2009, a parolee from New York shot a medical official of Ford Hood.

Jul. 18, 2009, a soldier of Ford Hood killed his fellow from Wisconsin in a party.

Aug, 2009, a quarrel between two soldiers in a party accelerated to a gunfire and one innocent person was killed.

2) Afghan:
Five Britishi soldiers were killed by their Afghanistan fellow on Nov. 4, 2009.

3) Iraq:
May. 11, 2009, an soldier shot at his fellows and five were killed. The incident occurred in an American Army base in Baghdad. The gunman was arrested.

President Barack Obama on Thursday called a mass shooting at a Texas Army base "a horrific outburst of violence."

"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."

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.

Obama also said his thoughts and prayers are with the wounded and families of the fallen.

It can be infered from the background information that shooting incidents in Ford Hood is not accidental, at least in the past two years. Such a high rate of voilence in professional army is really unthinkable and unforgivable.

That’s take a deeper discussion on why did these soldiers point the gun at their fellows.

The Hasan incident happened yesterday is still under investigation but from the slice information released by Ford Hood, one thing can be sure, i.e. the gunman was upset about his pending deployment to Iraq.

Maybe he would not have to do so in the US, but there was a high probability that he would do the same once he was in Iraq, what what a soldier had done in May.

Not only in Iraq, soldiers who are now fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan or are going to fight there, more or less, have psychological fear or tension. The endless terrorist attack as well as ineffective military movements all put great pressure on them. Now, they do not only have to be careful about the attack from their enemies, but also from their fellows who once fight with them.

Of course, not all shooting incidents derived from the same reasons. However, I think that’s more horrible because you can not control in advance and prevent such tragedies from being happening.

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Gate of Ford Hood Military Base



Panoramic View of Ford Hood Military Base



Gunman: Major Nidal Hasan



Sad soldiers



Obama's addressing on the violence

[you-you33]

Really a piece of surprising news! American troops seem so united in their external battle fields, but now the soldiers are shot by their own fellows. It's horrible. Maybe we only see how US is magisterial on the surface, but not carefully feel the misery of soldiers. Fighting in other counries are really painful, with a long distance from families and living in terror every day. Hope US can understand that and solve all international problems through more peaceful methods.

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Originally Posted by you-you33

Really a piece of surprising news! American troops seem so united in their external battle fields, but now the soldiers are shot by their own fellows. It's horrible. Maybe we only see how US is magisterial on the surface, but not carefully feel the misery of soldiers. Fighting in other counries are really painful, with a long distance from families and living in terror every day. Hope US can understand that and solve all international problems through more peaceful methods.

Such incidents are not new in American troops. Not only the soldiers but also Presdient Obama are taking great pressure concerning the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers are afraid of being deployed there because it is a hell for them. You never know who at what time will attack. :o