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Obama Says ‘No Faith Justifies’ Murders at Fort Hood (Update1)
By Roger Runningen
Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama paid tribute to the 13 victims of last week’s shooting attack at Fort Hood, saying these are “trying times for our country” and “no faith justifies” the killings.
“This is a time of war,” Obama said at a ceremony on the base in Texas, the largest military base in the U.S. “And these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great state, in the heart of this great American community.”
Earlier, Obama and first lady Michelle Obama met with family members of fallen soldiers and with some of those wounded in the attack who are out of the hospital.
The Defense Department and FBI are investigating the Nov. 5 massacre and the suspected shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist.
Obama, in his speech, read the names of each of the 13 slain soldiers and vowed that their killer “will be met with justice - in this world and in the next.”
“No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor,” Obama said.
Still, he added, the U.S. is “a nation of laws whose commitment to justice is so enduring that we would treat a gunman and give him due process, just as surely as we will see that he pays for his crimes.”
Strength, Decency
The president personalized his remarks, offering a glimpse of the life of each of the 13: an immigrant from Thailand, a granddaughter of Army veterans, a daughter of immigrant parents who was pregnant and “was excited about becoming a mother.”
“These men and women came from all parts of the country,” the president said. “Some had signed up to serve in the shadow of 9/11. Some had known intense combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Their lives speak to the strength, the dignity and the decency of those who serve, and that is how they will be remembered.”
Obama’s attendance at the memorial service comes as he is under pressure to decide whether to grant a request by his top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, to send 40,000 more troops to the country. Obama will discuss four options for an Afghanistan troop buildup at a White House meeting tomorrow, spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters traveling with the president.
Cost of War
Obama, speaking the day before Veterans Day, reminded Americans of the cost of war brought on by the “same extremists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans” and who “continue to endanger America, our allies, and innocent Afghans and Pakistanis.”
“In Iraq, we are working to bring a war to a successful end, as there are still those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that Americans and Iraqis have sacrificed so much for,” he said.
The stage where Obama spoke in bright sunshine carried reminders of the 13 who were killed at Fort Hood. An M4 rifle, barrel pointed down and gunstock topped with an Army helmet, was placed in each of 13 pairs of combat boots. Pictures of each of those killed were placed in front of the boots.
The solemn ceremony included the hymn “Amazing Grace,” readings from scripture, a final roll call, the firing of volleys and taps. The program listed each of the 13 “fallen heroes.”
Probing Radical Ties
U.S. counterterrorism officials said yesterday they detected communications between Hasan and a radical Muslim religious leader in Yemen known for his anti-American views. Anwar al Awlaki was the imam at a Falls Church, Virginia, mosque when Hasan and his relatives worshipped there, an official said.
The communications started last year and continued this year before the attack at Fort Hood, said the official, who requested anonymity. The messages didn’t pose a threat and there’s no evidence Hasan was ordered to launch an attack or had co-conspirators, the officials said at a briefing.
The investigative officials said Hasan is expected to be charged in military proceedings. He is at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio and was still in critical but stable condition early today, according to hospital spokeswoman Maria Gallegos.
Of 43 persons wounded in the mass shooting, 15 are still hospitalized, Nancy Ellen, a spokeswoman at Fort Hood, said today.
Missed Signs?
Lawmakers are asking if authorities missed signs that Hasan, 39, was dangerous. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the senior Republican on the Senate homeland security committee, said the panel may hold a hearing as early as next week on what motivated Hasan.
“We have not received any definitive information at this point, so it’s impossible to assess whether this was a lone wolf who self-radicalized or whether he was radicalized through contacts with other Islamists,” she told reporters in Washington yesterday.
General George Casey, the Army chief of staff, has said he’s concerned that the shooting may lead to a potential backlash against Muslim soldiers.
Obama’s trip to Fort Hood prompted him to delay by one day a trip to China, Singapore, Japan and South Korea, his first journey to Asia as president. The Office of the Garrison at Fort Hood estimated 15,000 people attended the memorial service.
