Another Tragedy, Another Accusation

On the sixth of November 2009, Fort Hood's flags in Texas were put at half-mast and will remain that way until the eleventh of November following an order from President Obama. America was shocked once again by a shooting and the massacre of thirteen innocent people. This time it was an army major on a military base who committed the murders. His name was Nidal Malik Hassan, aged 39. According to his relatives, he was a devoted Muslim who attended daily prayers. He was born of Jordanian parents in Virginia and joined the army where he trained to be a psychiatrist. He was supposed to help the soldiers returning from combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was strongly against the presence of the United States in those countries and was not at ease in the army, but his attempts to leave the military were rejected. He could not tolerate that he was due to deploy to Afghanistan at the end of month, so on the fifth of November, he shot at the soldiers who were in the medical screening building, killing 13 and injuring 30.

In this case, what is highlighted is his religion. The media emphasizes that the shooter is a Muslim and narrates that he believed Muslims had the right to attack Americans. He is now under guard in a hospital and what has been said about him is all heresay until he makes a statement.

What concerns me here is that the problem is somewhat complicated, as it seems there is a plan to create a foreign threat for American citizens. It seems that Americans are supposed to have a common enemy to be able to maintain American creed. As we know, this shooting was not a unique occurrence. In the most significant act of terrorism after 9/11 attack, The Oklahoma City bombing that was done in 1995 by American Timothy McVeigh, 168 people died and 680 injured.
"As with Timothy McVeigh, the sniper, we focused on the person, not their religion. You wouldn't take a Christian or a Jewish soldier who did something like this and look at other Christians and Jews and say, 'Can we trust them?' "Said Qaseem Uqdah, a former Marine and executive director of the American Muslims in Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council."[1]

Moreover, School shootings, a terrible tragedy, have a long background in the United States.
"When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Colorado on April 20, 1999, and killed twelve students and one teacher, the United States reacted with horror and disbelief that such a thing could happen in American schools."[2]
Or in the recent massacre in 2007 when, Seung-Hui Cho, a senior English major at Virginia Tech killed 32 people and wounded many others, the focus was not on his religion.

Hasan, as it is said, hoped President Obama would drive the army back from Afghanistan. After hearing he himself was obliged to go there, he snapped and in ten minutes killed 13 people. It seems that a collapse of the dreams of a man who was escaping from war made him commit massacre. I wonder if he were not a Muslim would they still emphasize his religious habits.
Nothing can justify violence, it is clear. I am not attempting to justify his horrific actions, but I wonder why his religion should be implied as the source of his actions?

[1] http://www.isna.net/articles/News/Muslim-Organizations-Urge-the-Media-and-Public-to-View-Ft-Hood-Attack-as-Criminal-Act.aspx
[2] . http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Re-So/School-Shootings-and-School-Violence.html