While the U.S. debate continues as to whether Maj. Nidal Hassan’s murder of 13 soldiers in Texas this month was a terrorist attack, researcher Barry Rubin says the murderer himself provided the affirmative answer.

Maj. Hasan, who is now facing charges of having murdered 13 and wounded 29 in the Fort Hood shooting attack of Nov. 5, delivered a lecture in June 2007. His topic was: Islam, the complete subservience demanded by Allah and Muhammed, and threats that the American military might encounter from Muslims conflicted about fighting wars in Muslim countries.

Rubin, director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal, has analyzed the slide show Hassan presented, concluding that it clearly explained his religious Muslim motives for the attack. "Yet that still isn’t enough for too many people - including the president of the United States - to understand that the murderous assault at Fort Hood was a Jihad attack,” Rubin laments.



Hassan had been writing e-mails to a radical cleric in Yemen who advocated killing soldiers and who called the American war on terror a "war against Muslims.” In addition, he yelled “Allahu Akbar” as he began shooting the unarmed soldiers.



Despite this, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has stated, "We object to, and do not believe, that anti-Muslim sentiment should emanate from this ... This was an individual who does not, obviously, represent the Muslim faith." In addition, Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. said, "I'm concerned that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers ... Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse."

The Slides Tell the Story

Rubin analyzed Hassan’s slide show, entitled, “The Koranic World View as it Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military,” and summed up, “All you have to do is look at the 50 Power Point slides and they tell you everything you need to know.”



Rubin’s conclusion is that at the time of the presentation, Hassan was “still working out what to do in his own mind and… trying to figure out if he has a way out other than in effect deserting the U.S. army and becoming a Jihad warrior. Ultimately, he concluded that he could not be a proper Muslim without killing American soldiers. Obviously, other Muslims could reach different conclusions, but Hassan strongly grounds himself in Islamic texts."



“In a sense,” Rubin writes, “Hassan's lecture was a cry for help: Can anyone show me another way out? Can anyone refute my interpretation of Islam? One Muslim in the audience reportedly tried to do so. But unless these issues are openly discussed and debated - rather than swept under the rug - more people will die. In fact, I’d recommend that teachers use this lecture in teaching classes on both Islam and Islamist politics.”

The slide show’s central theme was that Muslims cannot fight in an infidel army against other Muslims, and the Koran is quoted extensively to prove this. Another theme is that it is the duty of all Muslims to fight those who attack and oppress Muslims. As Slide 40 quotes from the Koran, “Allah forbids you…from dealing kindly and justly” with those who fight Muslims - such as the U.S. Army.

Rubin noted that Hassan, an American-born Arab whose parents came from areas now under Palestinian Authority control, has never been quoted as attacking Israel or the Jews: “This is one more reminder that this struggle isn’t all just about Israel. But it also tells something important about Hassan which also applies to many Muslim radicals in Europe. Hassan is an American. As such he has no other nationality, neither Palestinian nor Arab. He doesn’t support Hamas or Fatah. But he has a religion that directs his thinking. That’s why he is an Islamist and why he supports a generalized Islamist revolutionary movement, al-Qaida.”



Rubin’s full article can be read here, and Hassan’s slide show can be seen here.