“He used to not believe that 9/11 was solely the work of Middle East people,” Akhter said, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. “His main thing was: ‘America is killing Muslims in the Middle East.’ That made him very, very upset.”
Akhter said he sensed that Hasan was “a troubled man” and feels guilty for not alerting others.
“I tried to convince him to try to be a moderate Muslim,” Akhter said.
Hasan repeatedly referred to his strong religious views in discussions with classmates at Walter Reed, his superiors and even in his research work, the military official said. His behavior, while at times perceived as intense and combative, was not unlike the zeal of others with strong religious views.
Some doctors and staff, however, were concerned that their unfamiliarity with the Muslim faith would lead them to unfairly single out Hasan’s behavior, the official said.
Some questioned Hasan’s sympathies as an Army psychiatrist, whether he would be more aligned with Muslims fighting US troops.
They saw no signs of mental problems, however, no risk factors that would predict violent behavior. The group discussed other factors that suggested Hasan would continue to thrive in the military, factors that mitigated their concerns, the official said.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday he was appalled at news leaks about the investigation into last week’s deadly shootings at Fort Hood.
“Frankly if I found out with high confidence anybody who’s leaking on the Department of Defense, who that was, that would probably be a career-ender,” he told reporters in Wisconsin. “Everybody ought to shut up.”
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