COMMENT ON FORT HOOD - AT 10:16 P.M. ET:  The shootings at Fort Hood are a culmination of a number of incidents recently in the United States - arrests in Texas, Illinois, Colorado, and New York for planned or contemplated terrorist acts.  All these things, and especially the tragedy today, show how vulnerable we are, even though today's outrage is not being described, officially, as a terrorist act.

And these events follow others of recent years - a deranged Muslim breaking into a community center in Seattle and killing a worker; another misguided Muslim running down students at the University of North Carolina, an incident desperately covered up by politically correct campus authorities; the Muslim who acted as the Beltway killer in and around Washington, D.C.; the murder of an American soldier by a fellow soldier, a Muslim, just before the Iraq War; the killing of an agent at an Israeli airline counter in Los Angeles. 

Every time there's an "incident" we're told it's "isolated."  Well, maybe these individuals aren't members of the same group, and maybe they haven't taken the same oath or have the same secret handshake.  But, frankly, there are too many "isolated incidents" for my comfort. 

The great majority of American Muslims, of course, aren't involved in terrorism.  We have Muslim communities near me.  I patronize their stores without hesitation.  It's wrong to paint the entire Muslim population as tainted.

But there is something terrible going on in the Muslim world - a diseased ideology that must be confronted and discussed openly.  The forces of political correctness have been far too successful in covering up every incident and labeling any discussion as "racism."  Oscar Hammerstein II, in "South Pacific," wrote that "you've got to be taught to hate."  That is correct, and too many Muslims are accepting the mentality of hate.  And the chic and fashionable in our "intellectual" classes will do nothing about it except beg for "understanding" of "other cultures."

We have work to do.  We now learn that today's shooter, who leaves behind eleven mourning families, posted suspicious items on the internet six months ago.  He's an Army officer, yet nothing was done about it.  Hell must be raised.

FORT HOOD UPDATE - AT 9:30 P.M. ET:  The brief press conference held by Lt. Gen. Cone, commanding officer at Fort Hood, is over.  He said there was a single shooter, now in custody.  He said there was no evidence of a terrorist act, although I have no idea how he knows this, since the shooter isn't talking.  We didn't learn much at the press conference, except that the shooter is alive. 

FORT HOOD NEWS CONFERENCE - AT 9:19 P.M. ET:  Incredibly, the Army has just announced at a press conference that the Fort Hood shooter is not dead, but is in custody.  This is a terrible blunder by the Army.  The story of the shooter being killed was out there for hours, and the Army surely knew it wasn't accurate.  It should have been corrected earlier.

We're monitoring the press conference now. 

FORT HOOD - AT 8:27 P.M. ET:  We are still awaiting that Fort Hood press conference.  There are now wide reports of a person in custody in connection with the killings today.  The main shooter, of course, was killed by police officers.

One item that's come out repeatedly is that the shooter got a poor evaluation when he worked as a military psychiatrist in the Washington, D.C. area.  If that's the case, why was he assigned to treat troops returning from combat at Fort Hood?  Clearly, this will have to be investigated. 

There are also reports that the shooter expressed the open belief that Muslims had a right to kill their "oppressors" - meaning American troops in Muslim countries.  He was also disenchanted with the US Army, which had educated him in medicine, and was fighting deployment to a Muslim country.

FORT HOOD - AT 7:54 P.M. ET:  The congressman representing the Fort Hood area says that a new person has been taken into custody.  There are also multiple reports - unconfirmed - that there was shooting during the massacre that involved rifles and possibly automatic weapons.  Initially, we were told that the shooter only had handguns.  We emphasize again that reports of larger weapons are unconfirmed.  Many reports made in good faith during incidents like this turn out to be wrong.  We are awaiting a press conference.

FORT HOOD - AT 7:40 P.M. ET:  We're now being told that the two soldiers held in connection with today's shooting have been released, and were apparently not involved.

FORT HOOD SHOOTER - AT 7:18 P.M. ET:  Fox News has now interviewed an associate of the dead shooter.  We learn that the murderer, a Muslim, had views hostile to American foreign policy.  We stress that we cannot make a connection at this point between political views and action, but at least Fox is dealing with the issue, and it is dealing with it in a responsible, restrained way.  Maybe that's why Fox is so successful.   

FORT HOOD - AT 7:08 P.M. ET:  I'm now beginning to see, and I'm not shocked by it, some reporting on the Fort Hood killings that borders on the vulgar.  Some TV types, on CNN and MSNBC, are discussing the slaughter as if it were just a mental-health incident.  They're talking about the multiple deployments of troops.  There is no evidence whatever that this had anything to do with today's horror.  We do not have information.  But the usual suspects will be out in force on the tube and in print "explaining" the killings in terms that push the viewer away from dealing with ideology.  (And I don't even know if ideology was involved.)  Discipline, people.  Discipline.

FORT HOOD SHOOTER - AT 6:52 P.M. ET:  We now learn that the Fort Hood shooter, killed by police officers during his rampage, was an Army psychiatrist.

BULLETIN - AT 6:15 P.M. ET: The shooter at Fort Hood has been identified as US Army Major Malik Nadal Hasan, described as a mental health professional.  Clearly, that is a Muslim name, and this will cause considerable anger and trouble.  We don't know the names of the other others in custody.  We do not know if there was actually a conspiracy.

Just before the Iraq War, a Muslim soldier in the US Army, Sgt. Asan Akbar of the 101st Airborne Division's 326th Engineer Battalion, threw hand grenades into an Army tent in Kuwait, killing Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 27, of Easton, Pa.

LATEST ON FORT HOOD - AT 5:41 P.M. ET:  With the understanding that we cannot independely confirm this, TV reporters are saying that they now have the name of the Fort Hood shooter.  Several reporters say that the name itself hints at a motive.

Obviously, that is code language.  We must be careful here.  This could get very volatile, and ideology may be involved.  In the American tradition, guilt is individual unless proved otherwise.  There is going to be an extensive investigation.  We will report facts here today as we learn them.

FORT HOOD UPDATE - AT 5:27 P.M. ET:  The shootings occurred at the readiness center, where soldiers are prepared for overseas deployment.  There is some borderline irresponsible speculation going on about gang activity at Fort Hood, lower standards for entrance into the Army, and post traumatic stress syndrome among troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  We emphasize that, at this hour, we know absolutely nothing about the background or motivation of the perpetrator or perpetrators

FORT HOOD - AT 5:04 P.M. ET:  We are following the news from Fort Hood, Texas, the largest US Army base in the world.  As many of you know, a shooting has occurred in which 12 people, including an attacker, have been killed, and at least 31 have been wounded.  We do not know definitively whether all the casualties are military personnel. 

The gunman, using a handgun or handguns, was a soldier, or at least in military uniform.  Two others individuals believed to be soldiers have also been apprehended, although their role, if any, is not yet known.

There will, of course, be wild speculation.  We don't know the names of the alleged assailant or possible co-conspirators, or their motivation.  Stand by.

November 5, 2009