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Obama to attend Fort Hood rampage memorial


US President Barack Obama will Tuesday attend a memorial service here to honor victims of the wild shooting rampage on the military base in which 13 people died, the White House said.

Investigators were meanwhile working around the clock to uncover why the Muslim US army doctor, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, suspected in the killings that also wounded 30 people.

"All evidence at this point indicates the suspect allegedly acted alone," Chris Grey, spokesman for the US Army criminal investigation division (CID Cid or Cid Campeador (sĭd, Span. thēth kämpāäthōr`) [Span.,=lord conqueror], d. 1099, Spanish soldier and national hero, whose real name was Rodrigo (or Ruy) Díaz de Vivar. ), told reporters Saturday, adding that no motive had yet been established.

Criminal investigators were poring over evidence to determine if the alleged shooter -- who survived shooting wounds and is under guard at a military hospital -- was motivated by Islamist ideology or had snapped under the pressure of his job counseling soldiers traumatized by combat.Related article: Witnesses speak of carnage

In his weekly radio address on Saturday, Obama called the mass-shooting "one of the most devastating dev·as·tate  
tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates
1. To lay waste; destroy.

2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark.
 ever committed on an American military base."

At a press conference later Saturday, Colonel John Rossi, deputy commander of Fort Hood Fort Hood, U.S. army post, 209,000 acres (84,580 hectares), central Tex., near Killeen; est. 1942 on the site of old Fort Gates and named for Confederate Gen. John Hood. It is one of the army's largest installations and a major employer of the area. , told reporters that "17 victims and the suspect remain hospitalized."

An initial search of Hasan's computer revealed no direct exchanges with known extremists, but US Army and FBI officials had yet to rule out possible links to terrorist groups, US media reported.

Earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), division of the U.S. Dept. of Justice charged with investigating all violations of federal laws except those assigned to some other federal agency.  learned of Internet postings by a man calling himself Nidal Hasan that expressed support for suicide bombings.

Investigators were not able to determine yet whether the writer was Major Hasan, but the details fueled concerns that authorities may have missed warning signs prior to the attack at Fort Hood, Texas.

Neighbors reportedly said Hasan Said Hasan was Fiji Indian member of the Legislative Council of Fiji nominated into the Council by the Governor in 1937. , 39, was in a rush when he gave away his belongings -- including a Koran -- shortly before Thursday's bloody shooting spree.

"I'm not going to need them," he told one neighbor, Patricia Villa, according to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3.
 The New York New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of
 Times, handing over bags of vegetables, a mattress and clothing.

A US-born Muslim of Palestinian heritage, Hasan had voiced dismay over US wars in Islamic countries and was distraught that he was about to be deployed to Afghanistan.

He reportedly said the US struggle against terror threats was a "war on Muslims," while his family alleged he was the target of prejudice and harassment over his Islamic faith.

Poignant details released here Saturday of each of those killed in the rampage drove home the scale of the tragedy.

The victims included a 21-year-old mother-to-be Private Francheska Velez, who was due to return home to Chicago for maternity leave maternity leave nbaja por maternidad

maternity leave maternity ncongé m de maternité

maternity leave maternity n
 after a tour in Iraq, and 56-year-old John Gaffaney, a psychiatric nurse who had just persuaded the military to let him return to active duty for deployment in Iraq.

Specialist Ryan Hill, 28, came to the base with his young daughter Emma to put flowers and candles at the main gates as a mark of respect to the victims.

"It makes me mad. I don't how somebody can commit an act like that," Hill told AFP (1) (AppleTalk Filing Protocol) The file sharing protocol used in an AppleTalk network. In order for non-Apple networks to access data in an AppleShare server, their protocols must translate into the AFP language. See file sharing protocol. . "Those soldiers were ready to take off and deploy and they won't even get to do that."

The bodies of those killed were taken Friday to the same mortuary at Dover Air Base in Delaware that handles fallen soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan The term Wars in Afghanistan may refer to:
  • Islamic conquest of Afghanistan (637-709)
  • First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-1842)
  • Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1881)
  • Panjdeh Incident (1885)
  • Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919)
 and Iraq.

Obama in his radio address hailed the response of soldiers and civilians at the scene who rushed to help victims, tearing off bullet-riddled clothes to treat the injured and using blouses as tourniquets.

The president ordered flags to fly at half-staff at the White House and federal buildings, as troops at home and abroad held a minute's silence to mourn the dead.

Hasan was shot and seriously wounded A casualty whose injuries or illness are of such severity that the patient is rendered unable to walk or sit, thereby requiring a litter for movement and evacuation. See also evacuation; litter; patient.  by a female civilian police officer who was being hailed as a heroine for ending his deadly rampage.

Witnesses reportedly heard Hasan, who investigators believe fired more than 100 rounds during the incident, shout "Allahu Akbar!" (God is greatest) before unloading a semiautomatic weapon and a handgun at a troop processing center.

Troops based in Fort Hood, by area the world's largest US military base, have suffered the highest number of casualties and have undertaken multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The shooting has meanwhile raised delicate questions about Muslim soldiers A Muslim soldier is a Muslim who has engaged in war, or is trained in the art of war. Some of the more contemporary belong to state or national military forces and are more accurately described as soldiers.  serving in the military, as some commentators warned of an Islamic "fifth column" infiltrating the army while Islamic groups called for calm amid concerns of a backlash.
Copyright 2009 AFP American Edition
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright (c) Mochila, Inc.

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Author:AFP
Publication:AFP American Edition
Date:Nov 8, 2009
Words:741
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