By Armando Duke

(AXcess News) Houston - A Virginia-born Muslim, Major Nadal Malik Hasan, 39, was scheduled for active duty in Iraq and slated to leave on November 28th.  But on Thursday, Nov. 5th Maj. Hasan went berserk, killing 12 and wounding 30 others before being shot by other soldiers.  Early reports indicated Maj. Hasan had been killed, but moments ago, a Fort Hood spokesperson confirmed that his wounds were not life threatening.

According to a family member, Hasan had two brothers and his parents, who were originally from Jordan, but moved to the United States where Maj. Hasan was born and raised.  Maj. Hasan was never married, though he was described as a "devout Muslim" and had been "very worried" about being transferred to the Middle East.

Maj. Hasan had transferred to the base at Fort Hood in May, shortly after being promoted upon completing his training as a military psychiatrist, which only makes the brutal act of shooting so many soldiers even more puzzling.

Immediately after the shooting Army personnel believed that Hasan had not acted alone and arrested two other soldiers who were later cleared of suspicion and released.

Fort Hood is just 60 miles North of Austin Texas, though the huge military base spans 360 square miles and is the largest staging area for US military troops who are bound for overseas duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Tension ran high at Fort Hood where 483 soldiers had died in Iraq since the war began and of the troops stationed there, 5,000 where among the first U.S. military personnel to be sent to Iraq.

While Maj. Hasan's training was in psychiatry, he struggled greatly with the fear of being sent to the battle zone in the Middle East, not so much because of fighting, but of having to fight other Muslims.  Most likely he would have worked in interrogation or within an Iraq U.S. military hospital to help other soldiers deal with combat stress.  Yet the fear grew on Maj. Hasan until he snapped.

An aide to Rep. Carter (TX) was on the base at Fort Hood at the time of the shooting and was within earshot.  He described hearing small arms fire and automatic weapons.

While Maj. Hasan was not particularly considered a skilled marksman, he managed to get off and reload 48 rounds before being shot and wounded.

Terrorist news analysts tried to portray Major Hasan as being brainwashed by terrorist groups indirectly, that they had encouraged American soldiers to kill others, though the paranoid media pitch being thrown around by pimply-faced young news hounds eager for airtime only upset others in the U.S. Muslim community who were outraged at such stereo-typing.  Yet federal agents say that Maj. Hasan had come under suspicion nearly six months ago over posts on the web about suicide bombings and other threats.  But if the Virginia-native was under suspicion why would the military send him to Iraq?

The so-called 'un-named federal source' of the information accusing Maj. Hasan of going online frequently to look up terrorist-like acts of violence supposedly was kept secret due to the government keeping a tight lid on the situation at Fort Hood until their investigation was complete - CBS broke that alleged 'breaking news' - though I have grave doubts that any of it is true.  First, he was just promoted to Major then, sent to Fort Hood for deployment in Iraq.  If the FBI or Department of Homeland Security had any real evidence that Maj. Hasan may pose even the slightest risk - shipping him off to Iraq would be very unlikely.