The man suspected of a deadly rampage Thursday at Fort Hood was a military psychiatrist whose had turned against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but was about to be sent overseas, his cousin told Fox News. photo: Fox news

With billions on security why was this guy not picked up for posting sympathies with 9/11 bombers?

Slate is carrying the story, based on an AP story that  the Fort Hood alleged killer was posting on the Internet under his own name “NidalHasan”

His posts showed he was sympathetic with the 9/11 bombers who destroyed the World Trade Centre and damaged the Pentagon.

Nidal Hasan also expressed his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a deep fear about being deployed into the theatre of war, an oxymoron of course.

From Slate

There are a lot of unanswered questions about who Nidal Hasan was, and why he carried out the shootings. But the details emerging from interviews and records “are troubling,” as the Associated Press says.

At least six months ago, he came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings under the screen name “NidalHasan” that seemed to be sympathetic toward suicide bombers, although it was never determined whether the two were the same person.

The New York Times points out that the way he carried out the shooting suggests the whole thing was premeditated, particularly considering that medical personnel have no reason to carry a weapon.

Officials believe Hasan acted alone. Now they’re trying to figure out whether obvious signs of potential trouble were missed.

He graduated from Virginia Tech, went on to earn a doctorate from the University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, and then spent several years at Walter Reed before going to Fort Hood.

He spent much of his time counseling victims of trauma in war zones and often talked about his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a colleague who spoke to Fox News.

After seeing the effects of war up close, he was terrified of being deployed, his cousin told Fox News. Then, when he was give orders to deploy to Iraq on Nov. 28, “he became distraught,” says the Los Angeles Times.

(Update: This morning, an Army spokesman said Hasan was to be sent to Afghanistan.)

At one point, he even hired a military lawyer to help him get discharged. Hasan apparently went into the military against his parent’s wishes but then felt discriminated against because of his Muslim roots.

During his time in the Washington area, he had been a “very devout” worshipper, who often attracted attention for attending prayers wearing his Army fatigues.  He apparently tried to find a wife but his former imam says he was looking for an extremely religious woman and didn’t have much luck in suburban Washington.

The Washington Post reports that Hasan didn’t quite fit in at Walter Reed, and he often tried to stay far away from female colleagues, even refusing to be part of an annual Christmastime tradition of taking group photos.

One Walter Reed colleague says many tried to avoid sending patients to Hasan because his work habits were seen as too unusual.

The Associated Press reports that, as an intern at Walter Reed, Hasan required counseling and extra supervision because of some “difficulties’ and at one point even received a poor evaluation.

USA Today reports that those difficulties appeared to continue at Fort Hood, where he apparently felt like “he didn’t fit in,” according to Rep. Michael McCaul from Austin.

Read original story in The Washington Post | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009