US government pressed to acknowledge Fort Hood massacre as terrorist act in part to restore our ability to provide for our own security, Obama simply calls the massacre ‘workplace violence’

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10/18/12, “Government pressed to declare Fort Hood massacre a terrorist act,“ Reuters, Jim Forsyth, Chicago Tribune

“Survivors of the 2009 shooting rampage at the Fort Hood, Texas military base began on Thursday an effort to convince the Obama administration to classify the incident as an act of terrorism, a change that would clear the way for them to receive benefits.

The government currently classifies the November 5, 2009 shootings at the military base, in which 13 people died and 32 were wounded, as an act of workplace violence. 

Army Major Nidal Hasan is accused of carrying out the massacre and is awaiting a court martial at Fort Hood.

Active duty members of the military who were wounded and the relatives of those killed say a declaration that they were killed or wounded by a terrorist could make them eligible for medical benefits, compensation and the Purple Heart.

Even victims who wouldn’t be eligible for such benefits say the change is important.

“All I want is for the government to take responsibility and acknowledge that they failed, and this was an act of terrorism,” said Kimberly Munley, one of two civilian Fort Hood police officers who confronted and shot Hasan during the rampage.

“It would restore my faith in our government and our ability to protect our national security,” said Munley, who was among those wounded in the shootings.

Jeffrey Addicott, who heads the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, said that federal law requires that the Fort Hood incident be redefined.

“The USA Patriot Act defines ‘domestic terrorism’ as the ‘unlawful use of force or violence by a group or individuals committed against persons in furtherance of political or social objectives,‘” Addicott told Reuters, referring to the law that was passed in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. 

“Even as the trial process drags on, he (Hasan) is open about his devotion to radical Islam as the reason he murdered.”

Hasan, 41, an Army psychiatrist, is accused of jumping on a table at a processing center at Fort Hood and opening fire on a group of soldiers who were undergoing medical exams in preparation for their deployment to Iraq….

U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who chairs the oversight subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee, called the Department of Defense’s classification “inconceivable.”

McCaul and U.S. Representative John Carter, a Republican whose district includes Fort Hood, wrote Army Secretary John McHugh this week to urge him to reclassify the incident as an act of domestic terrorism.

Staff Sergeant Shawn Manning, who was shot six times in the Fort Hood massacre, said he has attempted without success to get the Army to declare his wounds, which left him in constant pain, labeled “combat-related.”

As for those who died, he said: “I think the family members deserve that recognition, to know that their son, daughter, husband, sacrificed their life that day protecting this country.”" via Free Republic

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11/6/2009, “13 slain at Fort Hood,“ AP via Columbia (Missouri) Tribune

“Soldiers reported that the gunman shouted “Allahu Akbar!” — an Arabic phrase for “God is great!” — before opening fire, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base commander.”… 

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