Fort Hood Community Pulls Together After Shooting Rampage

President Obama became "consoler-in-chief" this week as he spoke to a grieving Army base Tuesday, the day before Veterans Day.

Speaking in front of 15,000, some of them wounded in the attack, Obama named each of the 13 victims of the shooting rampage and spoke of their lives and sacrifice.

"It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy, but this much we do know --  no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor," Obama said.

"And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice -- in this world, and the next."

The president, who is in the middle of a decision-making process about whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, reminded service members that the mission remains difficult and unfinished.

Military may have missed clues about attacker

	Major Hasan was a military psychiatrist who specialized in combat stress.

While the motive for the killings is still unclear, investigators are looking into the alleged attacker's background and communications between him and a radical cleric in the Middle East known for his anti-American teachings.

U.S. intelligence officials intercepted the e-mails and handed them over to the two Joint Terrorism Task Forces, but task force members concluded the communications posed no threat and did not inform the Army.

In addition, while some colleagues described him as a quiet, religious man, others were concerned after a presentation he gave in 2007 about Islam and its implications for the U.S. military.

After outlining a radical view of Islam, Hasan said that asking Muslims to fight and kill other Muslims could create adverse effects if the Army did not allow them to leave as conscientious objectors, Washington Post reporter Dana Priest told the NewsHour.

Hasan was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan to counsel soldiers suffering from combat stress.

Muslim background raises fears of backlash

	The Pew Research Center estimates that as many as 2.5 million Muslims live in America.

Gen. George Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said he was worried about a possible backlash against enlisted Muslims. "It would be a shame, as great a tragedy as this was, it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well."

An Army spokesman said complaints of religious discrimination are rare, citing only 50 across the entire Defense Department in the past three years. But according to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which works for religious pluralism and tolerance within the military, they have received 16 complaints since just Thursday from currently enlisted Muslims.

Muslims make up a fraction of the U.S. armed services. Only about 3,500 members of the total 1.4 million-member U.S. armed forces describe themselves as Muslim and followers of Islam, though the number is growing, according to the Department of Defense.

In response to increasing numbers, the military recently started to accommodate Muslim service members by recruiting Muslim chaplains, creating Muslim prayer spaces, and educating other troops about Islam.

Soldiers hope investigation will reveal motive

	The Fort Hood shootings once again brought national attention to mental health issues associated with war.

Timothy Hancock, mayor of Killeen, Texas, and former sergeant, told the NewsHour "I'm glad that [Hasan is] still alive ... because I think that this will give us an opportunity to find out -- a better chance of finding out why these things happen."

Another soldier, Michael Kern, was in the unit being treated by Hasan but was not under his care. Kern told the NewsHour that Hasan's own mental health was likely affected by the stress of years of treating deeply disturbed soldiers.

"We're telling him so many war stories and, you know, telling him all the bad things that we have done and all the bad things that we have been through. Who's going to help him when he's having the same problems thinking about all the things that's going on in Iraq?"

Fort Hood and Central Texas are home to one of the largest concentrations of soldiers and families in the U.S. Army and has lost 545 soldiers from its formations in Iraq and Afghanistan.