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Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the US Army psychiatrist, accused of killing 13 fellow soldiers at a military base in Texas was on a "jihadist mission," a US lawmaker said on Tueday, contending it was too early to rule out that he was a "lone wolf" acting alone.
"This man was on a mission, on a mission that he believed was from his God, a jihadist mission," Congressman Michael McCaul from Texas said in the House of Representatives. Citing the information he received from soldiers who survived the November 5, massacre, the Congressman pointed out that Hasan shouted 'Allah ho Akbar' before opening fire.
"It is a common terminology in the jihad world to shout before you kill others. I think he fully expected to die that day," McCaul said. "He gave away his material possessions. He was seen wearing a Pakistani garb at a local store that morning. He was preparing himself. He was premeditating the death of others and preparing himself for his own death," McCaul said.
The Congressman said it was important to probe whether Hasan "infiltrated or was he a 'lone wolf' acting on his own without any outside influence," adding it is too premature to conclude that he was acting alone and demanded that the Congress should review the matter. "There are so many flags in this case. Not only this individual, but what was he doing with Pakistan," he said, adding, "What influence did Pakistan have on this individual. The American people need to know the truth," McCaul said.
McCaul said while studying for a master's degree in public health in 2007, Hasan used a presentation for an environmental health class to argue that Muslims were being targeted by US anti-terror campaigns. One of his former classmates said he was very vocal about the war, very upfront about being a Muslim first and an American second, McCaul said. He said reports that he was in touch with the top Al Qaeda recruiter in Yemen through emails and that there were communications to Pakistan which could not be ignored.
"That raises big flags in this case. We cannot ignore that... Again, this is a man who places allegiance more to the
Koran than the Constitution, in his own words," he said.