Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

2009] DEFEAT, RAGE, AND JEW HATRED 97
Crusaders, thanks to these blessed strikes—and we implore Allah for
more like them. 9
Initially, most media and government sources had difficulty in accepting the
obvious, namely, that the Fort Hood massacre was a religiously motivated
act. Instead, they sought to explain the killer’s actions in terms of psychological
stress of one sort or another in which, willy-nilly, the killer became
one with his victims as a casualty of military life. 10 However, within a few
days it became clear that the killer was a radical Islamist and that many of
his colleagues had questioned his fitness to serve in the Armed Forces of
the United States. 11
It is not our purpose to consider that evidence, save for one detail. On
November 12, 2009, Hasan was charged with thirteen counts of premeditated
murder. 12 This means that, in a trial that is bound to attract international
attention, the prosecution is convinced that it can prove that Hasan
cold-bloodedly and deliberately set out to kill as many military personnel
and civilians as possible before being killed himself.
No outsider can be privy to the evidence available to the prosecution.
Nevertheless, federal law enforcement officials have told ABC News that
Hasan used an FN Herstal Five-Seven tactical pistol that was purchased
legally in August 2009 from the Guns Galore shop in nearby Killeen,
Texas. The same officials said that the weapon packs so much power that it
is known as the “Cop Killer.” 13 The store’s manager also said that that
particular firearm can hold twenty rounds in a standard clip and take a ten-
9. Ibrahim, Al Qaeda Reader, 49.
10. See, for example, Benedict Carey, Damien Cave and Lizette Alvarez, “Painful
Stories Take a Toll on Military Therapists,” New York Times, November 8,
2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/us/08stress.html?scp=1&sq=Painful%
20stories%20take%20a%20toll%20on%20military%20therapists&st=cse; see also
Erika Goode, “When Soldiers Snap,” New York Times, November 8, 2009, www.ny
times.com/2009/11/08/weekinreview/08goode.html. For an analysis of this phenomenon,
see Charles Krauthammer, “Medicalizing Mass Murder,” Washington
Post, November 13, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2009/11/12/AR2009111209824.html?hpid=opinionsbox1.
11. For a summary of the evidence of Major Hasan’s Islamist loyalties, see
Daniel Pipes, “Major Hassan’s Islamist Life,” Front Page Magazine, November
20, 2009, http://www.danielpipes.org/7763/major-nidal-hasan-islamist-life.
12. Philip Rucker and Ellen Nakashima, “Hasan charged with 13 counts of murder,”
Washingon Post, November 13, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/11/12/AR2009111208617.html.
13. Matthew Cole, Pierre Thomas, Jason Ryan, and Richard Esposito, “‘Cop
Killer’ Gun Used in Ft. Hood Shooting, Officials Said,” ABC News, http://abcnews
.go.com/Blotter/cop-killer-gun-thought-ft-hood-shooting/story?id=9019521.