ARTICLE REVIEW: THE MEANING OF FORT HOOD

Article Review: The Meaning of Fort Hood

Article Review: The Meaning of Fort Hood

1. Title, author and source of the article

Title of the article is: The Meaning of Fort Hood, the author of this article is Eric Etheridge and the source of the article is The New York Times.

2. The topic and major themes of the article

The article states that the attempt to sort out the meaning of the murderous actions of Maj. Nidal Hasan has consumed numerous blog cycles since Thursday. Does Hasan's rampage signal an internal jihadi threat we're ill-equipped to thwart, or was it just another meaningless moment of American lone-gunman violence?

By analysing the article we have found that every man and woman who signs up for military service do so with full knowledge of the dangers that could come - that is part of what makes the service of our troops and veterans so extraordinary. But it's unthinkable that so many would die in a hail of gunfire on a US Army base in the heart of Texas, and that a fellow service-member could have pulled trigger.

The article states that we must compile every piece of information that was known about the gunman, and we must learn what was done with that information. Once we have those facts, we must act upon them. If there was a failure to take appropriate action before the shootings, there must be accountability. Beyond that - and most importantly - we must quickly and thoroughly evaluate and address any flaws in the system, so that we can prevent a similar breach from happening again. Our government must be able to act swiftly and surely when it has threatening information. And our troops must have the security that they deserve.

3. The relationship and implications of the subject discussed in the article to mental health and mental health care issues or needs

The article states that Army employees were informed of the contacts, but no threat was perceived from the general questions about spiritual guidance regarding conflicts between Islam and military service, which were judged to be consistent with mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. A DC-based joint terrorism task force operating under the FBI was notified; the information assessed by one of its Defense Criminal Investigative Service employees, which concluded there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. Despite two Defense Department investigators on ...