The following is an interview I originally published on New America Media's website. The horrific shooting Thursday at Fort Hood that claimed 13 lives and hospitalized another 30 people has set off a great deal of speculation as to why the alleged shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, did what he did.
NAM Editor Aaron Glantz spoke to former Marine Corps Cpl. Dave Hassan, who served in Iraq in 2005 and 2006. Hassan, an Egyptian American, said that while he was in Iraq, racist language was so pervasive that he began to use it himself.
When you heard that the shooter was an Arab-American major what was your reaction?
This is not going to end well. That was essentialy my first reaction. I don't know if the guy did it or not but assuming that this guy did do it, somebody who shoots a whole bunch of people ought to get punished for it, but in a broader sense, it's just going to fuel more of the anti-Arab racism that's grown up in the past decade or so. It's going to be fun for the rest of us. [laughs]
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