Once again, yet again, the military industrial complex finds itself in the embarrassing position of defending its shameless policies. Major Nidal Malik Hasan of the United States Army is the lone suspect, to date, in the shooting spree at Ft. Hood, Texas, a shooting spree that has left 13 dead and 30 wounded in the sprawling military base’s worst disaster. While families of disaster victims try and cope, another area warrants serious analysis.

Once again, we are treated to the creation of hysteria as news reporters suck on the teat of sensational infotainment. The absurdity of news reporting was once again on center stage immediately after the incident, and while no longer on center stage, three days later it still remains absurd. Absurd in the fact that it fails to ask hard questions, much to the military’s relief as it stumbles along in scramble mode.

As facts on this major disaster continue to come forth, trickling out at a snail’s pace, the military’s powers that be are frantic in their efforts at playing CYA. Clearly, based on all reports, Hasan was the lone gunman. Still to be determined is how many rounds were fired and where they all originated from. When will ballistics testing results be released? Who is conducting this testing? Is the testing facility a military-sponsored testing facility? What were the calibers of all casings recovered at the murder scene? Have bullet and shell fragments been recovered from any of the victims?

Confusion reigns as king. If, as reported by the Associated Press, Sgt. Mark Todd is one of two police officer who confronted Hasan and told him to “Stop and drop your weapons” only to watch as Hasan “turned and fired a couple of rounds at me,” why did Todd give this command after his comrade, Sgt. Kimberley Munley, had already been downed in the gunfight? More confusion: “Once he started firing at me, I lost track of her.”

The list of unanswered questions facing the military is long. There is an even longer list of questions that news reporters will no doubt fail to ask, a huge relief for the military industrial complex as the cat and mouse game unfolds.

A wounded suspect, shot four times, is in recovery mode. Wounded and down, internet discussion boards are overflowing with comments full of racism, bigotry and hatred. Until last Thursday, the man was serving in, arguably, the world’s greatest military at the rank of Major. If, as reported on the day of the event by a national radio news station - itself a prime example of the conversion from news reporting to infotainment, even as it put the finishing touches on its annual fall membership drive campaign - the suspect had a “subpar work performance” history, how then did he achieve the rank of Major?

If, as this news organization reported in the same report, the suspect had been “shot four times and is in stable condition,” why is he still alive? Were those who had this “terrorist” (as reported by news reporters) in their sights trained to shoot to wound? Were they trained to shoot to kill? If one sees fellow comrades being wounded and killed, how does the shoot to wound concept come into play? These are difficult questions that will lead one out of those all to comfy comfort zones. Painful, yes, but they force one to engage in a rational thought process.

News reports continue to base their information on what the military deems necessary as well as information obtained from sources based on anonymity. Okay, where’s the accountability factor in that one?

“The guy was just off the wall, totally radical in his views,” so states Dr. Val Finneli, a fellow attendee with Hasan at a master’s in public health program held in 2007-08, at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. Where is Dr. Finneli’s report on this suspect’s “radical” views? If there is no report, why not?

In a graduate military medical program, fellow students with Hasan complained to faculty about his “anti-American propoganda.” Where are the written complaints? If there aren’t any, why not? Wait, as reported by the Associated Press, it was because “a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim student” is why no actions were taken. Military students in fear?

If Major Hasan reached the rank of Major based on a “subpar work performance,” then who is responsible? If Major Hasan was given informational lecture status, in other words, rewarded with lecture presentations, who is responsible? Who is responsible for judging him in his evaluation performance? Who is responsible for evaluating those who evaluated Major Hasan?

Seemingly, those most responsible for this major disaster are quite busy with the whole CYA effort, and implementing a disaster preparedness plan, even if it's just a bit late. It’s a safe bet that the finger pointing will begin just as soon as all the asses are properly covered.

Why is this great American tragedy so different than a wedding party in Afghanistan being blown to pieces by this same military in question’s cowardly weapon of unmanned drones?

Until these questions are asked, and answered, we will continue being forced to listen to reporters offering news broadcast in search of politically correct terms as their bosses search for ratings. And new members.