No faith can justify Fort Hood rampage: Obama

FORT HOOD, Texas (AFP) – US President Barack Obama said no faith could justify the Fort Hood rampage, in an address Tuesday memorializing victims of the accused gunman, Major Nidal Hasan, a devout Muslim.

"It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy," Obama said in remarks to be delivered at a memorial service after last week's tragedy which were released by the White House.

"But this much we do know -- no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor.

"And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice -- in this world, and the next."

Obama said last week's shooting spree at the base, which killed 12 service personnel and one civilian and wounded 42 others, came at a trying time for America, as it struggles through wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fears US army missed warnings over base gunman

But he said the United States must rely on its bedrock values in the face of tragedy and said the qualities shown by the Fort Hood dead and those who tried to save them, should set a character standard for their fellow Americans.

"In an age of selfishness, they embody responsibility. In an era of division, they call upon us to come together. In a time of cynicism, they remind us of who we are as Americans," Obama said.

"We are a nation that endures because of the courage of those who defend it.

"We saw that valor in those who braved bullets here at Fort Hood, just as surely as we see it in those who signed up knowing that they would serve in harm?s way."

"This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great American community.

"It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more incomprehensible," Obama said, and then spoke directly to relatives of the victims gathered for a moving service at the base attended by 15,000 people.

"Here is what you must also know: your loved ones endure through the life of our nation.

"Their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched."