At Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait, on the morning of March 23, 2003, Sergeant Asan Akbar “rolled three grenades into three tents in the heart of the command. When the stunned occupants rushed out, a gunman [Akbar] sprayed them with an assault rifle. One soldier was killed on the spot, and fifteen more were wounded, one of whom would later die… The sergeant was a convert to Islam…the sole Muslim in a sea of American soldiers. He thought his fellow soldiers were prejudiced and had been deeply disturbed by their joking threats to rape and kill Iraqi Muslims. In camp, Akbar’s platoon leader, Sergeant First Class Daniel Kumm, had received complaints from other soldiers that Akbar was ‘scatterbrained’ and ‘incompetent,’ not ready for combat. Kumm had raised their concerns with his superiors but was told, ‘You will take him. We need the numbers. We need to take full strength into Iraq.’ ”
– Todd S. Purdum and The New York Times Staff, A Time of Our Choosing, Page 131