Fort Hood Psychiatrist Begins Murder Trial

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 6, 2013
All Rights Reserved.                                      

             Branding himself a “mujahedeen” or Muslim holy warrior, 42-year-old army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan represented himself in his military murder trial in Fort Hood, Texas.  After months of equivocation from the Obama administration following the deadly Nov. 5, 2009 rampage in which he killed 13 and injured 30 U.S. soldiers, his opening statement confirms that he was an al-Qaeda assassin, the same brainwashed suicide bombers that attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon Sept. 11.  “We mujahedeen are imperfect soldiers trying to form a perfect religion.  I apologize for any mistakes I made in this endeavor,” said Hasan in his opening statement.  Downplayed at the time of the massacre by U.S. authorities, Hasan’s case represents clear infiltration by al-Qaeda terrorists into the U.S. military.  What makes the story unique is his recruitment and conversion while in the military.

             Hasan, now a wheelchair-bound paraplegic from a gunshot wound to the spine on the day of the attack, admitted to the murders.  “The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter,” said the former army psychiatrist.  After completing medical school at Uniformed Services University of Health Services in 2003, Hasan finished his residency at Walter Reed Medical Center as a captain in the U.S. army.  When he received his commission to Fort Hood in 2009, he was promoted to the rank of major.  Sometime either before or after arriving in Texas, Hasan began his e-mail relationship with U.S-born, Yemen-based al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki.  Like Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda current No. 1 Egyptian-born, former Muslim Brotherhood terrorist Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Awlaki was a gifted propagandist for recruiting suicide assassins.

             When you consider the nature of Hasan’s attack on an army deployment center, it was carefully planned for some time.  Al-Awlaki had brainwashed Hasan into believing he was serving the holy warrior’s cause of defending Islam.  Admitting he was the shooter doesn’t admit he was responsible for the death and mayhem.  Whether he pulled the trigger or not, Hasan views himself as foot soldier in the holy war against the United States.  Shouting “Alluhu Akbar” before opening fire, were the exact same words of Bin Laden’s assassins before they flew hijacked jetliners into the World Trade Center and Pentagon.  Whether Hasan’s mentally ill or not, he was intensely recruited by al-Awlaki to wage holy war against the U.S.   “He didn’t want to deploy and he came to believe he had a jihad duty to murder soldiers,” said lead prosecutor Col. Steve Henricks agreeing with Hasan’s statements.

             Focusing on basic facts of Hasan’s mass murder don’t deal with how al-Awlaki or other al-Qaeda figures for that matter recruit and convert mentally deranged misfits into Islamic suicide bombers.  Had Hasan gone down in a hail of bullets, he would have succeeded in martyring himself for the cause.  Surviving as a paraplegic was not the plan when he opened fire Nov. 5, 2009.  When prosecutors say he wanted to “kill as many solider as he could” there’s no hyperbole.  What’s not mentioned was he planned to go down with the cause.  Recent “chatter” or electronic intercepts of al-Zawahri or other Yemen-based al-Qaeda terrorists indicate that they timed media release to Hasan’s high-profile murder trial.  Hasan wants to further al-Qaeda’s propaganda message by putting Islam on trial, not one mentally ill doctor who was recruited and converted into radical Islam by Yemen’s terror cell.

             Right from the gate, Hasan’s trial has already confirmed he was an al-Qaeda operative camouflaged inside the U.S. army.  Firing his defense counsel, Hasan opted to represent himself with the defense that he as a foot soldier in the holy war against the United States.  Hasan believes his presence as an al-Qaeda foot soldier provides exculpatory evidence to avoid the death penalty.  In his veiled apology in opening statements, Hasan made it clear he was operating as a holy warrior when he engaged in the Fort Hood mass murder.  No matter how carefully he planned the attack, serving as a soldier in a wider holy war prevents him of the premeditation needed to warrant the death penalty.  Calling himself an “imperfect soldier” seeking a “perfect” religion provides enough exculpatory evidence to avoid the death penalty because of his religious convictions.

             Hasan’s courts martial reveals the kind of twisted logic that would ordinarily be used in a civilian insanity defense.  Whether military prosecutors want to admit it or not, the 42-year-old former army psychiatrist isn’t fit to stand trial.  Defending himself shows the extent of Hasan’s psychosis, where he’s less concerned about the outcome than explaining his motives for the mass murder.  Screaming “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire doesn’t excuse Hasan’s killing spree only helps explain the perverted logic of his transgression.  Letting a mentally ill terrorist represent himself makes a mockery of military tribunals that properly assess criminals before given the right to speak in their own defense.  Whether Hasan is ever given the death penalty or not, he should be studied carefully to learn as much as possible about the pathological personalities recruited by terrorists to commit mass murder.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.