Watch the video: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/9/when_the_war_comes_homes_iraq
Hasan had tried in vain to leave the military but there was no way once you are deployed as the private says.
Hasan's cousin tells Amy Goodman, "About a week before the incident, he hired a lawyer in order to leave the Army, get married, and live his life. But they rejected his request and asked him to go to Afghanistan. This was the biggest shock for him. So, there’s another reason why he did what he did, not just because of the harassment of the soldiers. There is another reason."
An independent journalist and author Dahr Jamail describes how the military pressures troops to "suck it up" and not admit to any PTSD, which indicates the problem is a "rampant problem." According to Jamail, "And even those that do get help and go get treatment, they find themselves being put back into action anyway. As of last year, more than 43,000 soldiers already listed as medically unfit to be deployed were deployed anyway. We have a situation right now in Iraq where 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq, and then over in Afghanistan 17 percent of combat troops in Afghanistan, are already on psychotropic meds to help them sleep at night and because they have PTSD and severe depression. And this is just that we know of. So, they’re encouraged not to talk about it, not to get help. And then when they do, they simply don’t tend to get the treatment that they need."
Private Kern went on to say that he didn't think anyone at Ft. Hood saw Hasan's religion as the problem, "And even those that do get help and go get treatment, they find themselves being put back into action anyway. As of last year, more than 43,000 soldiers already listed as medically unfit to be deployed were deployed anyway. We have a situation right now in Iraq where 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq, and then over in Afghanistan 17 percent of combat troops in Afghanistan, are already on psychotropic meds to help them sleep at night and because they have PTSD and severe depression. And this is just that we know of. So, they’re encouraged not to talk about it, not to get help. And then when they do, they simply don’t tend to get the treatment that they need.:
Hasan's lawyer requested he not be interrogated until further investigation and doubts there can be a fair trial in light of Obama's Tuesday visit and public statement made by the post commander.
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Retired Col. John P. Galligan said he was contacted Monday by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's family and was headed to an Army hospital in San Antonio to meet Hasan.
"Until I meet with him, it's best to say we're just going to protect all of his rights," Galligan said. "There's a lot of facts that still need to be developed, and the time for that will come in due course."
"You've got his commander in chief showing up tomorrow," Galligan said. "That same kind of publicity naturally creates an issue as to whether you find a fair and impartial forum, whether that's in the military or even if it were in a federal forum."
Hasan, 39, is accused of opening fire on the Army post on Thursday, killing 13 people and wounding 29 before civilian police shot him in the torso. He was taken into custody and eventually moved to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he was in stable condition Monday and able to talk, hospital spokesman Dewey Mitchell said.
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But Hasan has not yet been charged. Meanwhile the AP reports that a 9/11 terrorist contact praised Hasan's actions, which exacerbates the widespread hatred toward Hasan and is exactly the kind of reporting that makes for this issue of him being unable to get a fair trail.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ihGepAkECGoDagETVBMpPb3w7Y3gD9...
Military justice experts agree that this trial will be a long complicated proceeding. His physical and mental health will first have to be evaluated and will likely cause a delay of many months. He will be tried under the military justice system, not civilian law, unless there are findings that he was operating as an international terrorist, in which case he'll be transferred for federal prosecution under ant-terrorism laws.
If he remains in military custody it's unlikely he'll get the death penalty since the military justice system's lengthy appeals process has effectively thwarted all executions since 1961.
Hasan has not yet been charged with any crime either civilian or military. Richard Durbin, chief of the criminal section for the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Antonio declined to comment on Sunday.
Because of the high publicity the Army will offer his defense a "wide latitude."
The Houston Chronicle reports the following:
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“We're in for a long haul,” said Scott L. Silliman, a retired career JAG officer in the Air Force who now directs Duke University Law School's Center on Ethics and National Security....
What's likely to occur is a court-martial under Article 2 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, to punish offenses allegedly committed by a man wearing a U.S. military uniform against other military personnel on a military base. The Army's Criminal Investigation Division is responsible for recommending charges, prompting the military equivalent of a grand jury, known as an Article 32 hearing, where both prosecutors and defense can present evidence.
Those results would be reviewed by base commander Cone, who would decide whether to convene a court-martial. The 12-person jury would be composed of officers higher in rank than Hasan – lieutenant colonels and above.
Under the rules of military justice, Hasan is permitted to have a lawyer present during interrogation, but former military lawyers say that the Army psychiatrist cannot be questioned by Army Criminal Investigation Division agents until doctors formally deem him medically and mentally able.
“A doctor would have to certify that the suspect is competent to decide whether to remain silent, speak to investigators or ask for a lawyer,” Silliman said. “He would have to be able to make an intelligent and informed decision before waiving any of his rights.”
....One military justice expert also predicted that an insanity defense is unlikely. Silliman said the standard for an insanity defense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice is that the suspect “cannot comprehend the wrongfulness of his actions.”
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Hasan's family demands that he be allow to speak to a lawyer before investigators or any mental health evaluation.
The Chronicle also reports that the trial will likely be moved from the Ft. Hood location because of the "climate" there and the large number of local victims.
Image: Kileen prepares for Obama's visit Tuesday
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/6710592.html
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- groups:
- News, Psychology, Stop War, Developing Stories Archives, 2 more
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- JonRaymond
- added this
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What a shame, I was hoping to hear his sentence by Christmas :P
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- FishaHouse777
- 11 days ago
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Disgusting. Hang the piece of trash from the nearest tree and be done with him. We're going to waste time and taxpayer dollars on scum like him. That's what happens when you get an administration more worried about not offending anyone's little feelings than standing up for it's own troops.
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And why haven't they charged him yet?
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Hi JonRaymond --
Thanks for updating this developing story!
What does this mean? Where do you go from here? Read all about it on the Current.com blog:
http://blogs.current.com/currentdotcom/congratulations-your-story-has-been-featu...
What's a developing story? Read all about it on our blog:
http://blogs.current.com/currentdotcom/2009/11/04/introducing-developing-stories...
If you're interested in scooping this story, submit your investigation to Current.com and tag it with "Current Developing Stories" -- [NOTE: Tags are different than groups]
Let me know if you have any questions, or need in assistance developing your story on Current.com.
BTW -- You can read how the Fort Hood story has been developing so far on the Fort Hood developing story page:
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Yep. This'll be a long one.
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you relize they had the best fucking military doctors at that base ASAP just for him right? they wouldn't let someone this big die in this time in history surrounded by TERRORIST and DEATH.
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- Manatee_man
- 11 days ago
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Too bad that cop wasn't a better shot.
"BOOM HEADSHOT" -FPS Doug, knowhatimsayin?
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- EmperorThan
- 11 days ago
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Traitors do not deserve trials. This guy shouldn't be alive right now. I'd better see a record setting short jury deliberation.
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Countless witnesses saw him do it. No, it's not going to be a fair trial. There doesn't even need to be one. When you're caught in the act and taken down, you're pretty much guilty.
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As much as I think this POS needs a bullet in the head. He also needs a trial.
Once he is found guilty....Lock and load man. lets get on with this. -
I was hoping he would have just died,he will now get a unfair trial.
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- LadybugLady
- 11 days ago
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II do not care for Joe Lieberman but he is corrrect about the military having all the sign and symptoms that this man was mentally ill and a loose cannon and they just IGNORED it. Did they enhable this by their carelessness? Most of us here would have heard the alarms when he was expressing anger against the military on the internet. Plus he was taking antidepressants and asked to be released from service.
Why were they so careless? I don't like Lieberman but he is correct about this. -
I cannot believe that some people really think that a sufficient amount of evidence and hatred for someone means they don't deserve a fair trial.
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Fuck him. How fair was the trial he gave the 13 American servicemen now lying in their graves.
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Hopefully some anonymous MP will do the right thing and shoot him in the head while no one is looking.
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As a commisioned officer he is entitled to the rank and privliges due him up to the time of a general courts marshall. The way military justic works is that when tthe offiicer in charge of the investigation walks up to the accused and reads the charges they are allready sure that the accused is guilty. The officer in charge will give the accused a copy of the rights he is entitled to. When the court is convened there will be a jag defense officer and a jag prosecuter as well as three officers searving as judges. Unless the accused is tried by a civil court there will not be a jury. After the sentence is handed down, if it is a capital offence, wjll be passed up the chain of command for reveiw. Once all reveiw in the command structure is finished then it can by special request be brought to the civil system, which is the commander in chief. Upon denial of clemancy the sentance will usualy be carried out. Until the sentance is carried out he will still carry the rank unless part of the sentence is stripping the convict of rank and privleges and being dishonerably dishcarged. It is still a very fair system and all the Ts are crossed and Is doted just to keep everything on the up and up.
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He'll get shot before he makes it into court....
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- lordsbassman
- 11 days ago
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That bastard should be tagged and bagged
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FAIR TRIAL WTF???????
What possible defense or justification could this terrorist have for the heinous crimes he has committed? Why someone didn't just put a bullet in his head to save us the cost of trial is beyond my comprehension. Someone like this chickenshit person should have been summarily executed.
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I do understand about the need for a fair trial, but we need to send a loud and clear message that this type of chickenshit behavior is not going to be tolerated.
If realize that we need answers, and if this was a guy who had gone on a shooting rampage because he was pissed at the US government policies about war, military service benefits, healthcare, globalization, I could have some sympathiy maybe even seen him as some sort of freedom fighter, but for him to scream honors to his "invisible man" in the sky by declaring the greatness of Allah, I think that speaks volumes as to his motivation. That is why I made the earlier comment about summary execution.
In this case, what else do we really need to know?
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I think there is a lot more information and understanding that could be wrangled out of him during the course of a fair trial...and then his conviction and execution. Is that agreeable?
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Fairly try him, fairly sentence him, then fairly well blow the crap out of him with the biggest gun on base!
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- manfreddrake
- 11 days ago
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The Human has its Constitution and its Instinct.
If we gave him a fair trial and he does not get the full justice he deserves, we are not Human.
If we shot him in the head which every piece of our moral being tells us to do, we would not be Human.We as Humans, need the answers from this man. An "unfair trial" seems the only Human thing we can do.
Premeditated Murder is an undertaking only fit for those who should be tortured for the rest of their lives. I hope this man rots in Hell.
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I just stopped by to witness all the foamers who are born-again 'Constitutional absolutists' when they are protesting Obama with their teabag hats on the Mall, but when it comes to due process, "he should just be shot in the head and forget about trials".
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@Ares, in response to this comment...
""You can bet your ass that half the people working in uniform at the Pentagon would love to shoot this asshole personally.
"There's a little thing in there they call the right to a trial by jury."
There's also this little thing called vengeance, something that men of action embrace, and liberals shun.""
so what next then Ares? now we free thinkers and liberals are terrorists? or at least equated to them? JonRaymond is absolutely right, we start with the summary executions, then what, what about gas chambers, mass executions, maybe concentration camps for those who don't believe in the "American Way?" how about forced labor for not paying your taxes or for being "unpatriotic", hmm maybe we can start listening in to everyone's conversations and blogs and comments on news sites to determine who is and who isn't a terrorist before they ever make up their mind? we wouldnt even need that if we could get 2 citizens to accuse anyone of being a potential dissident, especially if we dont like said 'dissident' in the first place. heck we can even threaten the accusers' families if they dont want to testify, after all they might be in league with the troublemaker in the first place. perhaps we can start pre-judging before crimes are even committed, and save ourselves even the pretense of a trial, (after all it does cost taxpayer dollars) and then execute undesirables based on a profile of whether or not they might be guilty due to their beliefs.
oh, wait, that's already been done.
so yes, keep your cojones, your firearms and your "gawd given" freedoms.
i'll keep my integrity, my weapons, and my due process.
you're completely missing the point, ares. no one is siding with your "terrorist", we're siding with due process and the rule of law. chew on that for a minute, god of war.
and before you say i sympathize with what this guy did, check yourself, because you're absolutely wrong. but without due process we become exactly what all the wingnuts are afraid of, a fascist dictatorship.
.and i suggest you read the article. real "men of action", like, say, the United States Army, have rules, especially concerning "vengeance". true men of action think things through and decide on the course that is just, and they don't go off half-cocked. that's exactly what your "terrorist" did, and look what it got him.
