“Legislation that would award the injured from the 2009 Fort Hood shooting the Purple Heart would adversely affect the trial of Maj. Nidal Hasan by labeling the attack terrorism, according to a Defense Department document obtained by Fox News.” Because we can’t say a terrorist shouting “Allahu Akbar!” as he shot US soldiers during the War or Terror constitutes terrorism. And here’s their, um, thinking . . .
“Passage of this legislation could directly and indirectly influence potential court-martial panel members, witnesses, or the chain of command, all of whom exercise a critical role under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Defense counsel will argue that Major Hasan cannot receive a fair trial because a branch of government has indirectly declared that Major Hasan is a terrorist — that he is criminally culpable.”
As you’d expect, this isn’t sitting particularly well with the families of the victims.
“This is a cynical travesty. What the government has done by making this statement is guarantee that anything done to help the victims will effectively prevent or impair Hasan’s prosecution. There was no reason for the government to put this kind of a statement in writing, even if it were true (which it is not),” (counsel for the Fort Hood families, Neal) Sher said via email.
The DoD’s still taking the position that, rather than moving the battlefield to a US Army base, Hassan’s murders were and act of “workplace violence.” Just another whack-o coming unhinged and going postal as if he’d been just been fired. Which is of a piece with the administration’s continual efforts, since coming to power in 2008, to try other, even more unambiguous terrorists in civilian courts.
By doing so, the army, the DoD and the Obama administration dishonor the Ft. Hood victims and treat the American public like fools. Still.