Here are a couple of interesting items exploring the mental health issues potentially involved with Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood – conclusion, he’s sane.
Howard Bloom asks, What if Nidal Malik Hasan is Sane? Psychology Today blog.
Were they the insane acts of a man driven over the edge by the vicarious stress of war? By the strain of hearing horror stories from the traumatized veterans of battles in Iraq and Iran?
I have posted in connection with some comments about Major Hasan and his desire to have patients prosecuted at court-martial for war crimes and other offenses while deployed to Iraq.
Major Hasan’s war crimes trial requests, 17 November 2009.
The issue has gained new attention with the recent mass shootings at Fort Hood that killed 13 and wounded 43. In the weeks before the rampage, the accused gunman, Maj. Nidal M. Hassan, an Army psychiatrist, told colleagues and Army lawyers that he wanted to report soldiers who had admitted in counseling sessions that they witnessed or committed war crimes in Iraq or Afghanistan. War crimes can include acts like torture, murder, sexual assault and cruel treatment.
The Christian Science Monitor reports and makes this observation:
But emerging evidence that Hasan may have terrorist connections could alter the prosecutorial strategy, as his story would hold invaluable information for investigators. One way to get that information would be to offer Hasan a deal – such as revoking the death penalty if he’ll fill in the gaps in the investigation.
If there is validity to the potential terror information will both sides recognize it, recognize its value, and will those in power accept the likely criticism of the crowd for doing a deal? In order for a plea agreement the charges would have to be referred non-capital at court-martial. A person facing a death penalty on referred court-martial charges cannot plead guilty.
Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog