Ft. Hood Suspect Nidal Hasan: Muslim Soldiers Should Not Have to Fight Muslims
5550592WASHINGTON (CBS/AP) Whether or not it was a cry for help or a warning of violence to come, the presentation Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan made to medical colleagues a year-and-a half ago was not what it was supposed to be.
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In June 2007, Hasan warned colleagues at the Walter Reed Medical Center that the U.S. military should let Muslim soldiers be released as conscientious objectors instead of fighting in wars against other Muslims, in order to "decrease adverse events," according to a report Tuesday in The Washington Post.
Hasan made the recommendation in a PowerPoint presentation to senior Army doctors at Walter Reed, where he spent six years as an intern, resident and fellow before being transferred to Fort Hood.
As a senior-year psychiatric resident, Hasan was supposed to address a medical topic of his choosing as a culminating exercise of the residency program. Instead, lectured his supervisors and about 25 other mental health staff members about Islam, suicide bombers and threats the military could encounter from Muslims conflicted about fighting in the Muslim countries of Iraq and Afghanistan.
A copy of the presentation was obtained by the newspaper.
"It's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims," Hasan said.
"It was really strange," said one staff member who attended the presentation and spoke on condition of anonymity. "The senior doctors looked really upset" at the end, he said. The other students had lectured on new medications and treatment of specific mental illnesses.
Army psychiatrist Hasan was charged Thursday with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the Fort Hood massacre.
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