This weblog entry updates my article, "Maj. Hasan's Islamist Life." It also provides more information on the army's willful blindness vis-à-vis his Islamist furies.
Hasan's supervisor warned army in 2007: National Public Radio breaks the news of a May 2007 memo from Scott Moran, chief of psychiatric residents at Walter Reed, in which he presents dissatisfaction with Hasan's "professionalism and work ethic" as well as his "pattern of poor judgment." While these are not specifically Islamist features, they do point to Hasan's disaffection and loss of interest in his job. Anyone who bothered to wonder why would readily have seen his absorption with radical Islam. (November 18, 2009)
Additional information on Hasan's contact with Awlaki: The Washington Post reports that
Hasan's contacts with extremist imam Anwar al-Aulaqi began as religious queries but took on a more specific and concrete tone before he moved to Texas. ... One source said the two discussed in "cryptic and coded exchanges" the transfer of money overseas in ways that would not attract law enforcement attention. "He [Hasan] clearly became more radicalized toward the end, and was having discussions related to the transfer of money and finances . . .," the source said in describing the 18 or 19 intercepted e-mails. "It became very clear toward the end of those e-mails he was interested in taking action." ...
Anwar al-Aulaqi in Yemen in 2008.
In the months before the shootings, the two discussed how Hasan could make several transactions of less than $10,000, a threshold for reporting to U.S. authorities, the source continued. Hasan did not explicitly vow to fund terrorist activities or evade tax and reporting laws for contributions, the source said. "I believe they were interested in the money for operational-type aspects, and knowing that he had funds and wouldn't be around to use them, they were very eager to get those funds," he said.
(November 21, 2009)
Nidal Hasan trial defense, to protect the Taliban: Hasan has admitted that he attacked soldiers at Ft. Hood in defense of "the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban." This both establishes his Islamist motives and undermines the laughable government contention that his was an act of "workplace violence." (June 5, 2013)
Evidence from the trial: As Hasan's legal proceedings start up – an astonishing near-four years after his massacre took place – many other aspects of his Islamist life have come to life. Some of them:
- He insists on wearing a beard for Islamic reasons.
- He rejects wearing an Army combat uniform which he said "represents an enemy of Islam."
- He devised something called a "defense of others" to justify his massacre, claiming he acted to protect Taliban from U.S. soldiers.
(July 9, 2013)
Public statement: Hasan has released a more-than-six-page statement asserting that the U.S. government is at war with Islam. It begins with "In the name of Almighty Allah, the most gracious and the most merciful, my name is Nidal Hasan, Major Nidal Hasan, and I would like to convey a message to the world."
"My complicity was on behalf of a government that openly acknowledges that it would hate for the law of Almighty Allah to be the supreme law of the land." ... Hasan then apparently asked if this was a war on Islam. "You bet it is," he said. "I participated in it." ... "I would like to begin by repenting to Almighty Allah and apologize to the (Mujahideen), the believers, and the innocent. I ask for their forgiveness and their prayers. I ask for their forgiveness for participating in the illegal and immoral aggression against Muslims, their religion and their lands."
Hasan also criticized U.S. policy vis-à-vis the Palestinians. (July 29, 2013)
Seven-pages to Fox News: In an unusual move, Hasan released seven pages of his writings to Fox News in advance of his trial. They further confirm his Islamist mindset, quoting Fox News:
Most of the documents also include the acronym "SoA," which is considered shorthand for "Soldier of Allah."
In the only document bearing a date—Oct. 18, 2012 -- Hasan writes: "I, Nidal Malik Hasan, am compelled to renounce any oaths of allegiances that require me to support/defend [any] man made constitution (like the constitution of the United States) over the commandments mandated in Islam ... I therefore formally renounce my oath of office ... this includes my oath of U.S. citizenship."
In another document, the only one which is typed, Hasan declares that American democracy and Shariah law are incompatible. "There is an inherent and irreconcilable conflict. ... in an American Democracy 'we the people' govern according to what 'we the people' think is right or wrong; even if it specifically goes against what All-Mighty God commands."
On his relationship with the radical cleric Awlaki, with whom he exchanged emails before the massacre, Hasan also wrote: "He was my teacher, mentor and friend. I hold him in high esteem for trying to educate Muslims about their duties to our creator. May All-Mighty Allah accept his martyrdom."
(August 1, 2013)
Opening message of the trial: Almost four years after his massacre, Hasan's trial has finally begun. He is serving as his own lawyer and has made Islam central to his message. From the Washington Post account of his address to the panel of 13 military officers who will decide his fate.
"Fellow members, good morning," Hasan began at the opening of his court-martial at the Army post here in central Texas. "On November 5, 2009, 13 U.S. soldiers were killed and many more injured. The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter." ... He said he had been on the wrong side of a war against Islam and had switched over. "We the mujahideen are imperfect Muslims trying to establish the perfect religion in the land of the supreme God." ... He apologized for "any mistakes I've made in this endeavor."
(August 6, 2013)
"Full Report of Sanity Board, US v. MAJ Nidal M. Hasan": As his trial begins, Hasan released p. 26 of the "Full Report of Sanity Board, US v. MAJ Nidal M. Hasan" that reveals why he decided to kill fellow soldiers:
He stated that his plan was "to shoot soldiers and not shoot civilians." ... He did not want to shoot civilians as he believed that killing soldiers would be more accepted in the Muslim community as compared to killing civilians...although he had initially considered civilians to be targets as they helped soldiers prepare for deployment.
(August 6, 2013)
Jihad and defending Islam: The court-martial has settled on a definition of jihad and Hasan sent a letter to a local newspaper. From the account by Molly Hennessy-Fiske in the Los Angeles Times:
- prosecutors were allowed to show Web pages Hasan visited and Internet searches he made in the days and months leading up to the shooting, including searches about killing innocent women and children, fatwas and jihad. Hasan agreed to prosecutors' revised definition of jihad Monday as, "under Islam, the central doctrine that calls upon believers to defend tenets of their religion" with "the heart, the tongue, the hand or the sword."
- The Army psychiatrist said he "was defending my religion," according to a letter sent to the Killeen Daily Herald and published over the weekend, the latest in a series of documents released to the media that provide insight into his motives. In the letter, Hasan said Islam should prevail over other religions as well as American democracy, and that a foreign policy replacing Muslim holy law, or sharia, with secular government was "not acceptable." "We are imperfect Muslims trying to establish the perfect religion of All-Mighty Allah as supreme on the land," Hasan wrote, referring to Awlaki as "my teacher and mentor and friend" and signing the letter "SoA," an acronym for "Soldier of Allah," or "Servant of Allah."
(August 19, 2013)
Miscellaneous evidence reveals Islamist impulse: New information from a report by Manny Fernandez in the New York Times:
- Three days before his massacre of soldiers, Hasan asked his supervisors and Army legal advisers how to handle three cases that disturbed him and after his name in signature, he included a Koranic quote: "All praises and thanks go to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of all the worlds."
- An FBI expert testified that Hasan conducted jihad-related and Taliban-related Internet searches on his laptop in the days and hours before his attack.
The court also heard, in the newspaper's paraphrase, that when Hasan
was promoted from captain to major in May 2009 and assigned to Fort Hood that July, and his officer evaluation reports referred to him as a star officer. Nonetheless, the officer who assigned Major Hasan to Fort Hood told an Army official there that "you're getting our worst." ... The Senate report found that Army officers who knew of Major Hasan's problematic behavior gave him evaluations that misstated his actual performance and ignored concerns and complaints about his radical Islamic views.
(August 21, 2013)
Convicted of murder: Hasasn was found guilty today of killing 13, making him eligible for the death penalty. (August 23, 2013)
"Ft. Hood shooter received glowing evaluations before attack": Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the Los Angeles Times has more evidence of Hasan's clueless superiors. As he
was completing a fellowship at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, ... military supervisors praised his unique interest in Islam's impact on soldiers, according to documents provided to The Times. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's supervisors had also repeatedly recommended him for promotion, according to documents.
"He has a keen interest in Islamic culture and faith and has shown capacity to contribute to our psychological understanding of Islamic nationalism and how it may relate to events of national security and Army interest in the Middle East and Asia," supervisors wrote in an evaluation report July 1, 2009. Among Hasan's "unique skills," the report listed "Islamic studies" and "traumatic stress spectrum psychiatric disorders," concluding that "Maj. Hasan has great potential as an Army officer." ...
The evaluation reports were filed while Hasan, an American-born Muslim, was earning a master's degree in public health through a two-year fellowship in disaster and preventive psychiatry. A colleague of Hasan's at Walter Reed testified that he pursued the fellowship in order to avoid deployment.
The other report, completed March 13, 2009, said Hasan had "outstanding moral integrity" and that he had selected a "challenging topic" for his master's of public health project: "the impact of beliefs and culture on views regarding military service during the Global War on Terror."
Supervisors recommended Hasan for a position "that allows others to learn from his perspectives," noting his "unique insights into the dimensions of Islam" including "moral reasoning" were "of great potential interest and strategic importance to the U.S. Army."
(August 24, 2013)
Sentenced to death: Hasan listened impassively as a panel of 13 senior military officers unanimously handed down the death sentence for Hasan after less than two hours of deliberation. He will soon be flown to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he joins five other military inmates on death row. But no active-duty service member has been executed since 1961 and it will probably be many years, if ever, before he is executed. (August 28, 2013)
Hasan's video now available: Hasan's notorious June 2007 "Grand Rounds" nearly hour-long presentation at Walter Reed Medical Center titled "The Koranic World View as it relates to Muslims in the US Military" was provided to the defense as part of the discovery process and is now available at Fox News. Some highlights, as reported by Fox News:
- Muslim soldiers should have the option of being released as conscientious objectors to reduce the prospect of "adverse events."
- "I think the Department of Defense should allow Muslim soldiers the option of being released as conscientious objectors to increase the morale of non-Muslim soldiers in the military as well as decrease adverse events."
- "if you don't submit to God—and this was a story of the children of Israel, when they were, God said, 'Revolting, persisted on working on the Sabbath,' and he turned them into apes and pigs."
- "I am going to read this out because I personally like it, but it personally depicts a scene in Heaven, according to the Koran. 'And their recompense shall be paradise and silken garments because they were patient. Reclining therein on raised thrones, they will see there neither the excessive heat of the sun nor the excessive bitter cold. And the shade thereof is close upon them, and the bunches of fruit thereof will hang low within their reach, and amongst them will be passed round vessels of silver cups of crystal; crystal-clear made of silver.'"
- Toward the end of the presentation, an unidentified audience member finally spoke up with a question focusing on what Hasan's statements had to do with mental health care for U.S. soldiers. The exchange shows Hasan not answering but instead trying to draw attention to murderous attacks of another U.S. soldier in 2003 in Kuwait. The audience member said: "I'm a bit confused about what the intention would be other than identifying those who might have conflicts with that and getting them the appropriate spiritual counseling, which is separate from [UI] mental health care." Hasan answered: "I think that might be enough. In the case of Hasan Akbar, the articles that I read, that wasn't even done." Shortly after that comment, Hasan was thanked and received a round of applause.
- "We always talk about God and country, but here we're talking, we're really talking about God versus country," Hasan said.
- "There's a lot of soldiers, that once they actually leave the military, they're actually joining or trying to join groups like the Taliban and al Qaeda and so you have to ask yourself..there's something out there with these groups that's really resonating."
- the video released to Fox News, Hasan is also asked about the number of virgins in paradise, provoking nervous laughter from the audience. "It's there. There's a lot of virgins. It's heaven. You know, It's heaven...that's all I can say."
(August 30, 2013)
Letter to the new caliph: Nidal Hasan released through his lawyer to Fox News Channel a handwritten, undated, two-page letter addressed to "Ameer, Mujahid Dr. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi," also known as Caliph Ibrahim, stating:
I formally and humbly request to be made a citizen of the Islamic State. ... It would be an honor for any believer to be an obedient citizen soldier to a people and its leader who don't compromise the religion of All-Mighty Allah to get along with the disbelievers.
(The Islamic State is also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS; also as ISIL.) Hasan signed off with his name and the old SoA abbreviation, meaning "Soldier of Allah." (August 29, 2014)
Letter to Pope Francis: Hasan has now sent a 6-page hand-written letter to the pope, "A Warning to Pope Francis, Members of the Vatican, and Other Religious Leaders Around the World." Catherine Herridge of Fox News reports:
Hasan appears to make multiple references to the Koran in the letter, and includes a bulleted list of guidelines for "believers." In one subsection titled "Jihad," Hasan praises "The willingness to fight for All-Mighty Allah," describing it as a test that elevates the "mujahadeen" who "are encouraged to inspire the believers." He states that "fighters ... have a greater rank in the eyes of Allah than believers who don't fight."
Again, Hasan uses the "SoA" acronym for "Soldier of Allah." (October 9, 2014)
Jailhouse letters confirm Hasan's Islamism: Hasan's letters to researcher Katharine Poppe reveal more of his thinking, ABC News reports. Asked if he believed he did a "good deed" by murdering his fellow soldiers, Hasan responded to her,
Of course! I considered those who were trying to help the U.S. undermine the Taliban's attempt to establish Sharia (God's) Law as the supreme law of the land and replace it with something else like a democracy that doesn't rule by God's law the enemies of God, and thus worthy of fighting/killing.
Curiously, Hasan saw his jihad as a balance to his mother's sin of selling alcohol at their family store. When she died of cancer in 2001, he worried she would burn in hell, so took up the study of Islam and became an Islamist, something the Army remained oblivious to. Anwar al-Awlaki happened to preside her funeral. (October 18, 2018)
Triumphant letter to the Taliban: Hasan wrote a letter from his cell on death row congratulating the Taliban as they took control of Afghanistan.
We Have Won!!! ... All-Praises be to All-Mighty Allah! Congratulations on your victory over those who hate for the Laws of All-Mighty God to be supreme on the land. I pray to Allah that He helps you implement Shariah Law fully, correctly, and fairly. We must learn from the nations of the past and not let our wretchedness overcome us thus earning His (God's) wrath. It is to All-Mighty God we give thanks!
(September 8, 2021)
