UPDATE ON TERROR

Every so often, I write a  blog about the Fort Hood Massacre.

Maybe you have forgotten about it. On November 5, 2009, U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan murdered thirteen of his fellow soldiers and wounded more than 30 others at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas.

His murderous attack began with a shout of ‘Allahu Akbar,’ an Islamic cry meaning “God is great.”

Hasan was convicted of premeditated first degree murder by a military jury  on August 23, 2013. Five days later, another military jury recommended the death penalty.

That death sentence has never been carried out.

I Googled Nadal Hasan just to see what is currently happening. Very interesting. Apparently there has been nothing in the newspapers or other media about the case since 2013.

I did find a statement to the effect that the jury’s recommendation of the death penalty is just that: a recommendation. It is not a sentence of death.

Hasan has not been sentenced to death. The jury’s recommendation was sent to the “convening authority” the military officer who ordered the convening of a general court martial to try Hasan for murder.

Apparently, under the code of military justice, the “convening authority” has the last word. He may accept the jury’s verdict and direct that it be carried out. Or he may modify the verdict, giving the defendant a life sentence or some lesser punishment.

It as been three years since the matter was referred to the “convening authority.” As far as I can tell, the “convening authority” in this case was Lieutenant General Donald Campbell, who was the commander of the III Corps and the officer in charge of Fort Hood in 2009.

General Campbell was later placed in command of U.S. forces in Europe, and in 2014, he retired from active duty. His successor at Fort Hood is Lieutenant General Sean Macfarland, who is not only the commandant of Fort Hood, but also the officer in charge of all U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I can find nothing General MacFarland has said about the Fort Hood Massacre except a comment that a recent change in the definition of eligibility for the awarding of the Purple Heart might provide some “closure” for the victims and their families.

That “closure” includes a substantial amount of money which the government will pay to the Fort Hood wounded and the families of those who were killed.

The Purple Heart has traditionally been awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces who have been injured or killed by enemy fire in battle.

The Army originally classified the Hasan killings as “workplace violence.”

Apparently, the army has now concluded that Hasan’s allegiance to Allahu qualifies him as an ‘enemy’ thus marking his victims as soldiers killed in battle.

Hasan has written to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the ISIS jihadist militant organization, requesting that he be admitted to citizenship in the ISIS caliphate and recognized as a soldier in its armed forces.

Enough already. An American jury has spoken. Nidal Hasan is not a prisoner of war. He is not an enemy soldier. He is a criminal. He is a convicted murderer. To elevate him to the dignity of a foreign citizen fighting for his country is preposterous. It’s insane.

General Sean MacFarland is now the “convening authority” in the Hasan case. When will the American media ask him the simple question, “Are you going to approve the death sentence for Nidal Hasan or aren’t you?

And maybe the candidates for President should also be asked whether they will continue President Obama’s refusal to bring Nidal Hasan to justice.

Does anyone doubt that the Commander in Chief is ultimately responsible for the shameful failure of the Army to carry out Hasan’s sentence?