Appeals court halts Fort Hood Case over a beard... & FBI at Fault?

IzakDavid13 · Aug 16, 2012

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/15/justice/texas-hasan-trial/index.html?c=homepage-t

(CNN) -- A military appeals court halted the murder case against Maj. Nidal Hasan on Wednesday over a judge's threat to shave the beard the Army psychiatrist grew while awaiting trial in the 2009 Fort Hood killings.

Hasan's court-martial had been scheduled to start Monday at Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas, where he is accused of killing 13 people and wounding another 32. The presiding judge, Col. Gregory Gross, had threatened to have him forcibly shaved unless he got rid of the beard, which is against Army regulations.
Wednesday's order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces now means the trial date is unknown. Gross has until August 22 to respond to the appeals court.

Hasan had been expected to enter a plea during a Wednesday hearing, but the proceedings were halted by the appellate court, . Hasan has previously expressed interest in pleading guilty, but military regulations bar a judge from accepting a guilty plea in a capital case.
Fort Hood suspect may be 'forcibly shaved' before trial

Hasan is accused of opening fire at the post's processing center, where soldiers were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq, in November 2009. The stay came the same day he was expected to enter a plea to the charges against him.
The beard issue first surfaced in June, when Hasan -- who remains in the Army while awaiting trial -- appeared at a June hearing with the facial hair. Gross postponed that hearing, then found Hasan in contempt of court at a July hearing, fined him $1,000 and warned him he would be shaved by force unless he got rid of it.

Hasan faces a possible death sentence if convicted. He was left paralyzed from the waist down in the shooting, when police officers exchanged fire with him.
His lawyers had been seeking a delay of the case until December, but Gross had refused and set Monday as the trial date.
Hasan, a U.S.-born citizen of Palestinian descent, was a licensed psychiatrist who joined the Army in 1997. He had been scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan before the killings, but had been telling his family since 2001 that he wanted to get out of the military.

He is a Muslim who had told his family he had been taunted after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Investigations that followed the killings found that he had been communicating via e-mail with Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American radical cleric killed by a U.S. drone attack in 2011.

An FBI report in July found that a Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego that was investigating al-Awlaki passed two of the messages on to another task force in the Washington, D.C., area, where Hasan was living at the time. The report found those e-mails should have been passed to the Pentagon -- but the FBI saw no evidence of terrorist activities in his case, and believed the information in the e-mails was too sensitive to share because visiting extremist websites is not grounds for taking action.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/19/politics/fort-hood-report/index.html

Washington (CNN) -- A report made public Thursday on events surrounding the deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009 provides new details on the failure of anti-terrorism officials to act on e-mail traffic between Maj. Nidal Hasan and major terrorist figure Anwar al-Awlaki.
The 173-page report by William Webster, a former FBI and CIA director, describes FBI policies and procedures that failed to prevent the shooting spree. Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

The FBI and Defense Department were stunned by the shootings, and FBI Director Robert Mueller ordered a detailed review by the Webster commission, which Mueller appointed.
Ft. Hood troops and families reunite U.S. troops return to Texas U.S. troops see families at Fort Hood

According to the commission's report, in a May 31, 2009, e-mail from Hasan to al-Awlaki's website, Hasan discussed his views on suicide bombings.
E-mail details: Hasan sought guidance on Islam, dating
"I would assume that a suicide bomber whose aim is to kill enemy soldiers or their helpers but also kill innocents in the process is acceptable." Less than six months later, officials say, Hasan jumped on a desk at Fort Hood, armed with two pistols, and began firing as he yelled "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for "God is great."

There were 18 e-mail messages between Hasan and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009, the report said. A Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego that was investigating al-Awlaki passed two of the messages on to another task force in the Washington, D.C., area, where Hasan was living.
Opinion: A tribute to Fort Hood's fallen

The report said the e-mails between Hasan and al-Awlaki should have been passed by the FBI in the Washington Field Office to the Defense Department bosses for whom Hasan worked. But the FBI saw no evidence of terrorist activities in his case, and believed the information in the e-mails was too sensitive to share because visiting extremist websites is not grounds for taking action.

The report also said there was no clear system in place to determine which office would follow up on a particular lead and to make sure leads would be followed in a timely manner.

In a statement Thursday, the FBI acknowledged "shortcomings in FBI policy guidance, technology, information review protocols and training." The FBI said it had reviewed 18 recommendations in the report and "has already taken action to implement them."

Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, said the report confirms many of the findings of his committee's earlier review.
He said he is pleased "for the first time the report declassifies the communications between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki so that all Ameriicans, especially the families of the victims, can understand Hasan's radicalization and the full scale of the tragedy for which he is responsible."

Lieberman added, "We are concerned that the report fails to address the specific cause for the Fort Hood attack, which is violent Islamist extremism"
Hasan is scheduled to be tried in a military court in Texas. Al-Awlaki was killed in a targeted U.S. drone attack in Yemen last year.
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Questions...my answers in bold.

1. Should he made to follow Army regulations and shave his beard, even if it violates his religious beliefs?

Yes, there are certain rules and regulations that must be followed when you are either employed in the private sector or enlist in the Military. If you don't like the rules, don't enlist, or look for work elsewhere. Uniforms and regulations are there for a reason.

2. Do you think the death sentence is appropriate?

Yes

3. Does the FBI have anything to answer for?

Yes and no.

The FBI have been under a great deal of pressure in regards to offending the sensitivities of certain groups in regards to surveillance, and have just had a case thrown out due to 'Best interests of National Security'.
They have also had some training videos and manuals thrown out because it was deemed offensive to some groups.

The FBI should have passed on the information, but it had no control over, or could have known what this religious fanatic terrorist was going to do.

If anything the laws in regards to conversing, contacting or procuring information from a terrorist website or organisation has to be strengthened.

Are the FBI at fault? No.

4. Your thoughts on this case...

This guy makes me sick. His terrorist actions cost the lives of 13 innocent young Americans and devastated the lives of the 32 others that were wounded, the families of the fallen and the witnesses.

The quicker we weed out and eliminate people like Nidal Hasan the better.

JD88 · Aug 16, 2012

Why did the zimmerman go to trial so quickly, on shoddy evidence, but this guy, who blatantly started shooting soldiers in the middle of Ft Hood, is still awaiting trial.

What exactly is the issue? Is his defense preparing a stellar case? Or is this a case of racial sensitivity I wonder?

across110thstreet · Aug 16, 2012

the zimmerman is likely not to get his trial before 2013 according to his own lawyer.

SamFisher · Aug 16, 2012

JD88 said: ↑

Why did the zimmerman go to trial so quickly, on shoddy evidence, but this guy, who blatantly started shooting soldiers in the middle of Ft Hood, is still awaiting trial.

What exactly is the issue? Is his defense preparing a stellar case? Or is this a case of racial sensitivity I wonder?
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The issue is likely that you're stupid/ignorant/misinformed/trolling etc; this is pretty much the only answer that makes sense to your nonsense query, if we can even say that much.

JD88 · Aug 16, 2012

SamFisher said: ↑

The issue is likely that you're stupid/ignorant/misinformed/trolling etc; this is pretty much the only answer that makes sense to your nonsense query, if we can even say that much.
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Enlighten me.

Tell me why it has taken 3 years to begin the trial.

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Appeals court halts Fort Hood Case over a beard... & FBI at Fault?

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