In this instance the beard wins. The Army in its infinite wisdom has made a formal decision to not give the purple heart to the victims of Nidal Hasan because, in their words it would "...set the stage for a formal declaration that Major Hasan is a terrorist' because the medal is presented to military members who are 'wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States." In other words, the act of passing out the purple heart would give credence to the act as one of jihad, which the court wants to avoid at all costs, for to do so would open the worm can to questions about Islamic ideology. Hasan is not to be seen as anything more than aberrant "workplace violence" which is what we are supposed to believe, per the White House. The government is slapping the faces of the victims both alive and dead by giving in to political correctness. To identify the cause of Hasan's actions would call Islam into question, and we can't have that now, can we?
From From Reuters/Yahoo March 29 by Jim Forsyth
Army formally declines Purple Hearts for Fort Hood shooting victims
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The U.S. Army on Friday formally declined to award Purple Heart medals to the victims of Major Nidal Hasan's shooting rampage at Fort Hood, saying the move would damage his ability to receive a fair trial.
The Army in a position paper said that awarding the medal to those wounded and posthumously to those killed in the November 2009 attack would 'set the stage for a formal declaration that Major Hasan is a terrorist' because the medal is presented to military members who are 'wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.'
Hasan, 42, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire on a group of soldiers who were preparing for deployment to Afghanistan, killing 13 and wounding 32 before he was shot and permanently paralyzed by two civilian Fort Hood police officers.
He faces the death penalty if he convicted by a military jury on 13 specifications of premeditated murder. His court martial is set to begin in July.
The Army formalized its ongoing opposition to awarding the Purple Hearts in a position paper responding to language inserted in the Defense Authorization Bill, which would require the Secretary of the Army to award the medal.
Some of Hasan's wounded victims and families of the deceased have filed a federal lawsuit and among the demands is that each of the victims be awarded financial compensation and a Purple Heart.
"U.S. military personnel are organized, trained and equipped to combat foreign, not domestic, forces or threats," the Army wrote. "To expand the Purple Heart award criteria to include domestic criminal acts or domestic terror attacks would be a dramatic departure from the traditional Purple Heart award criteria."
From From Reuters/Yahoo March 29 by Jim Forsyth
Army formally declines Purple Hearts for Fort Hood shooting victims
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The U.S. Army on Friday formally declined to award Purple Heart medals to the victims of Major Nidal Hasan's shooting rampage at Fort Hood, saying the move would damage his ability to receive a fair trial.
The Army in a position paper said that awarding the medal to those wounded and posthumously to those killed in the November 2009 attack would 'set the stage for a formal declaration that Major Hasan is a terrorist' because the medal is presented to military members who are 'wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.'
Hasan, 42, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire on a group of soldiers who were preparing for deployment to Afghanistan, killing 13 and wounding 32 before he was shot and permanently paralyzed by two civilian Fort Hood police officers.
He faces the death penalty if he convicted by a military jury on 13 specifications of premeditated murder. His court martial is set to begin in July.
The Army formalized its ongoing opposition to awarding the Purple Hearts in a position paper responding to language inserted in the Defense Authorization Bill, which would require the Secretary of the Army to award the medal.
Some of Hasan's wounded victims and families of the deceased have filed a federal lawsuit and among the demands is that each of the victims be awarded financial compensation and a Purple Heart.
"U.S. military personnel are organized, trained and equipped to combat foreign, not domestic, forces or threats," the Army wrote. "To expand the Purple Heart award criteria to include domestic criminal acts or domestic terror attacks would be a dramatic departure from the traditional Purple Heart award criteria."
It's time to change the criteria, but to do so means addressing Islamic theology and an honest discussion of the tenets of jihad that drove Nidal Hasan and others to murder in the name of Allah.
A spokesman for the Secretary of the Army did not return a phone call seeking further comment.
A spokesman for the Secretary of the Army did not return a phone call seeking further comment.
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