The new trial judge for US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, accused in the 2009 massacre at Fort Hood, has said Hasan’s decision to wear a beard violates Army regulations, but that’s ok. Notably:
The judge, Col. Tara Osborn, said she won’t hold it against him but that military jurors might.
That, of course, is one of the points raised Read more…
Col Gregory Gross, the judge presiding over the murder trial of US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan for the Fort Hood massacre, followed through on his threat and issued an order that Hasan must shave — or he will be shaved.
Gross…issued his order Thursday after a hearing to determine whether a federal religious freedom law applied to Hasan’s case. Soldiers may be granted permission to grow beards for religious reasons, and six soldiers have been allowed to do so: a rabbi, two Muslim doctors and three Sikhs, according to Army records.
Hasan said he is violating regulations not out of disrespect, but of religious requirement:
Hasan told the judge last week that he grew a beard because his Muslim faith requires it, not as a show of disrespect. Gross ruled Thursday that the defense didn’t prove Hasan is growing a beard for sincere religious reasons.
While the whole concept might sound a bit odd to outsiders, forced Read more…
US Army PFC Naser Abdo has been sentenced to more than two life terms (with no possibility of parole) by a federal court for his plan to kill fellow Soldiers in the cause of “jihad.” Abdo “remained defiant” even during his sentencing:
“I will continue until the day the dead are called to account for their deeds,” Abdo said in a low, gravelly voice through the cloth mask.
He was reportedly wearing the mask because he had been spitting Read more…
PFC Naser Abdo, the US Army Soldier convicted of plotting and preparing to kill his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, will represent himself during his sentencing on August 10th.
Army Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo told U.S. District Judge Walter Smith during a Thursday hearing in Waco, Texas, that he and his attorneys weren’t communicating effectively. Smith granted Abdo’s request to represent himself at his Aug. 10 sentencing.
Abdo was an approved conscientious objector under investigation for child pornography when he went AWOL, planned a high profile execution at Fort Campbell, and then traveled to Fort Hood to emulate his apparent hero, US Army Major Nidal Hasan.
Rezwan Ferdaus, planner of one of 12 terrorist plots against the US military by people apparently motivated by their Islamic faith, pleaded guilty to plotting to blow up the Pentagon by flying a remote controlled airplane into it laden with explosives.
Under a plea agreement, federal prosecutors agreed to drop four other charges. Prosecutors and Ferdaus’ lawyers also agreed to jointly recommend a 17-year prison term…
Siegmann said there were two main parts of his plan: to blow up the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol using remote-controlled planes and to kill American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan using improvised explosive devices detonated Read more…
US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s trial over murder charges stemming from the 2009 Fort Hood massacre was delayed — again — when Hasan showed up to court with a beard. He is still considered a member of the military and is required to maintain military standards of uniform wear.
Judge Col. Gregory Gross ordered the motions delayed “until the near future,” when Hasan meets Army grooming standards or Read more…
While many articles about members of the US military make reference to their faith, there aren’t too many written by the DoD for the sole purpose of highlighting their faith. By contrast, Army Staff Sgt Muna Nur was recently the focus of just such an article, noting her efforts in the US military to overcome “preconceptions” about her Islamic faith.
Another of her striking aspects is the fact that she is a proud Muslim, a trait that has Read more…
PFC Naser Abdo, the Islamic US Soldier turned conscientious objector turned bomb plotter, has been convicted of attempting to bomb a local Fort Hood restaurant and kill his fellow soldiers.
A federal jury Thursday convicted Abdo, a Muslim soldier, on six charges in connection with his failed plot to blow up a Texas restaurant full of Fort Hood troops, his religious mission to get “justice” for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.
His confessed motivation? Religion. Read more…
US Army PFC Naser Abdo, arrested in July 2011 while allegedly collecting supplies to bomb and shoot Fort Hood soldiers, reportedly confessed shortly after he was arrested. His lawyers unsuccessfully tried to get the confession ruled inadmissible.
[U.S. District Judge Walter Smith] rejected a defense motion to throw out a confession from the soldier accused of planning to bomb a Texas restaurant filled with Fort Hood troops…
Prior to this point, Abdo had been fairly defiant, and he didn’t seem to shy telling the police what his plans were:
“So I’m AWOL … and I was planning an attack here in the Fort Hood community,” Abdo says in the recording… Read more…
Craig Baxam reportedly converted to Islam just prior to leaving the US Army in July. By December, he had been arrested in Kenya:
Baxam…told investigators he wanted to live in an area governed by the strict edicts of Islamic Sharia law, such as those imposed by Al Shabaab, and defend them to the death if necessary.
He is apparently claiming the “bumbling” defense, sort of:
[He] told FBI agents that he had no contacts with al-Shabab and only a haphazard plan to connect with the group
This is only the latest development undermining Michael Weinstein’s conspiracy theories.
At this point, at least, it seems Baxam was content to wage his holy war Read more…
PFC Naser Abdo has a new lawyer after stating he disagreed with the defense strategy of his prior court-appointed counsel.
Attorney Keith Dorsett told U.S. District Judge Walter Smith during a brief hearing in Waco that his client had been uncooperative.
His trial is scheduled to begin at the end of January.
In a recent phone interview, Abdo also reportedly admitted to planning an attack on Fort Campbell, where he was originally stationed before Read more…
Have a productive and joyful 2012.
The Top 10 articles from God and Country in 2011:
While those were the top 10 current events articles in 2011, they were not the top-visited pages on the site. As noted Read more…
Update: Members of the joint Congressional committee “blasted” the Department of Defense for downplaying talk of terrorism and referring to the Fort Hood massacre as “workplace violence.” The DoD was accused of being “politically correct” in avoiding association of the terrorist attacks with Islam — the same thing it was found at fault for in the months leading up to the Fort Hood shooting.
US Representative Peter King (R-NY), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is holding another hearing on “homegrown terrorism.” While he was criticized for his earlier hearings on the subject for the implied negativity toward American Muslims, these new hearings are a joint meeting between the House and Senate committees, showing “threat is legitimate,” according to King.
King and Senator Joe Lieberman, his Senate counterpart from Connecticut, both agreed that US military soft targets are “increasingly in the terrorists’ scope.”
There is growing evidence that homegrown terrorists see military personnel and bases as legitimate, high-value targets, lawmakers Read more…
PFC Naser Abdo pled not guilty to charges he planned to kill American Soldiers at Fort Hood by blowing up a local restaurant and shooting any survivors.
Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo answered “sure do” Thursday when U.S. Magistrate Jeff Manske asked if he understood the charges, and said “sure do have none” when asked if he had questions about the charges.
Prosecutors reportedly plan to try him first on the charges which carry the longest sentences. He faces life in prison if convicted.
A few websites have noted Tennessee State Representative Rick Womick’s statement to ThinkProgress interviewers that Muslims should be removed from the US military. The video is available on YouTube.
It’s worth noting Womick’s political position has been somewhat inflated in a few reports. For example, ThinkProgress suffixed his name with (R-TN), as did some others, which is inaccurate. The “party-state” designation is used for members of the US House; it is redundant to say “Tennessee state rep (R-TN).” The more accurate description is (R-34) or R-Rockvale, as Womick represents District 34 in the Tennessee State House. As a state representative, Womick has no influence over the US military. (As an aside, Rep Womick was an F-15 fighter pilot during Operation Desert Storm.)
That said, his comments were widely reported and not well received (with one exception). He’s been described as un-American and said to be “defaming all members of the military.”
Womick uses US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan and PFC Naser Abdo (though he forgets his name) as support for his position, saying they are examples of the Islamic inconsistency with military service.
Ironically, it seems Rep Womick agrees with religious freedom critic Michael Read more…
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The opinions expressed here are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of any government, military, or religious organization.
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