Hasan's Supervisor Warned Army In 2007

NPR's Daniel Zwerdling discloses the existence and content of a memo sent to the Walter Reed credentials committee two years ago warning of Nidal Hasan's incompetence and reckless behavior.

On May 17, 2007, Hasan's supervisor at Walter Reed sent the memo to the Walter Reed credentials committee. It reads, "Memorandum for: Credentials Committee. Subject: CPT Nidal Hasan." More than a page long, the document warns that: "The Faculty has serious concerns about CPT Hasan's professionalism and work ethic. ... He demonstrates a pattern of poor judgment and a lack of professionalism." It is signed by the chief of psychiatric residents at Walter Reed, Maj. Scott Moran. [snip]

According to the memo, Hasan hardly did any work: He saw only 30 patients in 38 weeks. Sources at Walter Reed say most psychiatrists see at least 10 times that many patients. When Hasan was supposed to be on call for emergencies, he didn't even answer the phone.

The article concludes with this:

Moran and Pentagon spokesmen declined NPR's requests for interviews for this story. Officials at Fort Hood would not comment, either.


But sources say that when the Army sent Hasan to Fort Hood earlier this year, Walter Reed sent the damning evaluation there, too. So commanders at Fort Hood would know exactly what they were getting.

NPR has posted a transcript of the memo here.

Rick Moran at American Thinker is convinced the implications of this memo are clear:

I think the case is irrefutable for the Army bending over backward not to dismiss an incompetent due to his religious beliefs and ethnic background. There's no other logical explanation - unless you want to posit the idea that the brass at Fort Hood - indeed, everywhere - need courses in remedial reading.

This looks like bad news for the brass at Fort Hood, and will only deepen the pain and suffering for the families of Hasan's victims.

In search of Hasan's Syndrome

J.R. Salzman shares his heartfelt disgust with the media coverage of last week's tragedy at Fort Hood.  There is strong language, but I am certain this soldier has earned the right.  From Scott Johnson at Powerline:

Nidal Hasan is the Army psychiatrist who went on a rampage of mass murder at Fort Hood this past Thursday. The liberal media have performed remarkable contortions to wrap his motives in mystery and tender Hasan himself as a possible victim. CNN, for example, has served up a story of anti-Islamic discrimination (from Jerusalem, no les) despite the fact that Hasan's continued presence in the Army suggests something closer to the opposite.
Given a little time to work up a theory of their own, the media have presented Hasan as a victim of something like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The New York Times put it at the top of James Dao's backgrounder on Hasan. Dao quotes cousin Nader Hasan: "He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy. He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there."

CNN pursued this theme, "drill[ing] down" deep to explain that "Treating trauma victims may cause its own trauma." The thesis of this chin pulling is that Hasan rampage is the flip side of his professional good works, and CNN is far from alone in pushing this line.

Distilling the essence of this nonsense, Canada's National Post asserted: "It is a cruel irony that the very mental disorder Maj. Hasan was trained to treat may have claimed him as a victim."

If there is a cruel irony here, it is that bona fide victims of PTSD have this nonsense inflicted on them at home. J.R. Salzman is one such victim as a result of the incident in which he was seriously injured in Iraq, and he is righteously unamused (via Hot Air).

Salzman responds to the likes of CNN with a pointed question or two: "If you can get PTSD from treating soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center then why the hell haven't more people snapped? Why haven't all the therapists in physical therapy and occupational therapy, and all the staff on Ward 57 r[u]n around shooting up the place? They have seen far more wounded soldiers than this piece of shit ever did." Salzman also kindly answers his own questions: "Because you don't get PTSD from sitting on your ass around Walter Reed.

Read all of Salzman's post if you can.  It is important.