Why is Maj. Nidal Hasan still being paid?
While awaiting trial, the alleged Fort Hood shooter is still drawing an army salary of $6,000 a month. What's going on?
Nidal Hasan: In jail, but still getting paychecks. Photo: Getty SEE ALL 6 PHOTOS
While waiting for his murder trial to begin, Maj. Nidal Hasan, the man charged with shooting 13 soldiers dead at Fort Hood, Texas, is reportedly still receiving an estimated $6,000 monthly salary from the United States Army because he can't be discharged until proven guilty. Not that the payments are doing him any immediate good, complains his lawyer: Since no bank will take on Hasan as a customer, the checks remain uncashed. Why is this "murdering terrorist" drawing a paycheck at all, asks Robbie Cooper at UrbanGrounds. The army always used to make soldiers forfeit "up to half their pay as part of their punishment" when they were disciplined. I don't want to defend Hasan, says Joshua Holland at Alternet, but for banks to refuse his custom is "outrageous in principle" and un-American: The "presumption of innocence before being proven guilty is a core principle in our justice system." Here's an ABC News report on Hasan's defense:
Obama's speech at Fort Hood
Was the president's eulogy for Fort Hood's victims his "best speech ever"—or just more speechifying?
President Obama was put to the test in his first major speech as "healer-in-chief" after the Fort Hood tragedy. While eulogizing Maj. Nidal Hasan's victims, Obama had to soothe bereft families, navigate the thorny issues of Islam and terrorism, and reaffirm the... More
Fort Hood: The Al Qaeda question
Why did the FBI disregard the Fort Hood shooter's emails to an Al Qaeda-linked cleric?
Another indication has surfaced that authorities missed key warning signs about Maj. Nidal Hasan: ABC News reports that Hasan tried to “make contact with people associated with al Qaeda," with later reports specifying that the FBI had intercepted 10 to 20... More
Red flags at Fort Hood
Did the Army ignore "strong" warning signs that Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan was an Islamic extremist?
The U.S. Army is under fire as new reports about Fort Hood killer Maj. Nidal Hasan suggest that he was openly sympathetic to extremist Islamic beliefs. Colleagues say Hasan was given to "anti-American rants," attended a radical Wahhabi mosque in 2001, and gave... More
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