Major Nidal Hasan. Remember that name.
Hasan is the shooter that killed 13 people and wounded more than two dozen others at Fort Hood in November 2009. He was on a jihad mission to further his Islamic beliefs. He is entitled to a fair and open military trial, but there were so many witnesses of this attack that there is no doubt about his guilt.
Now Major Nidal Hasan has grown a beard to express his Muslim fraith. He does not want to shave it off for his trial. His defense attorneys have said, “he won’t shave it since he’s had a premonition that his death is imminent, and he doesn’t want to die without a beard because he believes not having one is a sin.” What a crock.
Hasan agreed to no beard when he signed up for the United States military. He was a member of that military when he shot fellow servicemen and wounded others. He will stand trial in a military court. It is all military. The rules did not change. Beards are not allowed in the military. There should be no debate about that. The beard must go.
The news says the trial is expected to last more than two months. I cannot imagine this. The case is open and shut. Major Hasan without beard needs to stand before the court and hear all that is presented against him. He then needs to spend the rest of his life in a small jail cell out of sight and out of mind with a shave scheduled at least weekly to remind him of what he has done.