Army Medicine Failed Hasan, Shooting Victims

Media coverage of the Fort Hood killings has been factually challenged and quick to jump to conclusions about terrorism and political correctness, but the underlying problem is much bigger, Mark Benjamin argues. The real question: Why was alleged shooter Nidal Malik Hasan an Army psychiatrist in the first place? Given his belief that Muslims shouldn't be killing other Muslims in battle, "It’s hard to imagine Hasan being particularly empathetic with his patients."

The catastrophic state of the Army medical establishment is sadly familiar, Benjamin writes for Salon. "Remember the Walter Reed scandal? The horrific treatment of traumatic brain injury and PTSD that has gone on for years?" he writes. "Army medicine has been dropping the ball on these issues for a long time. Given that history, it's not hugely surprising they'd miss warning signs with Hasan and just let him go on being a doctor." (More Nidal Malik Hasan stories.)