More and more there are reports that Hasan was, if not mentally unstable, certainly highly antagonistic to the wars and being deployed to serve in Iraq. There is evidence that he undertook efforts to block his deployment if not be discharged from the Armed Services.

There are reports of his increasingly erratic behavior. He gave a lecture before his fellow internists on his view that the Quran indicated that unbelievers would burn in hell…instead of a talk on a particular case or syndrome. There were claims that he felt his religious views were being increasingly subject to persecution (this could mean anything from actual cases of discrimination to cases where he attempted to impose his views on others…we don’t know). In any case there were “warning signs” as much as there were in a case like Tim McVeigh…perhaps more so.

I have a suspicion (nothing more than this) that we have a case where the current circumstances of this mans military career were arriving like a locomotive toward his own background and beliefs. The rigid contract and assignment system of the military allowed him no “out”…no escape.

We don’t have a Muhammed Ali here willing to face jail for his beliefs…for whatever reason something triggered vengeance as the response. I wonder what he said to his counsellors and to his lawyer.