Tuesday night ABC's Brian Ross highlighted how in a 2007
presentation mass-murdering Army Major Nidal Hasan exposed his
radicalism and adherence to Islam over the U.S. Army as he charged
"it's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally
justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against
fellow Muslims," and declared: "We love death more than you love life."
But neither CBS nor NBC cited those quotes for their viewers
as they gave short-shrift to Hasan's remarks in "The Koranic World View
As It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military," a slide show disclosed
by Dana Priest in Tuesday's Washington Post [1] (click on "Launch Photo Gallery" for Hasan's entire presentation at Walter Reed in June of 2007).
On the NBC Nightly News, Pete Williams just briefly noted how Hasan
asserted that "releasing Muslim soldiers as conscientious objectors
would increase troop morale and, quote, 'decrease adverse events.'" Bob
Orr, on CBS, at least characterized it as "a shocking presentation to
colleagues," and related only how "Hasan argued forcing Muslim soldiers
to fight wars in Muslim countries puts them 'at risk to hurting/killing
believers unjustly' and he ominously warned of 'adverse events.'"
ABC anchor Charles Gibson set up the Ross story: "There is interest
now focused on a presentation written by Hasan two years ago that
provides insights into his views about Muslims, like himself, serving
in the military."
Brian Ross reported:
The Washington Post reported today that Hasan presented this PowerPoint presentation at Walter Reed hospital in 2007, saying: "It's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims." Under comments, he wrote: "We love death more than you love life." And his conclusion was that Muslim soldiers be given the option of being released from the military, as conscientious objectors, to decrease what he called "adverse events."
Bob Orr, on the CBS Evening News:
There were reasons to worry. Hasan received poor performance reviews at Walter Reed, frequently criticized the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and in June, 2007, Hasan gave a shocking presentation to colleagues. Using slides, Hasan argued forcing Muslim soldiers to fight wars in Muslim countries puts them "at risk to hurting/killing believers unjustly" and he ominously warned of "adverse events." Yet it's not clear that anyone inside the military had a complete picture of Hasan's growing radicalization.
Pete Williams, who spent most of his story on ties between Hasan and
radical/al Qaeda imam Anwar al-Awlaki, related on the slide show at the
Walter Reed Army Hospital:
Hasan formally expressed some of that criticism in a 2007 classroom presentation first obtained by the Washington Post. His conclusion: Releasing Muslim soldiers as conscientious objectors would increase troop morale and, quote, "decrease adverse events."
- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center