It is not much of a surprise, but Maj. Nidal Hasan has been convicted. AP reports: A jury of 13 high-ranking military officers reached a unanimous guilty verdict on all 13 counts of premeditated murder and a guilty verdict on 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. Hasan is now eligible for the death penalty. Just because he is eligible does not mean he will be executed: Death sentences are rare in the military and trigger automatic appeals that take decades to play out. Among the final barriers to execution is authorization from the president. No American soldier has been executed since 1961. If we believe he is sincere in his devotion to jihad, martyrdom would be his preferred outcome, and his refusal to defend himself is consistent with this. So, instead a life sentence at hard labor, perhaps forced to share a cell with Chelsea Manning, would be a more appropriate punishment. Why hasn't the DoD immediately reclassified Fort Hood as a terror incident instead of the...(Read Full Post)