How To Stop Bad Soldiers .... And Who Is Accountable For Them?

A 101st Airborne Division convoy heads out during its 2005-06 tour in Iraq.
Collin Sharpness

The Threat From Within: Stopping Soldiers From Becoming Murderers -- Time Magazine

On Nov. 5 of last year, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist known by his superiors to have job-performance problems and by others in the government to have Islamist sympathies, opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 people and wounding 43 more before he was subdued. Defense Secretary Robert Gates quickly ordered a blue-ribbon panel to conduct an investigation into how such an atrocity could occur. Gates emphasized the importance of accountability. "One of the core functions of leadership is assessing the performance and fitness of people honestly and openly," he said. "Failure to do so ... may lead to damaging, if not devastating, consequences."

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Previous Post from Time Magazine: The Downward Spiral of Private Steven Green

My Comment: My father was a Soviet officer who served during the Second World War. He had many experiences, with the scars to show it .... and as his son I had many an opportunity to hear many of his stories. One time (while drinking) with his old army bodies and friends he mentioned that one the most difficult assignments that he had was right after the war .... spotting and capturing Soviet soldiers who could not stop killing Germans even though the war was over.

As he put it his job was easy .... just follow the bodies. But what to do with them when they were captured was both difficult and easy for my dad. These men were fellow soldiers, but the crimes that they committed had to be answered and they had to be delivered to the proper authorities so that punishment can be meted out.

He had no choice .... war had transformed these men into dangerous homicidal maniacs, and they had to be put down. Fortunately .... most soldiers do not become homicidal maniacs .... but some do and (if my father is to be believed), there is nothing that can be done about it.

Flash forward to today .... some of the soldiers who serve and experience combat and are witness to terrible atrocities will use their experience to better themselves, their families, their country, and humanity as a whole. On the other side .... some walk a different path .... these are the soldiers who become murderers, and as my father would put it .... there is nothing that can be done about it.

Update: Major Hasan is a case that is different from Private Steven Green. He did not experience the combat stresses that are usually associated with the development of homicidal behavior in some soldiers. In fact Major Hasan did not experience any combat, what influenced him more was his religious beliefs and altitudes that were further reinforced by religious figures like Anwar al-Awlaki. Hmmm .... without hindsight how does one screen for that?