I tweeted this a few days ago, but deliberately kept it vague. Capt. Shannon Meehan, an old college associate and former patient at Fort Hood's medical facility, said that Hasan had a reputation for telling his patients to report themselves to the legal office for war crimes, an unbelievably sick offense and deep betrayal of the doctor-patient privilege. Now that Shannon has relayed the same to the Dallas Morning News, I'll amplify.
Fort Hood massacre suspect Nidal Malik Hasan sought to have some of his patients prosecuted for war crimes based on statements they made during psychiatric sessions with him, a captain who served on the base said Monday.
Other psychiatrists complained to superiors that Hasan's actions violated doctor-patient confidentiality, Capt. Shannon Meehan told The Dallas Morning News.
One day after the Nov. 5 attack that killed 13 and wounded 29, a Fort Hood official said she had never received complaints about Hasan's job performance. Col. Kimberly Kesling, deputy commander of clinical services at the base's Darnall Army Medical Center, also said he was a "hardworking, dedicated young man who gave great care to his patients."
Shannon's is a sad tale. During his deployment in Iraq, he called in an airstrike on a residence believed to double as an IED factory. The intelligence was wrong, the house was a civilian residence -- occupied by a family of eight (this is the crushing burden of leadership our young officers shoulder daily). Shannon was deeply traumatized by the horrific incident, a condition exacerbated by a severe brain injury suffered a few days later while leading his men in combat. When his road to recovery finally led him back to Fort Hood (his home station), Shannon -- in his fragile mental and physical state -- could have easily been assigned to Hasan. Fortunately, fate was on his side -- the Army placed him in the care of another therapist shortly before treatment started.
The thought of soldiers having their conscience and pain manipulated by the likes of Hasan is chill inducing. This is how far the Army has been pushed and corrupted by political correctness, in that they were willing to sacrifice the mental health of their soldiers on the altar of religious and political neutrality.
Aside: Though he's quick to emphasize that the quality of care he received at Fort Hood was top-notch, Shannon's most effective treatment came in the form of paper and quill. His combat memoir, Beyond Duty, was released this past fall to wide accolades.
