Hasan's Long-Delayed Execution Is Lenient by Historical U.S. Military Standards
Source: Chris Bray. "Nidal Hasan's Scheduled Execution Is Remarkably Polite." October 14, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that, historically, the U.S. military quickly executed soldiers who committed brutal crimes or betrayed their comrades, sometimes within weeks. Compared to that record, Nidal Hasan, who killed fellow soldiers in 2009 including a pregnant woman, has been treated gently, and the surprising thing is how long it took to schedule his execution.
Conclusion
By the historical standards of the U.S. military, Nidal Hasan has been treated with far more restraint than any American soldier should have expected, and the anomaly is not that he is being executed but that it took so long to schedule his execution.
Premises
- Historically, the U.S. military's norm for betrayal, dishonor, cowardly violence, and cruelty to defenseless victims was rapid and certain execution upon discovery.
- In WWII cases such as Pvt. James Kendrick (crime in late May 1943, executed in mid-July) and Pvts. McMurray and Till (executed about a year after their crimes, a delay described as long by prevailing standards), soldiers who committed sexual assault and murder were tried and hanged within weeks or months.
- The military also punished soldiers who turned on fellow soldiers harshly: the St. Patrick's Battalion deserters who fought against U.S. troops were hanged en masse in 1847, and the 96 executed WWII soldiers were buried in an anonymous, restricted-access plot to deny them honor.
- Hasan voluntarily took an officer's commission and then, in 2009, killed fellow soldiers while wearing the same uniform, including a pregnant soldier, Pvt. Francheska Velez, who begged for her unborn child's life.
- Hasan's betrayal of fellow soldiers and cruelty to defenseless victims is comparable to or worse than the crimes that historically brought swift execution, yet he has waited many years for an execution date.
Assumptions
- Historical U.S. military practice is an appropriate benchmark for judging what treatment is proper or expected today.
- The post-WWII reforms that made military justice resemble civilian justice are not a legitimate reason for the longer timeline.
- The cases cited (Kendrick, McMurray/Till, St. Patrick's Battalion) are representative of the military norm rather than selected examples or products of wartime conditions.
- Hasan's crime is comparable in kind and gravity to those cited, falling under the betrayal and cowardly violence category.
- Delay in carrying out the sentence counts as leniency or restraint, rather than the result of due process, appeals, and administrative or political factors.
- Execution is the appropriate punishment for Hasan, or at least the author need not defend that premise.