Hasan had the choice of being a conscientious objector on religious grounds, or of not joining the military at all. As a psychiatrist, he had plenty of other paths he could have been gainfully employed in.

His failure, regardless of the stress or harassment he may have experienced, is in not pulling back from the edge of his own insanity and instead choosing to dramatize it. That was morally unacceptable and ethically weak conduct on his part, and his subsequent acts were criminally insane acts.

No-one forced him to take up arms against he wrong target no matterhow invalidated or beleaguered he may have been by anyone. You just don't take that step, because it is simply wrong.

A