The Army bends over backwards not to offend any Muslim, until he acts on his stated beliefs. The policy makes some twisted sense; there are probably a dozen other Muslims in the Army, saying roughly what Hasan said, who we hope will never act on their beliefs.
All nine reprimanded officers, and probably many more, knew Hasan was a nut job, an Islamic extremist, but said nothing for fear of being labeled as "racists" or insufficiently multicultural. As long as he didn't do anything violent, he could say what he chose with impunity because he was a minority.
Punishing these nine officers is a sick joke, a true Catch 22. They will be punished for following a seriously wrong Army policy, sacrificed to Army expediency and the need for scapegoats.
