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Incompetence said to follow Akbar
Soldier accused of murder couldn't keep track of soldiers, equipment, witness says.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
By JEFF SCHOGOL FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- After he was fired from one platoon for incompetence, Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar was shuffled back into a leadership position in Kuwait, where he killed two officers, including Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, of Williams Township, according to testimony Monday. Akbar is on trial for murder and faces the death penalty. Defense attorneys concede Akbar carried out the March 23 attacks but said he is mentally ill. Akbar's defense began its case Monday. Several witnesses testified Akbar was a poor leader who had acted oddly and expressed concern about going to war against fellow Muslims. Former Sgt. 1st Class Paul Means said he had asked Akbar after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks if Akbar could fight a "rag-head." "He looked at me and smiled and said it depended what level of jihad he was on," Means said. Means testified that he had fired Akbar for his poor on-duty performance. He recalled that Akbar once lost his own duffle bag, and after it was found, Akbar could not find the key to open it. Means said the duffle bag incident convinced him to fire Akbar as a team leader. He said he wrote a scathing report on Akbar but noted it was later edited to paint a more favorable picture. "I think we were trying to take care of an NCO (noncommissioned officer) and keep mentoring him," Means said without further elaboration. Means said Akbar was transferred to another unit and became team leader again in a few months. Sgt. 1st Class Billy Rogers testified that Akbar was transferred to his unit for mentoring but still had problems. Akbar had problems remembering tasks and keeping track of soldiers and equipment, Rogers said. Rogers said this was not the first time Akbar had been transferred for rehabilitation and mentoring, but he did not elaborate further. Under cross-examination, Rogers said Akbar was still a decent soldier who was given the task of clearing live mines. Rogers said he decided not to take Akbar on a mission into Kuwait because he did not trust him to be capable of going on air assault missions. Several witnesses who testified Monday said Akbar would pace, talk to himself, go off in a trance and laugh for odd reasons. Once when the soldiers in Kuwait were watching the movie "Apocalypse Now," Akbar laughed after one scene in which a Viet Cong guerilla threw a hand grenade into a helicopter, killing wounded American soldiers, said Spc. Joshua Rice, who served with Akbar. Rice said Akbar was an introverted person. But in Kuwait, Akbar's detachment from other people was "more than anyone else I've ever seen," Rice said. One day Akbar was eating his meal and staring at the ground and did not notice when soldiers took his rifle away from him, Rice said. He said that even when he showed Akbar his own weapon, Akbar barely acknowledged him. Spc. Charles Seitzinger said other soldiers derided Akbar when he made mistakes, saying taunts such as "Look at that moron, friggin' rag-head, always screwing up." Akbar's attorneys claim their client construed the soldiers' slurs against Muslims and Iraqis as a conspiracy against him. Also Monday, psychologist Dr. Fred Tuton said Akbar was disinclined at an early age to trust people. Tuton said he interviewed Akbar at the behest of the state after allegations that Akbar's stepfather sexually abused Akbar's sister. Akbar blamed his mother for not protecting his family from the abuse, Tuton said. Tests also show Akbar "had a real lack of attraction to parent images or people in general," Tuton said. Tuton said that not being able to trust other people can lead to feelings of paranoia. But under cross-examination, Tuton said he did not use the word "paranoid" in his report to describe Akbar. Tuton said it was common for Akbar to distrust people given his family's circumstances. But Akbar's distrust was "to a significant degree," Tuton said. In other developments Monday, Akbar's defense successfully excluded a statement from Rogers that Akbar had been in the area where Seifert was killed shortly before the attacks. Jurors, who can submit written questions, have been asking witnesses to the incident if they knew where the officers had lived at Camp Pennsylvania. Also, defense attorney Maj. Dan Brookhart read testimony from FBI agent Dan Fontenot, who had interviewed Akbar's half-brother after the incidents in Kuwait. When the half-brother claimed the FBI, CIA and Army were using Blackhawk helicopters and X-rays to keep him under surveillance, Fontenot concluded the man was unstable and paranoid, Brookhart said. Akbar's court martial is expected to reconvene at 9 a.m. today. Reporter Jeff Schogol can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at jschogol@express-times.com. |
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