Retired U.S. Generals Urge Pentagon to Cancel Live Broadcast of "Barbaric" Execution

In a letter, 72 former officers said a live broadcast of Nidal Hasan's execution "would tarnish the honor of the military that carries it out and the nation that allows it."

A group of 72 retired U.S. generals, admirals and other senior military officers is pressing the U.S. government to cancel live broadcasts of an execution by firing squad.

They wrote in a letter: "We call on our president, congressmen and ambassador Arjanan to take action to prevent this brutal abuse of power."

Last week, the Pentagon announced that it will make public the December 3 execution of Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who shot 13 unarmed American soldiers at the Fort Hood military base.

Lawmakers from both parties, as well as religious leaders, have criticized the plan.

President Donald Trump said last week that he "absolutely" approved the live-streaming plan, but some administration officials are now leaning toward it, US media partner CBS News reported. CBS reported that Trump had not yet made a final decision on whether to go live as of Tuesday.

In an open letter released Wednesday, former military leaders -- including 45 generals, 12 admirals and several former judge advocate generals -- said they were not opposed to the death penalty.

But they argued that public executions violate the U.S. Constitution's protections against cruel and unusual punishment and turn what should be "serious and severe punishment" into a "carnival for the public. The pleasure of voyeurs and spectators."

They also wrote: "This type of exploitative broadcast - which degrades human dignity - will tarnish the reputation of the military that employs it, and the nation that allows it."

"The enemies of our nation will use it to incite hatred, harm future American soldiers and citizens, and ensure that Hassan is martyred for attacking and killing his fellow soldiers."

The letter's signatories came from across the military and included a number of officers who retired during Trump's first term. Some had also served during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Hassan said in court that he carried out the Fort Hood shooting, the deadliest non-combat attack on a US base, and believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan from the US military. Hassan was shot during the attack and now uses a wheelchair.

Retired Maj. Gen. Tony Taguba, who led the Army's investigation into reported abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, and retired Air Force Col. Mo. Davis, the prosecutor at the Guantanamo Bay detention center who called water torture, signed the letter.

So did Charles Bolden, the US Marine Corps major general who became NASA chief, and retired General Claudia Kennedy, the first woman to become a three-star general in the military.

Trump has said he has signed off on its implementation, but while he approves of the live broadcast plan, a final decision has yet to be made.

It will be the first public execution in the United States in almost a century

The plan, announced last week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett, has been heavily criticized by politicians, academics and experts.