Reports litter the internet connecting Nadal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, and Imam Anwar al Awlaki, an American scholar in Yemen who praised Hasan as a hero in a recent blog post. He wrote:
"Nidal Hassan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people..."
I'm not about to take that position, but I can understand the logic. If you are against the war you must necessarily believe that the actions of the military are unjust. If the actions of the military are unjust than the opposition has a right to defend themselves. If they have a right to defend themselves than the military is a legitimate target. If the military is a legitimate target than one who strikes against the military is a hero. That's the unfortunate dichotomy created by the initiation of violence. I'm not ready to call Nadal Hasan a terrorist, or a hero. But I'd like to discuss two examples from recent news which describe what I think Major Hasan could have done that I would have condemned as terrorism, and would have praised as heroic.
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