5.  Is the Fort Hood Shooter a Terrorist?

As details continue to emerge about Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Hasan's background and religious convictions, a national debate is growing over whether the shootings were inspired by depression, or if there were other, religious motivations behind the attack. According to witnesses, Hasan—a Jordanian-American and devout Muslim—shouted "Allahu Akbar!" before opening fire on the Fort's medical screening center. In response to the news, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said this morning that he believed Hasan might have been "favorably inclined to be involved in an act of terror," while GOP candidate Alan West stated outright that Hasan was a Muslim extremist. Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, Michael Yaki says that conservatives aren't the only ones guilty of framing the attack in religious terms: "Anderson Cooper repeatedly referred to Hasan as an 'American Muslim.' I somehow don't see Cooper referring to the Columbine killers, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris as 'American Protestants.'" At The Nation, John Nichols takes a similar position, arguing that equating a violent Muslim to a jihadist makes as much sense as assuming that violent a Christian is a crusader. Meanwhile, on the New York Times' Lede blog, Robert Mackey writes that he just finished reading an essay, commented on by user "NidalHasan,"* that "ends with a pretty robust refutation of the theory that suicide bombing is well-supported by Islamic teaching." In anticipation of a backlash against Muslims, Islamic groups across the country have condemned the attacks, calling them "cowardly" and "heinous."

*Correction, Nov. 6, 2009: This item misquoted Robert Mackey's blog post, saying that Mackey had read an essay by "NidalHasan," when in fact Mackey wrote that he'd read a comment written by "NidalHasan" on someone else's essay.

Read original story in The Huffington Post | Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

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