News 8
John McCaa Uncut: Is Hasan a terrorist? 
08:32 PM CST on Friday, November 13, 2009
This week's commentary has to do with the Fort Hood shootings.
The one word you haven't heard associated much with Maj. Nidal Hasan — the accused Fort Hood gunman who killed 13 — is "terrorist."
Most newsrooms have followed a government request to hold off on ascribing a motive to the shootings until we know more about the major's actions.
It certainly looks like a terrorist act: A soldier frustrated with government policy attacks fellow soldiers and citizens sworn to carry out that policy, like Tim McVeigh.
Allegedly, Hasan shouted "God is great" in Arabic before firing.
He attempted to reach al Qaeda and had links to radical clerics who praised him after the shooting.
So was Hasan like the 9/11 hijackers?
Did he have a history of paranoia, or did he just snap — like the Virginia Tech gunman, or George Hennard, the mass killer at the Luby's cafeteria in Killeen who took even more lives in a violent rampage?
We don't know, and it's tough because the gunman survived — and he's not talking.
Hasan's lawyers are already saying publicity has ruined any chance of a fair trial.
But the word "terrorism" will not go away; nor will the word "treason."
The U.S. Constitution defines treason as "levying War against [the United States], or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."
Conviction requires testimony of two witnesses to the act or an open confession in court.
More than two witnesses did survive that terrible day at Fort Hood, and the shootings certainly gave aid or comfort to al Qaeda.
But maybe — if Nidal Hasan really is a true believer — we'll finally get an answer from the major himself.
Those are my thoughts; tell me yours.
E-mail jmccaa@wfaa.com
