Poll: Are Timothy McVeigh and Nidal Malik Hasan terrorists?

[woo me with science]

Poll question: Poll: Are Timothy McVeigh and Nidal Malik Hasan terrorists?

Considering all available information...

[vadawg]

1. id say one is a domestic terrorist and one is a murdering jihadist

pretty much i would go with that definition from what we know so far....

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. How about Jeffrey Dahmer?

Eric Klebold?

Travis Bickle?

[NYC_SKP]

4. Dahmer did not, apparently, have striking terror into others as part of his intent.

He had a whole different set of interests.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. What political motive do you think Hasan was attempting to support?

[NYC_SKP]

10. I voted yes to McVeigh, no to Hasan. I don't know if he had a political motive...

...or just snapped and/or had a LOT of issues with the military and/or a political message to send.

But I think the first two are stronger motives than the last, if indeed there was any message at all.

:shrug:

[stray cat]

11. Killing American soldiers to prevent deployment to Afghansitan where some muslims could get hurt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. O RLY?

So despite being a major in the U.S. military, which has been fighting a war and killing muslims for eight years now, he was really some sort of sleeper agent this whole time?

Would you like to buy a bridge?

[Selatius]

15. Dahmer didn't do it to advance a particular political agenda.

He did it for some other reason.

[tekisui]

3. Not sure on Hassan, yet.

[npk]

6. McViegh's sole purpose was to destroy the government

He bombed a federal government building as a way of striking the much larger federal government. That makes him a terrorist. We don't yet know Hasan's main reason for the murderous rampage. It could have that he just snapped, or it could be more deep and profound. I will hold off on making a decision until more information is available.

[WeDidIt]

7. Can't vote in your poll

McVeigh was a terrorist.

Can't say anything about whether or not Hasan is a terrorist as the evidence isn't compiled yet, let alone a trial etc.

[Dreamer Tatum]

8. Both were terrorists, without question and clearly, as is Tiller's murderer nt

[PurityOfEssence]

9. McVeigh definitely; too early to tell on Hasan

McVeigh wanted to strike at the government in retaliation for Ruby Ridge and Waco, and he wanted to scare the government into leaving people alone. (Okay, that's simplistic, but pretty much accurate.)

There's a lot at play with Hasan. There's OBVIOUSLY a religious component, and there's definitely a bit of the disgruntled employee schtick at work, but whether he was trying to terrorize the U.S. Government out of waging an alleged war on Islam is open to debate, and the whole thing is filtered through the prism of some fairly questionable sanity.

McVeigh's act was, by definition, terrorism.

[woo me with science]

14. McVeigh's sanity was pretty questionable, too.

Even more questionable, given the way he lived and the rambling, incoherent written diatribes he produced. Hasan at least was able to finish school and pass as a psychiatrist for quite some time.

Preliminary reports suggest that Hasan was very vocal in his opposition to US policy in the Middle East, considering it a war on Islam.

[stray cat]

12. Is murdering abortion doctors to protect fetuses terrorism? If yes - then yes to both