Hasan asked cleric about killing US officers and troops

ABC News:

In an interview published on Al Jazeera's Web site, radical Muslim cleric Anwar al Awlaki says that Maj. Nidal Hasan, charged with killing 13 in last month's Fort Hood massacre, asked for guidance about killing American military personnel in his very first e-mail.

Awlaki claims that Hasan initiated the e-mail correspondence with a message on Dec. 17, 2008. "He was asking about killing U.S. soldiers and officers," says Awlaki. "His question was is it legitimate [under Islamic law]."

The Al Jazeera questioner asks for confirmation that Hasan forwarded this query nearly a year before the shooting.

"Yes," responds Awlaki. "I am astonished. Where was American intelligence that claimed once that it can read any car plate number anywhere in the world?"

Hasan and Awlaki exchanged as many as 18 e-mails in the year prior to the shooting. As ABC News had previously reported exclusively, Hasan had discussed martyrdom with Awlaki, asking when jihad is appropriate, and whether it is permissible if there are innocents killed in a suicide attack. Hasan also told Awlaki he looked forward to seeing him in the afterlife and sharing non-alcoholic wine.

In the interview, Awlaki does not say whether he okayed the attack, but restates his support for the deed. Just after the Fort Hood shootings, Awlaki posted a message on his Web site praising the shooter. In the interview, he calls the shooting "a heroic action."

"The operation had a military target inside America, and there's no dispute about that," says Awlaki, adding that the soldiers killed "were prepared and equipped to fight and kill oppressed Muslims."

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These emails do not sound as innocuous as we have been led to believe. Perhaps it is just hindsight bias, but they look like smoking guns at this point. It is not clear why they have not been released. Awlaki claims it is a cover up, but there is no reason why he can't release them too.

The NY Times has a story on military naval gazing as a result of the attacks. While there might be other reasons for looking at troop morale and psychological problems, it seems pretty clear that Maj. Hasan acted on the basis of his religious bigotry and not because of any trauma.