Terrorist, or just someone who commited a terrible act?

When it comes down to it this is just a question about semantics.  Is Major Hassan a terrorist or someone who committed a terrible act?  

He is most certainly a traitor, and as he was a member of the military when he murdered his fellow soldiers a court martial is clearly the proper venue for his trial.  But I'm fuzzy on the label we stick him with.  If he was part of an organized cell, led by others bent on doing harm to the United States I reckon we can call him a terrorist.  But if he did this by himself with no particular urging from an organized group is it still terrorism?

I'm content to simply label him a traitor and let the military come to its own conclusion as to what to do with him, but I am very curious to learn what his motivations were.  Did he consider what he was doing a legitimate act of war, thus making him a POW in his own mind?  Or was this a suicide bombing done "American style" with guns instead of bombs, making him a terrorist in his own mind? Or, did he really not want to go to war and lose control and just start shooting?

Another observation here, much has been made of his statement that "I'm a Muslim first and an American second."  I've seen quite a few multiply bloggers proclaim "I'm a Christian first, and an American second"  Many would bristle at my equating the two statements, but Major Hassan is little different than Tim McVeigh, who no doubt would have stated that he was a Christian first.  One of the founding principles of this country is that there is no religious litmus test.  The idea that any of us hold our theology at a point where we think its OK to kill our fellow citizens over differences (sometimes very minor) is mind numbing.

Did the NYPD Botch Terror Probe?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-09-22/did-the-nypd-botch-terror-arrests/?cid=hp:mainpromo7
Following three arrests in connection with an alleged terror plot, authorities are now on the hunt for "about a dozen" other suspects—and security warnings are issued for hotels and stadiums. But while the arrests looked like a triumph for law enforcement, FBI agents are fuming at New York Police Department detectives for blowing a chance to snare a larger sleeper cell.

CIA Says Holder's Investigation Hurts US Counter-Terrorism Effort

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cia-holders-investigation-hurts-us-counter-terrorism-effort/story?id=8614065
Seven former CIA directors have asked President Obama to use his authority to reverse Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to re-open the criminal investigation into the CIA's post 9/11 interrogations of suspected terrorists.

Over-ruling an attorney general on a criminal investigation would be an extraordinary move, but the former directors contend Holder's investigation will ultimately "help Al Qaeda elude U.S. intelligence and plan future operations."

The letter sent to the president on Friday was signed by CIA directors who served under Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton and Bush 43.

The letter warns that the investigation will hinder the CIA's counter-terrorism efforts by discouraging risk-taking by agents now in the field, publicly revealing more information about the CIA's operations, and hindering relations with foreign intelligence agencies.

The former directors contend that Holder's investigation could "help Al Qaeda."

The 8th Anniversary of 9-11

Start:	Sep 11, '09
Location:	Washington, DC; New York, NY; Shanksville, PA.

A series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There were no survivors from any of the flights.

Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks.

On this day in 2004: The Beslan Massacre took place

Start:	Sep 3, '09
Location:	Beslan, Russia

The Beslan school hostage crisis (also referred to as the Beslan school siege or Beslan massacre) began when a group of armed Islamic terrorists, demanding an end to the Second Chechen War, took more than 1,100 people (including some 777 children) hostage at School Number One in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia-Alania, an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation.

On the third day of the standoff, Russian security forces stormed the building using tanks, thermobaric rockets and other heavy weapons. A series of explosions shook the school, followed by a fire which engulfed the building and a chaotic gunbattle between the hostage-takers and Russian security forces. Ultimately, at least 334 hostages were killed, including 186 children. Hundreds more were wounded or reported missing.

Questions about the government's management of the crisis have also persisted, including disinformation and censorship in news media, repressions of journalists who rushed to Beslan, the nature and content of negotiations with the militants, the responsibility for the bloody outcome, and the government's use of possibly excessive force.

Bush White House politics linked to terror alerts

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090821/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_ridge_terror_alert
NO! They'd never try to manipulate the electorate by using the politics of fear, now would they?

This follows-up on yesterday's news tip posted by blackhornet.