Muslim martyrdom remains unanswered question

President Obama's White House spokesman, Jay Carney, today limited questions at the daily news briefing to a select panel of reporters in attendance, leaving several questions about the death penalty and the possible "martyrdom" of radical Muslim Nidal Hasan unanswered.

Three dozen of the reporters at the briefing were not allowed to participate in the event, while NBC was granted seven questions and ABC, CNN and Fox News six each.

Among the reporters outside the gates was Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House and the second-most senior reporter on the beat.

He had planned to ask:

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• Would the president be willing to offer Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan a commutation to life without parole rather than what could be interpreted as Muslim martyrdom?
• Since the New York Times reports that a videotape was made of the Georgia execution of Andrew DeYoung last week, does the president believe such should be forbidden, or that televised executions would be a deterrent to murder?

The Washington Times reported that the commanding officer at Fort Hood in Texas has recommended that Hasan, accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32 in the Nov. 5, 2009, rampage, face a possible death sentence in his court-martial.

Reports described how the Muslim psychiatrist "calmly walked through the medical center, randomly firing his handgun at people, yelling 'Allahu akbar,'" a "typical war cry" for jihadists.

According to the procedures for military courts-martial, plea bargains are not allowed in capital cases and a death sentence, if it is chosen, would have to be approved personally by the president.

Federal investigators have said Hasan had been in contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, a senior al-Qaida official in Yemen, before he allegedly attacked and killed his fellow soldiers.

According to the New York Times, the video was made of the execution of Andrew Grant DeYoung on the order of Judge Bensonetta Tipton Lane at the request of defense lawyers.

They argue that an accurate depiction of an execution needs to be available to support arguments over the use of lethal drugs during executions.

DeYoung was convicted of the 1993 murders of his parents and 14-year-old sister.

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