Latest in Liberal Tripe: America to Blame for Anwar al-Awlaki Becoming a Terrorist

It is utterly amazing to watch the depths the leftwing mind will sink to in order to avoid admitting it was wrong. In this case, Salon's Glenn Greenwald actually blames the United States for turning Anwar al-Awlaki into the terrorist mastermind who inspired Fort Hood jihadist Nidal Malik Hasan, Christmas day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad. Of course, in February of 2002, just five months after the September 11th attacks, al-Awlaki was invited to a DoD luncheon to speak as a moderate Muslim so that has to mean he transformed, right? It couldn't possibly mean the left was duped from the very beginning.

Via Salon:

The (Washington) Post says Awlaki is "known for his fiery sermons" (undoubtedly the prime -- and blatantly unconstitutional -- motive for his being targeted for killing). But what is so bizarre about Awlaki's now being cast in this role is that, for years, he was deemed by the very same U.S. Government to be the face of moderate Islam. Indeed, shortly after 9/11, the Pentagon invited Awlaki to a "luncheon meant to ease tensions with Muslim-Americans." But even more striking was something I accidentally found today while searching for something else. In November, 2001, the very same Washington Post hosted one of those benign, non-controversial online chats about religion that it likes to organize; this one was intended to discuss "the meaning of Ramadan". It was hosted by none other than . . . "Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki."

More extraordinary than the fact that the Post hosted The New Osama bin Laden in such a banal role a mere ten years ago was what Imam Awlaki said during the Q-and-A exchange with readers. He repudiated the 9/11 attackers. He denounced the Taliban for putting women in burqas, explaining that the practice has no precedent in Islam and that "education is mandatory on every Muslim male and female." He chatted about the "inter-faith services held in our mosque and around the greater DC area and in all over the country" and proclaimed: "We definitely need more mutual understanding." While explaining his opposition to the war in Afghanistan, he proudly invoked what he thought (mistakenly, as it turns out) was his right of free speech as an American: "Even though this is a dissenting view nowadays[,] as an American I do have the right to have a contrary opinion." And he announced that "the greatest sin in Islam after associating other gods besides Allah is killing an innocent soul."

Does that sound like the New Osama bin Laden to you? One could call him the opposite of bin Laden. And yet, a mere nine years later, there was Awlaki, in an Al Jazeera interview, pronouncing his opinion that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's attempt to blow up a civilian jet over Detroit was justified (while saying "it would have been better if the plane was a military one or if it was a US military target"), and urging "revenge for all Muslims across the globe" against the U.S. What changed over the last decade that caused such a profound transformation in Awlaki?

Instead of admitting to being duped or even acknowledging the premise that says al-Awlaki knew that the only way he COULD speak at the DoD luncheon was to portray himself as moderate (Islamists do that, you know), Greenwald creates his own theory that says al-Awlaki was moderate then but because of America's actions in Afghanistan, he transformed into a bad guy and is justified somehow.

Taqiyya was invented for people like Greenwald.

h/t Jawa