I used to assume (possibly through overapplied principle of charity) that the accusations of cowardice had to do with their “escaping” the consequences of their actions by dying, especially if they anticipated heaven.
Specifically, I wonder how comparatively scared they’d have been at the prospect of:
Surviving through being captured and extrajudicially detained
Surviving through being captured and subjected to a nationally televised trial
Destroying the towers, but somehow surviving long enough to be trapped in the wreckage with a dying Muslim girl who has no idea what’s happening
Being given a teleporter they could use to escape just before the impact, knowing that each of their compatriots had refused the same offer
Being ordered to destroy the towers by firing a super rocket launcher in broad daylight in full view of bystanders
Being ordered to destroy the towers with remote explosives, then return to their normal lives with only themselves to know they’d helped kill thousands of people.
I used to assume (possibly through overapplied principle of charity) that the accusations of cowardice had to do with their “escaping” the consequences of their actions by dying, especially if they anticipated heaven.
Specifically, I wonder how comparatively scared they’d have been at the prospect of:
Surviving through being captured and extrajudicially detained
Surviving through being captured and subjected to a nationally televised trial
Destroying the towers, but somehow surviving long enough to be trapped in the wreckage with a dying Muslim girl who has no idea what’s happening
Being given a teleporter they could use to escape just before the impact, knowing that each of their compatriots had refused the same offer
Being ordered to destroy the towers by firing a super rocket launcher in broad daylight in full view of bystanders
Being ordered to destroy the towers with remote explosives, then return to their normal lives with only themselves to know they’d helped kill thousands of people.