Editorial: Unwise to honour monster's memory

Sometimes there are no words.
You may have seen in the news this week MP Hone Harawira honour the memory of Osama bin Laden, a man responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents.
One day after comparing new Act leader Don Brash to Adolf Hitler, Mr Harawira spoke on a current affairs show about the death this week of the al-Qaeda founder who masterminded terrorist atrocities, including the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
He described bin Laden, killed by US armed forces at his Pakistan hideout, as "a man who fought for the rights, the land and the freedom of his people".
He said bin Laden should be honoured, rather than damned, as that was the Maori way.
I wonder how many Maori agree with him.
Hone Harawira has his fans, who no doubt appreciate his directness and his passion for his people.
And American foreign policy has its enemies everywhere, including this country.
But it's not a great leap from honouring a mass-murderer, no matter how you dress it up, to applauding his works of destruction.