Lieberman Claims Ft. Hood Shooter Was an Islamic Extremist

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:06 pm

On Fox News Sunday today Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman claimed that the Ft. Hood shooter was an Islamic extremist, but when asked by host Chris Wallace what evidence he had to back up his point Lieberman said, “Nothing I can confirm at this point.” Yet, Lieberman still advanced the theory that the attack was Islamic terrorism.

Lieberman was asked about the shooter, Nidal Hasan’s, motives, and instead of giving a responsible answer, he said, “It’s — first, this was a terrible tragedy. Second, it’s too early — it’s premature to reach conclusions about what motivated Hasan. But it’s clear that he was, one, under personal stress and, two, if the reports that we’re receiving of various statements he made, acts he took, are valid, he had turned to Islamist extremism. And therefore, if that is true, the murder of these 13 people was a terrorist act and, in fact, it was the most destructive terrorist act to be committed on American soil since 9/11. But I want to say very quickly we don’t know enough to say now, but there are very, very strong warning signs here that Dr. Hasan had become an Islamist extremist and, therefore, that this was a terrorist act.”

When asked when asked what evidence he had to back up his claim, Lieberman responded, “Nothing I can confirm at this point. I think it’s very important to let the Army and the FBI go forward with this investigation before we reach any conclusions. But what we do know on the record from third parties reporting over the last two or three years — that he made a series of statements justifying suicide bombing, comparing it to the bravery of an American soldier who would throw himself on a grenade to protect his colleagues, that he said that — well, he shouted out, according to bystanders at that — while killing the other day at Fort Hood, the words Allah Akbar, an expression of faith in Islam which the Islamist extremists have corrupted. And the fact that he did that at the moment of these murders — if that’s confirmed, of course — raises genuine concerns that this was a terrorist act.”

Even though Lieberman has no evidence to back up his claims, he is still willing to label the Ft. Hood shootings the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. Can you believe that this reckless neo-con is the same man who was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000? The responsible answer for Lieberman to give in this situation would have been to say that he is not going to draw any conclusions until the investigation is completed.

For the scant reports that we have, Hasan was a deeply disturbed man who was troubled over being deployed to the Middle East to participate in war against his fellow Muslims. This attack could have just as easily been another American mass shooting by a deeply disturbed individual. Thus far, there is no evidence for the claim that this was an act of terrorism. I know that Lieberman is worried about his reelection prospects, but I can’t see how going on national television and making unfounded claims helps his cause.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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