Lieberman To Launch Fort Hood Shooting Investigation

Photograph of mourners at a Fort Hood chapel by LM Otero/AP

Senator Joseph Lieberman discussed the Fort Hood shooting on Fox News yesterday and said he would launch a Senate investigation, noting there were "strong warning signs" that suspect army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan was an "Islamist extremist." The Independent Democrat from Connecticut added, "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."

Of course, Lieberman was basing his thoughts on initial evidence, but he said that if there were warning signs, "The U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance. He should have been gone." This comes as it's reported that Hasan "went to the same Virginia mosque as two Sept. 11 hijackers in 2001 when a radical imam was the preacher... It was not yet clear whether Hasan associated with the hijackers, investigators said."

A NY Times article looking at Hasan's behavior before his alleged rampage reports, "In recent years, he had grown more and more vocal about his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and tortured over reconciling his military duties with his religion. He tried to get out of the Army, relatives said, and apparently believed it to be impossible, though experts say he was probably given inadequate advice." Other Muslims in the military also confirm being harassed by other soldiers, but one said, "It gets to you sometimes. But the more personally you take things, the more you’re going to have a hard time surviving."

U.S. Army chief of staff George Casey said, '"It would be a shame - as great a tragedy as this was - it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well." The president of the Islamic Society of North America Ingrid Mattson told the Times, "I don’t understand why the Muslim-American community has to take responsibility for him. The Army has had at least as much time and opportunity to form and shape this person as the Muslim community."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on November 9, 2009 9:44 AM

Comments [rss]

youngpro

Joe Lieberman is the biggest attention whore and loves to profit from tragedies to make himself only look better.

He's also the biggest Zionist in the Senate- not that there's anything wrong with that- but let's face it, he loves to mix religion and politics and will use this event as a greater attempt to get the US more and more pro-Israel, when we should be pro peace.

pieceofmind

Hasan never offered to pay back his tuition. He wanted a medical education on the state's dime and when it came time for him to pay up through service, he had a distinct problem with doing that. He wanted an honorable discharge with no money owed/spent out of his pocket.

pieceofmind

Well, Hasan did scream, "Alahu Akhbar" before he started shooting up the place. If he's doing it in the name of Allah and religion, what else can you call it except terrorism?

Don't you guys think that the 9/11 terrorists were warped? What makes this guy simply warped and not a terrorist? He was trying to get in touch with Al Qaeda operatives and regularly saw an imam known for spewing hate filled, anti-American sermons who has given him a blessing for the attack on his his Yemeni website.

What else do you guys need to know that he's a terrorist. And yes, the Islamic society of North America does need to take responsibility for the hate filled speech of the imams they represent and for the actions of their anti-american membership base.

Bubba

Fuck Holy Joe.

rasputinsghost

i'm usually lefty mclefterson on stuff but to blame the army for these deaths is absurd

jchez

Oh yeah, Lieberman is the bad guy here, not the nut that announced that infidels should have their throats cut as well as his superiors who listened and let him be.

The Army guys who allowed a disloyal psychotic in their midst were probably operating under the new directive "Better screwed than rude".

youngpro

no one said Lieberman is the bad guy. he's just NOT the right guy to launch an investigation. you claerly have no idea who this guy's politics and idealogy flow.

hotstepper

more grandstanding by that putz Lieberman. how's that healthcare bill coming asshole? oh, DOA you say?

fixer

scumbag opportunist - that angle's already being looked into, and doesn't need his name on it. and the beat goes on with this guy...

felixthecat2

Hasan has been trying for years to get out of the Army using all legal processes to do so. He attempted to resign, offered to pay back his education, attempted to avoid deployment, and has been diligent in these efforts for years, not weeks. The Army is most to blame and Joe wants to use any reason to start a war on Muslims. The Democrats were stupid to allow him to keep his committee

S.D.

"The Army is most to blame"??

(sigh)

Well, At least you're consistent. Why stop there? Blame the 13 dead people too.

Say, Are you still equating Farm Animals to Holocaust Victims? I'm just curious to see how F___ed up you still are.

Mordicai

Man, radical churches are the worst; we should crack down. People like Palin & Obama have been seen at these crazy organizations & we should start a LIST is all I'm saying. Of suspicious people like them.

redhookreject

I think its time to stop calling him the Independent Democrat from Connecticut.

More like, the self serving media whore who just wants attention.

His moaning over healthcare has been the text book definition of grandstanding and pandering, and you know he'll be out there raising Jewish dollars for whomever runs against Obama. So lets end the fallacy of Joe as a Dem.

The Man Bat

You are SPOT ON CORRECT. "Joe-Mentum" is THE worlds biggest attention whore.

CR

Congrats - only took one comment to get to the jew-thing.

S.D.

Yep, he's a GOP member...

What's next? Senate hearings where he asks:

Sen L: "Are you or have you been a member of the communist party?"

Witness: "Um, You mean Mosque, right??"

...

Calling it a "Act of Terrorism" implies partners in a conspiracy. At the moment, He should have a clue and leave the investigation to the professionals, not Arm chair quarterbacks like himself.