Reply #8: In Lieberman's case, it's probably Israel-related [View All]

[starroute]

Right now, there's more pressure than there's been in a while for the US to back off from its unquestioning support of right-wing Israeli obstructionism. One of the tried-and-true tactics when that happens is to attempt to convince Americans that they themselves are threatened by Islamic terrorism and therefore need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel.

Beyond that, I really think we'll get further with a phenomenological approach to these sorts of incidents than a belief-based approach. If someone goes postal and shoots up their co-workers, it doesn't matter all that much which particular warped belief system they used to justify mass murder.

So if Lieberman really wants us to study how this could have been averted, we need to look at the entire pattern of stressed-out service members making intemperate statements and all the other possible warning signs. But I suspect the right wouldn't like what the military finds if it really were to do that.