Do not slander Islam after Fort Hood

ALL of the horror and heartache of the Fort Hood shootings should not be compounded by labels and assumptions seeking motives to explain a heinous, irrational act.

The same restraint is also appropriate with a suspect in custody for the murderous assault that claimed the life of one Seattle police officer and wounded another.

The Fort Hood attack took 13 lives and wounded 41. There is a rush to link Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, with Islamic extremists and generally defame his faith by association.

Religious and political affiliations make for easy, slanderous links that can be pointedly selective. Little time was spent exploring Timothy McVeigh's Catholic and Republican connections after he slaughtered 168 men, women and children and wounded hundreds more with a truck bomb.

There is no more justification for Hasan's crimes in Islam than there was in the religious teachings of McVeigh's Christian faith.

Hasan's professional exposure to the stresses and strains of those who actually served their country in foreign war zones with multiple deployments no doubt took a personal toll, but offers no excuse. As a trained doctor, courtesy of the U.S. military, his role was to serve those who needed his help. The pain and suffering unleashed was a grisly, selfish act without reason or rationalization.

A Seattle police administrator called shooting suspect Christopher John Monfort a domestic terrorist. Which means what? There is an implication of a political motive that the crime does not justify or deserve. The emotional description is meaningless and needlessly provocative.

The word terrorist is used too loosely by TV commentators and self-aggrandizing politicians such as Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who is calling for hearings after Fort Hood.

Care with words is essential because they have enormous power. If Hasan was an observant Muslim, then he violated his faith. The Seattle police are investigating what amounts to a murky personal grudge.

Attempts to impugn others and ascribe politically sensitive motives get in the way of the justice system lawfully holding people accountable for terrible crimes.