Sunday’s attack on a Muhammad cartoon-drawing contest in Garland, Texas, marks “a new phase in the war” against terrorism if reports on a link to the Islamic State group prove to be true, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday.
Mr. Graham, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel panel, said it is possible the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack Tuesday that left two gunmen dead and a security guard injured, may be “taking credit after the fact,” The Washington Examiner reported.
“If they were in fact in a command and control relationship with these guys, that’s a new phase of the war that’s on us,” he said.
Mr. Graham said the committee will be looking into the attack.
Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, said they had not seen evidence that links the two shooters to the terror group directly, but argued that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is constantly trying to awaken terrorist sleeper cells that organize under the radar for long periods of time, The Examiner reported.
The shooting “is certainly [Islamic State]-inspired,” Mr. McCain said. “Whenever somebody has weapons and tries to kill people, and are currently aligned or inspired by [Islamic State], certainly it’s a terrorist attack.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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