Shades of intelligence failures past? Blame game percolating
The shooting rampage that killed 13 people at Fort Hood in which a Muslim Army psychiatrist is the suspected gunman has set off a chain of inquiries into who knew what when.
In the post-9/11 era, government officials want to show that they are doing everything they can to protect the public and, when something happens, that they will get to the bottom of it.
The FBI says there is no information that Major Nidal Malik Hasan was involved in a “broader terrorist plot.”
But that hasn’t stopped questions about whether authorities missed signs that could have somehow prevented the shooting.
U.S. officials say intelligence agencies learned that Hasan contacted an anti-American cleric in Yemen who was sympathetic to al Qaeda and relayed the information to law enforcement authorities, but it’s unclear whether any action was taken.
President Barack Obama has ordered an inventory of all intelligence in U.S. government files related to Hasan, and a review of how any intelligence was handled by government agencies.
Members of Congress are talking about launching congressional investigations.
Calls growing for Congress to investigate Fort Hood gunman
Amid the growing calls for congressional investigations into the Fort Hood rampage, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton is advocating a different approach — wait and see how investigations by the Army and the FBI progress.
“It is important that we get to the bottom of this incident, but we must be careful to proceed in a deliberate, studied manner that will not interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI and the Army’s criminal investigative service, Skelton, a Missouri Democrat, said on Tuesday. “Right now, we need to avoid jumping to any conclusions and give the Army and the FBI a chance to do their jobs.”
Calls for lawmakers to find answers came almost immediately after 13 people were killed in a shooting rampage at the Army post last week.
The alleged shooter, an American-born Muslim Army psychiatrist, is said to have been in contact with an Islamist sympathetic to al Qaeda.
Another call came on Tuesday, this one from Rep. Howard McKeon, the senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. The California representative requested a thorough congressional investigation conducted in a way that would not compromise the FBI and Army probes.
U.S. government officials have declined to speculate about a possible motive and the suspect isn’t talking.
Let’s stop being politically correct and call a spade a spade. If Hasan strapped a bomb to his chest and blew himself up, we’d call him a terrorist. Instead he used a gun. Plain and simple, he’s a terrorist and may he burn in hell for eternity.
The First Draft: US media’s Fort Hood coverage turns to militancy question
First came questions about whether anyone missed emotional signals that suspected Fort Hood shooter, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was close to cracking. Now U.S. media say Congress wants to know if he was also veering toward Islamist militancy.
A preliminary review of Hasan’s computer has revealed no evidence of any connection to terror groups or conspirators, according to a report by CBS News.
But lawmakers have asked the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies to preserve documents on Hasan. That’s according to ABC News, which says the spooks believe he may have been trying to contact U.S.-born imam Anwar al Awlaki, who is based in Yemen and supports holy war against the West.
It’s not clear whether the U.S. military knew one of its officers was under intelligence surveillance, ABC said.
U.S. law enforcement and military investigators are also looking into associations between Hasan and the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, in early 2001, about the same time Awlaki and two of the Sept. 11 hijackers were there, the Los Angeles Times reported. The mosque is one of the biggest in the United States and thousands of people go there for prayer services and other events.
Witnesses at Fort Hood told investigators that Hasan yelled “Allahu Akbar” — Arabic for “God is Greatest” — before killing 13 people and wounding another 30 last week. The 39-year-old psychiatrist was shot four times by police and remains hospitalized.
It is unclear what motivated Hasan and the Army’s chief of staff, General George Casey, is afraid the shooting spree could cause a backlash against Muslims in the military.
Yada.
Yada.
Yada.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
Foresight though isn’t, because it involves more than just having eyes. It requires having eyes that want to see. And ears that want to hear.
Since Candidate Obama first hawked the Iraq-to-Afghanistan switch-er-roo long con in the 2008 presidential debates, informed foresight should have told all that our military involvement in President Obama’s 2009 Afghanistan was no-win for those that would directly pay for it with their taxpayer money or worse yet, our service personnel with their lives.
So now hindsight wants to kick in after the Ft. Hood massacre by psycho whack-job muslim terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan. Well isn’t that just great.
As it’s currently shaking out though, this is like hitting something while driving along, wondering gee, what did I just hit, with eyes focused solely on the rear view mirror — as you continue driving along at uninterrupted forward speed and direction.
Who knew what and when and what they did or didn’t do re Hasan serves a useful purpose but isn’t going to change hindsight into foresight.
When you are doing something you shouldn’t be doing, in a place you shouldn’t be, you just can’t possibly get good enough at it — in this case identify psycho whack-job muslim terrorists before they do what a psycho whack-job muslim terrorist will do — to turn a no-win policy into anything other than a no-win policy.
Whether someone offs themselves exclusively by jumping off a bridge, or tries to force a suicide-by-cop, or in this case traitorously take out as many of their brothers and sisters in uniform as possible with them as part of solving their own existential dilemma, such reach that behavioral point by letting themselves get inextricably boxed in to that no-win behavior mode.
President Obama is likewise so boxed in, politically. Candidate Obama rode a team of duplicitous horses to election victory. Lead horse on that team was the Iraq-to-Afghanistan war of his necessity. If that weasel now makes with additional troops to Afghanistan, forget trying to understand Nidal Malik Hasan in hindsight and focus on foresight — to see President Obama is a Nidal Malik Hasan in the making, a thousand times over, AS WE SPEAK, IN REAL-TIME.
So why wasn’t Nidal Malik Hasan spotted as a bad apple and so handled? Short answer: The same reason that President Obama’s no-win Afghanistan war of his necessity isn’t CURRENTLY seen for what it is.
General Casey: diversity shouldn’t be casualty of Fort Hood
General George Casey, the Army’s top officer, is concerned that diversity will become a casualty of the Fort Hood tragedy.
The religious beliefs of suspect Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim Army psychiatrist, have led to speculation about motive in the shooting rampage that killed 13 people.
“I’m concerned that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers. And I’ve asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that,” Casey told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether Muslim soldiers are conflicted in fighting wars in Muslim countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, Casey said: “I think that’s something that we have to look at on an individual basis. But I think we as an Army have to be broad enough to bring in people from all walks of life.”
The bottom line is the military benefits from diversity, he said.
“Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse,” Casey said.
President Barack Obama also mentioned military diversity in his Saturday radio address which was focused on Fort Hood.
General Casey should be court marshalled. He has placed political correctness before the lives and well being of our soldiers. That mentally ill dirt bag, Hasan was treating soldiers with serious mental and physical problems. Just what kind of care did they get. Two time Medal of Honor winner General Smedly Butler wrote ‘WAR IS A RACKET.’ Casey is a racketeer.
The First Draft: Jobs (not), Jobs (not), Jobs (not)
The October employment report is in and it’s a shocker.
The unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent, the highest since April 1983 when it was also 10.2 pct. If you don’t want to do the math, that was 26 years ago. It was worse than expectations for 9.9 percent.
This is not good news for President Barack Obama who is struggling to pull the economy out of the worst recession since the Depression.
The employment numbers were also worse than expected with October payrolls falling 190,000, a bigger drop than the 175,000 decline expected.
It’s a day of mourning at Fort Hood in Texas after an Army psychiatrist went on a shooting rampage that killed 12 soldiers and one civilian and wounded 30.
“It’s difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil,” President Barack Obama said yesterday.
“I was saddened to learn of the tragic incident at Fort Hood. Laura and I are keeping the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” former President George W. Bush, who lives in Texas, said in a statement.
It would help if George Bush would go on TV and apologize for ingnoring the impending economic crisis. Bush ignored the impacts of 9/11, and two hurricanes, and missed the opportunity to mitigate this economic downturn.Bush deliberately ignored this impending economy destroying sunami in his last two years. Bush should either aplogize, or proclaim that he intentionally sought to facilitate this downturn.Bush shouldn;’t just hide in the shadows, pretending to be infantile–we know better.
Major Nidal Hassan is a psychiatrist whose main prescription is counseling, not full course medicines. An excellent psychiatrist will listen to any patient to get the proper mental torments of the patient in order to treat him by counseling. Such psychiatrist will not be shaken by the horrible incidents he is about to listen to. His profession does not allow him to be moved by such things. If it so, he is not fit for that profession. In that context, if Nadal’s such failure was earlier notified to the concerned, he should have not been allowed to continue his duty. The man who is susceptible to religious fanaticism has already offered his brain for brain washing by fanatics. His profession seems to be a mask here.
The subject of terrorism should not get any lame excuses. As we can see, those actions have not defeated terrorism. Instead, they have bred and encouraged more terrorism.Evil will not go away by itself, it has to be driven away by iron fist. It can be done, if peace favourites take a firm step for isolating them outright.