Las Vegas Sun

November 21, 2009

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SUN EDITORIAL:

Preventing massacres

Fort Hood shooting reveals possible lack of communication among agencies

Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

The shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, last week that claimed the lives of 13 U.S. soldiers and wounded 29 has caused elected officials and government agencies to confront some of the same troubling questions that arose after 9/11.

Those questions have to do with possible cracks in intelligence gathering and the extent to which federal agencies share information that could be critical in preventing a massacre.

The Associated Press and The Washington Post reported Wednesday that there is plenty of finger-pointing over whether the Defense Department and joint terrorism task forces overseen by the FBI missed opportunities to act on information regarding the suspected Fort Hood shooter, Army Major Nidal Hasan, before the shooting occurred.

A point of dispute is whether the task forces, which became aware of e-mails Hasan shared with a radical imam who encouraged Muslims to kill U.S. troops in Iraq, forwarded that information to the Defense Department. Some government sources insist the information was shared but a senior defense official has issued strong denials.

Another troubling development is whether the FBI was somehow restrained from investigating Hasan after he purchased a weapon and allegedly posted information about suicide bombs on a Web site. It has also been reported that Hasan made fellow military personnel at Walter Reed Army Medical Center uncomfortable after addressing the subject of Muslim soldiers who are conflicted because of their religion.

President Barack Obama did the right thing by ordering the FBI and Defense Department to investigate this debacle. It is also good to see that the Senate plans to do its own investigating.

The 9/11 attacks led to some reforms that were designed to encourage better communication among agencies and make it easier for them to conduct investigations. But the shooting makes it clear that further improvements are needed.

The Obama administration, Congress and government agencies should arrive at solutions where information is gathered, shared and acted upon in a timely manner to prevent future senseless killings.

Discussion: 15 comments so far…

  1. By Future
    11/12/09 at 2:21 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    The Suspect in Fort Hood shootings, Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, corresponded by up to 20 e-mail from December 2008 and this year with radical cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, in Yemen.

    Despite the Post 9/11 Electronic eavesdropping program working Hasan e-mails to cleric didn't result in inquiry.

    Remember that Obama removed this intelligence gathering from the CIA to directly under a special White House/FBI team.

    This is part of a shift from the Bush pre-emptive fight to a Obama and Eric Holder reactionary police investigation response to the war on terror.

    A shift back to the pre 9/11 strategy.

    The White house/FBI determined that the e-mails did not warrant an investigation, according to the law enforcement official. Investigators said Hasan's e-mails were just chatter and religious discourse.

    This is beyond just a PC issue it a fight on terror strategy shift.

    Hoekstra and others are raising questions about whether government agencies paid sufficient attention to warning signs about Hasan.

    No doubt Attorney General Eric Holder will appoint special prosecutor John Durham to conduct a preliminary probe.

    Remember when Clinton's freewheeling FISA foreign intelligence Echelon data gold mining of the late 90's (Echelon http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/0.........) , failed to act on actionable Intel.

    Will Obama and Holder continue down the path to dismantle the CIA and our post 9/11 national security defense?

  2. By dwms
    11/12/09 at 2:48 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    On the other hand, the Las Vegas FBI kept under house arrest for three years an "alleged terrorist" who never committed a crime. As a result, his parental and property rights were violated.

    This outrageous landmark case led to the ruling by the Ninth Circuit that this man can receive damages from DOJ/FBI employees' personal assets.

  3. By brownln4
    11/12/09 at 3:54 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    Bottom line here - no attacks in this country since 9/11 under Bush. With Obama and his attitude, we have a terrorist attack on our soil. By the way, how we doing on moving all those terrorists into this country from Guamtamino?

  4. By rusty57
    11/12/09 at 4:49 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    "A shift back to pre 9/11 strategy".

    I would have to agree Future, upsetting the arab street was the most predominate concern then.

  5. By ksand99
    11/12/09 at 9:09 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    "Bottom line here - no attacks in this country since 9/11 under Bush. "

    The Bush appeasers now want to rewrite history.

    They forget about the Amerithrax domestic terrorist attacks that killed 5 Americans after 9/11.

    They forget that our nation's mail system was used to send the deadly biological agent ricin after 9/11.

    They want to classify this type of "lone wolf" shooting as a terrorist attack, but are unwilling to hold the attacks under Bush to the same standard.

    Using their argument, they forget about the beltway sniper "domestic terrorist attacks" after 9/11.

    They are hypocrites and apologists.

  6. By brownln4
    11/12/09 at 9:18 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    ksand99 - your right about anthrax, etc. Let me re-phase " no domestic attacks during Bush years after 9/11 by al queda opperatives" There, does that sum it up????

  7. By NLV-Indep13
    11/12/09 at 9:22 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    The military appears to have adopted a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy when it comes to jihadist sympathizers within it's ranks. All the warning signs were there, yet nothing was done. Had Hassan been pushing racist beliefs or contacting Chinese, Russian or North Korean agents, they'd have been all over him and he would've, at a minimum, been discharged. It's PC run amok.

  8. By ksand99
    11/12/09 at 9:26 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    "ksand99 - your right about anthrax, etc. Let me re-phase " no domestic attacks during Bush years after 9/11 by al queda opperatives" There, does that sum it up????"

    So long as you're willing to blame the largest domestic terrorist act in American history on "Bush and his attitude."

    Swallow your pride and accept responsibility, brown, or be labeled a hypocrite and an apologist.

  9. By LarryVegas
    11/12/09 at 9:46 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    ksand99 has just been appointed by the Obama Administration as the new czar in charge of "Bush Bashing." ksand99 will be blaming everything possible on George Bush. Every time Obama screws up, "It's Bush's Fault" will be the battle cry.

    Wait a minute, that's what ksand99 does now...

  10. By ksand99
    11/12/09 at 10:18 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    Ahhh... LarryVegas. So quick to point out the faults of Democrats, but unwilling to point out the faults of the right wing.

    AKA, a hypocrite.

    See, Larry, if the right wants to play the blame game (and they do... brown essentially blamed Obama's "attitude" for the Fort Hood massacre) they need to be held to a consistent standard.

    I know that confuses you. A standard? What? That's why they always have to use these cute modifiers when praising Bush's stellar record of keeping us safe.

    There were "no" "domestic" "attacks" "during Bush years" "after" "9/11" "by al queda[sic] opperatives[sic]"

    Modifier after modifier... how sad.

    The fact remains, if you want to give Bush credit for safety after 9/11, you must also attribute blame for 9/11 to him. Otherwise, you're being dishonest and a hypocrite.

  11. By brownln4
    11/12/09 at 10:43 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    ksand99 - no, the blame for the 9/11 attacks gets to go to Clinton - when the chance was there, he passed on bin laden. When the U.S.S. Cole was attacked, Clinton passed and signaled that the United States was an easy mark with no repercusions. Bush proved that point wrong. Obama has been tested, and failed. Hopefully he wakes up and decides to protect us instead of being politically correct. There will be more tests of Obama and this countries safety is riding on his course of action.

  12. By LarryVegas
    11/12/09 at 10:53 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    ksand99,

    I don't point of the faults of Democrats, just the far left...

    And I am not a big fan of George Bush, but I get tired of reading that everything is Bush's fault. I am trying to bring the attention of some here that blaming someone in the past does not fix today's problems...

  13. By ksand99
    11/12/09 at 11:05 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    Larry, only those as dumb as a Rock would ignore the cause in trying to solve a problem.

    Brown, you've exposed yourself as the consumate hypocrite. You claim this was due to Obama's "attitude" but the authorities knew of Hasan's communications with radical muslims last year, under Bush's watch.

    In your rush to blame this on Obama's "attitude," you failed to consider the fact that your hero, George W. Bush, failed as well.

    You refuse to admit George W. Bush has any blame for the 9/11 attacks and LIED when you said there were no attacks after 9/11.

    Lies and hypocrisy. Just another day for the right wing.

  14. By LarryVegas
    11/12/09 at 11:57 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    Bush had as much blame for the 9/11 attacks as Obama for today's economic condition. They both inherited situations that began and weren't checked before they assumed office.

    Doesn't this happen to most Administrations?

    Blame never has cured or fixed anything as far as I remember.

  15. By larry5
    11/12/09 at 11:32 p.m.
    Suggest removal

    Spinning and blaming, blah blah blah.

    Here's the only issue: A horde of warnings related to the shooter existed and they were apparently either ignored or, for some reason, not acted upon.

    9/11 is history and the administration in power then is history. If the current administration doesn't act upon what was learned from 9/11 then it is derelict in it's primary responsibility to the citizens. Knowing what we know after the last 8 years, the Obama administration has no excuse - and no right - to ignore any indication of a threat.

    Perhaps in an effort to validate their decision to support Obama at any cost, ksand99 and others would apparently like to take the focus off of the facts: The Obama administration has responsibility for the current state of our security and they failed us last week.

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