Evans Politics

Visit Citizens for Legitimate Government for breaking updates, November 10, 2009, CLG news by Lori Price, photo of Nidal Malik Hasan from Wikipedia, summaries and excerpts from CLG and Talking Points Memo quoted verbatim:

Fort Hood suspect to be tried in military court 10 Nov 2009 The army psychiatrist suspected in the killing of 13 people in a shooting at the Fort Hood Army post will be charged in a military court, U.S. government officials said on Monday. The official said there is no indication that the accused gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, had been planning an attack.

FBI, military checked Hasan, saw no terror threat, officials say 10 Nov 2009 The FBI and the military investigated contacts between an Army psychiatrist accused of last week’s deadly shooting rampage at Fort Hood and a Yemen-based militant over the past year but concluded he didn’t pose a terrorist threat, senior law enforcement and military officials said Monday. The members of two Joint Terrorism Task Forces, including one in the nation’s capital, went so far as to contact Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s superiors and review his academic and military records for evidence of suspicious activity late last year and early this year, according to three senior U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials.

US Senate to probe whether base massacre was terrorism 10 Nov 2009 A Senate committee on homeland security will investigate the mass shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, to determine whether Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s deadly shooting rampage was an act of terrorism. The chairman of the Senate committee on homeland security, Joseph Lieberman [I-Israel], told Fox News Sunday there had been ‘’strong warning signs” that Major Hasan was an ”Islamist extremist”.

CLG Exclusive: Fort Hood: ‘This story stinks to high heaven.’ –SFC, who spent ten years at Fort Hood, comments on Ft. Hood events 09 Nov 2009 I spent 10 years at Ft Hood. There is no way this ‘official’ story is legitimate. No way would a room full of combat vets allow this one shooter to get off over 100 rounds! And, it is not normal for the outside security guards to be there. They are at the MP station, and at the main gates. This means the room full of soldiers processing must have been pinned down; multiple shooters is the only plausible scenario. This sounds like MAJ Hasan has been used, and perhaps is a patsy. –SFC Donald Buswell (Retired)

CIA Denies Report of Blocking Hasan Intel –Officials Tell CBS News Agency Isn’t Withholding Information on Suspected Fort Hood Shooter 09 Nov 2009 Responding to a report that the Army psychiatrist suspected in last week’s Fort Hood shootings had tried to contact people within al Qaeda – and that government intelligence agencies knew about it and are refusing to brief Congress on it – a U.S. intelligence official told CBS News that the CIA isn’t withholding information from Congress. “There’s no sign at this point that the CIA had collected information relevant to this case and then simply sat on it,” the official told CBS News. ABC News published the report Monday morning with details that the CIA was refusing to brief the congressional committees charged with overseeing the intelligence agencies, a senior lawmaker told ABC.

Hasan Computer Reveals No Terror Ties 09 Nov 2009 A preliminary review of the computer of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the accused shooter in Thursday’s rampage at Fort Hood in which 13 people were killed, has revealed no evidence of any connection to terror groups or conspirators, according to law enforcement officials. CBS News reports that an examination of the computer has revealed Hasan visited Web sites promoting radical Islamic views, but investigators have not found any e-mail communications with outside facilitators or known terrorists.

U.S. Monitored Fort Hood Suspect Before Shooting 10 Nov 2009 Intelligence agencies intercepted communications last year and this year between Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is accused of shooting to death 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., and a radical cleric in Yemen known for his incendiary anti-American teachings. But federal authorities dropped an inquiry into the matter after deciding that the messages warranted no further action, government officials said on Monday. Major Hasan’s exchanges with the cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, once a spiritual leader at a mosque in suburban Virginia where Major Hasan worshipped, indicate that the authorities were aware of Major Hasan before last Thursday’s deadly rampage, but did nothing.

Officials: U.S. Aware of Hasan Efforts to Contact ‘al Qaeda’ –Army Major in Fort Hood Massacre Used ‘Electronic Means’ to Connect with Terrorists 09 Nov 2009 U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda [al-CIAduh], two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News. It is not known whether the intelligence agencies informed the Army that one of its officers was seeking to connect with suspected al Qaeda figures, the officials said.

Lawyer asks investigators not to question Hasan 09 Nov 2009 A lawyer for the Army psychiatrist accused in a deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood said Monday he asked investigators not to question his client and expressed doubt that the suspect would be able to get a fair trial, given the widespread attention to the case. Retired Col. John P. Galligan said he was contacted Monday by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s family and was headed to an Army hospital in San Antonio to meet Hasan. “Until I meet with him, it’s best to say we’re just going to protect all of his rights,” Galligan said… Galligan questioned whether Hasan could get a fair trial in either criminal or military court, given President Barack Obama’s planned visit to the base on Tuesday and public comments by the post commander, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone.

Hoekstra to launch investigation into Fort Hood shooting, dubs it ‘homegrown jihadism’ 09 Nov 2009 A key Republican lawmaker on Monday asked that the Obama administration keep documents relevant to the Fort Hood shooting available so Congress can continue its investigation into what he called an incident of “homegrown jihadism.” Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Insane-Mich), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, sent a preservation order to the heads of the FBI, CIA, NSA and Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair directing them to keep the documents as part of his committee’s review of the attacks.

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From Talking Points Memo Muckraker: Who Is Nidal Malik Hasan? The Picture Becomes (Slightly) Clearer, November 9, 2009, by Justin Elliot, large excerpt quoted verbatim:

• Investigators searching Hasan’s computer have found “no evidence of any connection to terror groups or conspirators,” CBS reports. They say he did, however, visit sites promoting a radical Muslim ideology.
• Hasan communicated this year and last year with radical Yemen-based cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, once a leader at a mosque in Viriginia visited by Hasan, the New York Times reports, citing anonymous government officials. Intelligence agencies were aware of the communications, but decided “the messages warranted no further action.” Not publicly known is what exactly was in said in the communications. Awklaki reportedly left Virginia for Yemen in 2002.

But as to Hasan’s motivation, the Times reports:

The officials said the communications did not alter the prevailing theory that Major Hasan acted by himself, lashing out as a result of a combination of factors, among them his outspoken opposition to American policy in Iraq and Afghanistan and his deepening religious fervor as a Muslim.

• Awlaki hailed Hasan today in a blog post titled, “Nidal Hasan Did the Right Thing.”
• A senior former counterterrorism official told the Washington Post that plenty of people attended the same Virginia mosque “who are not terrorist suspects.”
• Awlaki reportedly had a relationship with two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, and makes an appearance in the 9/11 Commission report, Seth Hettena explains. The New York Post took that link and ran with it today.
• ABC has a much-cited story that leads with: “U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.” Note the use of “people,” plural, one of whom could be Awlaki. The ABC story notably does not flesh out its own lead.
• Relatives say Hasan was taunted for being a Muslim and desperately wanted out from the military.
• Michael Isikoff talks to a (unnamed) law enforcement official who believes the timing of Hasan’s gun purchase shows he planned the shooting for some time.
• Were the shootings an act of terrorism? Many still-unknown facts about Hasan and his motivation bear on that question, but Matt Duss, Glenn Greenwald, and James Taranto each weigh in with serious points. Meanwhile, Michael Mukasey and Joseph Lieberman answer the question in the affirmative.

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Rep. Hoekstra Accuses Obama Admin Of Withholding Information On Hasan — Sort Of, Talking Points Memo Muckraker, November 9, 2009, by Justin Elliot, excerpt quoted verbatim:

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) is blasting President Obama for withholding from the Congressional intelligence committees information on the Fort Hood killings suspect, while at the same time acknowledging the leaders of those panels — including Hoekstra himself — have indeed been briefed on Nidal Malik Hasan.

“President Obama said people should not jump to conclusions about what happened at Fort Hood, but the administration is in possession of critical information related to the attack that they are refusing to release to Congress or the American people,” Hoekstra said in a statement.

Hoekstra’s beef is not that the Obama Administration, including the CIA, haven’t released any information. Rather, he’s upset that only the Gang of Eight, not the full intelligence committees, have been briefed — and that the information released has been “limited.”