Congress Begins Probe Of Fort Hood Shooting

November 19, 2009 6:49 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Senate Homeland Security Committee on Thursday begins is investigation of the shooting at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead and 43 others wounded. Lawmakers want to find out if intelligence and military officials failed to act on information they had about the alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist and practicing Muslim.

The panel hears testimony from retired Gen. John Keane, former Army vice chief of staff, Frances Fragos Townsend, who served as a homeland security and counterterrorism assistant to former President George W. Bush, and Brian Michael Jenkins, a senior adviser with the RAND Corporation.

"We will focus on what the federal government knew and what it did concerning Major Hasan and whether action should have been taken to prevent him from carrying out his attack," Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said in a statement, "As well as how the attack affects our understanding of and defenses against the threat posed by violent Islamist extremism and homegrown terrorism in this country on military bases and beyond."

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the top Republican in the panel, also said, "The shootings at Fort Hood appear to demonstrate that communication failures and poor judgment calls can defeat systems intended to ensure that vital information is shared to protect our country and our citizens."

The shooting at Fort Hood occurred on Nov. 5 at a "readiness center" where troops routinely gather for medical and dental consultations before their deployment. Hasan, who is still in a hospital recovering from gunshot wounds, is believed to have used a handgun and a semiautomatic against fellow soldiers.

The tragedy at the nation's largest military base occurred just days before Veterans Day, and amid public debate about whether more troops should be sent to fight in the Afghan war, now on its eighth year.

Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of first degree murder. His motives are still unknown, but officials are exploring his ties with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric and the former imam of the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Virginia, a mosque attended by two 9/11 hijackers.

Al-Awlaki, an American citizen who currently resides in Yemen, has praised Hasan for "doing the right thing" and attacking "an army that is fighting his own people."

The FBI has said there are no indications that Hasan had any accomplices or was part of a larger terror plot. The agency said Hasan came to its attention in December 2008 when one of its Joint Terrorism Task Forces reviewed communication between Hasan, then a doctor at Walter Reed Medical Center, and a person they were investigating.

"The content of those communications was consistent with research being conducted by Major Hasan in his position as a psychiatrist," the FBI said. "Nothing else derogatory was found [and] the JTTF concluded that Major Hasan was not involved in terrorist activities or terrorist planning. Other communications of which the FBI was aware were similar to the ones reviewed by the JTTF."

But lawmakers have criticized the FBI for not acting on the information, saying a member of the military should not have been communicating with suspected terrorists, especially during a time of war.

There have been reports that Hasan may have suffered from secondary post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition that afflicts those who are exposed to stress because they provide care for troops or veterans with primary PTSD. The ill-treatment of Muslim service members and his scheduled deployment to Afghanistan have also been cited as possible reasons for Hasan's actions.

The White House has also ordered military and intelligence agencies to review all information they have about Hasan. President Barack Obama issued a memorandum a day after the shooting, ordering the FBI, Defense Sec. Robert Gates and other officials to inventory all data on Hasan. The results of the review, which is separate from the criminal investigation, will be submitted on Nov. 30.