F.B.I. Sets New Review of Shootings at Ft. Hood


Roughly a month since the worst Islamic terrorist attack on US soil since 911, the FBI is going to investigate how things were handled with Hasan before the attack. That is great, but the reality is that no matter what guidelines are put into place, if everyone is afraid to enforce them out of political correctness the guidelines will not matter. They will be meaningless, just like our immigration laws.

F.B.I. Sets New Review of Shootings at Ft. Hood
By DAVID JOHNSTON
Published: December 8, 2009

WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday named a former director, William H. Webster, to conduct an independent review of the bureau’s handling of information about the Army major charged with murder in the Fort Hood shootings.

The F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, has asked Mr. Webster to examine how the bureau dealt with information about Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan before the Nov. 5 shootings in which he is accused of killing 13 people.

Mr. Mueller had ordered an internal review, and the F.B.I. late last month turned over a preliminary report to the White House describing its actions related to Major Hasan, a military psychiatrist.

Mr. Webster will now lead what the F.B.I. described in a statement as an “outside effort” that will review the initial findings and do further investigation to evaluate policies and procedures.

Mr. Mueller said Mr. Webster would coordinate his work with a Defense Department investigation and criminal prosecution in the case, adding that he had in the past led independent reviews of F.B.I. policies.

“We must be sure that the systems we have in place give investigators the tools they need to carry out their responsibilities,” Mr. Mueller said. “At the same time, we must ensure constitutional protections and the confidence of the American public we serve.”

In the fall of 2008, an F.B.I. counterterrorism team with members from several government agencies obtained about 20 e-mail messages exchanged between Major Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born radical cleric who now lives in Yemen.

A Defense Department investigator on the F.B.I. team reviewed the e-mail and Major Hasan’s personnel records at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The investigator determined that the e-mail messages were consistent with Major Hasan’s academic research, and no further action was taken.


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