Sources: Hasan Web Posts Drew FBI Interest

(CBS/ AP)  Updated at 9:23 p.m. EST

Federal law enforcement officials said the suspected Fort Hood, Texas, shooter had come to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats.

The officials said the postings appeared to have been made by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was first reported dead, but is now known to be custody following a shooting incident that left least 13 dead and 31 wounded. The officials said they are still trying to confirm that he was the author and an official investigation was not opened.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

More coverage of the tragedy at Fort Hood:

Ft. Hood Suspect ID'd as Army Psychiatrist
Soldier Opens Fire at Ft. Hood; 13 Dead
What was Shooter's Motive?
U.S. Army Base Violence Has Bloody History
Obama: Fort Hood Shooting "Horrific"
Fast Facts: Fort Hood
Tragedy at Fort Hood

CBS News reports that Hasan, 39, is a licensed psychiatrist who has lived in Bethesda and Silver Spring, Md. and Roanoke, Va. A spokesman for Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison says Hasan was upset about an upcoming deployment to Iraq.

One of the Web postings that authorities reviewed is a blog that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades.

The posting originated with an essay posted on Scribd.com, the popular document-sharing Web site, which argued that suicide bombings were not authorized by Islamic law. It said, for instance, that "it should be quite obvious that all of the 'evidences' used to justify suicide bombing by way of analogy are rather tenuous."

A subsequent, poorly-spelled comment from a user named "NidalHasan" posted in May 2009 seemed to take issue with that analysis. "If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory," the comment said. "You can call them crazy i [sic] you want but their act was not one of suicide that is despised by Islam."

It's difficult to know from a single comment, of course, if that "NidalHasan" was the account used by the same person now in custody after the shooting. A public records search lists at least half a dozen people in the United States with the same first and last name.

After news of the shooting began to spread on Thursday, Internet pranksters quickly took action. On Vitals.com, a Web site featuring profiles of doctors, someone posted a comment purporting to be from a "conscientious objector" treated by Hasan. A statement from Vitals.com said the comment -- featuring yesterday's date stamp -- was nevertheless posted an hour after the shooting and appears to be "fictitious."

[juri-cuse]

brianbwb.....you are quite possibly the most traitorous liberal tool I have ever seen on any news comment section. WOW!!!!! Move to Canada or France or back to your planet. Sheesh!!!

[hungry1968-17]

by 2012EOD November 6, 2009 6:01 AM EST
6 months ago, how in the heck is the Obama administration going to blame Bush now. I am sure they will come up with a way. Just watch.







Why would Obama have to "blame" anyone but the shooter himself?

Do you blame Bill Clinton for Tim McVeigh, Jimmy Carter for the Son of Sam, or LBJ for the Zodiac Killer?

[bubbadubba]

<<<6 months ago, how in the heck is the Obama administration going to blame Bush now. I am sure they will come up with a way. Just watch.>>>

Actually Bush almost drove most Americans insane and destroyed our country with his policies and mistakes. America still has anger related to the things Bush did so I do blame him for this crazy American.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Almost" drove most Americans insane? "Al,ost"?

Just look at the number of idiots who still posit that Iraqis and Afghanistanis attacked us on 9/11, despite the fact that all of the reasons given by Bush have been proven to be lies.

Or that this is some kind of religious struggle, rather than the usual corrupt money grab by war profiteers.

The fact that this is an ongoing crime against humanity that the current president is powerless to stop, indicates that the word "almost" has no place in the equation.

[2012EOD]

6 months ago, how in the heck is the Obama administration going to blame Bush now. I am sure they will come up with a way. Just watch.

[brianbwb-2009]

Who first sent US soldiers over to the Iraq and Afghanistan to start killing people? Who created the current conflicts, all on the basis of lies?

Whose father helped coordinate the funding, training, and arming of Al Qaeda?

Whose grandfather sold fuel to the Nazis during WW2?

If ordered to your own neighborhood to harm your own family members, would you follow orders?

If yes, then you probably have your swastika tattooed on your shoulder.

[brianbwb-2009]

Who first sent US soldiers over to the Iraq and Afghanistan to start killing people? Who created the current conflicts, all on the basis of lies?

Whose father helped coordinate the funding, training, and arming of Al Qaeda?

Whose grandfather sold fuel to the Nazis during WW2?

If ordered to your own neighborhood to harm your own family members, would you follow orders?

If yes, then you probably have your swastika tattooed on your shoulder.

[michaelm07]

The media will somehow make this guy out to be a victim who simply didn't want to get deployed because he is against the war. Nevermind he took an oath, got his training and license at U.S. Gov't (taxpayer) expense. And then suddenly, he doesn't want to fulfil his obligation/contract.

If the guy posted stuff and he was being watched, it is the fault of not just the military but also, the FBI and other law enforcement as well. And to go one step further maybe, if he wasn't a muslim they would have gone after him but as it is, everyone would have said they were racial profiling and that he had not yet "done" anything. The ACLU, the media and other groups would have whined about him being singled out.

[brianbwb-2009]

Should you enlist, and take the same oath, then receive orders to go to your own neighborhood and kill your own loved ones, apparently you would follow orders, even knowing that the reason for the orders is a pack of lies.

You are to be pitied.

[Wm_A_Roper]

MAJ Nidal HASAN's participation as a member of the George Washington University?s Homeland Security Policy Institute?s Presidential Transition Task Force seems to have thus far escaped the news media's notice. See http://www.gwumc.edu/hspi/old/PTTF_ProceedingsReport_05.19.09.pdf (at Page 29). I find his participation in Homeland Security planning for the then incoming Obama administration to be disconcerting.

[nowonder1]

All I can say is this. The US Army lacks training. Mix that with a mental illness doctor, who is in the "Army" not as an enlisted but an officer. No shock..Keep up the good work Army..you guys are a joke.
Leave it to the MARINES!!

[armyoftwelve]

Seriously, if this guy was making threats MONTHS AGO on the internet and no one in the Army caught onto it....B-A-D.

He should have been fragged.

[michaelm07]

This is a stupid statement and I usually respect jar heads. The military is underfunded across the board - all branches including the Marines (a deptartment of the Navy). The way veterans are being poorly treated after returning is a scandal. Bush talked a good game but these guys coming back all need and deserve better. Obama is even worse and no friend of the military - regardless of what branch. This guy was a whack job who should have been flagged for a variety of reasons and each service branch has guys like this. Every sector of society has folks like this and this guy, popped. It will be interesting what comes out of this investigation. After the plots at Ft Dix, you simply cannot tule out other implications until the investigation is done.

[John_Merritt]

No comments, I find that hard to believe even from CBS. Get real.