Fort Hood Intel Lapse Mirrors Detroit Case

(CBS)  Less than a month after major Nidal Hasan allegedly killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, the Pentagon's top intelligence officer sent the White House a report detailing an earlier failure to connect the dots. It reads like a dress rehearsal for the Detroit bomber case, reports CBS News chief national security correspondent David Martin.

Special Report: The Christmas Day Terror Attack

According to that still-classified report, the terrorism task force responsible for determining whether Hasan posed a threat never saw all 18 e-mails he exchanged with that radical Yemeni cleric Awlaki whose communications were being monitored under a court ordered wiretap.

After the Washington task force decided Hasan was not dangerous, it never asked to see his subsequent communications with Alwaki.

"I think it's a real problem that you didn't have in one place at one time all of the communications being evaluated," said CBS News security analyst Juan Zarate.

None of the e-mails specifically mentioned Hasan's plans for a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, but because he was a member of the military the FBI showed them to a Pentagon investigator with the note "comm" written on it. To the FBI that meant "commissioned officer." The Pentagon investigator thought it meant "communication."

Special Section: Tragedy at Fort Hood

As a result, there were no red flags that an army officer was e-mailing a radical cleric suspected of being a talent spotter for al Qaeda.

Bottom line: the lessons of the Fort Hood shootings were not learned in time to avert the near disaster on Christmas day.

[r_mcdonald1]

Congress needs to reverse Clinton's order requiring all weapons on a military base be in the armory, unless in the possession of an on duty Military Police officer.

Had loaded weapons, and armed personnel, been in the area where the Ft. Hood shooting took place, it is extremely likely that fewer people would have died, or been wounded. It is also unlikely the shooter would have survived, costing this country more in his care and maintenance for the rest of his life.

Our military people are highly trained in the use of weaponry, why keep weapons out of their hands while, and even now - when Mr. Obama finally admitted it, we are at war?

[Ruler4You]

Kind of seems as though the "separation of Intelligence" communities that was instituted by Jamie Gorelick under the Clinton administration is still mysteriously in effect despite claims by the administration that they WANT communication between them.

In any event, no "change" has occurred since Ft. Hood and that was discovered to be a monumental failure of ALL safe guards. Is obama enabling our enemies?

[Ruler4You]

Kind of seems as though the "separation of Intelligence" communities that was instituted by Jamie Gorelick under the Clinton administration is still mysteriously in effect despite claims by the administration that they WANT communication between them.

In any event, no "change" has occurred since Ft. Hood and that was discovered to be a monumental failure of ALL safe guards. Is obama enabling our enemies?

[sunday42]

The intelligence services in this country are shaking in their boots in fear of punitive actions by the administration. Their hands are tied and bound by the rope around their neck called political corrctness.
We also have a president who's main ambition is to project his socialist political philosophy on the American people, security be dammed.

[gunslug50]

And they call themselves "TOP INTELLIGENT OFFICER"..what a joke and what makes it more dumberer is they held Joan River as a terrorist!!

Sooner or later the $hit is going to hit the fan when their dumb mistake catch them with their pants down and get a nutcase terrorist slip through the 20 billion dollars security checkpoint throughout the USA somewhere!

[gunslug50]

And they call themselves "TOP INTELLIGENT OFFICER"..what a joke and what makes it more dumberer is they held Joan River as a terrorist!!

Sooner or later the $hit is going to hit the fan when their dumb mistake catch them with their pants down and get a nutcase terrorist slip through the 20 billion dollars security checkpoint throughout the USA somewhere!

[Mutantone]

?A project of the Homeland Security Policy Institute, an independent thinktank housed at George Washington University, aimed at drafting policy recommendations for the incoming Obama administration.
According to the task force's May 2009 report [pdf], a "Nidal Hasan" from the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine was a task force event participant. Other participants included Senate and House staffers, Department of Homeland Security officials, Defense Department officials, and reporters for Politico, the Washington Post, and the London Times? so when was his record check to see if he was a security risk?

[Howellstephen75]

It is interesting that all these lapses of intel of happened under a Democratic administration. Isn't it always this way! Democrats cannot and will not protect this country. How can you protect a country you do not love or respect? How can you protect a country that in your heart you hate? Obama has traveled the world demeaning our country and dismantling our ability to defend ourself. Putting our country next to bankrupcy in just one year and allowed us to have been attacked three times. In the course of Bush's nine year we did not have one act of terrorism. You don't need a PHd to realize he has demoralized our security people with his decision through Eric holder to go after CIA people. He has demoralized our military you saw how they reacted when he spoke at West Point! Our country is in desperate shape with these Democrats leading our country strait into hell. If we don't do something quick there won't be much left to salvage.

[stryker54]

not protecting our country all the while shoving health care down our throats.

[PyTyr]

Not one act of terrorism ? Guess you never heard of 9/11 or Richard Reid.

[gunslug50]

And they call themselves "TOP INTELLIGENT OFFICER"..what a joke and what makes it more dumberer is they held Joan River as a terrorist!!

Sooner or later the $hit is going to hit the fan when their dumb mistake catch them with their pants down and get a nutcase terrorist slip through the 20 billion dollars security checkpoint throughout the USA somewhere!

[gunslug50]

And they call themselves "TOP INTELLIGENT OFFICER"..what a joke and what makes it more dumberer is they held Joan River as a terrorist!!

Sooner or later the $hit is going to hit the fan when their dumb mistake catch them with their pants down and get a nutcase terrorist slip through the 20 billion dollars security checkpoint throughout the USA somewhere!