ABC: FBI knew Hasan Tried to Contact Al-Qaeda
[Guest post by DRJ]
Ed Morrissey at Hot Air links to an ABC News report that “the FBI knew that Major Nidal Hasan had attempted to contact al-Qaeda and its associates months before Hasan went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, killing 13 people.” But it’s not clear whether the FBI told the Army.
Ed adds this Update: “In case you missed WaPo’s story on Hasan over the weekend, note what he told a neighbor on the morning of the murders after handing her a Koran: “I’m going to do good work for God.”
President Obama warned Americans not to jump to conclusions about Hasan. Now we learn the FBI and Hasan’s superiors, co-workers, and neighbors apparently did not jump to conclusions about Hasan, despite his questionable actions and rhetoric. Like Victor Davis Hanson, most Americans understand the problem isn’t Americans “jumping to conclusions”:
“When the entire story emerges of Hasan’s prior clear record of demonstrable hate and venom, and when such transgression is collated with the military’s inaction, and when all that is juxtaposed to the tepid, appeasing response of the Obama administration, I predict that there will be a firestorm that we have not yet witnessed. What we are enduring is surreal—have we lost our collective minds?”
— DRJ
UPDATE — Mark Steyn:
“General Casey has a point: An army that lets you check either the “home team” or “enemy” box according to taste is certainly diverse. But the logic in the remarks of Secretary Napolitano and others is that the real problem is that most Americans are knuckledragging bigots just waiting to go bananas. As Melanie Phillips wrote in her book Londonistan:
Minority-rights doctrine has produced a moral inversion, in which those doing wrong are excused if they belong to a ‘victim’ group, while those at the receiving end of their behaviour are blamed simply because they belong to the ‘oppressive’ majority.
To the injury of November 5, we add the insults of American officialdom and their poodle media. In a nutshell:
The real enemy — in the sense of the most important enemy — isn’t a bunch of flea-bitten jihadis sitting in a cave somewhere. It’s Western civilization’s craziness. We are setting our hair on fire and putting it out with a hammer.“
H/T BT & SPQR.
Mark Steyn has a great post at The Corner today about this very subject. I wish I could link to it, but I have never figured out how.
BT (74cbec) — 11/9/2009 @ 1:57 pmThe conclusions the little president man doesn’t want people to jump to are very specific.
happyfeet (71f55e) — 11/9/2009 @ 1:58 pmYou can jump to these ones if you want but definitely not these ones is what the little president man says.
happyfeet (71f55e) — 11/9/2009 @ 1:58 pmis it too early to jump to the conclusion that this deliberate failure to act should result in those who failed in their duty should be charged as accomplices in the murders, and be prosecuted as such?
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:00 pmShort answer: Yes.
PatriotRider (4232a5) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:01 pmThis one , BT?
SPQR (26be8b) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:01 pmSPQR: yes, thanks.
BT (74cbec) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:06 pmLost our minds?
Depends on the diff between say, a schizophrenic and a malignant narcissist. The schizophrenic is considered delusional but the malignant narcissist is not.
The latter’s logic is that of an addict – in their case, they are ego-addicts – and whatever gets an addict a fix is therefore good and true to them. Appealing to reason makes no sense when they are desperate. Of course they can see how stupid their policies are and how counterproductive but … dammit, they need a fix and that’s more important.
We need to stop reasoning with them as if “it’s about what it’s about.” It’s not, and appeals to their logic only deepen the addiction and make things worse. Call them out for what they are: losers trying to act like winners. Only when we make it clear that we see thru them, only when their shameful actions actually bring them shame, will the “madness” end.
Don’t Feed The Trolls applies everywhere these days.
ras (caaeea) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:07 pmAnd will there be an investigation into who leaked the (presumably) classified details of this story? Just as the NYT story on the NSA wiretapping led Al Qaeda to change their tactics, I presume this does something of the same. And I presume that all the good conservatives who called for prosecutions in that case will do the same now, right?
And yes, it’s bad that the CIA apparently didn’t do anything with the information… but that doesn’t justify someone breaking the law by deciding for themselves what is and what isn’t going to be kept secret.
steve sturm (369bc6) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:10 pmObama and the usual suspects are making things worse with this willful disbelief. Nobody will trust them when they finally tell the truth.
I really wonder about Obama sometimes. Who is he ?
Mike K (addb13) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:13 pmI’ve added a Mark Steyn excerpt in an Update. Thanks, BT and SPQR.
DRJ (dff2ca) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:17 pm‘Ed Morrissey at Hot Air links to an ABC News report that “the FBI knew that Major Nidal Hasan had attempted to contact al-Qaeda and its associates months before Hasan went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, killing 13 people.” But it’s not clear whether the FBI told the Army.’
If that’s true, then why wasn’t this POS arrested for treason months ago, BEFORE he killed a bunch of our guys?
Time to start talking about impeachment, not just impeachment of our worthless president (who is more worried about an anti-muslim backlash that doesn’t exist and never has, then he is about outright treason and murder, carried out by muslim fanatics in our own army), but also of every left wing skank in the government that will tolerate government employees who are actually spewing sedition and engaging in treason (which appears to be the case here, unless the media reports on this Hasan scumbag are incorrect).
We not only need to get rid of the traitors, like Hasan, preferably before they start murdering Americans, (while collecting a government paycheck!), but also the liberal swine who enable them.
Dave Surls (085710) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:19 pmSteve Sturm,
Yeah, if something that actually led to some kind of damage to our opsec occurred, most conservatives, including me, will want an investigation.
I think you’re full of it, though. Telling us that the FBI knew this idiot was consorting with al qaeda doesn’t give the terrorists any way to change their tactics, does it? They already know that if they are on the internet talking about terrorist stuff, that someone might look into it. The majority of people of this guy’s rank were already investigated for their clearance, anyway.
I just don’t think what you’re saying makes any sense at all. Most conservatives were more careful about who should be investigated. When the NSA leak occurred, it helped Al Qaeda… it helped kill our people. The White House made this clear to the NYT before they posted the story.
This is completely different.
Dustin (bb61e3) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:21 pmAnd perhaps a GOP White House would have done the same in this case?
And since neither you nor I know how the FBI knew what they did, neither you nor I know that this story hasn’t let some terrorist know more than they would have known had the story not been published, right?
But even if it wasn’t so, are you saying it’s okay then for classified information to have been released without approval? That whoever did this shouldn’t be prosecuted and/or fired?
steve sturm (369bc6) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:25 pmpoor steve… so unclear on the concept.
the NYT blowing in an ongoing intelligence tool, under the guise of “the people’s right to know” helped thwart the government in its primary duty, that of protecting the citizens of this country. thus, publicizing that information was bad, and the leaker should be punished, since it gave aid and comfort to our enemies.
the feds knowing that Hasan was dangerous, and then refusing to stop him, one way or another, is a failure of the government to act to protect its citizens, and thus is exactly the sort of story that is supposed to be published, and under which the source should be protected under whistle blower laws.
if you look hard enough, you many notice a subtle difference between the two situations. if not, let me know, and i’ll type slower next time.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:26 pmSteve s – How is this in any way similar to reporting the details of active an ongoing intelligence program?
JD (51cca5) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:27 pmWe don’t know how the information was obtained, so we don’t know if there is or isn’t an active ongoing intelligence program? I don’t know, but is it beyond speculation that the FBI learned this through an informer? Or through a wiretap that is (oops, I mean, was) still obtaining useful information?
and redc14, whistleblower laws? This ain’t covered, they (and I’m not the attorney) don’t cover leaks arising out of policy differences or arguments over what to do with information gathered from intelligence channels. Nor should they.
steve sturm (369bc6) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:34 pmIt’s not beyond speculation, steve. But informer alone is not enough to rise to the level of what you’re comparing this to.
For this to have damaged our ability to wage the war on terror, it needs to reveal some new method of spying that the bad guys weren’t aware of. Of course. If this did happen, or does happen, I want the leaker in prison. I don’t care that Obama is president… even if he’s barely even trying to contain terror threats like Hasan, it’s important that he have the ability… or at least that his successor have it.
Dustin (bb61e3) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:37 pmIs there anything to suggestion that this investigation is in any way similar to the exposure of an active intelligwnce operation as you outlined, or was that based on assumptions?
JD (51cca5) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:38 pmI guess another way to put it is: if you think this is comparable to that attack on Bush’s ability to wage war, that’s awfully partisan and unpatriotic.
Dustin (bb61e3) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:39 pmJD: pure speculation, nobody commenting here knows. I don’t think it is beyond possibility that this leak did damage to some aspect of our intelligence gathering. But even if it didn’t, it was still (again, presumably) classified information and good conservatives (which we all are) ought to be consistent… we can’t excuse it when the leak embarrasses Obama… nor should we try to invent or magnify differences in weak attempts to justify this while condemning leaks during the Bush Administration.
steve sturm (369bc6) — 11/9/2009 @ 2:44 pmAs long as you acknowledge that it is pure speculation. Because it seems like you are comparing apples to aardvarks.
JD (6cf6de) — 11/9/2009 @ 3:31 pmsteve sturm is being a total idiot. There are not any similarities at all. The NYT disclosed actual methods that were being used to obtain information on terrorist activities. This only disclosed info that had been obtained and not acted on. It did not disclose in any manner or form HOW the info was obtained. Go on lib and keep comparing apples to elephants.
peedoffamerican (6f4a3b) — 11/9/2009 @ 3:33 pmI think you’re full of it, though
You’re starting to figure out what many of us here have been saying for months, Dustin. Just a heads – up for future reference: Myron + Steve = Dggcrpp.
Dmac (a964d5) — 11/9/2009 @ 3:38 pm“President Obama warned Americans not to jump to conclusions about Hasan.”
I think you ought to concentrate on warning people like Hasan not to go around shooting people, you worthless POS.
What a scumbag this guy is. What total idiots Americans are, for voting this sack of shit into office.
13 people have apparently just been murdered by yet another Muslim fanatic engaging in a little off the cuff jihadm, and not just any Muslim fanatic, but one who was getting a paycheck from Barack and Co., while he was planning his little one man jihad…and this scumbag masquerading as POTUS is warning us, instead of vowing to get the Muslim fanatics???
This guy needs to be removed from office NOW. He’s an incompetent idiot.
Dave Surls (085710) — 11/9/2009 @ 3:54 pmSince this is Patterico’s blog, I thought I would link to this insightful LA Slimes article, dated TODAY: Fort Hood tragedy rocks military as it grapples with mental health issues.
See,
Of course, the Telegraph has a, shall we say, more interesting story:
MikeHu (e9e89c) — 11/9/2009 @ 3:58 pmJD: Even if I am comparing apples to aardvarks (I like that, by the way, much better than the lame apples to elephants), do you agree or disagree that the leaker of what is presumably classified information ought to be disciplined?
And Dmac, you’re nicely predictable yourself, insulting those who disagree with you.
steve sturm (3811cf) — 11/9/2009 @ 4:07 pmI don’t get it. The boiling oil seems really superfluous. I don’t know about mentally ill but he might could be a little stupid.
happyfeet (71f55e) — 11/9/2009 @ 4:12 pmNow we learn the FBI and Hasan’s superiors, co-workers, and neighbors apparently did not jump to conclusions about Hasan, despite his questionable actions and rhetoric.
All the “questionable actions and rhetoric” were actionable by Hasan’s superiors. There was more than enough to cashier him and foreclose his counseling of U.S. soldiers and deployment to Afghanistan. Trusting a uniformed officer who openly proclaims he is “Muslim first, American second” is incomprehensible.
As to the FBI, it’s possible their reading of Hasan’s emails to Imam Anwar al Awlaki showed them to be, as CBS reports, “benign.”
steve (e7b19f) — 11/9/2009 @ 4:12 pm“Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the gunman who killed 13 at America’s Fort Hood military base, once gave a lecture to other doctors in which he said non-believers should be beheaded and have boiling oil poured down their throats.”
Maybe the worthless sack of crap who is masquerading as president ought to spend a little time warning government employees that calling for the beheading of thoae who refuse to heed the words of the child-molesting “prophet” will be grounds for immediate termination from government employment (likewise shooting people at a government facility…this will not be tolerated), instead of trying to tell the rest of what conclusions we can and can’t jump to.
One of those things is actually the governmment’s job (setting standards for government employees)…one of them isn’t (telling the rest of us what we can and can’t think).
Piss off Obama. You suck.
Dave Surls (085710) — 11/9/2009 @ 4:32 pm“An army that lets you check either the “home team” or “enemy” box according to taste is certainly diverse.”
And people get exactly the Army they deserve.
glenn (757adc) — 11/9/2009 @ 4:46 pmI am about to say something that I thought I would never say, something that I have concluded with extreme reluctance: I am afraid that a devout Muslim cannot be a loyal American. If one truly believes in the ravings of the murderous paedophile who founded “the religion of peace”, it is impossible to adhere to American values, which are antithetical to all major tenants of the Muslem faith. I am not talking about ethnicity; I have worked with several Palestinians whose patriotism is unquestionable; however, they were all Christians or agnostics. Many faiths regarded as silly do not stop one from being a patriotic American. Mormonism, for example; one can mock the silliness of the special underwear for Sundays, but none of that makes them disloyal Americans. In fact, I would back Mitt Romney’s devotion to the American ideal against our current President’s any day of the week. What was especially maddening is it appears the Army had many signs of the Fort Hood monster’s impending mini-jihad, and deliberately ignored them, for fear of appearing to discriminate against those of the Muslem faith. Well, the time is approaching when we will have to address the following fact: no matter what the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion, believers in Islam are and will continue to be security threats to the United States and its citizens, and should be monitored as we did Nazi sympathizers in World War II. Unless we do, we are nurturing vipers in the nation’s bosom, and will be authors of our own destruction. To underline the point: America is about tolerance of others (including the gay), equality of the sexes, governance by the will of the people rather than the state or some theocratic autocracy, and the exaltation of individual freedom; it is a painful, politically incorrect point that true belief in Islam is utterly incompatible with the principles that has made America great. Feel free to think the worst of me for saying this; I never thought I would say such things until a number of events, preceeded by 9/11 and ending with the Fort Hood massacre, drove me, quite unwillingly, to these statements.
Ed Burke (4d15b9) — 11/9/2009 @ 5:03 pmMajor Nidal Hasan – “I’m going to do good work for God.”
Sort of like the Blues Brothers, only with a different ending. Why is that? No jumping to conclusions.
daleyrocks (718861) — 11/9/2009 @ 5:20 pmIt’s wise to be armed around devout muslims is the takeaway I think Mr. Burke, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad people.
happyfeet (f62c43) — 11/9/2009 @ 5:40 pmEd Burke @ 5:03 p.m.,
I appreciate your obvious thoughtfulness and deep consideration you’ve given to your position. I think that many people are perhaps also finding themselves somewhere in the process of working through their own feelings about this – not hysterically, not with hate or malice in their hearts, nor with any of the despicable bigotry that the left continue to accuse and hurl at those even giving voice to such considerations. But just a quiet contemplation and sorrow over seeing what has taken place on American soil and the implications of such, and by those of a specific ideology.
It’s just a difficult position to be in as Americans, and more difficult to draw such conclusions toward fellow citizens.
Dana (e9ba20) — 11/9/2009 @ 6:01 pmI heard that the “praying Imams” on that flight to the miniapple years ago won a settlement against the airline. This is the group that stood up and refused to sit down, had multiple people visiting the bathroom one after another as if they were taking turns working on a joint “project”, and causing all kinds of reactions with their suspicious behavior.
One unfortunately valid concern of those who were aware of Hasan’s “issues”, would standing up to say something gotten themanywhere other than in trouble for reporting the obvious, while the real problem was further enabled?
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 11/9/2009 @ 6:03 pmDid you know that doofus Chris Matthews just asked his guest if contacting Al Qaeda was against the law or something?
Metallica (e4735c) — 11/9/2009 @ 6:34 pmNo wonder MSNBC has no ratings.
Steve Sturm
Presumably the most transparent administration in history would have disclosed to the public at the first opportunity (at the end of Obama’s next shout outs) that Hasan is an Islamist who tried to communicate with al Qaeda. So what’s the harm?
If not, whoever released this information is a national hero, as much as it may damage the fortunes of your grossly incompetent and traitorous party.
Terry Gain (1664b9) — 11/9/2009 @ 6:58 pmDid you know that doofus Chris Matthews just asked his guest if contacting Al Qaeda was against the law or something?
According to Steve Sturm it’s not contact with al qaeda that’s criminal, it’s disclosing that this Jihadist attemted to contact al Qaeda before the most transparent nation in history decides it wants to share that information with the public.
Terry Gain (1664b9) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:05 pmNow Brian Ross and co. have received the leaks of
bishop (4e0dda) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:07 pmthe location the ‘secret’ prisons in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia & North Africa, outed the supervisors of the interrogation program, but much like Gertz, have done a good job here.
Something seems very strange about the change of duty assignments of Major Hasan. He was transferred from Washington to Fort Hood in July and then was due to deploy to Afghanistan by the end of the year. Why the extra 5 month transfer to Fort Hood before his deployment? Normally he would be transferred to Iraq straight from Washington.
My guess is the FBI and the Army were well aware he was a security risk from his May internet posting and his electronic correspondence with hard line cleric Awlaki since the first of the year. The last thing the FBI/Secret Service/Army wants is a loose cannon Muslim fanatic around Washington and got him out of Dodge before he could make real trouble.
While we bemoan the slaughter of 13 innocents at Fort Hood, it could have been a lot worse had he remained in the Washington area.
Corky Boyd (4e8f68) — 11/9/2009 @ 8:16 pmI am afraid that a devout Muslim cannot be a loyal American.
I would disagree.
Hasan is to a goodly chunk of Muslims what Scott Roeder is to Christians.
However, the sheer and utter hypocrisy here is that Barack Obama, the entire Obama Party, and their media puppets were ready, willing, and able to blame all Christians, all conservatives, all pro-lifers, and all Republicans for Roeder’s actions, backlash be damned, and insist that Rush Limbaugh and others be suppressed for the good of society.
Now we have someone who openly reached out to the sworn enemies of the United States, used our military facilities to train, and killed our own servicepersons on our own base, all in the name of his religion — and the Obama Party, Barack Obama, and the media that support them go deaf, dumb, and blind.
All because they are bigots and liars who can’t stand the facts that have been presented.
North Dallas Thirty (886cfc) — 11/9/2009 @ 8:32 pmI disagree, strongly, with the idea tha a devout Muslim cannot be a good American. In no uncertain terms. But the MSM and Barcky ignoring that Islam appears to have played a large, if not central role in this slaughter is practically criminal in its mendacity.
JD (584916) — 11/9/2009 @ 8:48 pmThere is a significant minority of Muslims who engage in terrorism and war against the United States, or who sympathize with those who do. That cannot be said of any other major religions. Islam has a big problem that is also our problem.
Of course, most Muslims are not a threat, but we have to drive home the danger from the extremist minority, who are also a danger to moderate Muslims. That means the MSM should take a harder look at the extremist mosques where these murderers, terrorists and traitors hang out.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407) — 11/9/2009 @ 9:31 pmEd Burke:
I think that’s an important issue, and it’s basically the subject of Not Rhetorical’s post at The Jury. I would have to agree if I thought all devout Muslims viewed people of other faiths as the enemy, but I’m not convinced that’s true.
Bradley: I agree. It’s a domestic form of trust but verify.
DRJ (dff2ca) — 11/9/2009 @ 9:42 pmComment by Corky Boyd — 11/9/2009 @ 8:16 pm
Yeah, he might have shot a Democrat!
AD - RtR/OS! (7c0a4b) — 11/9/2009 @ 9:59 pm“it could have been a lot worse had he remained in the Washington area”
Corky
A world without Pelosi,Barney Frank,Chris Dodd, et al, doesn’t seem to bad to me.
BT (74cbec) — 11/10/2009 @ 4:05 amA world without Pelosi,Barney Frank,Chris Dodd, et al, doesn’t seem to bad to me.
BT,
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407) — 11/10/2009 @ 5:51 amPlease don’t say things like that here. Besides it being wrong, you must know Greenwald and his ilk will use such comments to “prove” hatefulness and death wishes are tolerated by the right.
Comment by Ed Burke — 11/9/2009 @ 5:03 pm
The Emperor (82e13a) — 11/10/2009 @ 6:17 amI agree with you. 100 percent. Islam is a threat to freedom. Those who practice it are potential enemies of the state. Real Islam is fundamental Islamofascism. As soon as the adherents begin to yield to it’s teachings, it’s a matter of time before they begin to see those who don’t as infidels worthy of death. It’s a cancer that has eaten deep into our national life. Islam should be censored and closely watched. If I had my way, I would say they should be banned here in America. Their continued existence will be the waterloo of this great country and indeed civilization. This is not about religious intolerance. This is about national security. It’s about closing the door on the enemy who will do us great harm.
Brother Fikes: My bad.
BT (74cbec) — 11/10/2009 @ 12:23 pmSometimes a cigar is a cigar but some people in FBI thought it was a teddy bear. I dont give damn who’s liberal or conservative honestly as long as obvious oversights like this STOP happening. To be productive we must all unify against carelessness like this and stop blaming each other about political outlook or affiliation. WE are all responsible adults and intelligent ones lets start ACTING like it. This country is fracturing beneath the stress of political correctness.Our enemies are overjoyed about it, because they sit back and do nothing while we play the blame game. A muslim terrorist is still a muslim terrorist and should be dealt with accordingly, obviously…alas too late again. Shall we have a another ” NEXT TIME” or will we be proactive… one can only hope these days.
stop think act (c6ed19) — 11/12/2009 @ 11:01 am