Update:13 Soldiers Killed 31 Wounded Fort Hood Shooting [Muslim terrorist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/sexualfrustration/index
http://www.meforum.org/topics/50/sex-and-gender-relations
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2379404/posts

http://www.meforum.org/2597/islamist-sex-sins

“How the Islamist Mindset Rationalizes - and Promotes - ‘Sex Sins’”
by Raymond Ibrahim
Pajamas Media
March 1, 2010

SNIPPET: “Is it inconsistent for Muslim “holy warriors” to engage in voyeuristic acts of lasciviousness? Because would-be jihadists and martyrs have been known to frequent strip bars — such as the 9/11 hijackers and Major Nidal Hasan, whose “late-night jiggle-joint carousing stands at odds with the picture of a devout Muslim” — many Americans have concluded that such men cannot be “true” Muslims, leading to the ubiquitous conviction that they are “hijacking Islam.”

In fact, Islamists rely on several rationalizations — doctrines, even — that make “jiggle-joint carousing” consistent with Muslim piety. Considering that Islamic law permits sex slaves (Koran 4:3), permits their masters to keep them topless, and makes sex one of the highest paradisiacal rewards, this should come as no great surprise. However, to elaborate:”

SNIPPET: “Originally published at: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/how-the-islamist-mindset-rationalizes-and-promotes-sex-sins/

Raymond Ibrahim is associate director of the Middle East Forum, author of The Al Qaeda Reader, and visiting lecturer at the National Defense Intelligence College.”

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123193208

Defense secretary asks entire department to reinforce trust

Posted 3/4/2010

by Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

3/4/2010 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has called on every member of the Defense Department to play a personal role in creating a secure environment that will help to prevent more tragedies like the Nov. 5 shooting rampage that left 13 people dead at Fort Hood, Texas.

Secretary Gates issued a memo March 2 after reflecting on results of the independent review he directed following the incident to ensure the safety and health of servicemembers, civilian defense employees and their families.

“I ask all commanders, supervisors, noncommissioned leaders and other personnel in the department to reinforce the fabric of trust with one another,” Secretary Gates wrote. “From simple everyday expressions of concern, to supervising, mentoring and counseling, we, and every servicemember, need to be more attuned to one another’s mental, emotional and spiritual balance and be willing to take responsible action.”

Secretary Gates urged department members to look beyond their day-to-day tasks and challenges and take action if their colleagues appear to be at risk.

He also called for leaders to be honest in their assessments of their subordinates, particularly when they identify red flags, and to document what they identify.

“Leadership at every level depends on the integrity to assess the performance of our people honestly and openly,” Secretary Gates wrote. “We can only deal with internal threats if we can rely on the quality of the information in our official records. There are serious effects of failure to reflect fully, accurately and completely on all aspects of professional ethical and personal career development in performance appraisals.”

Secretary Gates called on leaders to instill and preserve “the core traits that sustain our profession and keep our forces strong, effective and safe.”

“With responsibility comes accountability,” he wrote. “My expectation is that our leaders will set the standards for leadership, management and mentoring, and will be accountable for the health and performance of the force.”

Secretary Gates concluded his memo recognizing how much the country has asked of its servicemembers and Defense Department civilians over the past two decades, and how they have repeatedly risen to the occasion.

“Each of you has an important role in adapting to the changing security environment,” he wrote. “Together, we will make the force and our nation safer, stronger and more secure to face the challenges of today and tomorrow.”

Secretary Gates issued the memo based on findings of the Department of Defense Independent Review Related to Fort Hood. He directed the review and appointed former Army Secretary Togo D. West Jr. and retired Navy Adm. Vernon E. Clark, a former chief of naval operations, to lead it. The panel provided its report to Secretary Gates on Jan. 15.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, is charged with killing 13 people, 12 military and one civilian, and wounding 43 others during a Nov. 5 shooting rampage at Fort Hood. He has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 specifications of attempted premeditated murder under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The UCMJ is the U.S. military’s legal system for servicemembers.

Major Hasan, a Muslim, allegedly became radicalized and complained to colleagues about his role as a U.S. military officer when he was posted at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here before being assigned to Fort Hood in July.

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2493711/posts

Ft. Hood Report: Pentagon Safeguards ‘Inadequate’ to Combat Threat (report confirms Al-Qaeda links)
fox news ^ | 4/15/2010 | fox news
Posted on April 15, 2010 11:02:26 AM PDT by tobyhill

A new Pentagon report into Major Nidal Hasan’s shooting rampage that killed 13 soldiers at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009, concluded that the existing Department of Defense safeguards were “unclear” or “inadequate” to identify the threat, according to NBC News, who obtained a copy of the report Thursday.

The Department of Defense report detailed how the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force knew prior to the shooting that Hasan was communicating with an al Qaeda recruiter, but this information was not passed on to the Department of Defense. The report cited “inconsistent” coordination between the two agencies.

The report also concluded the Pentagon does not have a sufficient cyberspace monitoring program to alert authorities to potential threats.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=58762

Gates Adopts 26 Fort Hood Panel Recommendations

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2010 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has directed the Defense Department immediately to implement 26 interim recommendations of an independent panel he appointed to look into the Nov. 5 shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, Pentagon officials said today.
Gates signed the memorandum April 12.

Army Maj. Nidal Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. The psychiatrist allegedly opened fire at a facility where soldiers were processing for overseas deployments.
The defense secretary asked former Veterans Affairs Secretary Togo D. West Jr. and former chief of naval operations retired Adm. Vernon E. Clark to chair the investigative panel. They detailed 79 recommendations to improve force protection and tighten gaps in personnel policies, emergency response, mass casualty preparedness and support to Defense Department health care providers.

The secretary approved 26 recommendations in their entirety. The panel’s full report is expected to be released in June, and work on the other 53 recommendations continues, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today. Some of those recommendations require changes in law, and the department is working closely with Congress on the recommendations, he added.
“The department has moved out not only expeditiously but continuously since the shooting,” Whitman said to Pentagon reporters. “All of these actions to date have been taken … to ensure that the safety of our personnel and facilities are maintained and that we remain vigilant to any and all threats that are out there.”

The interim recommendations allow the department to continue increasing force protection measures. Gates has ordered immediate expansion of the “eGuardian” pilot program throughout the department. The program is a force-protection threat reporting system designed to handle suspicious activities. The department will adopt the unclassified FBI-owned and maintained reporting system as soon as possible.

The secretary also ordered the complete deployment of the Law Enforcement Defense Data Exchange System to all Defense Department law enforcement entities. The system will allow agencies to share criminal investigation and other law enforcement data.

Gates tasked Paul Stockton, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and America’s security affairs, to serve as the department’s lead in the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force program. The independent report called the Defense Department’s commitment to the program “inadequate,” and Pentagon officials are working with the FBI to develop a memorandum of understanding between the agencies.

The secretary also directed significant strengthening of the Defense Department’s antiterrorism training program by incorporating best practices learned by the Department of Homeland Security.

The West-Clark review found that Defense Department policy on prohibited activities was unclear and did not provide commanders the guidance needed to act on potential threats to good order and discipline. The secretary directed that personnel and readiness officials examine the military services’ guidance and issue Defense Department instructions to ensure “guidance is actionable,” Whitman said. The guidance will include examples of threatening behavior and how officials should react to such behavior.

Gates directed the department to continue development of law enforcement practices against the active shooter threat. The police who responded at Fort Hood credited that training with allowing them to stop the attack.
The review called for the Defense Department to ensure religious support in mass-casualty incidents. Gates directed the Armed Forces Chaplains Board and Center to review past guidance and update it as appropriate.
The Defense Department does not have a privately owned weapons policy, and Gates directed James Clapper, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, to prepare and coordinate one by June.

Biographies:
Robert M. Gates
Related Articles:
Gates Memorandum
Special Report: Tragedy at Fort Hood

http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4608

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=58789

American Forces Press Service
DoD Not Hiding Fort Hood Shooting Details, Gates Says

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 16, 2010 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today disputed claims that the Defense Department was withholding information from the Senate Homeland Security Committee about the Nov. 5 Fort Hood, Texas, shooting incident.

“We have no interest in hiding anything,” said Gates, who earlier this week had traveled to Peru, Colombia and then Barbados to discuss regional security issues.

“But what [is] most important,” Gates told reporters here, “is this prosecution, and we will cooperate with the committee in every way with that single caveat — that whatever we provide does not impact the prosecution. That is the only thing in which we have an interest.”

“Our priority is in ensuring we don’t do anything that would potentially impact the prosecution of Major [Nidal] Hasan,” Gates said, referring to the alleged shooter.

Gates said the Defense Department is implementing changes to help prevent another attack like the one at Fort Hood, but he cautioned that such crimes cannot be completely prevented.

“One would be foolish” to say a similar incident could never happen again, he said, but noted steps are being taken to help reduce the likelihood.

“Clearly one element of that is better sharing and information from post to post and commander to commander,” he said.

Gates this week directed the Defense Department to implement 26 interim recommendations of an independent panel he appointed to look into events surrounding the shooting. Hasan, an Army officer, has been charged with 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder.

The panel detailed 79 recommendations to improve force protection and tighten gaps in personnel policies, emergency response, mass casualty preparedness and support to Defense Department health care providers.
The secretary approved the 26 recommendations in their entirety while work continues on the other 53 recommendations. The panel’s full report is expected to be released in June.

Gates credited the department and the services for “stepping up” in the aftermath of the shootings and making changes that could prevent similar future incidents.

Biographies:
Robert M. Gates

Related Sites:
Transcript
Related Articles:
Gates Adopts 26 Fort Hood Panel Recommendations

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=58924

DoD Agrees to Submit Some Fort Hood Documents to Senate

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 27, 2010 – The Defense Department today agreed to provide access to some of the documents subpoenaed by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last week related to the Nov. 5 Fort Hood shooting investigation.

A letter sent to the committee today agrees to allow the committee access to the personnel file of Maj. Nidal Hasan’s personnel file, the Army psychiatrist charged with the shootings. Pentagon officials also agreed to allow the committee access to a restricted annex to the report stemming from the initial investigation by former Army Secretary Togo D. West Jr. and retired Navy Adm. Vern E. Clark, a former chief of naval operations.

The department previously had objected to giving the committee access to these documents on the grounds that doing so could endanger Hasan’s prosecution. Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder.

“We believe we have made a very good-faith effort to try to find a middle ground … to satisfy their request,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today.

“We are prepared to bend over backwards at least on two of the four issues that were the subject of the subpoena,” he added.

Morrell said that the department has been in “constant communication” with the committee even before last week’s Senate subpoenas.

Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III had a “lengthy” phone conversation April 23 with Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins, the chairman and ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Morrell said.

The department declined, however, to provide access to its witnesses or to the investigative summaries of the event.

“We have made movement on some of the areas that we had originally objected to,” Morrell said. “But we have held the line on those that we feel could potentially jeopardize the prosecution of Major Hasan.

“That, in the judgment of the general counsel and our career prosecutors here, is a bridge too far,” he continued. “They really feel as though that could potentially jeopardize the prosecution of Major Hasan, and that’s the risk that they, and now the secretary, are not willing to take.”’

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates had directed the department to be as accommodating to the committee as possible without potentially jeopardizing Hasan’s prosecution. Gates recently denied hiding any documents from the committee.

“We have no interest in hiding anything,” Gates said while on a recent trip to South America.

“We will cooperate with the committee in every way with that single caveat — that whatever we provide does not impact the prosecution. That is the only thing in which we have an interest,” he said. “Our priority is in ensuring we don’t do anything that would potentially impact the prosecution of Major Hasan.”

Morrell said the committee will not be allowed to keep the documents, but will have the chance to review them. This comes even as the Army’s review is still under way, he said, and the documents contain “highly sensitive material” involving the careers of several military personnel.

Morrell characterized the agreement as “breaking new ground” in terms of how the department traditionally has cooperated with committees that do not have direct oversight of its personnel matters.

“We feel as though we have leaned very far forward, and we have made what we believe to be a considerable accommodation of the committee’s request,” he said.

Morrell emphasized that this is an accommodation made based solely on this request and does not signal a change in department policy.

“We do not view [this] as precedent setting,” he said. “This is a unique circumstance, and based upon this particular situation, we are willing to do it in this instance, but it should not be viewed in any way as the new norm.”

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_query=al+awlaki&search_sort=video_date_uploaded&suggested_categories=27%2C25%2C22&uni=3

Note: Photo included.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/04/usborn_cleric_awlaki.php

“US-born cleric Awlaki ‘proud’ to have taught al Qaeda operatives”

By BILL ROGGIO
April 27, 2010 4:12 PM

SNIPPET: “An American-born Muslim cleric who is a senior member of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has admitted to training two terrorists who carried out attacks against the US over the past six months.

Anwar al Awlaki, an American citizen who is based in Yemen and serves as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s mufti, said he was “proud” to have trained Major Nidal Hasan, the US Army doctor who murdered 13 soldiers at a deployment center at Fort Hood, Texas, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who failed to detonate a bomb on an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day.

“I am proud to have been their teacher,” Awlaki said in a videotape aired today by Al Jazeera.”

Note: The jihad forum link was made non-clickable by me.

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2520400/posts

Washington Post Article Saved the Life of Terrorist Anwar Al Awlaki
May 24 2010 | jveritas
Posted on May 24, 2010 5:46:49 PM PDT by jveritas

In his most recent interview with an Al Qaeda media outlet terrorist “Anwar Al Awlaki” the US born Al Qaeda terrorist said that he stopped his communications when he read in the Washington Post that he is being tracked by US intelligence. He said that once he stopped his communications he left the area in Yemen where he was hiding and then this area was bombed by US airstrikes.

He also said that both terrorists “Nidal Hassan” who killed 13 of our troops at Fort Hood and “Omar Farouk Abd Al Moutaleb” who had the failed terrorist attack on the Delta Detroit plane on Christmas Day 2009 were his students and that he is honored and proud that they were his students.

In his interview he called for every muslim serving in the US military to imitate what terrorist “Nidal Hassan” did and kill US soldiers.

He said that he is very proud of his role to incite violence against Americans.

The text of his video interview with “Al Malahem” which the media outlet of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula can be found on this link below which is from “al falojah” terrorist forum. It is in Arabic.

alfaloja.ws/vb/showthread.php?t=117974

Below is the translation of terrorist Anwar Al Awlaki statement regarding the Washington Post article:

Beginning of the translation

Question from “Malahem” Al Qaeda media: The Americans are saying that after Nidal Hassan attack they tighten the noose around your neck, they closed your website on the internet and now you are being chased, is that true?

Answer from terrorist Al Awlaki: Yes they closed this website after Nidal Hassan attack, I wrote on the website an article approving of what Nidal Hassan did and then after that they closed the website. After that I read an article in the Washington Post that they are monitoring my communications so I was forced to stop these communications and left the area and then after that the American bombardment occurred.

End of the translation

http://www.investigativeproject.org/blog/2010/06/hearing-delayed-for-fort-hood-shooter

For The Record - The IPT Blog
Latest Posts | Archive |
“Hearing Delayed for Fort Hood Shooter”

by IPT News • Jun 1, 2010 at 2:58 pm

SNIPPET: “The Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, appeared today in a military courtroom for the first time since he carried out the deadly rampage on November 5 last year.

Hasan was set to face an Article 32 hearing under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a proceeding that would entitle him to a “thorough and impartial investigation of the charges against him.”

SNIPPET: “In ruling on the defense motion, Col. James Pohl ruled that the defense must be given access to additional documents—an order that has now been complied with.

Today’s hearing was only the first in what will likely be lengthy legal proceedings to bring Nidal Hasan to justice. The process will reconvene on October 1 at which time a military officer will evaluate and make recommendations on the preliminary charges—13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder.”

To: All
http://www.investigativeproject.org/blog/2010/07/us-designates-awlaki-a-terrorist

For The Record - The IPT Blog
Latest Posts | Archive |
U.S. Designates Awlaki a Terrorist

by IPT News • Jul 16, 2010 at 6:48 pm

SNIPPET: “He has become a recruiter of terrorists against America, and on Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department designated American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki a leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The move freezes any assets he may have here and makes it illegal for anyone in the United States to engage in any transactions with Awlaki or to provide him with material support. It has been reported that President Obama already had authorized killing Awlaki, who is connected to a series of recent attacks, including Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan and failed Detroit airline bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He also called for direct attacks on American civilians.”

###
###

QUOTE:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2554068/posts

Treasury Designates Anwar Al-Aulaqi, Key Leader of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula
TREAS.gov - UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY - TG-779 ^ | July 16, 2010 | n/a
Posted on July 16, 2010 4:09:47 PM PDT by Cindy

NOTE The following text is a quote:

July 16, 2010 TG-779

Treasury Designates Anwar Al-Aulaqi, Key Leader of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula

Treasury Targets al-Qa’ida Leader with Ties to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Anwar al-Aulaqi, a key leader for al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a Yemen-based terrorist group. Aulaqi was designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224 for supporting acts of terrorism and for acting for or on behalf of AQAP. Since its inception in January 2009, AQAP has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks against Saudi, Korean, Yemeni and U.S. targets. Executive Order 13224 freezes any assets Aulaqi has under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions with him.

“Anwar al-Aulaqi has proven that he is extraordinarily dangerous, committed to carrying out deadly attacks on Americans and others worldwide,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. “He has involved himself in every aspect of the supply chain of terrorism — fundraising for terrorist groups, recruiting and training operatives, and planning and ordering attacks on innocents.”

Aulaqi has pledged an oath of loyalty to AQAP emir, Nasir al-Wahishi, and plays a major role in setting the strategic direction for AQAP. Aulaqi has also recruited individuals to join AQAP, facilitated training at camps in Yemen in support of acts of terrorism, and helped focus AQAP’s attention on planning attacks on U.S. interests.

Since late 2009, Aulaqi has taken on an increasingly operational role in the group, including preparing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted to detonate an explosive device aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day 2009, for his operation. In November 2009, while in Yemen, Abdulmutallab swore allegiance to the emir of AQAP and shortly thereafter received instructions from Aulaqi to detonate an explosive device aboard a U.S. airplane over U.S. airspace. After receiving this direction from Aulaqi, Abdulmutallab obtained the explosive device he used in the attempted Christmas Day attack.

Aulaqi was imprisoned in Yemen in 2006 on charges of kidnapping for ransom and being involved in an al-Qa’ida plot to kidnap a U.S. official but was released from jail in December 2007 and subsequently went into hiding in Yemen.

“Aulaqi has sought to encourage his supporters to provide money for terrorist causes. Those who provide material support to Aulaqi or AQAP violate sanctions and expose themselves to serious consequences,” continued Levey.

Today’s action supports the international effort to degrade AQAP’s capabilities to execute violent attacks and to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat its financial and support networks. The U.S. Government will continue to work with allies to identify and take action against persons acting for or on behalf of, or providing financial and other prohibited support to, Aulaqi and AQAP.

Identifying Information

Individual: Anwar al-Aulaqi AKA: Anwar al-Awlaki AKA: Anwar al-Awlaqi AKA: Anwar Nasser Aulaqi AKA: Anwar Nasser Abdulla Aulaqi AKA: Anwar Nasswer Aulaqi DOB: April 21, 1971 Alternate DOB: April 22, 1971 POB: Las Cruces, New Mexico Citizenship: United States Citizenship: Yemen Location: Shabwah Governorate, Yemen

###

NOTE The following text is a quote:

www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=60536

Pentagon Releases Final Fort Hood Shooting Review

By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2010 – Pentagon officials today released the Defense Department’s final review of recommendations issued by an independent panel in the wake of the Nov. 5, 2009, shooting spree on Fort Hood, Texas.

Among the department’s top priorities, as outlined in the review, are boosting on-base emergency response capabilities, improving law enforcement and force protection information sharing with partner agencies, and integrating force protection policy, a Defense Department news release said.

In a memorandum signed Aug. 18, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said he carefully considered the panel’s recommendations — detailed in the report titled, “Protecting the Force: Lessons Learned from Fort Hood” — and is directing the department to take “appropriate action” to address the initiatives detailed in the follow-on review.

“I expect department leaders to place great priority on implementing these recommendations,” Gates said. All actions are aimed at contributing to the safety and health of military forces, the release said.

Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, allegedly opened fire at a Fort Hood facility where soldiers were processing for overseas deployments. He has been charged with 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder.

“The tragic shooting of U.S. military personnel at Fort Hood … underscored the need for the [Defense Department] to thoroughly review its approach to force protection and to broaden its force protection policies, programs and procedures to go beyond their traditional focus on hostile external threats,” Gates said.

Earlier this year, an investigative panel detailed 79 recommendations in its report centered on improving force protection and tightening gaps in personnel policies, emergency response mass casualty preparedness and support to Defense Department health care providers. In April, Gates directed the Defense Department to immediately implement 26 of the 79 recommendations while a review of the remaining 53 recommendations continued.

The final review’s initiatives “will significantly improve the department’s ability to mitigate internal threats, ensure force protection, enable emergency response and provide care for victims and families,” Gates said.
The review puts forth “concrete actions” for the majority of the recommendations, Gates said. In some cases, however, further study will be required before the department can take additional steps.

In particular, he said, the department will strengthen its policies, programs and procedures in the following areas:

— Educating commanders about the symptoms of potential workplace violence and the tools available to them to address it;

— Ensuring commanders and supervisors have access to appropriate information in personnel records throughout a servicemember’s career;

— Improving law enforcement and force protection information sharing with partner agencies and among installations to ensure all relevant personnel are aware of and able to analyze and respond to potential threats;

— Expanding installations’ emergency response capabilities, including enabling enhanced 911 to notify dispatchers of a caller’s location, mass notification and warning systems to guide installation personnel and emergency responders to an emergency, and a common operating picture to ensure emergency responders have access to real-time information in a crisis;

— Integrating force protection policy through the creation of a consultative and policy-making body that will bring together the various entities across the department with force protection responsibilities; and

— Ensuring the department provides top-quality health care to servicemembers and health care providers by hiring additional health care providers, particularly in the mental health field, and ensuring health care providers receive appropriate post-deployment respite and time at home between deployments.

Gates also has directed the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and America’s security affairs to continue to lead the follow-on review and to provide regular progress reports to him.

The secretary also emphasized the importance of leadership and the need for intervention when necessary to ensure good order and discipline.

“Force protection, although critical, is not a substitute for leadership,” he said. “Leaders at every level in our military play a critical role.”

Gates pledged to provide leaders with the necessary tools to deal with potential issues among their ranks.

“As the department takes steps to strengthen its approach to force protection,” he said, “I ask leaders and commanders across the force to remain mindful of the unique requirements of the profession of arms –- that military service is grounded in an oath to support and defend our Constitution, but also may necessitate the sacrifice of some of the very rights we defend.”

Biographies:
Robert M. Gates

Related Sites:
Fort Hood Follow-on Review
Special Report: Tragedy at Fort Hood
Defense Department News Release

Quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2578244/posts

Islamic extremists in the workplace—Defense Secretary Gates ignores the homegrown Muslim threat
The Washington Times ^ | August 26, 2010 | Editorial
Posted on August 26, 2010 5:09:36 PM PDT by jazusamo

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan killed 14 and wounded 30 in his jihad at Fort Hood in November. According to the Defense Department, the incident wasn’t a terrorist attack but merely a case of workplace violence. This is typical of government efforts to paper over the growing domestic Muslim threat.

On Aug. 18, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates released the final Fort Hood follow-on review, in which he proposed initiatives to “mitigate internal threats, ensure force protection, enable emergency response and provide care for victims and families.” Radical Islam is nowhere to be found.

Some passages hint at the nature of what took place, such as the need to clarify the rules for religious accommodation “to help commanders distinguish appropriate religious practices from those that might indicate a potential for violence or self-radicalization.” PowerPoint briefings that describe the duty of jihad against the unbelievers - as Maj. Hasan presented to a military audience - probably don’t fall in the “appropriate” category. The report also calls for increased counterintelligence awareness of the potential for linkage to international terrorism. For example, if someone already showing signs of radicalization exchanges 18 e-mails with a Yemen-based al Qaeda field commander over six months, as Maj. Hasan did, it’s probably worth looking into more closely.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...

Quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2605852/posts

Legal process starts for Fort Hood defendant
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS ^ | Oct. 11, 2010 | SIG CHRISTENSON
Posted on October 12, 2010 4:15:23 AM PDT by humblegunner

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people in a shooting spree at Fort Hood and wounding dozens of others, begins an arduous legal process today that could end in his death.

The Article 32 proceeding, as it is called, could run for more than a month with Col. James Pohl sifting through the evidence. Pohl’s task will be to gather evidence and then tell higher-level commanders if a trial should be ordered.

It isn’t clear how Hasan’s lawyer, himself a former military judge, will counter testimony, likely from GIs in a crowded Fort Hood deployment center. Some said Hasan, a devout Muslim, cried “God is great!” in Arabic, but retired Army Col. John Galligan will say only that he’s in an uphill battle to save his client’s life.

“To get complete acquittal, it’s difficult to say whether that would happen or not until we’ve got him through the Article 32 and the sanity board,” he told the San Antonio Express-News. “If there’s a sanity board issue enough that presents a realistic mental responsibility issue, we could be talking about the possibility of an acquittal.”

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...

QUOTE:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2612229/posts

EDITORIAL: Death for Hasan—Justice demands execution for murderous jihadist soldier
The Washington Times ^ | October 21, 2010 | Editorial
Posted on October 21, 2010 6:54:25 PM PDT by jazusamo

Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan deserves the death penalty for perpetrating the Nov. 5, 2009, Fort Hood massacre. He has earned this penalty not only for the scale of his crime - the worst domestic attack on a military installation in American history, killing 13 and wounding 32 - but also for the purposeful way he planned and executed the assault, his jihadist motives and for the fundamental betrayal of the trust placed in him as an officer in the United States Army.

Witness testimony at the ongoing Article 32 hearings in a military court at Fort Hood paints a harrowing picture of Hasan as a heartless, ideologically motivated killer. The judge, Col. James Pohl, has asked for testimony from all the wounded survivors of the attack. Hasan was heavily armed, with over 300 rounds of ammunition, of which he expended at least 146. He did not fire randomly but carefully chose targets with a laser sight before firing multiple rounds into his panicked, unarmed victims. He showed no mercy to them, and deserves none himself.

Maj. Steven Richter, who testified via webcam from his current post in South Korea, recalled telling the police, “He’s one of us.” But more accurately, Hasan is one of them, an al Qaeda-inspired Islamic extremist who prefaced his assault with the jihadist war cry “Allahu Akbar!” His fateful moment was facilitated by a string of intelligence failures and oversights motivated by an overweening and persistent sense of political correctness in the military establishment.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...

NOTE The following text is a quote:

FBI National Press Office

www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-response-to-senate-fort-hood-report

FBI Response to Senate Fort Hood Report
Washington, D.C.
February 03, 2011

The FBI released the following statement in response to the report issued by Chairman Joseph Lieberman and Ranking Member Susan Collins, of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, on the events surrounding the shootings at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009.

The FBI recognizes the value of congressional oversight and agrees with much in the report and many of its recommendations. During the internal FBI review undertaken immediately after the attack at Fort Hood, we identified several of the areas of concern outlined in the report, and, as noted in the report, have implemented changes to our systems and processes to address them. We will review each of the report’s recommendations and adopt them, as appropriate.

While concluding that the FBI’s transformation to an intelligence-driven organization remains a work in progress, the report recognizes the FBI’s substantial progress and many successes, led by Joint Terrorism Task Forces, in disrupting terrorist plots by homegrown extremists.

In addition, we look forward to the recommendations of Judge William H. Webster, who is conducting an independent, outside review of the FBI’s actions with respect to Fort Hood. Judge Webster and his team are evaluating the corrective actions taken to determine whether they are sufficient and whether there are other policy or procedural steps the FBI should consider to improve its ability to detect and prevent such threats in the future.

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