Jennifer's Blog

The silver screen is infamous for featuring bumbling intelligence agents who hoard sensitive information from local agencies. This is not too far from the truth when it comes to the bloodbath at Ft. Hood. Consider the FBI monitored email exchanges released Saturday in the Washington Post. True to Oscar Wilde’s quote, “Reality imitates art far more than art imitates reality,” the investigation was amiss.

Here’s why. An FBI-led task force in San Diego intercepted emails between late 2008 and June 2009 between Hasan, the alleged Ft. Hood shooter, and a radical Islamic cleric, Anwar al-Aulaqi. These emails discussed covert financial transfers and other steps that could translate Hasan’s thoughts into actions, according to sources briefed by the Post.

Keep in mind, news sources published in the wake of the tragedy that the semi-automatic Hasan purchased with cop-killer bullets was in August of 2009. It also brings up the question of why a military officer would need a personal semi-automatic. While there are plenty arguments against gun control and waiting periods, it might create a safety net if the armed forces knew when the soldiers they're training for combat purchase semi-automatics on their own dime (or this case just over $1,000 for the FM 5.7 millimeter semi-automatic pistol Hasan toted not to mention the addtional cost of the personal revolver in his other hand).

Failure to Connect the Dots

Failure to forward information regarding a homegrown jihadist might seem passable in a Hollywood thriller but it is incredibly irresponsible in reality. While the media has not released any reports of civil cases against governmental agencies to my knowledge, I wouldn’t be surprised if they multiply.

The Post also reported that while Hasan’s emails to the Iman began as religious queries, the tone became more specific before he relocated to Texas. Besides killing 13 in cold blood and injuring 30 more, who knows what additional damage he may have caused the enlisted men and women he counseled. There have been reports of a high suicide rate at Ft. Hood. Just how many attempted or successful suicides were under Hasan’s care?

It would seem likely that if the intelligence agencies had a policy of open communication and knew that high ranking officials would hold them accountable then its plausible Ft. Hood could have experienced another outcome.

A number of people interviewed that knew Hasan said they observed warning signs. However, none of these complaints went to a single gatekeeper that could act on this information. Sadly, if a single gatekeeper's office tracked and assessed his actions there could have been an intervention by authorities.

More than likely, no one is connecting the dots and identifying potential human time bombs when they see them. Military personnel from the highest ranks down needs to know the potential warning signs that can lead to violent acts like shooting sprees,  suicides, etc. There are a number of well-researched assessments that establish suicidal and violent behavior indicators for adults as well as adolescents. High schools on down have had to rely on such assessments after the Columbine case made knowing the warning signs mandatory. It appears our military forces and national security agencies have some work to do to break away from their existing silos, report warning signs to a central assessment department, make transparency between agencies a reality and ultimately practice measures early-on that can save lives and prevent tragedies like Ft. Hood from ever occurring again.

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Tags: Anwar al-Aulaqi, FBI, Ft. Hood, Hasan, US Armed Forces, Washington Post, Yemen cleric

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 12:49 pm and is filed under terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.