Report: Fort Hood massacre could have been prevented Report slams FBI over Fort Hood attack

Massacre was preventable, senators say

This 2007 file photo provided by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences shows Nidal Malik Hasan when he entered the program for his Disaster and Military Psychiatry Fellowship. This 2007 file photo provided by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences shows Nidal Malik Hasan when he entered the program for his Disaster and Military Psychiatry Fellowship. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Report: Fort Hood massacre could have been prevented 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The failure of the nation's premier law enforcement agency to delve into the actions and hardening attitudes of the 40-year-old Army-trained psychiatrist contributed to missed opportunities to prevent the bloody rampage on Nov. 5, 2009, that killed 13 and wounded 32 others, Senate investigators found.

"This is not a case where a lone wolf was unknown to the FBI, unknown to the military officials until he struck - and that is the tragedy of this case," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs that conducted the most thorough public inquiry to date.

"This is not a case where a lone wolf was unknown to the FBI, unknown to the military officials until he struck - and that is the tragedy of this case," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs that conducted the most thorough public inquiry to date.

The Senate probe publicly detailed for the first time the internal snafus at the FBI that left federal authorities without a clear picture of who Hasan was and what he might do.

A Joint Terrorism Task Force based in San Diego intercepted as many as 18 e-mails between Hasan and radical Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen and alerted its JTTF counterpart in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 7, 2009 - months before the shooting spree. Hasan was stationed in Washington at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

But the task force in Washington waited more than six weeks before assigning the investigation to an analyst, a Defense Department employee loaned to the joint FBI-CIA task force. The analyst then waited 89 days to complete his inquiries before writing a final assessment of Hasan in just four hours, effectively ending further FBI inquiry.

But the task force in Washington waited more than six weeks before assigning the investigation to an analyst, a Defense Department employee loaned to the joint FBI-CIA task force. The analyst then waited 89 days to complete his inquiries before writing a final assessment of Hasan in just four hours, effectively ending further FBI inquiry.

Not given full access

The FBI failed to give the Pentagon analyst full access to a key FBI database that "likely would have sparked a more in-depth inquiry," investigators found.

"Our report's painful conclusion is that the Fort Hood massacre could have and should have been prevented," added Sen. Joe Lieberman, the political independent from Connecticut who chairs the Senate panel.

The report clearing Hasan of further investigation "explained Hasan's communications with the suspected terrorist as research based on the sanitized and misleading officer evaluation report of Hasan from Walter Reed," Lieberman said.

Hasan's deepening commitment to radical Islamic extremism and his ties to a known al-Qaida affiliate should have prompted the Army to discharge him "and make him the subject of an aggressive counterterrorism investigation," Lieberman added.

Both the FBI and the Army became enmeshed in "a tragedy of errors" that "with the clarity of hindsight just shouts out, 'Stop this guy before he kills somebody!' " Lieberman said.

Neither of the two task forces alerted the Fort Hood commander, Army Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, that intercepted communications allegedly showed Hasan in touch with suspected al-Qaida affiliates overseas before his scheduled deployment to Afghanistan.

'A Ticking Time Bomb'

The 89-page report, "A Ticking Time Bomb" recounted Hasan's self-radicalization during Army medical training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Investigators said he suggested to colleagues that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks might be a form of revenge, and suicide bombings might be justified.

"The officers who kept Hasan in the military and moved him steadily along knew full well of his problematic behavior," the report found. The officer who assigned Hasan to Fort Hood and later decided to deploy him to Afghanistan "admitted to an officer at Fort Hood, 'you're getting our worst.' "

Eyewitnesses to the attack recalled Hasan shouting "God is great" in Arabic as he fired point blank at targeted military personnel at the Soldier Readiness Center that processes GIs en route to or returning from deployment in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Five months after the attack, President Barack Obama designated Anwar al-Awlaki, Hasan's contact in Yemen, a "specially designated global terrorist" at war with the United States - a designation authorizing U.S. forces to kill on sight.

The FBI and the Army publicly welcomed aspects of the Senate report, without directly addressing its criticisms.

The FBI "recognizes the value of congressional oversight and agrees with much in the report and many of its recommendations," the agency said without being specific.

The FBI has made changes since Hasan's alleged attack, with further changes awaiting the outcome of an independent review by Judge William H. Webster, a former director of the FBI and CIA who is evaluating whether the FBI should make further changes "to improve its ability to detect and prevent such threats in the future," the statement added.

Lt. Col. Robert L. Ditchey II, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense Department appreciated the Senate committee's efforts to "examine circumstances surrounding" the shootings. "We will continue to cooperate with Congress while ensuring the integrity of the administration's own internal reviews as well as any ongoing criminal investigation or prosecution."

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, said the committee investigation "reveals what many of us feared: There were clear and troubling warning signs that were ignored."

Lieberman and Collins said no one had been fired or disciplined so far.

Not evil, just negligent

"There wasn't evil intent by people in the federal government. There was just what I would call negligence, failure to perform the duties as we have a right to expect federal employees will do," Lieberman said

Hasan awaits the next step in pre-trial proceedings after a three-member Army "sanity" board's finding in late January that the U.S. citizen of Palestinian descent was sane and fit to stand trial on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

Army Col. Morgan Lamb, the special court-martial convening authority, has granted a delay in the case until Feb. 23 when Hasan's lawyers are scheduled to meet with the Army officer overseeing the case.

A final decision on proceeding to trial will be made by the commanding general at Fort Hood.

stewart.powell@chron.com