Shooting at Ft. Hood Texas 11/05/09 13 dead, 43 wounded-(Murder Charges)

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Fort Hood inquiry to focus on personnel accountability

Stars and Stripes
European edition, Saturday, January 23, 2010

The Army announced it was launching an investigation Thursday into whether any Army personnel should have been able to prevent November’s deadly attack at Fort Hood, Texas. It will also recommend punishment for anyone found responsible.

Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder

"I have directed Gen. Carter Ham to conduct an accountability review to identify whether any personnel were responsible for failures or deficiencies in applying Army programs, policies, and procedures to the alleged assailant," Army Secretary John McHugh said in a statement. "Further, he will provide a recommendation as to whether disciplinary or adverse action is warranted by each finding, and if so, the nature of such disciplinary or adverse action and the basis for such recommendation."

Ham is the commander of U.S. Army Europe. The Army’s investigation follows inquiries previously undertaken by the White House and the Pentagon.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67434

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Army Secretary Directs Fort Hood Accountability Review

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2010 – The Army will conduct a review to determine if leaders were negligent in their supervision of accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, Defense Department officials announced yesterday.

Army Secretary John McHugh has directed Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of U.S. Army Europe, “to conduct an accountability review to identify whether any personnel were responsible for failures or deficiencies in applying Army programs, policies, and procedures to the alleged assailant,” according to a Defense Department news release.

McHugh also has tasked Ham to provide personal observations he may have developed as a senior Army leader and as a member of the independent panel that investigated the shooting that he believes may be of help to the Army in charting a way ahead.

The independent panel -- co-chaired by former Army Secretary Togo D. West Jr. and retired Navy Adm. Vernon E. Clark, a former chief of naval operations -- provided its report to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Jan. 15.

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, Texas. The alleged assailant was shot and disabled by a Fort Hood civilian police officer, who also was wounded in an exchange of gunfire.

Still hospitalized and under detention, Hasan 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.

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 2009.

This week, West and Clark discussed the findings of their report with legislators on Capitol Hill. Gates directed the panel to review military personnel policies, procedures for force protection, and emergency response measures, West said during Jan. 20 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, as well as policies that apply to those who provide medical care to servicemembers.

The panel also was tasked to “take a look at how the Army applied its policies and procedures to the alleged perpetrator,” West told House legislators.

The military, West told committee members, needs “to pay attention” to potential dangers as the war against global extremism continues.

“The fact is that we need to understand the forces that cause an individual to radicalize, commit violent acts and thereby to make us vulnerable from within,” West said.

It also is imperative, West said, that military leaders produce honest appraisals of their subordinates.

“Evaluations make a difference,” West told House committee members. “And we can’t do the job of leading or protecting against threats if honest evaluations are not done by those who have the duty, the information and the authority to do so.”

The Army is an organization based “on disciplined and established standards,” McHugh said in his statement.

“Leaders at every level are responsible for ensuring that our policies and regulations are followed and that appropriate action is taken if they are not,” McHugh added.

The Fort Hood incident, he said, is an opportunity for the Army “to reinforce the basics of leader involvement with soldiers.”

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57684

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Army doc: No clues to violence in Hasan file

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — In the wake of a mass shooting allegedly by a military psychiatrist, the Army's top doctor acknowledged his service needs to improve how it manages medical officers, including using more candor in reviewing their officers' performance.

But Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army surgeon general, told USA TODAY there's no evidence his staff "could have predicted" that Maj. Nidal Hasan, the man accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas, "could have become a mass murderer."

GATES: Fort Hood probe reveals military security flaws
MORE: Doctors voiced concerns, did not act

In the 12 years that Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was trained and promoted to major, he may not have been "an ideal clinician, not an ideal professional soldier," Schoomaker said. But, Schoomaker said, there were no clues of potential violence.

"I don't see anywhere in there (a recently released Pentagon review of the shootings), and no one has ever intimated that we should have been able to see from what we saw that this man would have become the alleged mass murderer that he is or is accused of being," Schoomaker said in an interview at his Falls Church office this week.

Hasan is accused of opening fire Nov. 5 at a soldier readiness center at Fort Hood, killing 12 soldiers and one civilian, and wounding 43. He faces murder charges in a military court.

The psychiatrist had been ranked outstanding in officer performance, despite a shoddy record of medical performance and inappropriate discussion of his Muslim faith at work, according to government documents quoted by the Associated Press.

Medical supervisors were not made aware that Hasan was e-mailing a radical Islamic cleric in Yemen, something uncovered by U.S. terrorism investigators in the months prior to the shooting.

Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates released the findings of an independent review of the shooting conducted by former Army secretary Togo West and retired admiral Vern Clark. It recommends reviewing officer standards used by medical supervisors in Hasan's case.

"Some signs were clearly missed (in Hasan's case); others ignored," the review concludes, urging that officers who supervised Hasan be held accountable. Gates directed Army Secretary John McHugh to act on the recommendations.

On Thursday, McHugh appointed Gen. Carter Ham, who worked on the independent review, to investigate its conclusions and recommend any disciplinary actions necessary.

Schoomaker's remarks came during a wide-ranging interview about military medicine. He said that because of pending murder charges against Hasan and an ongoing Army review, he could not discuss Hasan's case in detail and could not address whether Hasan should have been promoted.

The controversy surrounding his staff's handling of Hasan has hurt the medical department's image as it tries to hire 519 additional mental health specialists to deal with the growing demands of combat stress, Schoomaker said.

Morale has slumped, he said, particularly among Army behavioral health workers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where Hasan did his residency and fellowship from 2003 to 2009.

"The same system that delivered this alleged shooter has trained and career-developed professionally as officers, as well as clinicians, thousands of dedicated and really highly proficient practitioners," Schoomaker said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2010-01-21-Schoomaker_N.htm

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A Guest comment:

I am an officer in the Navy of the equivalent rank as Maj Hassan. I have given and received many performance evaluations. I have also trained and evaluated future officers through NROTC. Let me make one thing clear...every time I write a negative evaluation, my career is also on the line. This i ...more
I am an officer in the Navy of the equivalent rank as Maj Hassan. I have given and received many performance evaluations. I have also trained and evaluated future officers through NROTC. Let me make one thing clear...every time I write a negative evaluation, my career is also on the line. This is especially true when evaluating a minority or female service member. My boss's career is also on the line (and the same for HIS boss). I was contacted and investigated by a U.S. Senator's office for removing one minority student from the NROTC based on failing grades and poor leadership skills. Later when I pushed to refuse re-enlistment for a minority female, it took four months of fighting with my XO because of fears of a lawsuit. She had failed our physical test for two full years, failed to promote for five years, and failed qualification exams three times in a row. Any one of these would have been sufficient if she was a white male. I finally got permission to recommend against re-enlistment when she was caught forging medical waivers.

I firmly believe we need to guard against racism, sexism, bias, and harrassment. However, there is a difference between protection and political correctness. We haven't found the proper balance yet. Until we do, political correctness will continue to endanger the lives of our Soldiers and Sailors

In wake of Fort Hood, Congress drills Army on promotion system
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/21/congress.fort.hood/

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Muslim group wants meeting with Inhofe

Associated Press - January 22, 2010 6:15 PM ET

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations wants to meet with Sen. Jim Inhofe over comments he made in support of government profiling of Muslims.

CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi made the request Friday. Hashmi says it's disturbing to hear a U.S. senator suggest that entire religious and ethnic groups should automatically be considered terror suspects.

Inhofe made the remarks Thursday at the Senate Armed Services Committee review of the Fort Hood shootings. In reference to Muslims and Middle Easterners, Inhofe said he believes in racial and ethnic profiling.

Inhofe spokesman Jared Young says CAIR has not contacted the Republican senator to request a meeting. But Young says the senator is happy to meet with constituents and constituency groups to discuss their concerns.

http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=11867410

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Editorial: The military's immigrant recruits
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/50804

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Fort Hood suspect's lawyer seeks mental exam delay
   
By ANGELA K. BROWN
The Associated Press
Monday, January 25, 2010; 5:13 PM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- An attorney for the Army psychiatrist accused of going on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood said Monday he wants his client's mental evaluation delayed citing a potential conflict of interest with the exam panel.

Army officials previously appointed a three-member board of military mental health professionals to determine whether Maj. Nidal Hasan is competent to stand trial and his mental status the day of the November shooting, which left 13 dead and dozens wounded on the Texas Army post.

The board is to start reviewing documents next week and begin evaluating the Army psychiatrist as early as Feb. 8, said Hasan's attorney John Galligan. After the board interviews and does psychological testing on Hasan, the findings will go to Army prosecutors by the end of February.

But Galligan said one panel member taught at the medical school Hasan attended, although Galligan was unsure if that doctor directly taught or knew Hasan. Galligan declined to release any board members' identities.

In his motion to Army officials last week, Galligan said he also requested an all-civilian board, saying doctors with no military ties likely would be more objective and not worried about repercussions if their diagnosis was considered favorable to Hasan.

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates released an internal Pentagon review that found several unidentified medical officers failed to use "appropriate judgment and standards of officership" when reviewing Hasan's performance as a student, internist and psychiatric resident.

"Why would this same system evaluate one of its own in a case of this magnitude?" Galligan said Monday from his office near Fort Hood, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

Fort Hood officials did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.
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Galligan also said he still has not received military files relevant to Hasan's mental status, including academic and performance evaluations, records indicating Hasan was at risk of psychosis and minutes of meetings in which Hasan allegedly discussed his religious concerns.

Galligan said he wants to present those documents to the board for its review.

"I don't know if it will help or hurt his case, but it's something the board should have," Galligan said.

The exam is expected to be done at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where Hasan is undergoing rehabilitation for his paralysis. Authorities have said Hasan was shot and wounded by Fort Hood's police force.

The sanity board will determine whether Hasan had a severe mental illness at the time of the shooting, and if so, his clinical psychological diagnosis, whether that prevented him from knowing at the time that his alleged actions were wrong, and if he is competent to stand trial, according to military law.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012502757.html

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Fort Hood Suspect's Attorney Questions Mental Exam

Monday, January 25, 2010

FORT WORTH, Texas —  The attorney for the man accused of going on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood wants to challenge the Army's plan to have three military health professionals determine whether his client is competent to stand trial.

Attorney John Galligan said Monday he has requested a delay in Maj. Nidal Hasan's mental evaluation set to start next week.

Galligan says the board should be made up of civilian doctors because recent government reviews of the shooting have cited numerous problems in the military health care system.

The board also will determine the Army psychiatrist's mental status the day of the November shooting that left 13 dead at the Texas Army post.

Fort Hood officials did not immediately return calls Monday.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583854,00.html

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Opinions

Hassan should be charged with 14

Posted Monday, Jan. 25, 2010 Comments   

Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-Dist. 12) endorsed the call for a 14th murder charge to be added to the 13 existing murder charges against Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, perpetrator of the Fort Hood Shootings.

On Dec. 9, the Texas Conservative Coalition, a group of 31 state legislators, sent a letter to Secretary of the Army, John McHugh, calling for the 14th murder charge based on the fact that one of the victims, Pvt. Francheska Velez, was pregnant.

Hasan has been charged under Article 118 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Article 119 of the UCMJ states that the person responsible for "... death of, or bodily injury to, a child, who is in utero at the time the conduct takes place, is guilty of a separate offense." Also, "An offense under this section does not require proof that the person engaging in the conduct had knowledge or should have had knowledge that the victim of the underlying offense was pregnant."

"Based on the spirit of the military law it is entirely appropriate for the Army to apply a 14th murder charge against Major Hasan," Granger said. "This already heinous crime is only inflamed by the fact that one of the victims was pregnant and her unborn child was murdered. I call on the Army to respond to the Texas legislators’ inquiry in a timely manner and I hope that Secretary McHugh will show the same respect for this unborn life that military law prescribes."

http://www.star-telegram.com/weatherfordtelegram/opinions/story/1920097.html

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Fort Hood and DOD Independent Review

By Arline Kaplan | January 25, 2010

Army personnel responsible for supervising the Army psychiatrist now accused of the November 5, 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Tex, may find themselves accused of failing to follow Army policies and regulations and taking appropriate actions.

An independent review panel recently recommended in its Fort Hood report that Army Secretary John McHugh “review officership standards among military medical officer supervisors at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences [USUHS] and Walter Reed Army Medical Center [WRAMC].” In a recent press release, McHugh asked General Carter Ham to conduct an accountability review and recommend possible disciplinary actions.

The accused psychiatrist, Maj Nidal Malik Hasan, has been charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) with 13 specifications of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, and is awaiting trial, according to a White House press statement.

Following the Fort Hood shootings, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates asked former Army Secretary Togo Dennis West, Jr and former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Vern Clark, US Navy (Ret), to conduct an independent review of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) policies, programs, and procedures for identifying and responding to internal threats. The 86-page review, Protecting the Force: Lessons from Fort Hood, was released on January 15.

The panel was asked to do a careful review of personnel policies, of force-protection measures, of emergency-response plans, of support to DOD healthcare providers, and of oversight of the “alleged perpetrator.”

Hasan received his medical training at USUHS from 1997 to 2003. Thereafter, he was a psychiatric resident and then fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry at WRAMC. In May of 2009, he was assigned to Fort Hood. An Associated Press story as well as a Psychiatric Times article on Fort Hood have identified some of Hasan’s supervisors, but the DOD and the Army have not released the number of individuals subject to review nor their names.

West told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the review panel investigated the accession, training, education, supervision, and promotion of Hasan, but he could not address specifics about Hasan in open session so as to preserve the integrity of the ongoing military justice process. Details about Hasan’s personnel records located in a partially redacted annex are for official use only.

The review panel also charged that some medical officers failed to include the alleged perpetrator’s overall performance as an officer, rather than solely his academic performance in his formal performance evaluation.

What the review panel concluded is “what gets reported in the formal personnel officer evaluations often does not pick up personal behavioral issues. Sometimes there’s a reluctance to address those kinds of issues, and also, if observed at one post, [a reluctance] to pass along those concerns or behavioral issues to the next post,” said Secretary Gates at a press conference.

In the accountability investigation, General Ham, who was a review panel member, will identify whether any personnel were responsible for failures or deficiencies in applying Army programs, policies, and procedures to the alleged assailant. He will also issue recommendations as to whether disciplinary or adverse action is warranted by each finding, and if so, the nature of such disciplinary or adverse action and the basis for such recommendation.

He is expected to report back to McHugh by mid- to late February, said Lt Col Anne Edgecomb, an Army public affairs officer. Asked about possible punishments, she said there could be nonjudicial punishments, such as a letter of reprimand or forfeiture of pay, or a judicial action according to the UCMJ that might result in a court-martial.

Other Findings
The review panel, which looked at some 35,000 pages from 700 documents and visited Fort Hood, identified several problems. Among them:

-A culture exists in which military healthcare providers are encouraged to deny their own physical, psychological and social needs to provide the necessary support to beneficiaries

-Lack of DOD policies that recognize, define, integrate and synchronize monitoring and intervention efforts to assess and build healthcare provider readiness

-A critical need for preventive programs designed to provide comprehensive support to enhance resilience and reduce fatigue in behavioral health employees treating mental health problems

-A failure in DOD force-protection programs to focus on internal threats, such as workplace violence and self-radicalization, and a lack of knowledge about what motivates a person to become radicalized and commit violent acts.

Secretary Gates said that Paul Stockton, PhD, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and America’s Security Affairs, has been charged with implementing the review panel’s recommendations as quickly as appropriate. Some fixes will be accomplished by March with other more fundamental institutional changes underway by June.

Radicalization
In both the Senate and House Armed Services Committee hearings on the review panel’s findings, Clark and West were criticized for not singling out Islamic extremist radicalization within the military in the review. Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Senator Susan Clark Collins (R-Maine) called for specific training on recognizing the warning signs of Islamic extremism, while Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich) said Muslims should be involved when distinguishing the signs of Islamic extremism from legitimate religious expression.

West, responding to Senate Committee questions, said, “Violent, aggressive religious extremism is a source of threat to our soldiers, sailors, Marines airmen and Coast Guard personnel, whatever the religious source…We have been focused on the external threat; now we have to focus on the internal threat, from one of our own. We want to make sure that we look at the indicators, and religious extremism, whatever the source, is an indicator.”

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/1513696?verify=0

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Army Secretary directs Fort Hood accountability review

Jan 25, 2010

By Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service
SECARMY at Fort Hood

WASHINGTON (Jan. 22, 2010) -- The Army will conduct a review to determine if leaders were negligent in their supervision of accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, Defense Department officials announced yesterday.

Army Secretary John McHugh has directed Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of U.S. Army Europe, "to conduct an accountability review to identify whether any personnel were responsible for failures or deficiencies in applying Army programs, policies, and procedures to the alleged assailant," according to a Defense Department news release.

McHugh also has tasked Ham to provide personal observations he may have developed as a senior Army leader and as a member of the independent panel that investigated the shooting that he believes may be of help to the Army in charting a way ahead.

The independent panel -- co-chaired by former Army Secretary Togo D. West Jr. and retired Navy Adm. Vernon E. Clark, a former chief of naval operations -- provided its report to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Jan. 15.

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, Texas. The alleged assailant was shot and disabled by a Fort Hood civilian police officer, who also was wounded in an exchange of gunfire.

Still hospitalized and under detention, Hasan 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.

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 2009.

This week, West and Clark discussed the findings of their report with legislators on Capitol Hill. Gates directed the panel to review military personnel policies, procedures for force protection, and emergency response measures, West said during Jan. 20 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, as well as policies that apply to those who provide medical care to servicemembers.

The panel also was tasked to "take a look at how the Army applied its policies and procedures to the alleged perpetrator," West told House legislators.

The military, West told committee members, needs "to pay attention" to potential dangers as the war against global extremism continues.

"The fact is that we need to understand the forces that cause an individual to radicalize, commit violent acts and thereby to make us vulnerable from within," West said.

It also is imperative, West said, that military leaders produce honest appraisals of their subordinates.

"Evaluations make a difference," West told House committee members. "And we can't do the job of leading or protecting against threats if honest evaluations are not done by those who have the duty, the information and the authority to do so."

The Army is an organization based "on disciplined and established standards," McHugh said in his statement.

"Leaders at every level are responsible for ensuring that our policies and regulations are followed and that appropriate action is taken if they are not," McHugh added.

The Fort Hood incident, he said, is an opportunity for the Army "to reinforce the basics of leader involvement with Soldiers."

http://www.army.mil/-news/2010/01/25/33432-army-secretary-directs-fort-hood-accountability-review/

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US Cleric: Accused Plane Bomber Was My Student

US-born Yemeni cleric says suspect in Christmas airliner attack was his student
By AHMED AL-HAJ and SARAH EL DEEB Associated Press Writers
SAN'A, Yemen February 4, 2010 (AP)
The Associated Press

A radical American-Yemeni Islamic cleric suspected of ties to al-Qaida has said the Nigerian accused in the failed Christmas airliner attack was his student but that he didn't tell him to carry out the operation, Al-Jazeera television reported.

The U.S.-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, is believed by U.S. officials to be working with al-Qaida's offshoot in Yemen, which has claimed responsibility for planning the attempt to bomb an American passenger jet. Al-Awlaki also is known to have had contacts with the U.S. Army major accused in the Nov. 5 shooting rampage at the Fort Hood military base.

Yemeni officials have said they believe al-Awlaki met in Yemen with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian accused in the Christmas bombing.

Al-Awlaki, who is believed to be hiding in the remote mountains of Yemen, spoke in an interview with a Yemeni journalist who reported it to the Al-Jazeera Web site.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=9744188

[Heart]

US Cleric: Accused Plane Bomber Was My Student

US-born Yemeni cleric says suspect in Christmas airliner attack was his student
By AHMED AL-HAJ and SARAH EL DEEB Associated Press Writers
SAN'A, Yemen February 4, 2010 (AP)
The Associated Press

A radical American-Yemeni Islamic cleric suspected of ties to al-Qaida has said the Nigerian accused in the failed Christmas airliner attack was his student but that he didn't tell him to carry out the operation, Al-Jazeera television reported.

The U.S.-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, is believed by U.S. officials to be working with al-Qaida's offshoot in Yemen, which has claimed responsibility for planning the attempt to bomb an American passenger jet. Al-Awlaki also is known to have had contacts with the U.S. Army major accused in the Nov. 5 shooting rampage at the Fort Hood military base.

Yemeni officials have said they believe al-Awlaki met in Yemen with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian accused in the Christmas bombing.

Al-Awlaki, who is believed to be hiding in the remote mountains of Yemen, spoke in an interview with a Yemeni journalist who reported it to the Al-Jazeera Web site.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=9744188

It was not clear when the interview took place or whether it took place in person. The journalist, one of the few said to have direct contacts with al-Awlaki, previously interviewed the cleric after the Fort Hood shooting.

"Brother mujahed Umar Farouk — may God relieve him — is one of my students, yes," al-Awlaki said in the interview, which Al-Jazeera reported on its Web site Tuesday. "We had kept in contact, but I didn't issue a fatwa to Umar Farouk for this operation," al-Awlaki was quoted as saying.

Al-Awlaki said he supported the Christmas attack, but it would have been better if the target was a U.S. military target or plane.

"I support what Umar Farouk did after seeing my brothers in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan being killed," he was quoted as saying. "If it was a military plane or a U.S. military target it would have been better...(but) the American people have participated in all the crimes of their government."

"Some 300 Americans are nothing compared to thousands Muslims they have killed," he said.It was not clear when the interview took place or whether it took place in person. The journalist, one of the few said to have direct contacts with al-Awlaki, previously interviewed the cleric after the Fort Hood shooting.

"Brother mujahed Umar Farouk — may God relieve him — is one of my students, yes," al-Awlaki said in the interview, which Al-Jazeera reported on its Web site Tuesday. "We had kept in contact, but I didn't issue a fatwa to Umar Farouk for this operation," al-Awlaki was quoted as saying.

Al-Awlaki said he supported the Christmas attack, but it would have been better if the target was a U.S. military target or plane.

"I support what Umar Farouk did after seeing my brothers in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan being killed," he was quoted as saying. "If it was a military plane or a U.S. military target it would have been better...(but) the American people have participated in all the crimes of their government."

"Some 300 Americans are nothing compared to thousands Muslims they have killed," he said.

Al-Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents and who once preached in mosques in California and northern Virginia, moved to his ancestral hometown in Yemen in 2004. He has become popular among Islamic militant sympathizers for his English-language Internet sermons, in which he explains to young Muslims the philosophy of violent jihad and martyrdom against the West and its allied Muslim and Arab governments.

Al-Awlaki exchanged up to 20 e-mails with the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood attack, U.S. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan months before it. Hasan initiated the contacts, seeking religious advice.

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Alert: Female Suicide Bombers May Be Heading Here From Yemen
U.S. Agents Told Women Believed Connected to Al Qaeda May Have Western Appearance and Passports

By RICHARD ESPOSITO, RHONDA SCHWARTZ and BRIAN ROSS
Jan. 22, 2010

American law enforcement officials have been told to be on the lookout for female suicide bombers who may attempt to enter the United States, law enforcement authorities tell ABC News.
Diane Sawyer talks to Brian Ross about Yemen and the war on terror.

One official said at least two of them are believed to be connected to al Qaeda in Yemen, and may have a non-Arab appearance and be traveling on Western passports.

The threat was described as "current" but not imminent, said the official.

"They have trained women," said former White House counterterrorism official Richard Clarke, an ABC News consultant.

Separately, Britain raised its terrorism threat level to "severe," its second-highest level, days before London hosts major international meetings on how to deal with militancy in Afghanistan and Yemen. Britain's threat level had been labeled "severe" for several years before being lowered last summer to "substantial."

American officials say a U.S. air strike on Christmas Eve against suspected al Qaeda training camps is believed to have killed many, but not all, of a group of suicide bombers being trained in Yemen.
Related
Investigators: Northwest Bomb Plot Planned by al Qaeda in Yemen
Abdulmutallab, A Banker's Son Turned Muslim Radical
More from Brian Ross and the Investigative Team

The man accused of attempting to explode a bomb on Northwest flight 253, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, told FBI agents there were a number of other people who trained with him in Yemen.

"There are others who are still out there who have been trained and who are clean skins -- that means people who we do not have a record of, people who may not look like al Qaeda terrorists, who may not be Arabs, and may not be men," said Clarke.

The alert comes during a week in which American law enforcement officials described an "unusually high" number of people on the no-fly list attempting to board flights to or in the United States.

Six on No-Fly List Stopped in 48 Hours

At least six people on the no-fly list were denied boarding in a 48-hour period between Saturday and Monday this week, according to the officials.

Two of the six were stopped at London's Heathrow Airport.

On Saturday, an Egyptian man on the no-fly list was stopped from flying on American Airlines flight 113 from London to Miami.

The next day, Sunday, a Saudi Arabian passenger was stopped from boarding United Airlines flight 929 to Chicago. Officials said the man was sent back to Saudi Arabia by the British.

In two other overseas cases involving people on the no-fly list, a man in Nairobi, Kenya was kept off a flight Sunday that would have connected in Amsterdam to Dallas, and a passenger attempting to fly on American Airlines to Los Angeles was stopped in Saint Maarten before he could board a connecting flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to officials.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/female-suicide-bombers-heading-yemen/story?id=9636341

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Intelligence chief: U.S. can kill Americans abroad

From Barbara Starr, CNN
February 4, 2010 -- Updated 1626 GMT (0026 HKT)

Washington (CNN) -- The director of U.S. national intelligence said the government has the right to kill Americans abroad if they present a direct threat to U.S. security.

The admission from Dennis Blair came Wednesday at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on the annual threat assessment.

"We take direct action against terrorists in the intelligence community," Blair told lawmakers at the hearing. "If that direct action -- we think that direct action will involve killing an American, we get specific permission to do that."

Blair said the reason he made the admission was to reassure Americans.

"We're not careless about endangering American lives as we try to carry out the policies to protect most of the country," he said.

Blair went on to say the United States does not target Americans for taking part in free speech, but rather will target them if they threaten other Americans or the United States.

Topping the list of such Americans may be Anwar al-Awlaki, currently living in Yemen. Privately, many administration officials said he is one of the next American citizens abroad with whom the U.S. intelligence community wants to deal.

Al-Awlaki is a fugitive American-born preacher whom a U.S. counterterrorism official described as a "key associate of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's top leaders and one of their go-to men for external plotting."

Another American security official told CNN that U.S. authorities want al-Awlaki for questioning but denied there is an explicit order to "take him out."

U.S. security sources said last month they had concrete and independent confirmation that al-Awlaki had met with Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the Nigerian accused in the failed Christmas Day bomb plot aboard a plane heading to Detroit, Michigan.

Al-Awlaki has confirmed his contact with U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, the man accused of shooting and killing 13 people in November at Fort Hood, Texas.

If the United States were to take action against American, it would be a decision based on intelligence information that a citizen is posing a threat and must be dealt with, according to Blair.

The United States often uses drones to target terrorist suspects, and the special forces have a covert capability to deal with such situations.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/04/killing.americans/

[Heart]

Experts: Al Qaeda in Yemen may send American jihadis, recruited by Anwar al-Awlaki, to attack U.S.

BY James Gordon Meek
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Thursday, February 4th 2010, 12:08 AM

Radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni-American, is on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration, The News has confirmed.

WASHINGTON - Counterterror chiefs fear Al Qaeda in Yemen may soon be sending American jihadis recruited by a radical cleric to attack the U.S., the Daily News has learned.

America's most senior intelligence officials told senators on Tuesday an attempted strike by terrorists within six months is "certain."

"There was nothing specific any of them were alluding to," a senior counterterror official told The News. "But we certainly have indications that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has a variety of plans to strike the United States."

Anyone who thinks underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was "the only one trained to execute a plan would be incredibly naive," the official said.

Radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni-American, is now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration, The News has confirmed.

Asked by Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) Wednesday about the "hypothetical" targeted killing of an American "cleric" overseas, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair explained why they'd draw a bull's-eye on someone like Awlaki.

"We don't target people for free speech. We target them for taking action that threatens Americans," Blair told the House Intelligence Committee.

"If we think direct action will involve killing an American, we get specific permission to do that," Blair added.

Awlaki befriended several 9/11 hijackers while an imam at mosques in San Diego and Washington's Virginia suburbs.

From Yemen, he traded e-mails with the Fort Hood mass killer, U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, and with Nigerian rich kid Abdulmutallab, whom he also likely met with, according to the sources.

"We don't know how many additional Americans he's gotten to," the senior official said of Awlaki, who escaped a Dec. 24 U.S. air strike aimed at Al Qaeda in Arabia leaders.

Awlaki told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that Abdulmutallab was his "student" but he didn't give him a fatwa - a religious order - to bomb a U.S.-bound jetliner. He did allow that he's looking over his shoulder due to his unapologetic ties to the other killers.

Special operations units are actively targeting Al Qaeda leaders in Yemen with air strikes, but a source insisted they're not conducting any ground raids yet.

Meanwhile, three U.S. troops were killed and two wounded by a bomb in the lower Dir Valley of Pakistan, officials said. They were the first known U.S. military fatalities in the lawless region near the Afghan border.

U.S. Central Command said the troops were part of a training mission. Dir is due south of Chitral, where many sources have pinpointed the CIA's hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

A military spokesman said U.S. special operations forces have been part of a program to train Pakistan's tribal Frontier Corps.

jmeek@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/02/03/2010-02-03_american_jihadi_alert_terror_pros_say_yemen_qaeda_to_send_yank_recruits.html#ixzz0eag5X1ON

[Heart]

U.S. preacher says backs failed plane bombing: report

DUBAI
Wed Feb 3, 2010 5:22pm EST

DUBAI (Reuters) - A radical Muslim preacher linked to a gunman who ran amok at a U.S. army base, has said he supports the failed bombing of a U.S. plane but that he did not encourage the attack, according to Al Jazeera television's website.

In an interview which the website said a Yemeni freelance journalist had held with Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born preacher said he had been a teacher of the Nigerian suspect in the December 25 attempted bombing of the U.S.-bound plane.

"The mujahid brother, Umar Farouk (Abdulmutallab) ... is one of my students. Yes, and there was contact between us. But I did not issue a fatwa (religious edict) to Umar Farouk for this operation," Awlaki was quoted as saying.

The date of the interview, posted an Al Jazeera's website on February 2, was not clear. The Arab news television apparently did not report the interview in its broadcasts.

Yemeni officials have said Abdulmutllab met Awlaki in the Arab country where he studied Arabic and Islam. They said Awlaki may have been killed in an air strike on al Qaeda militants in Yemen in December, although other reports said he was on the run.

"I support what Umar Farouk did after seeing my brothers being killed in Palestine for more than 60 years, and they are being killed in Iraq and in Afghanistan," Awlaki told Abdulelah Shai.

"So don't ask me about al-Qaeda ... blowing up a passenger plane after all of this, 300 Americans are nothing compared to the thousands of Muslims they have killed."

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said the failed Christmas Day attack was in retaliation for an attack by U.S. planes on the group in Yemen. Yemen denies U.S. forces are involved in strikes on militants in the country.

Awlaki denounced Yemeni officials, who have launched a campaign against the resurgent local wing of al Qaeda, as lackeys of the West.

"The Yemeni government sells its citizens to America ... (against) funds from the West. Yemeni officials say to the Americans: 'Attack whatever you like, but do not claim this so as to not instigate the people against us...'," he said.

Awlaki, a U.S. citizen of Yemeni descent, returned to Yemen in 2004 where he taught at a university before he was arrested and imprisoned in 2006 for suspected links to al Qaeda and involvement in attacks.

He was released in December 2007 because he said he had repented, a Yemeni security official said. But he was later charged again on similar counts and went into hiding.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. Army psychiatrist who shot dead 13 people at the Fort Hood base in Texas on November 5, had contacts with Awlaki, according to U.S. officials. (Reporting by Firouz Sedarat)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6125YU20100203

[Heart]

SHOWING THE BULLET HOLE in the waistband of the pants she wore on Nov. 5, the day of the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, was Amber Bahr of Random Lake. Bahr, who is home on leave, tended to other injured soldiers that day without realizing she, too, had been shot. Photo by Sam Arendt

Soldier still haunted by shooting     

Written by Kristyn Halbig Ziehm   
Wednesday, 03 February 2010 19:36

Wounded at Fort Hood, Amber Bahr returns to a hero’s welcome in Random Lake but says she’s not a hero, just a soldier living with physical and emotional scars

Amber Bahr, the 20-year-old soldier from Random Lake whose efforts to save others even after she was shot during the Nov. 5 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, garnered acclaim from President  Barack Obama, came home to a hero’s welcome on Sunday.

At the airport, she was met by 38 Patriot Guard Riders, all holding flags, and Blue Star Mothers, as well as a musician playing patriotic songs on his bugle.

At home, firefighters drove her on a fire truck for a mini-parade through the village to a celebration at Globe Lanes.

“It was overwhelming,” Bahr said. “I knew there were going to be a few people there. I didn’t know the whole town was going to be there. It was crazy.

“It made my heart feel really full toknow that people cared.”
It’s not often a national hero comes from a small town like Random Lake, so it’s natural that the community would turn out to welcome Bahr, who tended to wounded soldiers during the shooting without realizing she had been shot.

But Bahr said she’s not a hero, just a soldier who did her job and looked after her battle buddies.

“I still don’t feel like I deserve all the praise I’m getting, all the attention I’m getting,” she said. “I don’t think I’m a hero. I just did what I was trained to do.”


Despite the acclaim, the incident has left a distinct mark on Bahr, who has been diagnosed with acute post traumatic stress disorder.

“It just makes me look at life in a completely different way,” she said. “I don’t like hearing sirens. It makes me really anxious. It’s hard for me to go out to eat. I have to sit in a corner. Nothing can be behind me. I have to see what’s going on around me.”

Four of her friends died of injuries they suffered, and Bahr still deals with frequent nightmares about the shooting.
Three pieces of shrapnel remain in her body, and doctors are still debating whether to remove them.

The incident has also brought her a new appreciation for life, her family and friends, Bahr said. 

Her mother Lisa Pfund agreed.

“I don’t take my family for granted,” Pfund said. “I still think, ‘Oh my God, I could have lost her.’

“I still get blown away thinking, ‘77,000 people at Fort Hood and my baby was there in the wrong place at the wrong time.’”

Her husband Neil has a different take on it, she said.

“He says she was in the right place at the right time, so she was able to help those who needed it,” Pfund said.

Bahr said she was inspired to join the Army by her grandfather, who was an Army veteran. Even before she graduated from Random Lake High School in 2008, she had enlisted in the Army and completed basic training.

A nutritionist, she was assigned to Fort Hood last May.

Shortly before noon on Nov. 5, Bahr said she and a group of friends were sitting in a corner of the medical center at the soldier readiness processing center on the base. They were preparing to be deployed to Afghanistan.
    Suddenly, she said, a man at a counter behind her — later identified as Army Major Nidal Hasan — yelled, “Allahu Akbar,” an Arabic phrase for “God is good,” and opened fire.

“We dropped down and covered our heads. We all thought it was a drill,” Bahr said. “After what seemed like a couple of seconds, the rounds just stopped. I smelled sulphur. I looked up and saw blood everywhere, people throwing chairs to try to hit him or knock the weapon out of his hand.”

Then the shooting started again.

“I remember looking at Sgt. (Alvin) Howard and I saw him get shot,” Bahr said. “I’ll never forget that.”

She began pushing and pulling people toward the door, and ran out herself. But she looked behind and saw Howard and her friend Specialist Matthew Cooke on the ground inside. She ran back and told them, “You’ve got to get up. You’ve got to get out of here.”

Howard did, but Cooke told her he had been shot and couldn’t get out.

“I told him, ‘This might hurt, but I’m going to get you out of here,’” Bahr said.

She dragged Cooke out of the room by his arms and with the help of others loaded him into a pickup truck outside. She saw two other wounded soldiers coming toward the truck, although only one, Pfc. Najee Hull, got in before the vehicle pulled away.

As the truck raced to the hospital, she hugged Hull and told him, “I promise I’m not going to let you die,” Bahr said. She took off her jacket and used it as a tourniquet to treat his leg wound.

At the hospital, Bahr and the other soldiers carried their four wounded comrades inside. A nurse told her to sit down, but she couldn’t.

“My heart was going like crazy. I could hardly breathe,” she said. “My adrenalin was pumping.”

She did eventually sit down, although she jumped up almost immediately. She felt pain, so she went into the emergency room and asked one of the officers there, “Did I cut myself or something?”

When he told her she’d been shot, she couldn’t believe it, Bahr said.

When the doctor put her in a bed, she said. “The pain started. It burned. It felt like I was on fire.”

She had no idea when she had been shot, but three bullets had grazed her and a fourth entered her back, nicking her lung. Fortunately, the bullet struck her belt, which slowed it significantly and prevented further damage, Bahr said.

A hospital physician called her mother, who was unaware of the shooting, and said Amber was in stable condition but could offer no details.

“I talked to Amber for about 20 seconds. She said, ‘I can’t tell you what happened, but it hurts so bad,’” her mother said.

It took hours before she was able to get in touch with Amber again.

“The death toll was rising and the not knowing was absolutely awful,” Pfund said.

In all, 13 people were killed in the shooting and more than 30 people injured. That day, her guardian angels were looking out for her, Bahr said.

“I know grandma and Andrew (Woods, a friend who died last year) were watching over me,” she said, noting she felt their presence. “I always wanted to make my grandpa and grandma proud.”

Bahr, who spent two days in the hospital, was hailed as a hero by Lt. Gen. Robert Cone immediately after the incident and by the president during a memorial service at Fort Hood.

She, her mother and sister Erika met Obama and first lady Michelle Obama just before the ceremony.

“The president basically said thank you. He was proud of what I did,” Bahr said. “He was really proud to have us in his military, and to be our commander in chief. He hugged me and talked to everyone in our circle.”

Since the shooting, Bahr has become a celebrity of sorts. She’s appeared on NBC’s “Today” show and is featured in Seventeen magazine’s February issue.

“I know there’s a lot of problems with girls thinking they’re not strong enough to do things,” Bahr said. “I want to let girls know they are strong. As long as you’re strong enough to tell yourself every day that you can do something, you will be strong enough when the time comes.”

Bahr, who will be home until Valentine’s Day, said those injured in the shooting will get purple hearts. A Texas congressman is leading a move to award them combat action badges.

Until her doctors clear her, Bahr has limitations on what she can do. Because of this, she’s been transferred from the 20th Battalion, which was deployed to Afghanistan about two weeks ago.

“It makes me sad to know my battle buddies are over there, my brothers and sisters. That’s where I should be,” Bahr said. “Afghanistan, I was looking forward to — that’s what I joined the Army to do.”

She’s been told her new battalion, the 67th, is likely to be deployed to Haiti to help rebuild the country, and she’s looking forward to that mission.

“To take part in something so big would just be an honor,” she said.
http://www.ozaukeepress.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=496:soldier-still-haunted-by-shooting&catid=51:feature-3

[Heart]

Al-Awlaki's father asks Obama to end manhunt

By Paula Newton, CNN International Security Correspondent
February 2, 2010 6:35 p.m. EST

London, England (CNN) -- The father of an al Qaeda suspect wrote to President Obama on Tuesday, urging him to reconsider an alleged order to capture or kill his son.

The father of Anwar al-Awlaki denies in the letter that his son is a member of the terrorist group.

"My son is innocent, has nothing to do with violence and he is only a scholar of Islam and I believe that this has nothing to do with terrorism. So I plead again to you that you respect the American law and if Anwar ever did anything wrong he should be prosecuted according to the principles of American law," Dr. Nasser al-Awlaki wrote to Obama.

CNN obtained an exclusive copy of the letter.

The younger al-Awlaki is a fugitive American-born preacher. He reportedly met with the suspect in December's Detroit airline bombing attempt, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, in Yemen last fall and had contact with Maj. Nidal Hasan, accused of fatally shooting 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in November.

A United States counterterrorism official described Anwar al-Awlaki as "a key associate of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's top leaders and one of their go-to men for external plotting," using the full name of the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen.

Al-Awlaki is considered a high-value target, the official said. The U.S. government does not comment officially on such designations, but being considered a high-value target would potentially put him in the crosshairs of the United States.

Another American security official told CNN that al-Awlaki is wanted for questioning by U.S. authorities but denies there is an explicit order to "take him out."

In the letter to Obama, Nasser al-Awlaki says his son "is simply a preacher who has the right to spread the word of Islam wherever he likes and this is definitely lawful and protected by the American Constitution."

"I hope that you reconsider your order to kill or capture my son based on the wrong assumption that he is a member of al Qaeda," the father wrote.

U.S. security sources told CNN last month that they had concrete and independent confirmation that Anwar al-Awlaki had met AbdulMutallab, the Nigerian accused in the failed Christmas Day bomb plot. And two recent media reports have quoted al-Awlaki as admitting he met with AbdulMutallab.

Al-Awlaki denies in the reports he knew anything about the bombing attempt but says he supports what AbdulMutallab did. CNN cannot independently confirm the reports.

In the past, al-Awlaki confirmed his contact with Hasan, the Fort Hood suspect. He claimed to support Hasan's alleged actions but denied having any involvement in the attack.

Al-Awlaki's father is campaigning both for his son to surrender to authorities and for the Yemeni and American governments to call off the manhunt for him.

Last month in an exclusive interview with CNN, Nasser al-Awlaki said, "I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden. They want to make something out of him that he's not."

"How can the American government kill one of their own citizens? This is a legal issue that needs to be answered."

Revered on radical Islamic Web sites, Anwar al-Awlaki is now believed to be hiding in the mountains of southern Yemen.

His family denies he is with al Qaeda operatives.

The al-Awlaki family comes from a large and powerful tribe in southern Yemen called the al-Awalek tribe. It has many connections to the government of Yemen, including the country's prime minister, Ali Mohammed Mujawar, who is a relative of the family.

In an interview with CNN last week, Mujawar seemed to shrug off responsibility for the capture of al-Awlaki, saying, "He's carrying an American passport. Actually, he's an American."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/02/02/yemen.terror.plea.exclusive/?iref=polticker

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Amber Bahr Returns Home
By Charles Benson

RANDOM LAKE - Fort Hood hero Amber Bahr is back home.

It's the first time the soldier from Random Lake has been allowed to leave since being injured in last November's deadly shooting at a military base.

"Excitement, excitement excitement" said Lisa Pfund. "I want her here now."

It's the moment Lisa Pfund has been waiting for since her daughter Amber was shot at Fort Hood last November. There's a lot to catch up on.

"Hugs and kisses," said Pfund, "she can't wait to see her dogs, she misses the dogs."

The long awaited homecoming was supposed to have happened weeks ago  but that didn't stop friends and family from coming out for a hero's welcome home.

Amber's father had a surprise too: a new tattoo for his new hero.

The shooting at Fort Hood that killed several of her battle buddies has changed Amber's life.

"I just take life a lot more seriously now," said Bahr. "I know how it can be taken away from me or anyone in a second. I try to live my life to the fullest every minute now."

Amber's hometown also threw a huge celebration. Friends waived welcome home towels as the Random Lake Fire Department dropped her off at her favorite place, Globe lanes. It reminds her of how much she has missed.

"My dogs, laughed Amber, "I miss my dogs so much."

Bahr will be home for two weeks. She doesn't know when she will be deployed but says her next assignment could be to help the earthquake victims in Haiti.

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/83219202.html