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Author Topic: Shooting at Ft. Hood Texas 11/05/09 13 dead, 43 wounded-(Murder Charges)  (Read 730217 times)
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joesamas mama
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« Reply #720 on: November 16, 2009, 10:15:16 AM »

Thanks for the post joesamas mama.

I agree this is very shocking and depressing especially with what has come to light since 9/11.
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« Reply #721 on: November 17, 2009, 06:11:39 PM »

I heard a blurb on the news today about a controversy that was brewing over whether the soldiers who were involved in the Ft Hood Shooting would be paid hazardous duty pay or not.. I have looked at the news sites and haven't found the story. Does anyone else know about this? TIA
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« Reply #722 on: November 17, 2009, 09:12:35 PM »

The Dana Pretzer Show On Scared Monkeys Radio - Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - Special Guests: Retired Lt Colonel Ralph Peters discussing Ft Hood Shooting, A&E’s Bill Kurtis & Robin Sax

http://scaredmonkeys.com/2009/11/17/the-dana-pretzer-show-on-scared-monkeys-radio-tuesday-november-17-2009-special-guests-retired-lt-colonel-ralph-peters-discussing-ft-hood-shooting-aes-bill-kurtis-robin-sax/

Retired Lt Colonel Ralph Peters Discussing The Ft Hood Shooting and The Obama Administration.
Ralph Peters is a bestselling, prize-winning author who writes under his own name and as Owen Parry.  A former career soldier and old-fashioned adventurer, his military novels have thrilled readers with their unprecedented realism, while his non-fiction work has shaped the thinking of a generation of soldiers.  In addition to being the most-read opinion columnist for the New York Post, where his commentaries on world affairs appear two to three times each week, Ralph also writes for USAToday, Armchair General Magazine, Armed Forces Journal and a variety of other journals.  A popular broadcast-media guest, he comments on the international issues of the day on radio programs across the nation.

In March, 2003, Ralph Peters became Fox News’ first “Strategic Analyst.”   With multiple appearances each week, Ralph became an instant regular on Fox & Friends and The Live Desk.  He is a frequent, long-standing guest on The O’Reilly Factor and Your World With Neil Cavuto, and occasionally appears on Hannity. A strong believer in public service, Ralph also supports C-SPAN and BookTV, both as an interview subject and as a guest host.  He also continues to work closely with our armed forces and frequently speaks to military audiences.

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« Reply #723 on: November 17, 2009, 09:31:08 PM »

Thanks Red!
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« Reply #724 on: November 17, 2009, 09:39:21 PM »

Congressional inquiry into Fort Hood sought

By Pam Benson, CNN National Security Producer
November 17, 2009 9:07 p.m. EST


Washington (CNN) -- Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee have sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling for an immediate Congressional investigation into circumstances surrounding the Fort Hood shooting.

"The record appears to establish significant intelligence and intelligence sharing failures that must be reviewed and addressed immediately to ensure that the American people receive the fullest protection against potential attacks," the Republicans wrote.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has been charged with murder in the deaths of 13 people in the November 5 shooting at Fort Hood Army Post. Dozens of others were injured.

A U.S. intelligence official said the situation does not appear to be a case in which intelligence information was not shared among the appropriate agencies.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking Republican member of the Intelligence Committee, said there was a "systemic breakdown" within the intelligence community. According to Hoekstra, the activities in the intelligence community "reflect an inability for us to get the information that's necessary into the right places, to the right decision-makers that would enable us to perhaps keep America safe."

Hoekstra went on to say the United States must "confront the threat, contain it and ultimately defeat it" by continually "evolving the tools" it uses to pursue its enemies.

Committee member Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, questioned whether politics was affecting the decision-making process. He said "tools and methods" used by the intelligence community just a few months ago are no longer available to them. Rogers wanted to know if that "may have contributed to the [Fort Hood] shooting."

The Republicans at the news conference said they could not discuss what those tools were.

Wendy Morigi, spokeswoman for the director of National Intelligence, said, "The assertion that we have not and did not use available intelligence tools is patently false."

Hasan came under investigation last year when his e-mail contacts with radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki were intercepted by terrorism investigators monitoring the cleric's communications, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.

The U.S. coordinator for counterterrorism, Daniel Benjamin, said the various investigating bureaus have said that the e-mails were "not a sufficient concern to open up an investigation." Benjamin said the bureaus have said there don't appear to be any links to any outside groups in terms of "the operation itself."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/17/gop.fort.hood/
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« Reply #725 on: November 17, 2009, 09:43:52 PM »

Obama gets delay of Fort Hood probe

By S.A. Miller

The Obama administration on Tuesday had the president's National Security Council take control of congressional briefings on the Fort Hood killings and asked Democratic leaders to delay a probe, as top Republicans said intelligence shortcomings blamed for failing to prevent the 9/11 attacks are re-emerging.

Rep. Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said that the NSC had taken over the briefings "due to the high visibility of the issues surrounding the tragic event at Fort Hood," and that Democratic leaders agreed to postpone any congressional action on the shootings.

"This is a somewhat complicated case," the Texas Democrat said of the Nov. 6 rampage, attributed to Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, that left 13 dead and 29 wounded on the country's largest Army post.

He said Congress should give "the guys who are charged with protecting this country, protecting our national security" time to do their work and "wait until all the facts are in."

But Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the intelligence committee, said the country cannot afford to wait to find out if failures in the intelligence community and the Pentagon are allowing other potential attackers to fester within the military.

"The prosecutor in this case is not assigned the responsibility to take a look into the process of how to keep America safe. That is the responsibility of Congress," he said. "It has to happen now. This is not something we should take weeks or months to wait on."

Mr. Hoekstra and the other eight Republicans on the committee outlined their concerns in a letter Tuesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, that called for an immediate investigation.

"The future security of over 300 million Americans is far more pressing than after-the-fact investigation of one man," the letter said.

Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said the intelligence committee will continue its oversight work of the Fort Hood tragedy.

"Chairman Reyes remains committed to ensuring that the committee receives pertinent and timely information from the Executive Branch," he said.

Earlier in the day, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said that a congressional probe would be appropriate, though he did not discuss the timing and warned against politicizing the Fort Hood tragedy.

"I don't see any partisan flavor to this other than if somebody tries to make it a partisan flavor," the Maryland Democrat said.

Mr. Hoekstra also challenged President Obama's decision to try the purported Sept. 11, 2001, attack plotters in federal court in New York City, undertaking a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill to block those trials. If a majority of House members sign the petition, the bill automatically would be brought to the floor for a vote, despite objections of Democratic leaders.

The petition and the calls for an investigation of the Fort Hood shootings, which the White House and Democratic leaders have avoided calling an act of terrorism, highlight what Republicans view as their strong position on terrorism and national security.

House Majority Leader John A. Boehner said Mr. Obama's decision to move confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other suspected plotters shows Democrats are "out of touch."

"It really begs the question of what is the administration's overarching strategy to fight the terrorists and keep Americans safe. We haven't seen that overarching strategy yet," said Mr. Boehner, Ohio Republican.

Rep. Peter T. King of New York, a member of the intelligence committee and ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, said a congressional probe is warranted, because the same type of "stovepiping" of information that precipitated the 9/11 attacks also appeared to help Maj. Hasan avoid detection despite several warning signs, including contact with Islamic extremists overseas.

"Our concern is: Are there any other Maj. Hasans in the armed forces today?" Mr. King said. "Our concern is that it appears that even eight years after Sept. 11, we still have silos and stovepipes, and information is not being shared throughout the intelligence community or the military."

The 9/11 Commission determined that "stovepiping," or preventing the sharing of information among agencies, was a key factor leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks.

In one of the more dramatic moments at the commission's hearings, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft said the No. 2 officer at the Justice Department under President Clinton had built a wall between law enforcement and intelligence gathering, and he said that had agencies been permitted to talk to each other, the terrorist attacks might not have happened. Clinton officials argued, and the 9/11 Commission concluded, that the wall had been in place for years and was the result of a series of decisions.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/18/obama-gets-delay-of-fort-hood-probe/
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« Reply #726 on: November 17, 2009, 09:47:40 PM »

Panel briefed on Fort Hood shootings

By Roxana Tiron and Jared Allen - 11/17/09 08:26 PM ET

Government officials on Tuesday briefed key lawmakers on the deadly shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, and are slated to provide more updates on Wednesday.

The closed-door briefings provided by Army and FBI officials on Tuesday did little to quell a widening partisan chasm over Congress’s role in the investigations.

Some House Republicans, who had previously complained about not being adequately briefed, escalated their criticisms after meeting with government investigators.

President Barack Obama warned Congress on Saturday not to turn the shooting into “political theater.” The Senate Armed Services Committee subsequently postponed its scheduled closed-door hearing with Secretary of the Army John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff George Casey.

The panel’s chairman, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), said on Tuesday that lawmakers have to be “cautious not to interfere with a criminal investigation” into the shooting that left 13 dead and more than 30 wounded. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has been charged with murder in the Nov. 5 incident.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Armed Services panel ranking member and Obama’s former presidential rival, told reporters Tuesday that the classified briefings have provided “some additional information,” but the picture won’t be complete until his committee holds the necessary hearings on the incident.

He called on the Obama administration to provide Congress with the pertinent information as soon as possible. McCain indicated that the administration’s calls not to hold hearings on the incident until more information is gathered could wear thin quickly.

“I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt once, but not twice,” McCain said. “Further delay is not called for.”

Meanwhile, the chairmen of the House Armed Services, Homeland Security and Intelligence committees have all agreed to requests from the administration to delay congressional hearings indefinitely.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is the only panel that is moving forward with a hearing on the shootings.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who chairs the committee, has been a target of liberals over the last several years for supporting the Iraq war, speaking at the 2008 GOP convention and criticizing proposals to create a public option in healthcare reform.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the panel’s ranking member, said the committee “is determined to conduct an in-depth investigation.”
Collins said that the Tuesday briefings were helpful but “raised many troubling questions.” The committee’s hearing on Thursday will be open to the public.

The centrist Republican noted that the Obama administration has so far declined to produce Army and FBI witnesses requested by the panel. But she said it is too early to use the panel’s subpoena power to compel the testimony.

“Sen. Lieberman and I will be very careful not to in any way jeopardize or compromise the criminal investigation that is under way. But it is imperative that Congress take a look at what went wrong in this case,” Collins told reporters on Tuesday. “I am certain that we can work out procedures that will protect the integrity of the criminal investigation.”

For example, the panel would agree to interview fact witnesses in the case after the FBI and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service interviewed them, she said.

Collins stressed that the Homeland Security panel would bring critical experience to the investigation. “Our committee has a lot of experience in this,” she said. “We wrote the 2004 intelligence reform act, which implemented the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. We also for the past four years have been investigating homegrown terrorism.”

Lieberman has asserted that Hasan’s attack was likely an act of terrorism.

Tuesday’s briefing in the upper chamber was coordinated through the National Security Council and offered to the chairmen and ranking members of the Armed Services, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Intelligence, Judiciary and Appropriations committees. It was also proided to other key House lawmakers, and to Senate leadership.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is questioning the motive behind what he sees as the Justice Department’s reluctance to provide information about the Fort Hood massacre to congressional investigators.

Sessions, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said he talked last week to Attorney General Eric Holder about the shootings. Session said Holder told him that the Justice Department and the FBI could not provide certain information to Senate investigators because it could hinder the prosecution of Hasan.

On the House side, Republicans unleashed a litany of accusations at the Democrats’ acquiescence to the administration’s wishes to delay hearings. Republicans charged that Democrats succumbed to what they described as an Obama administration pattern of basing national security decisions on political calculations.

Top Intelligence Committee Republicans, along with the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security panel, on Tuesday afternoon hammered the administration’s desire to suppress — even temporarily — congressional oversight of potential intelligence gaps.

“This is a systemic problem,” House Intelligence ranking member Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) said at a Tuesday press conference. “We believe that this jeopardizes, in the future, our national security.”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), however, said he was fully supportive of waiting for executive branch investigators to do their jobs.

“We need to allow different agencies to conduct their investigations,” Reyes said.

Reyes called the administration’s request “appropriate,” although he refused to identify exactly where it came from.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said the request came from the FBI, which led the Tuesday morning briefing of the top Democrats and Republicans on the three relevant committees, plus House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

“They’ve asked us to give them the opportunity to look at all that’s occurred,” Thompson said. “And they said they’d come back at a future date.”

But Hoekstra and House Homeland Security ranking member Pete King (R-N.Y.) said they came away from the same briefing with the impression that FBI officials were not pressing for such delays.

Hoekstra and Rep. Mike Rogers (Mich.), a senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, insinuated that Democrats felt compelled to stonewall congressional scrutiny because of recent decisions to reel in some of the intelligence community’s more controversial methods and practices of intelligence-gathering.

“I would argue that, over the last few months, that tools and methods that have been used in previous months and years by the intelligence community are no longer at their disposal,” Rogers said. “We need to ask some very tough questions: Which tools and which methods that have been restricted may have contributed to the outcome of those shootings at Fort Hood?”

Asked if he believed that Democrats have intentionally weakened the national security apparatus of the country, Rogers responded: “Political philosophy, I think, weighs heavily into some of their decisions on what tools and methods are available.”

Hoekstra and Rogers, though, refused to give examples of any newly prohibited methods that they believe could have prevented Hasan from carrying out the shooting.

Asked later about that charge — which Hoekstra has made in the past — Reyes replied testily. “I don’t know what the Republicans are talking about,” he said. “Oftentimes they talk about stuff that never happened.”

Susan Crabtree contributed to this article.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/68263-panel-briefed-on-fort-hood-shootings
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« Reply #727 on: November 17, 2009, 10:22:55 PM »

(AP)

WASHINGTON — Worried that the Army may have missed red flags about the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood massacre, the Pentagon probably will open an inquiry into how all the military services keep watch on other volatile soldiers hidden in their ranks, officials said Tuesday. The investigation, still in the planning stages, would be a broad examination ranging beyond the specific case of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused in the killings, officials said. The inquiry, they said, could look at personnel policies and the availability of mental health services for troubled troops.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8-DEMtAE9q4i4ySQ0eV_qZefmRQD9C1KPT80


Military funeral personel carry the casket of Michael Grant Cahill, 62, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009, to Saint Monica's Church in Cameron, Texas. Cahill was killed at Fort Hood military base Nov. 3, along with twelve others. (AP Photo/ Jerry Larson)
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« Reply #728 on: November 17, 2009, 10:27:51 PM »

Fort Hood: How Nidal Malik Hasan's path turned more radical

New details suggest the alleged Fort Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was a misfit who was self-radicalized. The Army is looking into how red flags raised by his earlier behavior were missed.

By Patrik Jonsson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the November 17, 2009 edition

Atlanta - As the Army prepares an exhaustive probe into whether any red flags were missed in the lead-up to the Fort Hood rampage, a clearer portrait is emerging of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter facing 13 charges of murder and a possible death sentence.

Early speculation has given way to reports suggesting a carefully planned plot by a lonely, middle-aged Army psychiatrist who apparently "self-radicalized" as he grew increasingly at odds with colleagues over politics and religion.

What drove his radicalization may be related to his statement to colleagues that the US was battling not against security threats in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Islam itself. Media reports indicate that Hasan even tried to have some of his patients charged with war crimes after hearing their stories from the battlefield. The Army rebuffed those charges.

"In my mind, there's enough evidence to say that, to a certain extent, you have a homegrown American of Jordanian descent who became radicalized enough to commit this heinous crime," says terrorism expert Joe Ruffini, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and author of "When Terror Comes to Main Street." "Whether he took it upon himself to do this for a religious or anti-American purpose or whether he was encouraged by a formal terror cell structure ... I think the jury is still out on that."

Infidels should be 'ripped to shreds'

Even before he was promoted to major in May, Hasan's behavior caused concern among his superiors at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

He once told a female superior that she'd be "ripped to shreds" because she was not a Muslim, according to ABC News. He also said Muslim soldiers should be released as conscientious objectors. National Public Radio has reported that Walter Reed officials did not take action against Hasan because they feared a backlash for targeting a Muslim. Army officials at Fort Hood say they were never told about Hasan's issues at Walter Reed.

Senior US intelligence officials have said that during this time the FBI intercepted missives from Hasan to Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born cleric and Al Qaeda sympathizer now living in Yemen. Intelligence officials said it was not a threat, and no action was taken.

Hasan heads for Texas

Sent to Ford Hood in the spring to prepare for his own deployment to Afghanistan, Hasan, who made nearly $100,000 as an Army doctor, took a room for $350 a month. Investigators found Hasan's business cards in the apartment printed with the term "SoA," which could mean "Soldier of Allah."

Hasan irregularly attended services at the local Islamic Center, and once asked the local imam: Can a Muslim fight other Muslims? The imam said Hasan acted strangely, making him think at the time that he was an Army informant angling for intelligence.

Hasan apparently had few friends, but they included an American Muslim convert named Duane Reasoner, who told the BBC after the rampage that he would not condemn Hasan for his actions. ABC News has reported that Hasan was often seen with Reasoner and an older, bearded man in Muslim dress at the local Golden Corral. Other reports say he was also seen at a local adult lounge drinking beer and tipping dancers.

Buying a gun and ammo

In the days before the shooting, Hasan gave his furniture away to neighbors, and several Korans. He bought a quantity of ammo clips at a Killeen, Texas, shop called Guns Galore and practiced at a range in a nearby town. That's not unusual for a soldier deploying overseas, but it's evidence that military prosecutors will likely use to show premeditation.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I) of Connecticut has called the Fort Hood attack the biggest terrorist attack in the US since 9/11. Hasan faces a military court martial and is likely to face a death sentence.

Meanwhile, the Army is facing a culpability problem.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said Tuesday he will convene a special review to understand how behavioral clues to Hasan's unraveling were missed or glossed over. A broader Pentagon review was also announced Tuesday that will look into how all the military services watch for problems in their ranks.

The US Senate will hear testimony about the Fort Hood rampage Thursday, though the White House has asked the committee not to question investigators directly.

Homegrown radicals

The Army's investigation may reveal to what extent red flags around Hasan were overlooked because of worries about offending Muslims.

Ultimately, Hasan's potential radicalization indicates the continuing threat of homegrown terrorists, says Mr. Ruffini: "If we think he's the only one out there, then we're really delusional."

In the past two years, researchers have pinpointed new variants of radicalization, where the typical group jihad gives way to what terror expert Jonathan White calls "virtual radicalization." That can include "a person who through a series of negative social and psychological contacts simply goes down the path of radicalization," Mr. White says. "Then their new social reality can become violent and deviant."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1118/p02s07-usgn.html
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« Reply #729 on: November 19, 2009, 06:52:22 PM »

Gates orders Army inquiry after Fort Hood killings


A review of US Army and Pentagon policies has been ordered by the defence secretary in the wake of a shooting at a military base.

The review will include Pentagon medical and personnel programmes, and US military base security.

Defence Secretary Robert Gates appointed a former Army secretary and an ex-Navy chief to report in 45 days.

The review is in addition to others into the Fort Hood shooting in which 13 people were killed.

Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, was shot by police during the incident on 5 November, and remains in hospital. He has been charged with 13 counts of murder.

"The shootings at Fort Hood raise a number of troubling questions that demand complete but prompt answers," Mr Gates said at the Pentagon.

He said the review would look at ways to ensure the safety of military members and their families.

'Internal weaknesses'

It would also look at any gaps in identifying personnel who could pose threats to others.

"We do not enter this process with any preconceived notions," he said, according to AFP news agency.

"However, it is prudent to determine immediately whether there are internal weaknesses or procedural shortcomings in the department that could make us vulnerable in the future."

Former US Army secretary Togo West and former chief of naval operations, Admiral Vernon Clark will oversee the review.

US President Barack Obama has already ordered a review of the way intelligence agencies handled information about the major.

US intelligence authorities revealed they knew Maj Hasan had been in contact with a cleric sympathetic to al-Qaeda.

An FBI-led task force monitoring the e-mail of Yemen-based US cleric Anwar al-Awlaki said he had communicated with Maj Hasan - a US-born Muslim and army psychiatrist - on 10 to 20 occasions.

However, it was decided that further investigation was not needed, as the content of the messages did not advocate or threaten violence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8369592.stm
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« Reply #730 on: November 19, 2009, 06:56:47 PM »


Abdulmanam Almushawah, the head of a Saudi government program called Assakeena, checks radical web sites in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009. Assakeena, Arabic for "God's Presence", aims at combating Islamic militant Web sites. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

200 Web sites spread al-Qaida's message in English


By DONNA ABU-NASR and LEE KEATH (AP)


RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Increasing numbers of English-language Web sites are spreading al-Qaida's message to Muslims in the West. They translate writings and sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and often feature charismatic clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki, who exchanged dozens of e-mails with the Army psychiatrist accused of the Fort Hood shootings.

The U.S.-born al-Awlaki has been an inspiration to several militants arrested in the United States and Canada in recent years, with his Web-based sermons often turning up on their computers.

"The point is you don't have to be an official part of al-Qaida to spread hatred and sectarian views," said Evan Kohlmann, a senior investigator for the New York-based NEFA Foundation, which researches Islamic militants.

"If you look at the most influential documents in terms of homegrown terrorism cases, it's not training manuals on building bombs," Kohlmann said. "The most influential documents are the ones that are written by theological advisers, some of whom are not even official al-Qaida members."

Most of the radical Islamic sites are not run or directed by al-Qaida, but they provide a powerful tool for recruiting sympathizers to its cause of jihad, or holy war, against the United States, experts who track the activity said.

The number of English-language sites sympathetic to al-Qaida has risen from about 30 seven years ago to more than 200 recently, said Abdulmanam Almushawah, head of a Saudi government program called Assakeena, which works to combat militant Islamic Web sites.

In contrast, Arabic-language radical sites have dropped to around 50, down from 1,000 seven years ago, because of efforts by governments around the world to shut them down, he said.

Al-Qaida has long tried to reach a Western audience. Videotaped messages from its leader, Osama bin Laden, and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri usually have English subtitles. But translations of writings and sermons that form the theological grounding for al-Qaida's ideology, along with preachers like al-Awlaki, mostly eliminate the language barrier.

Al-Awlaki's sermons have turned up on the computers of nearly every homegrown terror suspect arrested in the United States, Kohlmann said.

Members of a group of Canadian Muslims arrested in 2006 for allegedly forming a training camp and plotting bombing attacks in Toronto listened to his online calls for jihad, according to the case against them in court. According to prosecutors, an al-Awlaki sermon on jihad was among the numerous materials — including videos of beheadings — found on the computers of five men convicted in December of plotting attacks on the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey.

On his Web site and in widely circulated lectures, the 38-year-old al-Awlaki, now in hiding in Yemen, often calls on Muslims to fight against the United States, accusing it of waging war on Islam in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nidal Hasan, who has been charged in the Fort Hood shootings, contacted al-Awlaki nearly a year ago. In an interview published in The Washington Post, al-Awlaki said he did not pressure Hasan to carry out the shooting, but after the attack, al-Awlaki praised him as a hero. U.S. investigators have said Hasan appears to have acted alone, not on orders from anyone, when he opened fire Nov. 5 at the Texas military base, killing 13.

The cleric met two of the 9/11 hijackers at mosques where he preached in the United States, and after his return to Yemen he was detained for more than a year on suspicion of involvement in a kidnapping gang. Yemeni officials released him because they could not confirm an al-Qaida link, but they say they are hunting for him again on suspicion he may have ties.

U.S. intelligence officials declined comment on the spread of English-language jihadist Web sites.

Such sites are expected to follow closely the upcoming trials of Hasan and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is accused of being a top architect of the 9/11 attacks, said Rita Katz, head of the U.S. based SITE Intelligence Group, which follows on line militant traffic. The Obama administration announced this week that Mohammed and four others will be put on trial in New York City.

Almushawah said clerics like al-Awlaki are "more dangerous than any other group." And if these clerics are jailed, "it's no big loss for al-Qaida because they don't belong to the network," he said.

Many of the sites post speeches by English-speaking clerics like al-Awlaki or, more often, translations of sermons and lectures by Arabic-speaking clerics.

One site, the Pulpit of Monotheism and Jihad links to sermons by al-Awlaki, alongside English versions of speeches by some of the top sheikhs of jihadist ideology — even some who are dead like Abdullah Azzam.

The proliferation of sites in English means "potential jihadists can know only their native language and still be radicalized," Katz said.

While al-Awlaki has become popular, "other, more prominent and influential Arabic-speaking jihadist sheikhs ... have had their works and speeches translated into English and other languages. Their works tend to be used more often by the jihadist community to justify violence," she said in an e-mail interview. Al-Awlaki "fills a void in that he can directly interact, understand and communicate with English-speaking jihadists in a way that Arabic-speaking clerics cannot."

Almushawah says most of the servers for the sites are in Britain, but they can be run from anywhere and most of them are operated and receive content from the U.S. Most of the clerics who appear on them are in the Arab world with some in France and England.

U.S. intelligence officials declined to comment on the spread of English language sites and their influence.

Saudi Arabia set up its Assakeena program after authorities found that 70 percent of al-Qaida sympathizers were drawn to the group through the Internet. In the campaign, government-backed preachers monitor 400 radical Islamic web sites and inject a more moderate message on the sites.

The campaigners also directly contact and dialogue with militants they encounter on the Web, conversations that can take weeks or months. Of 2,631 militants contacted by the group, 1,170 withdrew their support for radicals, according to the campaign. About a fifth of the militants were from Europe and North American, and the rest from Arab countries.

Assakeena — the name is Arabic for "Tranquility from God" — is part of other hearts-and-minds programs the kingdom launched to complement its crackdown on al-Qaida after the group carried out a series of attacks on foreigners and oil infrastructure in 2004.

Keath reported from Cairo.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jY_2-CPTTSABOyexptWD2kgTmIfgD9C2T3HG0
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« Reply #731 on: November 19, 2009, 07:01:24 PM »

Lawmakers Begin Fort Hood Hearings

WASHINGTON (USA TODAY) - Congress opened its inquiry into the Fort Hood shootings Thursday as lawmakers quickly branded the murder of 13 people Nov. 5 a terrorist act, drawing parallels to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates named two former top military commanders to investigate "gaps and deficiencies" in programs aimed at finding troops who endanger colleagues. Gates said the 45-day probe would prevent "similar tragedies."

The hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee marked the first step of what could be a congressional push to revise laws and policies and encourage authorities to share more information and to more aggressively investigate suspicious troops.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the committee's top Republican, said military officials and FBI investigators failed to follow "red flags galore" about Maj. Nidal Hasan. The Army psychiatrist is charged with 13 counts of murder but has not been charged with terrorism.

"It appears we did have a failure to share critical information and a failure to ask critical questions," Collins said. "It reminds me very much of the siloed information that was available throughout the federal government in different agencies before 9/11."

An FBI-led terrorism task force looked into Hasan in December but did not tell the Pentagon that he had exchanged 10 to 20 e-mails with a radical Muslim cleric in the winter and spring. The task force decided the e-mails were related to Hasan's research. The FBI said it was barred from sharing information about Hasan.

Collins said the committee would "identify legal barriers that may have blocked the flow of information."

Committee chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., defended his decision to hold the hearing despite President Obama's plea Saturday that lawmakers "resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into political theater."

"Their investigation looks backward and is punitive," Lieberman said of administration probes into intelligence about Hasan. "Ours looks backward and forward and is preventative."

The two-hour session elicited no information about Hasan. The witnesses were five terrorism experts, including Frances Townsend, a former homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush, who spoke about the rise of "homegrown" terrorists.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., asked each witness whether the attack was terrorism. Three said yes, including retired Army general John Keane, who cited reports that Hasan was screaming "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great."

Brian Jenkins of the RAND Corp. resisted the conclusion, saying, "We've got him on an ordinary crime, and that's good enough."

http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=81043&catid=142
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« Reply #732 on: November 19, 2009, 07:10:38 PM »

Funeral Held for IL Soldier Killed at Ft. Hood

CHICAGO (AP) -- Mourners wailed at a Chicago cemetery today as a 21-year-old soldier killed at Fort Hood was buried with military honors.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn spoke at services for Private Francheska Velez, who was among 13 people killed when a fellow soldier allegedly opened fire at the Texas Army base on Nov. 5. Quinn says no one should forget Velez's sacrifice, and he called her someone very special.


Pvt. Francheska Velez was killed on the Fort Hood Army base Nov. 5, 2009. AP

Many mourners wore T-shirts with portraits of a smiling Velez, who had recently returned from deployment in Iraq because she was pregnant. Friends and family have said the 2006 Kelvyn Park High School graduate had been excited about starting a family.

Velez lay in an Army uniform in an open casket -- an American flag draped across it.

Another Illinois soldier, 22-year-old Michael Pearson of Bolingbrook, also died in the Fort Hood attack.

http://www.wgil.com/localnews.php?xnewsaction=fullnews&newsarch=112009&newsid=358

Posted: Thursday, 19 November 2009 4:31PM

Funeral Held For Ill. Soldier Killed At Ft. Hood



CHICAGO (CBS) ― Dozens of American flags lined the outside a Chicago funeral home where a 21-year-old soldier killed at Fort Hood was remembered Thursday as an optimistic person who loved to dance and who had dedicated her life to service.

Hundreds of mourners filled a parlor at Montclair Lucania Funeral Home to pay their respects to Pvt. Francheska Velez, a Humboldt Park native who was slain in the Nov. 5 attack at the Texas military post. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of murder in the shooting spree.

Many of those at the memorial service wore yellow T-shirts with up-close portraits of a smiling Velez, who had recently returned from deployment in Iraq because she was pregnant. Yellow was her favorite color. Friends and family have said the 2006 Kelvyn Park High School graduate had been excited about starting a family.

"She didn't have a chance to become a mom and take care of her child," friend Sylvia Velez told CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot. "They took that away from her. It was wrong. Very wrong."

Among the mourners was Gov. Pat Quinn.

"There's a hole in our hearts. We've lost someone very, very special," he told the crowd, speaking with a Spanish translator. "We thank Francheska for her defense of our democracy. We will never forget her sacrifice."

Velez, whose nickname was Cheka, lay in her Army uniform in an open casket that was draped with an American flag. Flower arrangements and photo collages filled the room. The caption on one picture read, "Cheka, you will be missed."

Friend Samantha Lozada told Le Mignot she had many favorite memories of Francheska, including "her laugh, her smile, her funny jokes, her always dancing."

Friend Sol Dominguez said Velez had a smile that would light up a room.

"Everybody loves her, and she was a good person with a good heart," he said.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Scott West said Velez's fellow soldiers described her as "happy, upbeat and inspiring."

"Like her biological family, her military family shares in your sorrows," he told the assembled mourners.

Dozens of motorcyclists -- members of the Patriot Guard Riders -- led the funeral procession to Mount Olive Cemetery, where Velez was buried with military honors. She was honored with a 21-shot rifle salute, by the Army Honor Guard. Mourners wailed as a military musician played "Taps" on a bugle. Admirers left yellow flowers at her gravesite.

"I'm deeply saddened by the loss of this great soldier," U.S. Army Major General Scott G. West said. "I'm here to honor her, honor her service to this nation and certainly to honor her family and her fellow soldiers."

Another Illinois soldier, 22-year-old Pfc. Michael Pearson of Bolingbrook, also died in the Fort Hood attack. He was buried Saturday at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.wbbm780.com/Funeral-Held-For-Ill--Soldier-Killed-At-Ft--Hood/5717084
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« Reply #733 on: November 19, 2009, 07:23:35 PM »

Major Hasan's E-Mail: 'I Can't Wait to Join You' in Afterlife

American Official Says Accused Shooter Asked Radical Cleric When Is Jihad Appropriate?


By BRIAN ROSS and RHONDA SCHWARTZ
Nov. 19, 2009


Nidal Malik Hasan, left, is seen in 2007 when he entered the program for his Disaster and Military Psychiatry Fellowship and an Oct. 2008 photo shows Imam Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. A senior government official tells ABC News that investigators have found that alleged Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan had ?more unexplained connections to people being tracked by the FBI? than just radical cleric al-Awlaki. The official declined to name the individuals but Congressional sources said their names and countries of origin were likely to emerge soon. Collapse
(Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences/Muhammad ud-Deen/AP Photos)


United States Army Major Nidal Hasan told a radical cleric considered by authorities to be an al-Qaeda recruiter, "I can't wait to join you" in the afterlife, according to an American official with top secret access to 18 e-mails exchanged between Hasan and the cleric, Anwar al Awlaki, over a six month period between Dec. 2008 and June 2009.
Photo: Senior official: More Hasan ties to people under investigation by FBI
Nidal Malik Hasan, left, is seen in 2007 when he entered the program for his Disaster and Military... Expand

"It sounds like code words," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. "That he's actually either offering himself up or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind."

Other messages include questions, the official with access to the e-mails said, that include when is jihad appropriate, and whether it is permissible if there are innocents killed in a suicide attack.

"Hasan told Awlaki he couldn't wait to join him in the discussions they would having over non-alcoholic wine in the afterlife,"
the official said.


Major Hasan also wrote, "My strength is my financial capabilities."

Federal investigators have found that Hasan donated $20,000 to $30,000 a year to overseas Islamic "charities." As an Army major, his yearly salary, including housing and food allowances, was approximately $92,000. A number of Islamic charities have been identified by U.S. authorities as conduits to terror groups.

Two FBI task forces, in Washington and San Diego, received the intercepted messages, but deemed them innocent.

On Capitol Hill today, Senators questioned how that could be.

"The choice of this recipient of emails says a lot about what Hasan was looking for," said Senator Joseph Lieberman, chair of the Senate's Homeland Security committee. Lieberman's committee held a hearing on the Fort Hood shootings, and announced that it was launching an investigation.

"What I'm getting at," said Lieberman, "Is he may have been looking for spiritual sanctions for what he's accused of ultimately doing."

The American-born Awlaki is considered a recruiter for al-Qaeda. He has been in hiding since the shooting, but a Yemeni journalist told ABC News today that the e-mails show Hasan was "almost a member of al-Qaeda."

Pentagon Probe Looking For Gaps, Gates Said

At Fort Hood today, federal investigators continued to gather evidence for the criminal prosecution of Hasan, while Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced his own investigation of the incident.

Gates said the Pentagon probe would try "to find possible gaps or deficiencies in Defense Department programs, processes and procedures for identifying service members who could potentially pose credible threats to others."
Related

Some members of Congress have raised questions about the military's counter-intelligence unit, based at Fort Meade, and Gates said every question will be answered.

"I promise the Department of Defense's full and open disclosure," said Gates.

Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico, was once the imam of a Falls Church, Virginia mosque attended by Hasan and two of the 9/11 hijackers. After an intensive investigation by the FBI, Awlaki moved to Yemen where he was imprisoned in 2006 and says he was interrogated by U.S. authorities.

A blog entry posted on Awlaki's site after the Fort Hood massacre praised Hasan as a "hero" and a "man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people." The site has since been taken down, as has a Facebook fan page devoted to Awlaki. In a subsequent interview with the Washington Post, Awlaki described himself as Hasan's "confidant."

In addition to his contacts with Hasan, Awlaki served as an inspiration for men convicted in terror plots in Toronto and Fort Dix, New Jersey, according to government officials and court records reviewed by ABCNews.com.

In Toronto, members of the so-called Toronto 18 watched videos of Awlaki at a makeshift training camp where they allegedly planned an attack on the Canadian parliament and prime minister.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/major-hasans-mail-wait-join-afterlife/story?id=9130339
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« Reply #734 on: November 19, 2009, 07:28:30 PM »

WATCH:  Inside the Home of Nidal Hasan
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=9058457
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« Reply #735 on: November 19, 2009, 07:47:59 PM »


As the Fort Hood shooting date neared, Hasan became a regular at Stan's shooting rage, investigators told ABC News. (ABC)

Hasan was last seen at Stan's shooting range two days before the shooting and fired off more than 200 rounds, according to investigators. (ABC)


Hasan was also a frequent visitor at Starz strip club near the Fort Hood army base, the girls there told ABC News. Hasan brought his own beer and didn't hesitate to pay the $50 cost for each nude lap dance. (ABC)


Hasan was also a regular at the Golden Corral restaurant in Killeen, Texas. The FBI is investigating his dinner meetings here with two other men. (ABC)


Duane Reasoner Jr. is one of the men who used to regularly meet Hasan at the Golden Corral restaurant. Reasoner, whose MySpace page is shown here, is an 18-year-old convert to Islam who online took the name of a famed Islamic warrior. (ABC)


A photo uploaded to Reasoner's online "photobucket" account is a violent image of Osama bin Laden presiding over the White House on fire. (ABC)


In another online account, Reasoner describes himself as an "extremist" and a "fundamentalist." The mystery teenager has remained secluded inside his parent's Killeen, Texas home, where his mother ordered ABC News off the property. (ABC)

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« Reply #736 on: November 19, 2009, 08:01:21 PM »

Thousands of Dollars Donated to Assist Fort Hood Families in the Wake of Tragedy

SAN ANTONIO, Nov 19, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ ----In the wake of the shooting tragedy at Fort Hood, the families of those affected are receiving much needed help through generous donations to Operation Homefront, a national non-profit organization that assists soldiers and their families. To date, corporate and individual contributions total $170,000.

"These donations are a blessing to these families," said Jim Knotts, President and CEO of Operation Homefront. "The money reflects the generosity of companies like Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, as well as very caring individuals. Operation Homefront is honored to be able to help facilitate getting the assistance to the families during this trying time."

"These donations are helping us provide gift cards to take care of immediate needs like food and gas," said Jennifer Cernoch, President of the Texas Chapter of Operation Homefront. "We're also helping to pay for travel arrangements for families to be with their injured service members, as well as for some of the expenses following the memorial services. We were at Ft. Hood last week and back again yesterday. We'll be there for as long as we're needed."

Corporate contributors include Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems, each with $50,000, Bank of America with $35,000, and Wells Fargo with $5,000. One anonymous donor contributed $25,000. More than a hundred smaller individual contributions topped $5,000.

"On behalf of all our team members I want to express our sympathy for the victims and their families of this tragic event," said Rick Moore, President of Wells Fargo Worldwide Military Banking. "We also want to extend our support through this donation to our customers, communities and team members with friends and family stationed at Fort Hood."

Families who need assistance can visit the Texas Chapter at http://www.operationhomefront.net/texas. Those who want to give assistance can do so online.

About Operation Homefront

Operation Homefront provides emergency assistance for our troops, the families they leave behind and for wounded warriors when they return home. A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront leads more than 4,500 volunteers in 30 chapters nationwide, and has met more than 105,000 needs since 2002. Operation Homefront is a four-star rated charity by watchdog Charity Navigator. Nationally, $.92 of every dollar donated to Operation Homefront goes to programs. For more information about Operation Homefront, please visit www.operationhomefront.net.

Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

BAE Systems, Inc.

BAE Systems is the premier global defense, security and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions and customer support services. With approximately 105,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems' sales exceeded GBP18.5 billion (US $34.4 billion) in 2008.

Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy

Building on a long-standing tradition of investing in the communities it serves, Bank of America this year embarked on a new, ten-year goal to donate $2 billion to nonprofit organizations engaged in improving the health and vitality of their neighborhoods. Funded by Bank of America, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation gave more than $200 million in 2008, making the bank the most generous financial institution in the world and the second largest donor of all U.S. corporations in cash contributions. Bank of America approaches investing through a national strategy called "neighborhood excellence" under which it works with local leaders to identify and meet the most pressing needs of individual communities. Bank associate volunteers contributed more than 900,000 hours in 2008 to enhance the quality of life in their communities nationwide. For more information about Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy, please visit www.bankofamerica.com/foundation.

Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.2 trillion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through more than 10,000 stores and 12,000 ATMs and the internet (wellsfargo.com ) across North America and internationally. The Company promotes economic growth and self-sufficiency, education, social services, the arts and the environment in thousands of communities across North America. In 2008, the Company gave $226 million in grants to 14,000 nonprofits. Team members contributed 1.4 million volunteer hours and served on 16,000 nonprofit boards. The merger of Wells Fargo and Wachovia makes our presence twice as strong in the communities we serve. For more about Wells Fargo's achievements in Social Responsibility: www.wellsfargo.com/about/csr.

SOURCE Operation Homefront

http://www.operationhomefront.net

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/thousands-dollars-donated-assist-fort-hood-families-wake-tragedy/

   
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« Reply #737 on: November 19, 2009, 09:02:58 PM »

Greensburg woman holds raffle for Fort Hood victims

Last Update: 5:47 pm

GREENSBURG, Kansas – The recent tragedy at Fort Hood hit home for one Greensburg woman whose son-in-law is stationed there. Now she wants to give something back to the families who have lost so much.

Debbie Haskell was one of millions of Americans who watched the Fort Hood tragedy unfold on television.

"Something you just don't expect here in the good old USA and my heart went out,” she said.
 
Her son-in-law in stationed at Fort Hood as a medic. He was there that day, responding to the tragedy and helping to care for the wounded.

“That just blows my mind as to how close this really came to home,” Haskell said.

She says it’s those brave men and women who make our country what it is today. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving she’s raising money for the families of the fallen and wounded by holding a raffle. The winner will get a 12-pound turkey. The raffle has garnered some attention even internationally, but with only $190 raised so far, she’d like to give a lot more.

“I'm hoping that it helps in some way,” she said.

The raffle will continue until 5 p.m. Tuesday, November 26th. For tickets, call Debbie Haskell at 255-3356. Tickets cost $1 each and all proceeds will go to the families of the Fort Hood attack.

http://www.ksn.com/content/news/bureaus/story/Greensburg-woman-holds-raffle-for-Fort-Hood/ZFchFmrGAE-Yisq737Auzg.cspx
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« Reply #738 on: November 19, 2009, 09:07:44 PM »

Ft. Hood suspect's friend 'ji-hobbyist'

FORT HOOD, Texas, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A teen-age friend of the accused Fort Hood, Texas, gunman shown the signs of being a so-called jihadist hobbyist, a terrorism expert says.

Duane Reasoner Jr., 18, a Muslim convert, was a frequent dinner companion of Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, accused of shooting and killing 13 people Nov. 5 at the army base. He's been laying low recently after telling a British reporter he felt "no pity" for the massacre victims.

Reasoner has shown an interest in jihadist Web content and videos of figures tied with al-Qaida, including Osama Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical imam who exchanged e-mails with Hasan, ABC News reported Tuesday.

Reasoner appears to be a prime example of a "jihad hobbyist," young, online users who radicalize themselves by taking in hardcore jihadist Web content, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman told ABC in an interview.

"They make hating America, hating the West, their hobby," said Brachman, a former research director of the West Point-based Combating Terrorism Center.

Brachman said "ji-hobbyists," as he calls them, typically confine their jihadist following to the Web.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/11/17/Ft-Hood-suspects-friend-ji-hobbyist/UPI-86541258494888/
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« Reply #739 on: November 19, 2009, 09:22:45 PM »

Army Private Francheska Velez Funeral

A funeral is held for Army Private Francheska Velez at Mount Olive Cemetery November 19, 2009 in Chicago. Velez was three months' pregnant when she was one of the 13 soldiers killed during the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5.



CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 19: An honor guard carries the coffin of Pfc. Francheska Velez during the funeral at Mount Olive Cemetery November 19, 2009 in Chicago. Velez was three months pregnant when she was one of the 13 soldiers killed during the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 19: A bugler plays taps during the funeral service of Pfc. Francheska Velez at Mount Olive Cemetery November 19, 2009 in Chicago. Velez was three months' pregnant when she was one of the 13 soldiers killed during the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 19: An honor guard gives a 21 gun salute during the funeral service of Pfc. Francheska Velez at Mount Olive Cemetery November 19, 2009 in Chicago. Velez was three months pregnant when she was one of the 13 soldiers killed during the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 19: Mourners during the funeral service of Pfc. Francheska Velez at Mount Olive Cemetery November 19, 2009 in Chicago. Velez was three months pregnant when she was one of the 13 soldiers killed during the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)
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