Could the Fort Hood terrorist attack have been prevented?

ABC News has a disturbing report on how intelligence agencies here in the US knew about Army Major Nidal Hasan’s electronic attempts at contacting Al Qaeda (via Memeorandum):

U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.

It is not known whether the intelligence agencies informed the Army that one of its officers was seeking to connect with suspected al Qaeda figures, the officials said.

One senior lawmaker said the CIA had, so far, refused to brief the intelligence committees on what, if any, knowledge they had about Hasan’s efforts.

[…]

Investigators want to know if Hasan maintained contact with a radical mosque leader from Virginia, Anwar al Awlaki, who now lives in Yemen and runs a web site that promotes jihad around the world against the U.S.

In a blog posting early Monday titled “Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing,” Awlaki calls Hassan 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.”

According to his site, Awlaki served as an imam in Denver, San Diego and Falls Church, Virginia.

The Associated Press reported Sunday that Major Hasan attended the Falls Church mosque when Awlaki was there.

The Telegraph of London reported that Awlaki had made contact with two of the 9/11 hijackers when he was in San Diego.

He denied any knowledge of the hijacking plot and was never charged with any crime. After an intensive investigation by the FBI, Awlaki moved to Yemen.

People who knew or worked with Hasan say he seemed to have gradually become more radical in his disapproval of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Just how was it that Hasan slipped through the cracks? I think Doug Powers has it right here:

Does anybody seriously believe that the intelligence community (or the Army hierarchy if the information was passed on to them) as it existed under Bush would have kept it under wraps that a member of the U.S. Army was trying to contact Al Qaeda, and that the soldier in question would have still been allowed on active duty to subsequently murder 13 Americans and wound many more?

No wonder Obama continues to insist on not drawing any conclusions.

Political correctness has turned to fatal correctness.

Indeed.

Here’s a list of the victims from last week’s attack. Please remeber to continue to keep their family members in your thoughts and prayers.