Congress Should Probe What Officials Knew about Fort Hood Shooter

Questions need to be asked about what both the Army and civilian intelligence authorities knew about the mental state and political views of Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist whose shooting spree at Fort Hood in Texas has left 13 dead and 29 wounded.

News reports and comments from members of Congress indicate there were warning flags that should have alerted the Army that Hasan, a major, might not have been the best person to entrust with the mental health of soldiers.

It has now been established that an anti-terrorism task force was aware of 10 to 20 Internet contacts between Hasan and a radical Muslim cleric now based in Yemen who served as an imam at a Virginia mosque that Hasan frequented, though the intelligence officials say the contacts appeared benign.

But there are other indications of potential problems. A fellow student at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences told the Associated Press that Hasan had made a classroom presentation justifying suicide bombing and had engaged in anti-American rants.

Fellow psychiatrists at Walter Reed Military Hospital in Washington told National Public Radio that Hasan was reprimanded for trying to convert a patient to Islam.

But the fellow student at the health sciences school and psychiatrists at the military hospital separately told reporters no additional action was taken by anyone for fear of appearing to discriminate against a Muslim officer.

The U.S.

needs the skills of Muslims in the military. It needs translators in Arabic, Urdu, Farsi and other languages spoken in the Muslim world. And Muslim members of the services need to know the practice of their religion will be supported and respected.

But the protection of service members must come first. Problem soldiers of any religion can't be shielded from accountability.

Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, of the House Intelligence Committee is asking that documents dealing with Hasan be preserved. Independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman says his Homeland Security Committee will look at the handling of Maj. Hasan.

Such inquiries are needed. As a fellow student told the Associated Press, "the system is not doing what it's supposed to do."

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