Hasan May Have 9/11 Mosque Link
Jim_Higgins
http://www.military.com/news/article/hasan-may-have-9-11-mosque-link.html
FORT HOOD, Texas -- A key U.S. senator said Sunday he would begin an
investigation into whether the Army missed signs that the man accused of
opening fire at Fort Hood had embraced an increasingly extremist view of
Islamic ideology.
Sen. Joe Lieberman's call for the investigation came as word surfaced
that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan apparently attended the same Virginia mosque
as two Sept. 11 hijackers in 2001, at a time when a radical imam
preached there. Whether Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, associated with the
hijackers is something the FBI will probably look into, according to a
law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the
investigation is ongoing.
Classmates participating in a 2007-2008 master's program at a military
college complained repeatedly to superiors about what they considered
Hasan's anti-American views. Dr. Val Finnell said Hasan gave a
presentation at the Uniformed Services University that justified suicide
bombing and told classmates that Islamic law trumped the U.S. Constitution.
Another classmate said he complained to five officers and two civilian
faculty members at the university. He wrote in a command climate survey
sent to Pentagon officials that fear in the military of being seen as
politically incorrect prevented an "intellectually honest discussion of
Islamic ideology" in the ranks. The classmate also requested anonymity
because the investigation is ongoing.
Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee, wants Congress to determine whether the shootings
constitute a terrorist attack.
"If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an
Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance,"
Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said on "Fox News Sunday."
"He should have been gone."
Authorities continue to refer to Hasan, 39, as the only suspect in the
shootings that killed 13 and wounded 29, but they won't say when charges
would be filed and have said they have not determined a motive. Hasan,
who was shot by civilian police to end the rampage, was in critical but
stable condition at an Army hospital in San Antonio.
He was breathing on his own after being taken off a ventilator on
Saturday, but officials won't say whether Hasan can communicate. Sixteen
victims remained hospitalized with gunshot wounds, and seven were in
intensive care.
Hasan's family described a man incapable of the attack, calling him a
devoted doctor and devout Muslim who showed no signs that he might lash out.
"I've known my brother Nidal to be a peaceful, loving and compassionate
person who has shown great interest in the medical field and in helping
others," his brother, Eyad Hasan, of Sterling, Va., said in a statement
Saturday. "He has never committed an act of violence and was always
known to be a good, law-abiding citizen."
Army Chief of Staff George Casey warned against reaching conclusions
about the suspected shooter's motives until investigators have fully
explored the attack. "I think the speculation (on Hasan's Islamic roots)
could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim
soldiers," he said on ABC's "This Week."
Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, outreach director at the Dar al Hijrah Islamic
Center, said he did not know whether Hasan ever attended the Falls
Church, Va., mosque but confirmed that the Hasan family participated in
services there. Abdul-Malik said the Hasans were not leaders at the
mosque and their attendance was utterly normal.
In 2001, Anwar Aulaqi was an imam, or spiritual leader, at the mosque.
Aulaqi told the FBI in 2001 that, before he moved to Virginia in early
2001, he met with 9/11 hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi several times in San
Diego. Al-Hazmi was at the time living with Khalid al-Mihdhar, another
hijacker. Al-Hazmi and another hijacker, Hani Hanjour, attended the Dar
al Hijrah mosque in early April 2001.
The mosque is one of the largest on the East Coast, and thousands of
worshippers attend prayers and services there every week. Abdul-Malik
said it's a mistake for people to conflate regular attendance at a
mosque with extremism.
Many Muslims pray at the mosque multiple times a day, he said. "It's
part of family life. It's like going out for ice cream after dinner."
A government official speaking on condition of anonymity because the
person was not authorized to discuss the case said an initial review of
Hasan's computer use has found no evidence of links to terror groups or
anyone who might have helped plan or push him toward the attack. The
review of Hasan's computer is continuing, the official said.
Hasan likely would face military justice rather than federal criminal
charges if investigators determine the violence was the work of just one
person.
There is no time limit on charging Hasan, but once he is in pre-trial
confinement, the military has 120 days to start his trial, said John P.
Galligan, an attorney who has represented Fort Hood soldiers but is not
involved in the Hasan case. However, defense attorneys often file
motions that stop the 120-day clock. Authorities have said Hasan is "in
custody" in the hospital, but it's unclear if that is considered
pre-trial confinement.
Across the sprawling post and in neighboring Killeen, soldiers, their
relatives and members of the community struggled to make sense of the
shootings. Candles burned Saturday night outside the apartment complex
where Hasan lived. Small white crosses, one for each of the dead, dotted
a lawn at a Killeen church on Sunday.
Even as the community took time to mourn the victims at worship services
on and off the post, Fort Hood spokesman Col. John Rossi acknowledged
that the country's largest military installation was moving forward with
its usual business of soldiering. The processing center where Hasan
allegedly opened fire on Thursday remains a crime scene, but the
activities that went on there were relocated, with the goal of reopening
the center as soon as Sunday.
Fort Hood is "continuing to prepare for the mission at hand," Rossi
said. "There's a lot of routine activity still happening. You'll hear
cannon fire and artillery fire. Soldiers in units are still trying to
execute the missions we have been tasked with."
At the post's main church Sunday, Col. Frank Jackson, the garrison
chaplain, asked mourners to pray for Hasan and his family "as they find
themselves in a position that no person ever desires to be - to try and
explain the unexplainable."
"Lord, all those around us search for motive, search for meaning, search
for something, someone to blame. That is so frustrating," Jackson told a
group of about 120 people gathered at the 1st Cavalry Memorial Chapel.
"Today, we pause to hear from you. So Lord, as we pray together, we
focus on things we know."