Someone didn't connect the dots in federal-state partnership

Tip lines and 250 agencies can't take the place of old fashioned common sense.

"Innovative Anti-terror Information Sharing: Maryland’s Federal, State, and Local Partnership Model," Chapter 11 in Safeguarding Homeland Security; Governors and Mayors Speak Out was just released Sept. 18. 2009. Former Maryland Governor Robert Erlich wrote about how Maryland was connecting the dots through an innovative federal-state partnership, but they seemed to have slipped up on Maj. Hasan who lived, worked and worshipped in Maryland.

Chapter summary: Maryland created the first fusion center which collects and analyzes disparate data or information to try to “connect the dots” to prevent acts of terrorism. The public is encouraged to provide information through a “tip line.” The Center has federal, state, local, and private sector participation representing 250 agencies or organizations. The Maryland Center is led by members of all three levels of government. A principal objective of such a fusion center is to develop a pattern of cooperation and information sharing.

Maj. Nadil Hasan had communicated 10 to 20 times with Anwar al-Awlaki, an imam released from a Yemeni jail last year who has used his personal Web site to encourage Muslims across the world to kill U.S. troops in Iraq. No formal investigation was opened into Hasan. Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said it was his understanding Hasan and the imam exchanged e-mails that counterterrorism officials picked up. Hoekstra requested that the CIA, FBI, NSA and DNI preserve all documents relating to the Fort Hood attack and related matters for potential investigation by Congress, so this isn't swept under the rug as just some demented soldier going crazy.

Dr. Val Finnell a former classmate of Hasan in Public Health (in Maryland) says Hasan was always focused on another subject. "He would frequently say that he was Muslim first and an American second. That came out in just about everything he did in the university," said Finnell. Hasan would become visibly upset when people challenged him about his beliefs, but no one ever thought he would resort to such violence.

"Instead of being investigated and punished for his treasonous behavior, political correctness assured that Hasan was fast-tracked through the Army ranks and allowed to continue as a psychiatrist treating soldiers returning from the front.

Political correctness is a lie employed by liberal elites to preserve myths about favored groups. It is sold as a way to ensure that society treats people fairly. But it is actually a derangement whereby normally lucid people disregard inconvenient truths and willfully reject facts to avoid confronting uncomfortable realities.

On Meet The Press last Sunday, Army Chief of Staff General George Casey now infamously said about Hasan’s rampage, “As horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.” Gary Bauer