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View Full Version : Fort Hood hearing focuses on homegrown threats, ‘political correctness’



WendyGirl33
11-25-2009, 01:34 AM
Fort Hood hearing focuses on homegrown threats, ‘political correctness’

"I worry about a sense of political correctness ... in a post-9/11 world," said Frances Fragos Townsend, the White House homeland security advisor during the Bush administration.

[...]

The chairman emphasized that the committee would seek to answer a few vital questions: What information did the government have on Hasan before the attacks, including e-mails he may have sent? What judgments were made about those e-mails? If the Joint Terrorism Task Force did have vital information on Hasan, was any of it shared with the U.S. Army?

Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the panel’s ranking Republican, reinforced Lieberman’s points. She recalled that in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, investigations revealed that the attacks could possible have been prevented “if only the dots had been connected.” (See video below.)

“In the wake of the mass murder at Fort Hood, we must once again confront a troubling question: Was this another failure to connect the dots?” Collins said.

The first witnesses at the session expressed fears that warning signs about Hasan may have been ignored or downplayed because he is Muslim.

“I worry about a sense of political correctness … in a post-9/11 world,” said Frances Fragos Townsend, the White House homeland security advisor during the Bush administration.

Retired Gen. John Keane recalled instances during his Army career when possible over-sensitivity to issues of ethnicity and religion made military leaders blind to potential threats.

[...]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcrgeuLb3dQ

http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/2009/11/23/fort-hood-hearing-focuses-on-homegrown-threats-political-correctness/