It is pretty well established that Maj. Hasan, the person captured while engaging in a murderous shooting spree at Ft. Hood, was well known to coworkers and the FBI as a potential terrorist. He was trying to contact al-Qaeda and members of other terrorist groups, but nothing was done about this. It would be accurate to say that a fair amount of pressure is going to come to bear on the authorities for their inaction.
Federal prosecutors moved to close down four mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper that is allegedly a front for Iranian organizations that funnel funds to terrorist groups. Big money is involved, and there should be headlines for weeks.
When it comes to operations of this scale, it obviously takes a great deal of time to investigate and collect enough evidence to prosecute. It isn’t like some cop on the beat who stumbles across a jimmied lock and catches a thief red-handed. But I do wonder if things weren’t speeded up a bit in order to provide some good press for the Feds in the midst of their performance with Maj. Hasan.
Maybe for some good press, maybe also because after the murders it’s harder to persuasively oppose. Sad to say, it’s not impossible to deliberately wait on events. Get everything in order, then hold off until the next heinous act – honor killing, suicide bombing, whatever. It’s rarely more than a few months.
Obama and the other Democrats greatest fear is that a major terrorist attack will occur on their watch. They have zero credibility on national security and they know that if an attack occurs the electorate will blame them for not taking security seriously.
That is why they didn’t actually undo any of Bush’s security measures and I that is why they are taking such pains to cast Major Hasan’s attack as apolitical. If its seen as a terrorist attack then that means Obama will be blamed. It’s the President’s job to protect against political violence but it isn’t his job to protect against apolitical nutjob violence.
The timing of the raids above could very well be the result of political pressure from the administrations seeking to prove their dedication to security.
The service men and women he killed or wounded deserve Purple Hearts but Obama will make sure they never get them.