Obama Says Review Will Get ‘Full Story’ of Fort Hood Shootings

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said the White House review of the Nov. 5 shootings at Fort Hood must address “any flaws in the system” of information-sharing by U.S. agencies.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said he “will insist that the full story be told.” He said the review “must uncover what steps - if any - could have been taken to avert this tragedy.”

The suspect, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, was charged this week by military authorities with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the shooting spree at the Army base in Texas.

On the night of the shooting, Obama said, he met in the Oval Office with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller. The next day, Obama said, he ordered the leadership of the military and intelligence community to review the “sequence of events that led up to the shootings.”

“We must compile every piece of information that was known about the gunman, and we must learn what was done with that information,” Obama said. “If there was a failure to take appropriate action before the shootings, there must be accountability.”

“We must quickly and thoroughly evaluate and address any flaws in the system, so that we can prevent a similar breach from happening again,” the president said.

Preliminary Results

In a memo released by the White House on Nov. 12, Obama named John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, as the investigation’s “principal point of contact” and directed that preliminary results of the review be provided by Nov. 30.

Intelligence agencies had intercepted communications between Hasan and a Muslim religious leader in Yemen known for his anti-American views.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to receive a closed-door briefing on the Fort Hood shootings from Army officials on Nov. 16.

Obama may decide this month whether to grant a request by his commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, to increase the U.S. force of 68,000 by as many as 40,000 personnel next year. The decision has been complicated by allegations of corruption in Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government and concerns that the Afghan leadership may not be able to extend its authority nationwide.

“We owe our troops prayerful, considered decisions about when and where we commit them to battle to protect our security and freedom, and we must fully support them when they are deployed,” Obama said in his radio address.

Republican Address

In the Republican address, Representative Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican, said the health-care overhaul passed by the House a week ago “opens a new trillion-dollar entitlement just as our national debt tops $12 trillion.”

“Ignoring the future needs of Social Security and Medicare, the bill creates a new massive spending program, supported by heavy taxes and cuts to senior health care,” said Kirk.

The U.S. House voted 220-215 to approve the most far- reaching changes to the nation’s health-care system in four decades, voting to require all Americans to get coverage and to subject insurers to new restrictions and competition from a government program. The measure would cost more than $1 trillion over 10 years.

Kirk offered “common-sense Republican reforms,” including limiting lawsuits that he said would “save billions in health care costs alone”; allowing Americans to buy coverage from insurers in any state; and giving states the “tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health-care costs.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Kate Andersen Brower in Washington at kandersen7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jim Kirk at jkirk12@bloomberg.net