Pentagon denies missing opportunity to prevent Fort Hood tragedy

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The Pentagon denies missing an opportunity to prevent last week’s shooting massacre at Fort Hood.

A senior defense official denies another agency’s claim that a Pentagon investigator had rejected the need to look into shooting suspect Nidal Hasan.

The investigator reportedly discovered that Hasan and Muslim radical Anwar al-Awlaki were merely working on a research paper on the effects of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But al-Awlaki was said to use his personal Web site to encourage Muslims to kill U.S. troops in the Middle East. The prayer leader had high praise for Hasan on Monday.

But by Tuesday, al-Awlaki’s Web site had been taken down – possibly by computer hackers. Two of the 13 soldiers killed in last week’s attack were from Wisconsin, along with four of the 29 injured. And Hasan had been training with a Madison-based medical unit which still plans to go to Afghanistan in January.

At a memorial service at Fort Hood Tuesday, President Obama gave personal stories about those killed. He said Army Sgt. Amy Krueger of Kiel was planning to take on Osama bin Laden by herself, and when her mother said she couldn’t do it, Krueger said “Watch me.”

Obama said Capt. Russell Saeger of Mount Pleasant helped veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder, and he served so he could help soldiers return to civilian life.

Gov. Jim Doyle attended Tuesday’s service along with U.S. Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold and House members Tammy Baldwin of Madison and Tom Petri of Fond du Lac.

Tags: wisconsin, pentagon