Updates down thread: By the way, I am getting a really bad feeling about this.
WTF? This move stinks to high heaven.
Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) issued the following statement regarding the postponement of a full Committee briefing on information related to the Fort Hood shooting: Here's the full text:
"Due to the high visibility of the issues surrounding the tragic event at Fort Hood, the President has instructed the National Security Council to assume control of all informational briefings. The NSC has directed that the leadership, as well as the chairmen and ranking minority members of the relevant congressional committees receive briefings first.
"I have been told that the Director of National Intelligence is still committed to providing the full membership a briefing on the activities within the jurisdiction of this Committee. I believe that this will occur, and I will push to schedule a briefing before the end of this week."
Update: 2:05 pm MST - Senator Cornyn joins Senator Lieberman in calling Ft. Hood attack terrorism.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is joining Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., in publicly declaring that the attack on Fort Hood is likely an act of Islamist terrorism.
Cornyn wrote a letter to President Barack Obama today urging the White House not to let "political correctness" get in the way of investigating the Nov. 5 massacre that left 13 people dead and more than 30 wounded. "As more and more facts surrounding the Fort Hood attack surface, it looks increasingly probable that the alleged attacker, Major Nidal Hasan, heeded these terrorist calls to violence, compelled by a fanatical religious ideology. If Islamist terrorism was the driving force behind the senseless violence at Fort Hood, as it seems to be, this attack must serve as a call to action for the federal government," Cornyn wrote.
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Lieberman’s committee is planning a hearing on the Fort Hood mass shooting on Thursday. His repeated assertions that the attack by accused gunman Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is likely an act of terrorism has been repeatedly criticized by Democrats.
Update: 2:10 pm MST - Obama stonewalls. Lieberman rebuffed.: White House won't provide witnesses for Ft Hood hearing.
The first public congressional hearing on the Fort Hood attack will not include testimony from any current federal law enforcement, military or intelligence officials because the Obama administration "declined to provide any" such witnesses, according to a Senate committee source.
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But the list does not include anyone actively involved in investigating the Fort Hood attack, or anyone who might have been responsible for decisions made by various government agencies before the attack about whether to investigate the shooting suspect, Nidal Hasan. The Senate committee source said HSGAC Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) had hoped to have witnesses from the FBI and the U.S. Army, but was rebuffed in his requests.
Update: 2:22 pm MST - Army chief forming panel to examine career of Ft. Hood suspect terrorist. (There. Fixed it.) And guess which army chief is forming it? George 'Give me diversity or give me death' Casey. (I have to say that I lost all respect for the man when he started in with this crap on the Sunday shows.)
Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army's chief of staff, is forming a panel to look closely at the military career of Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, the man accused in the Ft Hood shootings and probe whether warning signs were missed, a senior Army official said Monday.
"Casey is looking at a panel that will look longitudinally across Hasan's entire career to figure out how did this happen (Ed.note: In a word, George - ISLAM.) and what can we do to stop it from happening again," said the Army official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the announcement of such a group remains pending.
The National Security Council (NSC) is the President's principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials.
The NSC is chaired by the President. Its regular attendees (both statutory and non-statutory) are the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the statutory military advisor to the Council, and the Director of National Intelligence is the intelligence advisor. The Chief of Staff to the President, Counsel to the President, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy are invited to attend any NSC meeting. The Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget are invited to attend meetings pertaining to their responsibilities. The heads of other executive departments and agencies, as well as other senior officials, are invited to attend meetings of the NSC when appropriate.
Related: Figures. Senate Armed Services Cttee cancels Ft. Hood attack hearings.
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