Obama to Congress: Hold off on Hood probe

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday urged members of Congress not to turn the investigation into the Fort Hood massacre into "political theater."

In his weekly radio and Internet address, released by the White House during the president's Asia trip, Obama renewed his pledge to thoroughly investigate the Nov. 5 shooting rampage that killed 13 people and wounded dozens more at the sprawling Texas Army base.

As some lawmakers planned or called for congressional investigations, Obama urged them to wait and allow federal intelligence agencies, law enforcement and the military to gather and examine evidence in one of the deadliest shootings ever on a U.S. military base.

"I know there will also be inquiries by Congress, and there should," Obama said. "But all of us should resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater that sometimes dominates the discussion here in Washington. The stakes are far too high."

Obama said the background, views and possible motives of the gunman would be scrutinized to reveal "potential warning signs that may have been known" before the shootings.

The military has charged Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, with 13 counts of premeditated murder. After he opened fire, two civilian police officers shot and wounded him, and he appears to be paralyzed from the waist down, his lawyer said.

Since the shootings, troubling details about Hasan's past have emerged. For example, he had repeated e-mail contacts last year with a radical Muslim cleric who praised Hasan after the shootings as a "hero" for "doing the right thing," investigators say. In 2007, Hasan said Muslim soldiers shouldn't have to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq because they'd be fighting fellow Muslims, The Washington Post reported. And fellow doctors at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington suggested Hasan might be psychotic and worried about his extremist Islamic views, National Public Radio said.

"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. "Once we have those facts, we must act upon them. If there was a failure to take appropriate action before the shootings, there must be accountability.

"Most importantly," he added, "we must quickly and thoroughly evaluate and address any flaws in the system so that we can prevent a similar breach from happening again. Our government must be able to act swiftly and surely when it has threatening information. And our troops must have the security that they deserve."