Fort Hood shooting: A failure to communicate

The Pentagon came under fire last week for failing to read the clues that an Army psychiatrist would make it through the ranks undetected and open fire at a facility in Texas, killing 13 people.

Much like the review that showed there were ample signs a Nigerian man would try to blow up a jetliner about to land in Detroit on Christmas Day, the Pentagon review showed there were signs that trouble was brewing with Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan before he allegedly went on a shooting rampage.

The report also revealed that the government has not taken the kinks out of communications among the intelligence agencies needed in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Like the Christmas Day bombing attempt, there were clues hidden deep in the government silos, but no effort was made to connect the dots. It's a sign that the federal government must work harder to use technology to integrate its systems across agencies.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Department of Defense remained focused on fighting external threats and had not paid attention to significant ones inside its own walls. "It is clear that, as a department, we have not done enough to adapt to the evolving domestic internal security threat to American troops and military facilities that has emerged over the past decade," Gates said. "In this area, as in so many others, this department is burdened by 20th-century processes and attitudes mostly rooted in the cold war."

For more on the Fort Hood shooting:
- see this New York Times article

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