Nov. 9: A Lot Needs Investigating At Fort Hood

By Sylvia Gurinsky

How?

Congress will ask, and the public - particularly those who have family members at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas - has a right to know how the security system so completely broke down last Thursday.

The biggest question currently being asked is who knew that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was, at the very least, troubled, or quite possibly seeking connections to radical Muslim terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida?

The second biggest question is whether he didn't get the help or discipline he needed either because of overtaxed resources or superiors who feared being hit with accusations of discrimination.

There are other primary questions:

*If people in the area weren't supposed to have weapons, how did Hasan enter with his?

*Why did it take a civilian police officer to stop Hasan? Where were the military police?

*If military doctors are overburdened, why haven't more civilian psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors and social workers been recruited to help military members and their families deal with the stresses they face?

There were warning signs years ago about a lack of resources on the homefront. Last Thursday may have been a prime example.

For all Americans, and for the dead and injured at Fort Hood, Congress must get answers.