Obama ordering review of intel prior to attack at Fort Hood base

President Barack Obama released a memo to key agency heads, ordering an immediate review of files the U.S. government had on the alleged Ft. Hood shooter.

In a memorandum to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, and FBI Robert Mueller to review the inventory of files they had on Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan prior to his alleged Nov. 6 shooting at the military base in Texas.

The preliminary results of the review will be presented to Obama's assistant for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, John Brennen, by the end of this month.

The memorandum comes as questions have been raised in the media over the existing warning signs about Hasan's activities prior to the shooting, including having reportedly tried to contact members of al-Qaeda before the shooting.

"I directed an immediate review be initiated to determine how any such intelligence was handled, shared, and acted upon within individual departments and agencies and what intelligence was shared with others," Obama wrote to the directors.

The president said that the review would be conducted in a way so as to not interfere with the concurrent criminal investigation into Hasan's actions in the case.

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