Two contradictory narratives explaining Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s money transfers to Pakistan have emerged in the press. At this point, we know that in the months leading up to the Fort Hood shooting, Major Hasan wired a significant amount of money to Pakistan (it is not clear precisely how much). But anonymous sources differ on the meaning of the transfers. It is worth reproducing lengthy excerpts from two press accounts in order to demonstrate the problem. On Saturday, the Washington Post reported:
Yesterday, the Dallas Morning News reported:
Let’s compare and contrast the two accounts. In the Post‘s account, Hasan had discussed his wire transfers with Anwar al Awlaki, who is a known al Qaeda recruiter and prominent jihadist ideologue. Awlaki is not interested in directing money to legitimate charitable causes; he is devoted to waging violent jihad. The Post also quoted an anonymous official as saying that Awlaki and Hasan were interested in making his funds accessible for “operational-type aspects”–that is, terrorism. The Post‘s account goes on to say that “investigators have not unearthed evidence that Hasan sent money to charities with strong or suspected ties to Islamist militant groups, but they are continuing to probe his financial dealings.” So, in the Post‘s account they haven’t turned up conclusive results yet, but there is plenty of smoke surrounding Hasan’s money transfers. Namely, the mere fact that Awlaki and Hasan were discussing ways for Hasan to transfer money without drawing suspicion from U.S. authorities is highly troubling. It also should require a substantial investigation. (Also, note that the Post‘s sources say that Hasan did not “explicitly” say he wanted the money to fund terrorism. But Awlaki’s business is terrorism, and if they wanted it for “operational” uses, then they clearly wanted it for terror-related purposes.) In the Dallas Morning News account, another anonymous official has come forward to say that there is nothing to any of this, and the FBI has already “closed this line of inquiry.” If the Post‘s account is right, how can that be? At a minimum, shouldn’t it take more time to fully investigate Hasan’s suspicious wire transfers? How can the FBI possibly be sure that Hasan’s “transfers seemed unrelated to his e-mail correspondence with” Awlaki when, according to the Post, the two discussed ways for Hasan to transfer money? Moreover, note that the official cited by the Dallas Morning News didn’t know how much money Hasan had transferred to Pakistan. How, then, could he or she say definitively what came of those wire transfers if it is not even clear to this source how much the Fort Hood Shooter transferred? It is possible, I suppose, that the FBI has already done its due diligence and reached a solid conclusion on this matter. But there are at least two reasons to be suspicious: (1) Prior to the Fort Hood shooting, the FBI has bungled its investigation into Awlaki’s dealings at least twice–once prior to 9/11 and once after 9/11. The Fort Hood shooting is likely the culmination of the FBI’s third failed attempt to properly investigate Awlaki’s ties to terrorists as the Bureau dismissed Maj. Hasan’s repeated email communications with Awlaki (a known al Qaeda cleric) as innocuous. In reality, the emails were a substantial red flag indicating Hasan was a jihadist. (2) Pakistan hosts a web of Islamic charities that act as fronts for al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other jihadist groups. It is often difficult to discern, at first, what these charities are really up to. Just ask the U.S. Treasury Department. It has taken the U.S. government years to map out these various charities and their ties to the jihadist hydra. How did the FBI conclude that the charities Hasan was dealing with were benign so quickly? Lawmakers should continue to press for additional details concerning Hasan’s suspicious wire transfers. We don’t know enough at this point to say precisely what came of the Major’s loot, but we do know it is a matter that warrants careful scrutiny.
