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WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–The FBI issued the following statement on Tuesday regarding its investigation of the mass murder at Ft. Hood, Texas:
The FBI continues to work closely with the Department of the Army in the joint, ongoing investigation into the tragic events that occurred last Thursday at Fort Hood. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the victims and their families.
With respect to the investigation—the Army Criminal Investigative Division is leading a coordinated criminal investigation with the support of the FBI and other components of the Department of Justice and the Texas Rangers. The investigation is in its early stages and the information we can provide now is limited.
With respect to what the FBI is doing—personnel from the Counterterrorism Division, Laboratory Division, and the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) are on site in support of the tragedy. The personnel deployed by the Laboratory and CIRG are specialists in crime scene analysis, evidence collection, and shooting incident reconstruction. Our victim assistance teams are working closely with their counterpart Department of Defense specialists, and we will continue to provide whatever resources are necessary to support the investigation.
At this point, there is no information to indicate Major Nidal Malik Hasan had any co-conspirators or was part of a broader terrorist plot. The investigation to date has not identified a motive, and a number of possibilities remain under consideration. We are working with the military to obtain, review, and analyze all information relating to Major Hasan in order to allow for a better understanding of the facts and circumstances that led to the Fort Hood shooting. Understandably, there is a large volume of information in various forms and it will take us some time to complete this work.
There has been and continues to be a great deal of reported information about what was or might have been known to the government about Major Hasan prior to the shooting.
Major Hasan came to the attention of the FBI in December 2008 as part of an unrelated investigation being conducted by one of our Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs). JTTFs are FBI-led, multi-agency teams made up of FBI agents, other federal investigators—including those from the Department of Defense—and state and local law enforcement officers.
Investigators on the JTTF reviewed certain communications between Major Hasan and the subject of that investigation and assessed that the content of those communications was consistent with research being conducted by Major Hasan in his position as a psychiatrist at the Walter Reed Medical Center. Because the content of the communications was explainable by his research and nothing else derogatory was found, the JTTF concluded that Major Hasan was not involved in terrorist activities or terrorist planning. Other communications of which the FBI was aware were similar to the ones reviewed by the JTTF.
Our top priority is to ensure that the person responsible for the Fort Hood shooting is held accountable. The ongoing investigation includes forensic examinations of Major Hasan’s computers and any Internet activity in hopes of gaining insight into his motivation. But the investigation to date indicates that the alleged gunman acted alone and was not part of a broader terrorist plot.
After meeting with the president, FBI Director Robert Mueller ordered a review of this matter to determine all of the facts and circumstances related to this tragedy and whether, with the benefit of hindsight, any policies or practices should change based on what we learn.
Again, this is a joint, ongoing criminal investigation that continues to move forward on many fronts. There is still much to learn. As a pending criminal case, the government remains limited in what information can be disclosed publicly about a United States citizen under investigation. As with any criminal investigation, all suspects are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty of a crime in a court of law.
Senate Homeland Security to investigate Ft. Hood murders
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)—Senate Homeland Security Chairman Joe Lieberman ( Independent, Connecticut), and Ranking Member Susan Collins, (Republican-Maine), formally announced on Monday that their Committee will be conducting an investigation into last week’s murders at Ft. Hood, beginning with a public hearing next week. The Senators released the following statements today on their inquiry and intention to hold hearings on the attack:
“This murderous attack should be examined from every angle to make sure nothing like this occurs again,” Lieberman said. “While we in no way will interfere with the Army or FBI’s criminal investigations, the Committee will be conducting an investigation into what Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s motives were, whether the government missed warning signs that should have led to expulsion, and what lessons we can learn to prevent such future attacks. As this investigation continues, we would do no favor to the thousands of Muslim Americans who are serving our military with honor and the millions of patriotic and law-abiding Muslim Americans by ignoring real evidence that an individual Muslim American soldier may have become a violent Islamist extremist.
“Three years ago, this Committee, then led by Senator Collins, started an investigation into the threat of homegrown Islamist terrorism. That resulted in a bipartisan report concluding ‘no longer is the [terrorist] threat just from abroad, as was the case with the attacks of September 11, 2001; the threat is now increasingly from within, from homegrown terrorists who are inspired by violent Islamist ideology to plan and execute attacks where they live.’ This attack, in addition to recent cases in Minnesota, Arkansas, North Carolina and elsewhere, appears to be a further example of that threat. At a September 2007 hearing, FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Committee that ‘lone wolf’ terrorists were of particular concern to law enforcement and that we needed to take steps to address that particular threat. The United States needs to heed his warning.”
Collins said: “The Fort Hood slayings were tragic and heartbreaking. It is important for our nation to understand what precipitated this horrific attack so that we may work to prevent future incidents. The investigation is about understanding the factors that led Major Hasan—a senior Army officer and a psychiatrist trained to ease human suffering—to kill and injure so many of his fellow soldiers. We owe that to our military, to their families, and to their communities.
“Our military must be prepared to detect the warning signs for potential violence and to intervene and prevent similar attacks in the future,” she said. “This hearing is vital to assuring the men and women serving in our military and their families that their safety is a top priority for us.
“Let me express my personal gratitude to the thousands of American Muslims serving in our military and working to defeat terrorism. Any of them could have been another victim of Major Hasan’s attack,” Collins noted.”
Since December 2006, the Committee has held nine hearings on the threat of homegrown terrorism. In May 2008, the Committee released a report, “Violent Islamist Extremism, the Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorist Threat.”
U.S.expresses hope Lebanon
will remain sovereign
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–The White House on Tuesday issued the following statement in response to the formation of a new government in Lebanon:
“The United States commends Prime Minister Hariri and President Sleiman for their stewardship during the government formation process, and looks forward to working with the next Lebanese government on behalf of the people of Lebanon.
“We hope that the cabinet statement and government program will reflect a commitment to full implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1559, 1680, and 1701.
“The United States will stand by those partners who share our commitment to Lebanese sovereignty. We look forward to working with a new Lebanese government that is committed to extending its authority over all of Lebanon, and to advancing political and economic reforms that benefit the people of Lebanon.
“Pursuing these goals presents a clear path towards the advancement of peace and stability, and economic opportunity – both in Lebanon and the region. Lebanon will play a key role in the effort to achieve a comprehensive peace in the Middle East. There can be no lasting solution in the region reached at Lebanon’s expense.”
Embargo gasoline exports
to Iran—Rep. Kirk
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) - U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (Republican, Illinois), co-chair of the bipartisan House Iran Working Group and a Navy Reserve intelligence officer, on Monday called on President Obama to form an international coalition to cut off gasoline deliveries to Iran in response to the regime’s rejection of a compromise nuclear deal, its reported testing of a nuclear warhead design and its decision today to charge three American hostages with espionage.
“It is time for the Obama Administration to recognize that negotiations with Iran in the absence of effective sanctions have failed,” said Kirk, the architect of legislation to restrict gasoline deliveries to Iran. “As Congress moves forward with the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (H.R. 2194), the President should convene a meeting with key European, Gulf and Asian allies to discuss the immediate suspension of gasoline deliveries to Iran.”
Two weeks ago, Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog – that it would not accept a compromise offered by European and American diplomats to send its low-enriched uranium to Russia for further reprocessing.
Over the weekend, the Guardian newspaper reported on a secret IAEA report that concluded Iran tested components of a “two-point implosion” warhead. Two-point implosion devices are easier to develop than conventional warheads and are designed to fit on smaller missiles.
Earlier today, Iran charged three U.S. citizens held hostage since July with espionage. The three, Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27, reportedly wandered into Iran from Iraq during a hiking expedition.
“For diplomacy to succeed, Iran must come to the bargaining table in economic pain,” Kirk said. “To avoid military action and stop the emergence of a nuclear-armed Iran, President Obama should work to cut off Iran’s gasoline supply in the next 90 days.”
Despite its status as a top oil exporter, Iran remains dependent on imports of gasoline for 25-40 percent of its supply.
In 2005 and again in 2006, Congressman Kirk introduced resolutions calling for a multilateral restriction of gasoline deliveries to Iran as the most effective economic sanction to bring Iran’s leaders into compliance with their commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In 2007, Kirk authored the Iran Sanctions Enhancement Act, which extended current U.S. sanctions to the provision of gasoline to Iran. The legislation was reintroduced earlier this year and later incorporated into H.R. 2194, recently passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
In June, Kirk successfully offered an amendment to the State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Act prohibiting U.S. Export-Import Bank financing for any company involved in providing gasoline to Iran – the first gasoline sanction to pass the House of Representatives.
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Bible looted by Nazis returned to Jewish museum in Austria
NEW YORK (Press Release) - A 16th century two-volume Bomberg/Pratensis Rabbinic Bible is back in the hands of its rightful owners 71 years after it was stolen by the Nazis.
On Monday, November 9, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York returned the Bible to Vienna’s Jewish community, known as Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien (IKG).
This repatriation marks the third time this year that ICE and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have repatriated artwork or property stolen during the Holocaust.
During the annexation of Austria in 1938, Nazi soldiers confiscated the rare Bible from the IKG library. On Nov. 9, 1938, known to history as “Kristallnacht,” or “Crystal Night,” the Gestapo seized and sealed the IKG library. Custody of the IKG library was transferred to the “Reichssicherheitshauptamt” (RSHA) in Berlin between 1939 and 1941. When Berlin was evacuated in 1943, main sections of the IKG library were transferred to other Nazi-occupied territories in Lower Silesia, a province of Poland, and North Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic.
The Rabbinic Bible, published between 1516 and1517, is a manuscript that includes an Aramaic summary and a series of commentaries by key medieval rabbinic figures including 11th century French scholar Rashi, late 12th/early 13th century Provencal scholar David Kimche, 13th century Spanish scholar Nachmanides and 14th century French scholar Gersonides.
The New York City auction house Kestenbaum & Company had offered for sale in its June 25, 2009, auction catalogue, an item described as a “Bible: Venice. Bomberg, 1516-1517.” An ICE investigation determined that the ancient Bible described in the catalog was actually part of the library and property of IKG. The Bible was illegally imported into the United States on March 19, 2009. Once agents provided Kestenbaum proof of the Bible’s provenance and prior ownership, the auction house immediately agreed to withdraw the Bible from auction and return it to its owners.
“The Bible returned today is a priceless inheritance of the people of Vienna,” said James T. Hayes, Jr., special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in New York. “ICE and the U.S. Attorney’s office are grateful for the cooperation of Kestenbaum and Company auction house in the recovery of the Bible, and hope that Kestenbaum’s leadership will encourage their peers in the industry to take a good look at their own works.”
“It is important to understand that this Bible is being returned without litigation,” said Ambassador J. Christian Kennedy of the U.S. State Department Office of Holocaust Issues. “To facilitate the return to rightful owners of cultural items displaced during World War II, the United States is considering the establishment of a commission to review and make recommendations on cases for which the parties are unable to reach a mutually satisfactory settlement. This would bring a measure of justice to Holocaust survivors, heirs and communities.”
“Seventy-one years ago today, on ‘Kristallnacht,’ the Nazis carried out a violent and coordinated attack on Jewish people, ransacking the places they lived, worked and gathered,” said Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. “The passage of time does not diminish our remembrance, or the duty to return all surviving works of art and precious symbols stolen by the Nazis. Returning this Bible to the IKG today is a step toward that worthy goal.”
ICE and the U. S. Attorney’s Office have been at the forefront of investigating and recovering looted Holocaust-related artwork on behalf of rightful owners. Within the last six months, ICE and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have recovered two paintings stolen by the Nazis that belonged to the late Jewish art dealer Max Stern. The 17th-century Dutch painting “Portrait of a Musician Playing a Bagpipe” and “St. Jerome.” a painting by famed Italian artist Ludovico Carracci (1555 – 1619), were returned to the collector’s estate.
ICE is a participant of the Department of State’s Holocaust Art Recovery Working Group. If anyone has any information about the Holocaust-related theft or trafficking of artifacts or artwork please contact the ICE Deputy Special Agent in Charge Office at John F. Kennedy Airport at (718) 553-1824 or call (866) DHS-2ICE.
ICE, the largest investigative agency of the Department of Homeland Security, handles investigations into stolen or illegally exported cultural artifacts that show up on the world market.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Press Release)–A federal district court ruled Tuesday that a special Christian license plate mandated by the South Carolina legislature violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie held that the plate, which was to feature a large yellow cross, a stained-glass window and the words “I Believe,” clearly gives favored government treatment to one faith. In a summary judgment ruling, she ordered state officials not to issue the plate.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which served as counsel in the case, praised the decision.
“This is great news,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “Government must never be allowed to express favored treatment for one faith over others. That’s unconstitutional and un-American.
“Some officials seem to want to use religion as a political football,” Lynn said. “That’s an appalling misuse of governmental authority, and I am thrilled that the judge put a stop to it.”
Americans United brought the Summers v. Adams legal challenge in June 2008 on behalf of four local clergy — the Rev. Dr. Thomas A. Summers, Rabbi Sanford T. Marcus, the Rev. Dr. Robert M. Knight and the Rev. Dr. Neal Jones as well as the Hindu American Foundation and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
In legal briefs, AU asserted that the “I Believe” license plate was unlike other specialty tags offered by the state. The measure authorizing the special plates was passed unanimously by both houses of the legislature, with the active support of Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer.
Americans United also pointed out that some legislators openly admitted that they would not vote for similar plates for minority faiths.
In finding the sectarian plate unconstitutional, Judge Currie held, “Such a law amounts to state endorsement not only of religion in general, but of a specific sect in particular.”
The judge noted that legislators and other state officials have unnecessarily drawn the state into an expensive lawsuit.
“Whether motivated by sincerely held Christian beliefs or an effort to purchase political capital with religious coin, the result is the same,” Currie wrote. “The statute is clearly unconstitutional and defense of its implementation has embroiled the state in unnecessary (and expensive) litigation.” (Read the full decision here: http://www.scd.uscourts.gov/)
Americans United Legal Counsel Ayesha N. Khan was pleased with the court’s decision.
“Government must never be allowed to play favorites when it comes to religion,” said Khan. “That’s a fundamental constitutional rule, and I am delighted that the judge has reminded South Carolina officials of that fact.”
Khan argued the case in Columbia before Judge Currie, assisted by AU Madison Fellow Elizabeth J. Stevens. Aaron J. Kozloski of Capitol Counsel, a Columbia, S.C. law firm, served as local counsel.
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
Israeli researcher: Same hormone stimulates emotions of love, envy
HAIFA, Israel (Press Release)—A new study carried out at the University of Haifa has found that the hormone oxytocin, also known as the “love hormone”, which affects behaviors such as trust, empathy and generosity, also affects opposite behaviors, such as jealousy and gloating.
“Subsequent to these findings, we assume that the hormone is an overall trigger for social sentiments: when the person’s association is positive, oxytocin bolsters pro-social behaviors; when the association is negative, the hormone increases negative sentiments,” explains Simone Shamay-Tsoory who carried out the research.
Previous studies have shown that the oxytocin hormone has a positive effect on positive feelings. The hormone is released in the body naturally during childbirth and when engaging in sexual relations. Participants in an experiment who inhaled the synthetic form of the hormone displayed higher levels of altruistic feelings, and it is supposed that the hormone plays an important role in the formation of relationships between people.
However, in earlier studies carried out by other investigators with rodents, it was found that the hormone is also related to higher levels of aggression. Therefore, it was decided to examine whether the hormone also affects negative social sentiments. The present study, which was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, included 56 participants. Half of the participants inhaled the synthetic form of the hormone in the first session and were given a placebo (a dummy drug) in the second session; the others were given a placebo in the first session and oxytocin in the second session. Following drug administration each participant was asked to play a game of luck along with another competitor, who was in fact – and without their knowledge – a computer. Each of the participants was asked to choose one of three doors and was awarded the sum of money that was hidden behind that door. Sometimes the participant gained less money than the other player, and sometimes more, creating conditions in which a person might well develop feelings of envy and gloating.
The findings show that those participants who inhaled the “hormone of love” displayed higher levels of envy when the opponent won more money and of gloating when they were ahead. Another interesting result was that as soon as the game was over, no differences between the participants were evident with regards to these sentiments. This indicates that the negative feelings were empowered only in the course of the game itself.
“Following the earlier results of experiments with oxytocin, we began to examine the possible use of the hormone as a medication for various disorders, such as autism. The results of the present study show that the hormone’s undesirable effects on behavior must be examined before moving ahead,” Dr. Shamay-Tsoory concludes.
U.S. elections strengthened Bibi's hand, Koch and Charney agree
HAIFA (Press Release)–”The big winner is Bibi Netanyahu”, says Leon H. Charney following the re-election of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg last week. Hosting former Mayor of New York City Ed Koch in his “The Charney Report” studio, Mr. Leon H. Charney, American businessman and Chairman of the University of Haifa’s Board of Governors, discussed who could be defined as the “big winner” in the recent United States elections.
Mr. Charney suggests that the Republican mayor’s re-election is another sign of President Barack Obama’s withering support from Congress. President Obama, Mr. Charney says, will “understand very strongly that the Congress may change.” This means that Obama will eventually have to back down on his pressure on Israel, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government will stabilize. As for President Obama’s ratings in Israel, Mr. Charney says that it is as low as four percent today and may go down to two percent.
From this perspective, Mr. Charney asserts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is what he calls “the sub-context winner of this election.” Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch expressed agreement with this opinion.
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