Ft. Hood communication breakdown

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has started an investigation into events leading up to the Nov. 5 massacre.

The congressional committee is taking a look at classified reports in an effort to track down how so many reg flags were missed. Specifically, Hasan's involvement in Jihadist chatrooms.

Today one military panelist testified the Internet has become a tool for spurring militants in the U.S. to act.

Meanwhile, retired General John Keane said there were likely several factors that led to Hasan going undetected.

Senator John McCain asked Keane "Do you think political correctness may have played some role to the fact these dots were not connected?”

“Yes, absolutely,” responded Keane.

General Keane added Major Hasan's status as an military officer and psychiatrist are also likely reasons nothing was done to stop Hasan after colleagues saw and heard things that made them concerned about his political and religious extremism and mental stability.

There are many questions lawmakers hope the hearings will help answer. The joint terrorism task forces headed by the FBI did have incriminating information about Hasan including transcripts of e-mails and information about communications with extremists as well as web postings advocating suicide bombings.

"Were they recorded anywhere in Hasan's personnel file so the Army knew anything in respect to those concerns?” asked Senator Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut.

The investigator found Hasan's communications consistent with the research he was doing as an Army phychologist. But Stratfor security expert Fred Burton does not buy it.

"Once that person is identified and the FBI determines that he is an active duty military officer there’s going to be extreme amount of interest in that case,” said Burton. “So something doesn't add up here."

Meanwhile, Keane said communication between agencies and lack of concrete policy are also to blame and alluded changes need to be made.

"I think what we are going to find very clearly that we do not have specific guidelines on dealing with Jihadist extremists,” said Keane.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that former Secretary Togo West and a former chief of Naval operations will lead a broad Pentagon review of the circumstances surrounding the shootings. The 45-day review would look into how the military identifies service members who might be a threat to others and how well military bases are equipped to respond these types of incidents.