Former FBI Director William Webster (Getty Images)

FBI Director Robert Mueller III has asked former director William Webster to conduct an independent review of the bureau’s actions prior to the Fort Hood shootings, The Washington Post reports.

Webster, a retired federal judge and former CIA director, will also look at policies and procedures that guided the FBI’s efforts in the lead-up to the Nov. 5 shootings, which left 13 dead. He’ll focus on actions pursued by two Joint Terrorism Task Forces in San Diego and Washington that reviewed e-mail messages between accused shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan and radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, according to the Post.

Hasan contacted Aulaqi 18 times by e-mail, last coming in May 2009. Agents in California already monitoring the cleric sent two e-mails to the Washington task force, and an analyst there concluded they were part of Hasan’s research he was conducting about Muslim soldiers and mental heath issues, the Post reports.

In a statement, Mueller said that Webster was “uniquely qualified” for the task and that he would have “complete access and whatever resources necessary to complete” it. Webster will coordinate his review with a similar inquiry already underway by the Defense Department, Mueller said.

“We must be sure that the systems we have in place give investigators the tools they need to carry out their responsibilities. At the same time, we must ensure constitutional protections and the confidence of the American public we serve,” Mueller said. “It is essential to determine whether there are improvements to our current practices or other authorities that could make us all safer in the future.

Congressional leaders praised Mueller’s decision.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said Webster was “exceptionally qualified” to conduct the review.

“The tragedy of Fort Hood is a solemn reminder to all Americans that we must remain vigilant against the threat of home-grown terrorism within our communities. Unfortunately, it appears that while intelligence officials were aware of concerns relating to Major Nidal Hasan, no one raised the red flag,” Smith said. “We must do everything in our power to protect the men and women of our Armed Services from individuals within their own ranks like Hasan. Pending the results of Judge Webster’s review, Congress stands ready to help our intelligence community ensure that this never happens again.”

UPDATED 5:01 p.m.

Former Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey on Tuesday during a radio interview with The Washington Times joked that Rep. James Moran (D-Va.) “ought to get professional help, perhaps from Maj. Nidal [Hasan],” the accused Fort Hood shooter, The Huffington Post reports.

Last week, Moran criticized opponents of Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his Sept. 11, 2001, co-defendants in the Southern District of New York, Talking Points Memo reported. “They see this as an opportunity to demagogue,” Moran told TPM. “They will seize on any opportunity to do that, and that means they’ll even take a stand that’s un-American.” He added, “It’s un-American to hold anyone indefinitely without trial. It’s against our principles as a nation.”

During his interview, Mukasay was asked to respond to Moran’s comments. “I think he’s lost touch with reality. He ought to get professional help, perhaps from Maj. Nidal.” Last week, Mukasey slammedthe decision to try Mohammed in New York City.

Update: The New York Times reports that a joint terrorism task force knew of 10 to 20 communications between Hasan and Awlaki. Read our update here.

The al Qaeda-linked former imam of a prominent Northern Virginia mosque today praised Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Hasan as a hero. ”How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done?” Anwar al-Awlaki wrote in a posting on his personal blog.

Awlaki is the American-born former spiritual leader of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Va., which has long been under law enforcement scrutiny for suspected ties to radical Islam. Aulaqi counseled two of the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers in the months before they carried out the attacks on New York and Washington. He later moved to Yemen, where he conducted on-line propaganda campaigns on al-Qaeda’s behalf, U.S. authorities have said. The U.S. also suspects Aulaqi helped plot al-Qaeda attacks, according to this February 2008 article in The Washington Post.

The Washington Post and The Associated Press reported last night that federal investigators are examining links between Hasan and Awlaki, who was the imam at Dar al-Hijrah in 2001, a time when Hasan and his family attended the mosque. The funeral of Hasan’s mother, Hanan, was held at the mosque on May 31 2001.

Former Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey on Sunday called the attacks at Fort Hood “the worst terrorist act carried out on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.” He made the remarks in an address to military families at an early Veterans Day ceremony in central Pennsylvania, according to a local newspaper.

Awlaki wrote on his blog:

“Nidal Hassan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people,” wrote al-Aulaqi, who now lives in Yemen since leaving the U.S. in 2002. “This is a contradiction that many Muslims brush aside and just pretend that it doesn’t exist. Any decent Muslim cannot live, understanding properly his duties towards his Creator and his fellow Muslims, and yet serve as a US soldier.”

Full blog post reprinted below:

Nidal Hassan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people. This is a contradiction that many Muslims brush aside and just pretend that it doesn’t exist. Any decent Muslim cannot live, understanding properly his duties towards his Creator and his fellow Muslims, and yet serve as a US soldier. The US is leading the war against terrorism which in reality is a war against Islam. Its army is directly invading two Muslim countries and indirectly occupying the rest through its stooges.

Nidal opened fire on soldiers who were on their way to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done? In fact the only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the US army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal.

The heroic act of brother Nidal also shows the dilemma of the Muslim American community. Increasingly they are being cornered into taking stances that would either make them betray Islam or betray their nation. Many amongst them are choosing the former. The Muslim organizations in America came out in a pitiful chorus condemning Nidal’s operation.

The fact that fighting against the US army is an Islamic duty today cannot be disputed. No scholar with a grain of Islamic knowledge can defy the clear cut proofs that Muslims today have the right -rather the duty- to fight against American tyranny. Nidal has killed soldiers who were about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in order to kill Muslims. The American Muslims who condemned his actions have committed treason against the Muslim Ummah and have fallen into hypocrisy.

Allah(swt) says: Give tidings to the hypocrites that there is for them a painful punishment –
Those who take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do they seek with them honor [through power]? But indeed, honor belongs to Allah entirely. (al-Nisa 136-137)

The inconsistency of being a Muslim today and living in America and the West in general reveals the wisdom behind the opinions that call for migration from the West. It is becoming more and more difficult to hold on to Islam in an environment that is becoming more hostile towards Muslims.

May Allah grant our brother Nidal patience, perseverance and steadfastness and we ask Allah to accept from him his great heroic act. Ameen