LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican
and former presidential candidate, called last week’s shooting at Fort Hood
“an act of terror” during a speech at the University of Louisville
Wednesday morning.
He called for swift disclosure of questionable behavior at
military bases. Twelve soldiers and one civilian were killed in a shooting
rampage at the Texas base last week, and the suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan,
was shot and wounded.
“This may sound a little harsh, but I think we ought to
make sure that political correctness never impedes national security,”
McCain said at the University of Louisville, where he was speaking at an event
honoring U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “There were signs
this individual had some very disturbing behavior patterns that should have
been alerted to the proper authorities.”
McCain, who gave an 11-minute address about Veterans Day,
took questions from the audience of about 2,000. He told the crowd that President
Barack Obama needs to make his decision about the military strategy in
Afghanistan soon and criticized Democrats for not being more transparent with
their negotiations over the health care overhaul bill.
After his speech, McCain attended a dedication ceremony for
the personal papers of McConnell and his wife, former U.S. Secretary of Labor
Elaine Chao. The papers are being archived at the university’ s Ekstrom
Library.
Via McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
