A report made public Thursday on events surrounding the deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood , Texas , in 2009 provides new details on the failure of anti-terrorism officials to act on e-mail traffic between Maj. Nidal Hasan and major terrorist figure Anwar al-Awlaki . The 173-page report by William Webster , a former FBI and CIA director , describes FBI policies and procedures that failed to prevent the shooting spree . Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder . Read the full report . The FBI and Defense Department were stunned by the shootings , and FBI Director Robert Mueller ordered a detailed review by the Webster commission , which Mueller appointed . According to the commission 's report , in a May 31 , 2009 , e-mail from Hasan to al-Awlaki 's website , Hasan discussed his views on suicide bombings . E-mail details : Hasan sought guidance on Islam , dating . `` I would assume that a suicide bomber whose aim is to kill enemy soldiers or their helpers but also kill innocents in the process is acceptable . '' Less than six months later , officials say , Hasan jumped on a desk at Fort Hood , armed with two pistols , and began firing as he yelled `` Allahu Akbar , '' Arabic for `` God is great . '' There were 18 e-mail messages between Hasan and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009 , the report said . A Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego that was investigating al-Awlaki passed two of the messages on to another task force in the Washington , D.C. , area , where Hasan was living . Opinion : A tribute to Fort Hood 's fallen . The report said the e-mails between Hasan and al-Awlaki should have been passed by the FBI in the Washington Field Office to the Defense Department bosses for whom Hasan worked . But the FBI saw no evidence of terrorist activities in his case , and believed the information in the e-mails was too sensitive to share because visiting extremist websites is not grounds for taking action . Remembering the victims . The report also said there was no clear system in place to determine which office would follow up on a particular lead and to make sure leads would be followed in a timely manner . In a statement Thursday , the FBI acknowledged `` shortcomings in FBI policy guidance , technology , information review protocols and training . '' The FBI said it had reviewed 18 recommendations in the report and `` has already taken action to implement them . '' Sen. Joe Lieberman , I-Connecticut , said the report confirms many of the findings of his committee 's earlier review . He said he is pleased `` for the first time the report declassifies the communications between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki so that all Ameriicans , especially the families of the victims , can understand Hasan 's radicalization and the full scale of the tragedy for which he is responsible . '' Lieberman added , `` We are concerned that the report fails to address the specific cause for the Fort Hood attack , which is violent Islamist extremism '' Hasan is scheduled to be tried in a military court in Texas . Al-Awlaki was killed in a targeted U.S. drone attack in Yemen last year . Opinion : Political correctness and Ft . Hood killings . 2009 : Could Fort Hood have been avoided . Video : Fort Hood victim recovers .
He says that Hasan wrote numerous e - mails to President al - Awlaki . They were not passed on to proper authorities , report said . Hasan is accused of killing 13 , wounding 32 in Fort Hood shooting .