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Obama Extends Condolences In Fort Hood Shooting

By Kristina Peterson, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- President Barack Obama dedicated his weekly radio address Saturday to the shooting that occurred at the Fort Hood military base this week.

Obama said he will be tracking the investigation into how suspect Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, allegedly shot and killed 13 people and wounded dozens of others on Thursday. The president met Friday with the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to discuss the incident.

While Obama deplored the violence at the military medical center, he also extolled the bravery of the soldiers who quickly came to the victims' aid.

"Thursday's shooting was one of the most devastating ever committed on an American military base," Obama said in prepared remarks. "And yet, even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display, we also saw the best of America."

Obama was also quick to note the diversity of U.S. military personnel.

"They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers," he said. Hasan, a Muslim, was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan.

In his address, Obama bypassed the week's major political and economic turbulence. On Friday, the national unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage point to 10.2%, according to the Labor Department, and on Tuesday, the Republicans won major gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R., Miss.) said the elections demonstrated a changing political tide.

"Hopefully, Tuesday's fire alarm will get Washington's eye back on the ball: back on job creation and economic growth," Barbour said.

-By Kristina Peterson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6619; kristina.peterson@ dowjones.com

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