Military prosecutors have charged Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 attack at Fort Hood, Texas.

The charges fall under Article 118 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the case will be heard in the military system.

“These are initial charges, and additional charges may be preferred in the future, subject to the ongoing criminal investigation,” said Chris Grey, spokesman for U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, during a news conference at Fort Hood today.

“Our investigation remains open and ongoing,” Grey said. “We are doing everything possible, and we are looking at every reason for this shooting. We are aggressively following every possible lead.”

Preferring charges is the first step in the process. “A charge is merely an accusation,” Grey said. “The accused is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”

Hasan has hired a lawyer. Under Article 118, the minimum sentence if he’s convicted is life with the possibility of parole. The maximum sentence is death.

Life at the sprawling installation is returning to normal, and the mission of the post continues, said Army Col. John Rossi, a Fort Hood spokesman. Twelve gunshot victims remain in local hospitals, with one in the intensive care unit. All are in stable condition, the colonel said.

Experts in psychological trauma continue to deploy to the base. More than 100 behavioral health specialists have deployed to help with assessments and assist across the command. Critical-incident stress management teams, unit ministry teams, health specialists and family life consultants are among those who have deployed to the central Texas post.

“Collectively, they have made more than 3,000 individual contacts so far,” Rossi said. “All of the wounded have received the critical incident stress de-brief, and all those at the scene are receiving the same de-brief.

“Our goal is all that require, or desire, help get it,” he continued. “We are guarding against any premature determination that all is OK.”

Unit commanders and leaders are actively engaged in the recovery process, the colonel said.

“As part of our healing process, Fort Hood continues to responsibly and respectfully resume normal activities,” Rossi said. “Our security posture remains vigilant, and our Fort Hood home is a great place to remain safe and secure. Units are returning from deployments as other units continue to train. The soldier readiness processing center is re-established and is operational at this time.”

In his nationally televised remarks following the horrendous killings at Fort Hood, President Obama never mentioned the “T” word — terrorism. The attack was an act “of violence.” No mention of terrorism.

In fact, the Fort Hood shooting is the first terror attack on American soil since 9/11. But Obama, reluctant to take the rap for inadequate protections against such attacks, is doing everything he can to make it look like an adult version of the Columbine school shootings.

We are treated to stories about the killer’s dread of being sent back to Afghanistan and his deformed personality.

But, the fact is that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan jumped on a table, yelled “Allah hu akbar” and began the shooting rampage that killed 13 people and wounded 30 more.

Ilana Freedman, CEO and senior analyst for the Gerard Group International, which provides intelligence analysis for business and homeland security, describes Hasan as a “lone wolf terrorist” who acted without apparent coordination with any other person or organization.

But that does not make him any less of a terrorist.

The dividing line, of course, between a terrorist and a psychopathic killer is political motivation. His statements right before opening fire would indicate that Hasan was motivated by fanaticism and a commitment to Islamic fascism, even though President Obama bends over backwards to avoid saying so.

Obama’s refusal to call the attack terrorism, and to heed the warning signs about the porous nature of our security system that allowed it to happen on a military base, recalls President Clinton’s deliberate decision to downplay the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.

He did not visit the site of the attack and treated it as a crime, promising to find those guilty and punish them, rather than to attack the international groups that funded and enabled them.

There may be no groups behind Maj. Hasan’s attack, but the fact that he was an officer in the Army, with full access to a military base and its arsenal of weapons, while holding the views he did, is the first indication of a laxity in security under President Obama.

This attack did not take place in a shopping mall or a school, where security procedures are, understandably, relaxed. It happened on the highest security place of all — a military base. That the military failed to spot the possibility of an attack and had no measures in place to prevent it must be laid at the feet of the commander in chief of that military: President Barack Obama.

Many commentators have warned that the diminution of security and the weakening of our anti-terrorist protections would leave us vulnerable to be hit again. Now it has happened. And the president is doing everything he can to blur the distinction between murder and terrorism.

It was his failure to understand the difference between an act of war and a crime that undermined President Clinton’s administration’s anti-terror efforts and led directly to 9/11. It would appear that President Obama is going down the same road of denial and minimization of political harm.

There may be casualties at Fort Hood, but Obama is determined that his popularity will not be among them.