CQ Behind the Lines

From CQ Homeland Security

Behind the Lines for Thursday, June 2, 2011 — 3 P.M. By David C. Morrison, Special to Congressional Quarterly Editor's Note: A power outage at CQ Roll Call headquarters and ensuing technical problems led to Behind the Lines newsletter not being published yesterday. We apologize for the inconvenience. Majority Report: DHS pilot program "subjects Americans to pre-crime interrogations and physiological scans to detect 'malintent' in public places" . . . Privacy apocalypse: D.C. securicrats resemble "a horde of flesh-eating zombies shuffling out of a parking garage to feast on what's left of our freedoms" . . . Country wisdom: "Most people in rural Pakistan appear to believe that suicide bombers are mentally handicapped." These and other stories lead today's homeland security coverage. --------------------------------- DHS has begun field testing at an undisclosed Northeastern airport techniques derived from so-called Future Attribute Screening Technology, "a novel security program . . . designed to spot people who are intending to commit a terrorist act," Nature's Sharon Weinberger reports — which "chilling technology, straight out of Minority Report," Tehran-based PressTV assails, "would subject Americans to pre-crime interrogations and physiological scans to detect 'malintent' at sports stadiums, malls, airports and other public places." Feds: Language in the House-passed Defense authorization bill giving presidents "virtually unlimited authority to combat terrorism — seems more intended to ignite a debate in Washington than to put fear into terrorists," a Boston Globe leader alleges. The 2012 Homeland Security Appropriationsbill soon to face a House vote includes expanded spending on immigration enforcement, The Florida Independent's Marcus Restrepo spotlights. "Ninety-nine percent of the people who file a redress form who believe they are mistakenly on the Terrorist Watch List, have no connection to the list at all," a Terrorist Screening Center official tells Ruxandra Guidi at San Diego's KPBS. No donuts: Like a horde of flesh-eating zombies shuffling out of a parking garage to feast on what's left of our freedoms, the Obama administration has promised to revive a proposal thought dead by most: the internet 'kill switch,'" Tom Burghardt blasts in The Pacific Free Press. "A handful of seemingly unrelated incidents in the week leading up to Memorial Day perfectly encapsulated how much the snare enclosing us has tightened," John W. Whitehead, founder of the conservative Rutherford Institute, slugs in a Patriot Act assault. "Hopefully the spigot of intelligence leaks on the bin Laden raid is coming to an end as . . . the need for protecting ways and means to hunt terrorists down continues," Richard Tomkins rues in a Human Events "loose lips" op-ed. State and local: Despite being home to the Times Square car bomber, Connecticut's Fairfield County emerged as a loser in the latest round of DHS funding, a snub blasted by regionalleaders, The Darien News notes. "Local law enforcement are the 'eyes and ears' of our community and they must be equipped, trained and ready at all times," Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., argues in a Hill op-ed assailing these grant cuts. "In the latest act of treason from the illegal-alien lobby, Los Angeles city council members have announced they want the city to stop full participation in Secure Communities," The New American menaces. State Sen. Russell Pearce, the former lawman behind recent Arizona illegal immigration legislation, faces a recall drive, the Daily Sun relays. Ft. Lauderdale police, meantime, want "to bring to street-level crimefighting the same intelligence techniques that national law enforcement use for homeland security," The Orlando Sentinel says. Ivory (Watch) Towers: Reanimation of American Islamic College is sure ignite controversy because of its "ties to a murky and far-reaching international movement led by Turkish religious leader Fetullah Gulen," The Chicago News Cooperative recounts. For last weekend's reunion, Princeton University staged a forum titled "10th Anniversary of 9/11: Remembering the Past, Imagining the Future," The Daily Princetonian reports. The accredited online Capella University now offers a new Master of Science in Homeland Security, The Homeland Security Today tells. Thirty international students won't be returning to Waldorf College this fall after a piece of DHS-required paperwork fell through the cracks, The Mason City (Iowa) Globe Gazette relates. The chief of Universities UK assures The Daily Telegraph that no evidence links "student radicals" with violent Islamist extremism — while The Dawn quotes a noted scholar and critic's contention that the curriculum at Pakistan's seminaries, where roughly over 2.5 million students are enrolled, promotes terrorism. Bugs 'n bombs: "In times of terrorist threats, farmers can't be too careful ensuring no harm comes to their business," The Associated Press hears Maryland's Ag Secretary telling local sons of the soil. "Could it possibly be agroterrorism, as unthinkable as that prospect is?" The Packer poses, in re: a massive Euro-illness outbreak linked anecdotally to E. coli on Spanish cucumbers. Calls to build more bunker-like shelters are growing in the Midwest and Southeast after a string of spring twisters left hundreds of people dead, The Wall Street Journal leads. "There are a wide range of reasons that many in the United States are worried about terrorists getting WMDs without warning," an Examiner essayist surveys. Asian and European foreign ministers meet in Budapest next week to discuss food and water security as well as disaster preparedness, The Associated Press of Pakistan spotlights. Close air support: "What is the single most frustrating thing about the airport? Most people would agree that it's the security line," a Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed opens — and check Daniel Solove's Salon essay on why "security" continually trumps "privacy" in debates over invasive screening and other terror-proofing tactics. Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst wants a special legislative session to vote on a currently stillborn "anti-groping bill" bill targeting TSA touchers, The Houston Chronicle recounts. Over the last five years, TSA has been rejecting ever more loss and theft claims, while receiving ever fewer such in the first place, Dallas's WFAA News notes. "Unwittingly, bin Laden created and empowered a whole army of uniformed officials the world over," an unhappy flier carps in a Taranaki (N.Z.) Daily News column. Ports in a storm: "Almost universally, Central American port authorities lack the ability to handle the vetting of the high volume of cargo in their ports," Mexidata hears a U.S. official testifying, in re: drug trafficking.As maritime workers begin the TWIC card reapplication process, "it is vital both Congress and the TSA review the usefulness of this security credential," Sen. Olympia Snow, R-Maine, opines in The Portsmouth (N.H.) Herald. "Piracy is on the rise, ransoms on the increase, murders on the high seas growing," a Family Security Matters essay surveys — while Straits Times sees Indonesia joining "the United States, India, South Korea, Russia and Malaysia which have all taken a tougher stance against the Somali pirates in recent months." Courts and rights: Tahawwur Rana is "not likely" to testify in his federal terror trial, the Sun-Times cites the Chicago businessman's lawyers. Military prosecutors have refiled terror and murder charges against five detainees charged in the 9/11 attacks, using a revamped trial process, AP reports. Several lawsuits filed against Chiquita Brands over payments to Colombian terrorists are being consolidated in South Florida where a federal judge will decide on proceeding or not, The Cincinnati Business Courier recounts. "It's about time" Obama resisted congressional moves to restrict policy options for housing and handling terror detainees, The Washington Post editorializes. Over there: Over 400 al Qaeda members have made their way into the Sinai Peninsula, The Jerusalem Post hears a senior Egyptian security official estimating. The U.K. family of a woman killed in a bomb blast in the Sinai's Sharm el Sheikh almost six years ago is still awaiting compensation, The Eastbourne Herald relates. Osama bin Laden spent his last weeks attempting to bring the disparate factions among insurgents and militants together under the aegis of al Qaeda, The Guardian learns. A Pakistani journalist who wrote in Asia Times last week about the suspected infiltration of Pakistan's navy by al Qaeda terrorists was found dead Tuesday, The Washington Times tells. Over here: The FBI's top agent in Chicago told the Illinois State Police that an imam being considered as its first Muslim chaplain wouldn't pass a background test if it were up to his agency, IPT News notes. Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., called Staten Island's Muslim community "the most powerful force fighting terrorism" after an appearance at a Concord mosque, the Advance advises. "Islamophobia in the United States has become an increasing problem," a Palestinian-American scholar alerts The Fars News Agency. "Republicans have gone from courting Muslim voters to antagonizing them. What's that mean for the 2012 race?" Mother Jones muses. "Muslim terrorism is turning immigration into a national security issue. And Sharia is raising hackles even among many liberals," a Canadian Free Press contributor contends — while a Huffington Post poster opens: "American Muslims deserve a break." Holy Wars: While attributing many rational causes for the anger and frustrations felt by terrorists, most rural Pakistanis "appear to believe that suicide bombers are mentally handicapped," The Express Tribune sees a university study showing. A new book on Islam in Indonesia cautions "that an ideology that preaches hatred and violence is much more dangerous than [any] terrorist acts," The Jakarta Post reports. "Nothing less than Sharia law mandates perpetual war, land grab and the plundering of non-believers. Muslim scriptures, history and current events are rife with examples," FrontPage Magazine frowns. "What makes the creeping political correctness on Islam so startling is its very newness. It wasn't so long ago that the right and the left both agreed that as a religion and a political movement, it was dangerously backward and violent," Right Side News reacts. The envelope, please: "Following Osama bin Laden's death, the Egyptian-born Saif al-Adel has reportedly been named interim leader of al Qaeda," an Onion Infographic leads. "Here are some of the new terror head's qualifications: Emerged as the clear favorite in both the Peshawar caucuses and South Waziristan primaries; Rated an ENTJ, also known as 'the executive,' on the Myers-Briggs test; Able to grow a ratty beard with just enough gray to look dignified; Subverting Western ideals was the subject of al-Adel's NYU gender studies thesis; As a current al Qaeda member, he's already familiar with the terrorist network's payment system and PeopleSoft benefits-management software; Can keep a straight face while telling suicide bombers they can each expect 72 virgins in heaven; Absolutely nailed 'America will soon be awash in blood and tears' reading during auditions; and Real troublemaker." 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