CQ Behind the Lines

From CQ Homeland Security

Behind the Lines for Friday, June 3, 2011 — 3 P.M. By David C. Morrison, Special to Congressional Quarterly Asymetrical accounting: At most, al Qaeda's "terrorism budget is 0.003 percent of what the United States pays to secure the realm" . . . Fruit of the (g)loom: Probe of Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner's allegedly Twittered BVD bulge shot vital to "ensure our national security," GOP oversight chairman says . . . Nail the coonskin to the wall: "Many Pakistanis remain unconvinced that bin Laden was killed in a raid May 2." These and other stories lead today's homeland security coverage. --------------------------------- The United States has budgeted $7 trillion for defense since 9/11, devoting another $636 billion to homeland security, Chris Hellman sums up for NPP's Budget Matters. "Al Qaeda spends at most $300 million a year on terror — probably much less. In other words, the enemy's terrorism budget is 0.003 percent of what the United States pays to secure the realm," Antiwar.com's Peter Casey comments. "Osama bin Laden really did a number on all of us," The New York Times' Thomas Friedman relatedly concludes. Homies: "DHS would get no funding to continue building its new headquarters if an appropriations bill being considered in the House becomes law," Federal Times' Andy Medici leads — as Jena Baker McNeil predicts in a Heritage WebMemo a "dramatic decrease in funding" for the Office of Policy, and The Hill's Pete Kasperowicz hears House homelander Peter T. King, R-N.Y., terming GOP-proposed DHS cuts "an invitation to an attack." Two Iraqi refugees accused of supporting efforts to kill American troops in Iraq survived the USCIS vetting process that allowed them asylum in the United States, The Bowling Green (Ky.) Daily News' Deborah Highland analyzes. Feds: Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., demands a probe of cybersecurity issues raised by a twittered BVD bulge shot attributed to Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., terming it vital to "ensure our national security," The Daily Caller's Matthew Boyle mentions. A think-tank report says the FBI baited four men convicted of plotting synagogue bombings, The Riverdale (N.Y.) Press' Nikki Dowling notes. "Being waterboarded is better than being killed by a drone," Bush-era Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld tells Metro International's Elisabeth Braw — while AllGov ponders how "Abu Zubaydah lost his left eye while in the custody of the CIA." When senators warn that the Patriot Act is secretly being repressively interpreted, civil libertarians can only speculate what they mean, The Los Angeles Times' Ken Dilanian updates. State and local: New York's governor has suspended state participation in ICE's much-attacked Secure Communities effort, The New York Times tells. In an NYPD shake up last week, Deputy Chief James Shea was demoted from the "hard-charging" Joint Terrorism Task Force to the Police Academy, "something of a department backwater," NYPD Confidential confides — while The San Francisco Bay Guardian hears a new police chief saying that the terms of an SFPD-FBI JTTF agreement are "being revisited." Concern about a proposed ICE processing facility "should prod city officials to offer greater protections to people who live and work nearby," The Rapid City (S.D.) Journal editorializes. Arizona will stop recognizing photo-ID cards issued by foreign consulates starting July 20, The Arizona Capitol Times relays — as The Lawrence Journal-World hears a Kansas official predicting success for an Arizona-like ban on hiring illegals after the Supremes upheld the law. Chasing the dime: Weaknesses in contract oversight on the defunct virtual fence should impel DHS to "strengthen its procurement practices for its border security technology portfolio," Homeland Security Today hears the GAO finding. Shrinkage of the federal contracting market "is not across the board. While reductions are happening in some areas, other areas such as cybersecurity [and] homeland security are growing," Washington Technology updates. Borrowing the definition of "inverted domestic corporation" from a DHS measure in force since 2003, a new rule bars contracts to tax-dodging firms incorporated in overseas havens, Washington Business Journal relates. DHS has extended a deadline for bids on a $500,000 contract to provide armed security for Pacific island territory federal buildings, notes Guam Buildup News. Bugs 'n bombs: A Vancouver man has been handed six years behind U.S. bars for unlawfully dealing military-style weapons, The Province reports — as Reuters hears the U.S. Africa Command worrying about Libyan arms winding up in al Qaeda hands. The slow process of destroying obsolete mustard munitions prompts the Anniston (Ala.) Chemical Agent Disposal Facility to defer its completion deadline to September, BioPrepWatch updates. U.S. and Polish troops last week "joined forces in exercises relating to combating risks posed by chemical and biological weapons," Polskie Radio reports. A Pentagon list of cyberweapons that can sabotage adversaries' critical networks should streamline U.S. computer warfare planning, The Washington Post details. Close air support: The FAA announces that people who "illuminate" aircraft with powerful lasers, potentially dazzling pilots, now face $11,000 fines, Bloomberg relates. A Ghana-bound United Airlines flight dumped fuel and returned to Dulles escorted by F-16s after two passengers came to fisticuffs over an over-reclined seat, the Post reports — and see USA Today on the week's air rage outbursts. An Oklahoman, meantime, was charged for carrying a loaded handgun through O'Hare security, The Chicago Tribune tells. Houston air hub officials "are taking an even closer look at understanding airport activity through a customer service perspective — and standard surveillance cameras may not be enough," Government Technology spotlights. More than $16 million in liquids and gels will be seized from British women at checkpoints this summer, Terminal U forecasts. On track: SEPTA engineers are resisting a "safety and security" order issued after bin Laden's death that they wear fluorescent safety vests when operating commuter trains, The Philadelphia Inquirer informs. "Before we hire a new army of TSA guards, and before we make train passengers arrive an hour early to stand in line . . . we ought to calmly evaluate the long odds against an attack on any particular train," The Milford (Mass.) Daily News maintains. To improve railway security, China is selling real-name high-speed train tickets nationwide, People's Daily Online observes. Courts and rights: A federal judge has set an April 2012 date to try a man accused of plotting to bomb a holiday ceremony in downtown Portland last December, The Oregonian relays.A Colorado man was nabbed by FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents after mailing "white powder" to the state Department of Revenue, Denver's 9News notes — as CNN sees a Connecticut man indicted Tuesday on charges of peddling homemade pipe bombs. Former detainee Mamdouh Habib claims that fellow Aussie ex-detainee David Hicks "lived a privileged and protected life" as a snitch during his five years at Guantanamo, The Australian informs. Over there: "Across the country, many Pakistanis remain unconvinced that bin Laden was killed in a raid," the L.A. Times spotlights. "How big a threat is Anwar al-Awlaki and how central a place should he have in U.S. counterterrorism strategy?" The New York Times asks five experts. NATO has captured a senior former Osama bin Laden associate in northern Afghanistan, USA Today relays — while Agence France Presse sees al Qaeda making use of sleeper cells in West African countries. Quebec is denying a Montreal man child-assistance benefits because his name appears on a U.N. terror watchlist, The Canadian Press reports — while The Canada Free Press terms it "extremely concerning" that Ottawa's National Art Centre "has agreed to host an event organized by the Islamic Regime Embassy [sic]." Kultur Kanyon: In the first issue of "Superputin," Sergei Kalenik's Internet comic strip, "Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, clad in a kimono, rushes to rescue a bus threatened by an al Qaeda bomb," Radio Free Europe reports. Russell Proctor's "Days of Iron" (CreateSpace) "takes readers 400 years into the future . . . through a story that discusses the world through the eyes of a terrorist," MMD Newswire relays. After a hard day's forced labor, an ex-Chinese prison camp denizen tells The Guardian, detainees were forced to make virtual money in online games like "World of Warcraft" (Blizzard Entertainment) to benefit of prison guards. "Video games let us be heroes . . . They could let us be anyone, though. Terrorists, for example," Stephen Totilo opens in Kotaku — while USA Today spotlights the popularity of "first-person shoot 'em up games" such as "Call of Duty: Black Ops" (Activision) among soldiers serving in Afghanistan. Screening Room: "If you're keeping tabs on the recent cinematic reconsideration of 1960s and '70s left-wing terrorism, 'United Red Army' [Lorber Films], Koji Wakamatsu's devastating chronicle of the ultra-violent fringe of Japanese student radicalism, is a must-see," Salon suggests. Rick Remender's graphic novel "The Last Days of American Crime" (Radical Publishing), set in a United States where a second major terrorist strike has inspired technology eliminating the criminal impulse, is to become a film directed by F. Gary Gray, Screen Rant reports. "Wish You Waziristan," a $50,000 animated short designed by Britain's Foreign Office to dissuade teens from turning terrorist, has been slammed as a waste of money, Sky News notes. Among other woman-directed entries in this year's Silverdocs Festival, Katie Galloway's "Better This World" (Loteria) "sets in high relief the impact the war on terror has on civil liberties and political activism in a post-9/11 world," indieWIRE informs. Non compis mentally ill: "A federal judge has ruled that Jared Loughner, accused of killing six people in an attempt to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in January, is not competent to stand trial," an Onion Infographic informs. "Here are some of the factors that played a role in Loughner's medical evaluation: During sessions, did not once break eye contact with the interviewer's crotch; All of the swastikas scrawled in his notebooks had five spokes; Said the Rorschach card that's clearly a crab was a scorpion; Still using iPhone from, like, four models ago; Purchased the Glock 9mm used in the shooting from Sportsman's Warehouse rather than from the far more reasonably priced Cabela's; Quoted Ron Paul's economic platform verbatim; Neighbors described him as a quiet man who kept to himself; and Kept referring to his rights under the Constitution as if that meant anything in Arizona." See, as well, an Onion commentary: "Let's Just Go Ahead And Assume We've Learned The Lessons Of The Gabrielle Giffords Shooting." Source: CQ Homeland Security --------------------------------- Other CQ Roll Call Products CQ Floor Video CQ.com CQ Weekly CQ Today CQ Amendment Text CQ BillTrack CQ Budget Tracker CQ Energy & Climate CQ HealthBeat CQ Homeland Security CQ Hot Docs CQ House Action Reports CQ LawTrack CQ MoneyLine CQ StateTrack CQ Politics Roll Call See all CQ Roll Call products Rob Margetta, CQ Homeland Security Editor Arwen Bicknell, Behind the Lines Editor Published by CQ Roll Call To sign up for CQ Roll Call's free newsletters, click here. Source: CQ Homeland Security Copyright © 2011 CQ Roll Call. All rights reserved.