| Behind the Lines for Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010 — 3 P.M. Ask, don't tell: DHS keeping lid on internal probe into why CBP didn't deport DUI-collecting illegal alien before he drove over a Virginia nun . . . They're coming to take us away, ha-ha: DHS's move to former D.C. psych hospital "raising concerns among employees affected by the change" . . . Two if by sea: CBP vessels securing Texas border lake where Mexican "pirates" may have killed jet-skiing U.S. citizen. These and other stories lead today's homeland security coverage. --------------------------------- DHS will not release the results of an investigation into why an illegal immigrant with two DUIs went almost two years without a deportation hearing before causing a crash that killed a Virginia nun, The Washington Post’s Shankar Vedantam relates. While the “administration is focused on deporting those who have committed crimes, [it’s] mind-numbing that those who use false Social Security numbers are given some sort of free pass,” Armstrong Williams assails in The Hill. Polytricks: The Wisconsin Republican Party has accused re-election-seeking Dem Sen. Russ Feingold of being soft on Osama bin Laden, The Washington Times’ Sean Lengell reports. A GOP candidate for governor of Maine takes his Dem opponent to task for posing with a photo labeling President George W. Bush an “international terrorist,” The Kennebec Journal reports — while ABC News’ Russell Goldman hears tea partying New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino “caught on tape using a four-letter word to describe an Obama administration decision on where to try terror suspects.” No surprise, considering Arizona’s passage of a controversial anti-immigration measure, treatment of the undocumented plays a weighty role in this year’s race for Florida ag commissioner, The Lakeland Register’s Kevin Bouffard relates. Feds: President Obama met Tuesday with DHS’s Janet Napolitano and TSA’s John Pistole to review “the many enhancements” made in transportation security, Xinhua says. DHS’s “move to a former psychiatric hospital in Southeast Washington is on track, but is raising concerns among employees affected by the change,” Government Executive’s Emily Long relates. A dozen CBP boats will patrol Falcon Lake on the Texas border after the presumed murder of a jet skier by Mexican “pirates,” KRGV 5 News’ Erica Proffer updates — while CNN notes the unsettling beheading of the Mexican officer investigating the case, suggesting cartel involvement. The Joint Chiefs head says Pakistan’s military has pledged “to go after” militants in an area harboring al Qaeda that has become “the epicenter of terrorism,” Bloomberg’s Viola Gienger reports. Ivory (Watch Towers): A Coast Guard rear admiral has praised Purdue University’s VACCINE center, a data analysis project aimed at rationalizing homeland security efforts, The Lafayette (Ind.) Journal & Courier recounts. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian would-be underwear bomber was not radicalized during his days as a student in Britain, Reuters quotes from a review panel’s findings challenging the view he was recruited on campus. “You might have thought academics would have wanted to protect . . . Muslim students from going the way of Abdulmutallab. Instead of facing the problem squarely, they pretended it did not exist,” an Observer columnist somewhat relatedly objects. Newman Catholic School in Mason, Iowa, finally, has won a FEMA hazard mitigation grant of $730,000 that will help build a $1.2 million safe room, the Globe Gazette relates. State and local: A plan to further protect Michigan Stadium from a potential game day terror attack could mean completely closing five blocks of Main Street for several hours before and after events, AnnArbor.com reports. DHS’s Operation Stonegarden will give San Luis (Ariz.) cops two new ATVs and four security cameras for fighting crime and securing the border, The Yuma Sun says. Currently, 23 states have modern militias, which “offer a vital force multiplier and homeland security resource for governors throughout the nation,” a Heritage Backgrounder outlines. A cemetery caretaker this week found several pounds of military-grade plastic explosives buried in a historic East Village graveyard, The New York Daily News notes. Bugs ‘n bombs: The decades-old technologies used to manage the power grid are vulnerable to manipulation or sabotage, Technology Review hears an engineering professor warning. Despite the 2001 anthrax scare, “the U.S. national security paradigm is surprisingly confused on biological defense. This is in stark contrast with the sophistication of our nuclear policy,” a Washington Times op-ed chides — while Honolulu’s KHON 2 News highlights a mobile, public safety early-warning system being used by the city to detect chemical, nuclear, hazmat and biological agents at mass gatherings. At Tokyo’s Riscon 2010 Security and Safety Trade Expo, displays of chemical suits and chemical detection devices are getting more attention than in previous years, NTD TV updates. Close air support: “We know the protocol for bringing laptops, liquids and things like that on a plane, but what about carrying on delicate cargo like a family member’s remains?” Jaunted asks, sharing advice from “Dear Abby” on the topic. According to a federal indictment, rapper Petey Pablo “knew he had a stolen gun in his bag when he tried to board a plane on . . . of all days . . . Sept. 11, 2010,” TMZ.com tattles. Now that full-body scanners are a routine part of international travel, an expert tells Vancouver’s Georgia Straight she “would like to know who, if anyone, is monitoring the devices—and what health problems might be associated with the machines.” Coming and going: Al Qaeda urges Muslims in western countries in the second issue of the group’s online English-language mag to weld steel blades to heavy SUV vehicles and plow them into civilian crowds, Agence France-Presse reports.While arrests of illegal border crossers “are dropping, other frightening threats have been appearing,” Human Events relates. CBP has rolled out the first Texas-based Predator drone that will fly surveillance of the Mexico border from Corpus Christi’s Naval Air Station, Dallas’s WFAA-TV News notes. Nine stowaways who boarded a merchantman in Morocco walked out of a shipping container and into the arms of border security agents late last week, The Toronto Globe and Mail mentions. Terror tech: A senior intellicrat warns that terror groups increasingly recruit tech-savvy Westerners to mount ever-more sophisticated attacks, Homeland Security News Wire notes. Brit intel officials thwarted an alleged terror plot against Europe using voiceprinting technology to catch suspects, Popular Science relates. Pentagon futurists, meantime, seek algorithms to pre-empt anyone planning the next Fort Hood massacre or WikiLeaks document dump, Danger Room reveals. The first and only fabric promising multi-hazard protection against all nuclear, biological, chemical, bomb and ballistic threats was discussed this week at a NATO conference in the Czech Republic, The Kansas City Star relays. Ocean Power Technologies has won $2.75 million to provide power for a near-coast anti-terrorism and surveillance program off the New Jersey shore, Earth Techling tells. Courts and rights: During an emotional day of testimony, survivors described the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania at the New York trial of alleged plotter, Ahmed Ghailani, FOX News notes. Following a delay Tuesday, Maj. Nidal Hasan was in a Fort Hood courtroom yesterday for an Article 32 hearing in which victims IDed him as the shooter responsible for 13 deaths one year ago, the Los Angeles Times tells. Umar Abdulmutallab, referenced above, is scheduled to appear in a Detroit courtroom today, The Nigerian Tribune alerts. A D.C. district judge has made public an earlier decision denying habeas corpus rights to Gitmo detainee Toffiq Nasser Awad al Bihani, one of a notorious family of al Qaeda operatives, The Long War Journal spotlights. The Supremes have agreed to examine a case testing whether prosecutors overstepped in using a chemical weapons law to prosecute a Pennsylvania woman who tried to poison her husband’s mistress, The Christian Science Monitor mentions. Over here: The Canadian division of Campbell’s Soup “is selling products approved as ‘halal’ for Muslims by an organization with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, the massive movement that has spawned terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda,” WorldNetDaily accuses. FBI chief Robert Mueller said last week the bureau is continuing to investigate religious extremists who may be involved in terrorism aside from nationwide community outreach to ethnic and religious groups, The Washington Times tells. Muslim leaders are calling on Justice to look into the FBI’s handling of an investigation against a California man who once faced immigration charges and accusations of being a terrorist sympathizer, The Orange County Register reports. “Teens allegedly assaulted a Muslim eighth-grader in Staten Island, the site of another summer mosque controversy,” Salon says. Holy Wars: The much-wanted Adnan Shukrijumah “is one of a growing number of Americans who are showing up in key positions in al Qaeda and its affiliate groups, presenting a new challenge for law enforcement,” NPR takes note. The Washington Post is among at least 20 newspapers under fire for refusing to publish a “Non Sequitur” cartoon alluding to the Prophet Mohammad, IPT News informs. Pope Benedict XVI opened a two-week synod of Catholic bishops from the Middle East this week by condemning terrorist ideologies carried out in “God’s name,” The New York Times tells. Would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad “is not only a sociopath, but also an ignoramus. He doesn’t even know the Koran,” The Progressive’sAmitabh Pal protests. “Drone air strikes are the best option against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Pakistan, and the most humane,” Anthony Cordesman contends in The National Interest. This just in, from The Onion: “WASHINGTON — A bipartisan coalition of U.S. Congress members announced Tuesday the creation of the nationwide ‘Do Not Kill’ Registry, which gives citizens the convenience of choosing whether or not they would like to be violently murdered. ‘Obviously, we understand there are many Americans who would rather not be disturbed at dinnertime by an ax-wielding maniac, and that’s why we are providing this service,’ said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., who explained the law would also regulate the practice of random robokilling. ‘All citizens will have to do is supply us with their names and telephone numbers and we will make sure to block any further bothersome visits from killers smashing down their doors and ruthlessly murdering them in front of their screaming families.’ While the new program is proving to be popular, critics have pointed out that more than 2,000 of the people who have signed up for the registry have been stabbed to death in their driveways simply because they didn’t realize it takes 30 days to go into effect.” |
