Homeland Security

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Six missing after Ga. sugar refinery explosion
Authorities say rescue efforts shifted from rescue to recovery operation

PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. - Authorities searching for six people missing after an explosion at a sugar refinery said Friday that rescue efforts had shifted to a recovery operation. Firefighters were still battling flames.

Officials had not determined what caused the explosion Thursday night but said they suspect sugar dust, which can be volatile.

"There was fire all over the building," said Nakishya Hill, a machine operator who escaped from the third floor of the refinery on the Savannah River.
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"All I know is, I heard a loud boom and everything came down," said Hill, who was uninjured except for blisters on her elbow. "All I could do when I got down was take off running."

Fire partially contained
The fire was partially contained early Friday, said Capt. Matthew Stanley of the Savannah Fire Department. "We have diminished it considerably, but we're still struggling to get to parts of it," he said.

The fire had been extinguished in the area where the explosion happened, but structural damage was keeping firefighters out, Stanley said.

Ninety-five to 100 people were believed to be working in that area, authorities said.

Firefighters hoped to enter the area Friday. Authorities also were talking with the military about bringing in Chinook helicopters to dump water on the fire, Stanley said.

The blast was felt by residents throughout the Savannah suburb. No deaths were immediately reported, but six people remained unaccounted for hours later, said Chief Michael Berkow of the Savannah-Chatham County police.

Police Lt. Alan Baker and his wife, Joyce, told CNN they were among the first on the scene. Alan Baker said he went with a maintenance worker to turn off a gas main while his wife, a Red Cross first aid instructor, treated the injured.

"It was like walking into hell," Joyce Baker said. "We had approximately 13 men who were coming out and they were burned, third-degree burns on their upper bodies. And they were trying to sit down and the only thing that they wanted was to know where the friends were."

Some of the burned men had "no skin at all" and some had skin "just dripping off them," Baker said.

More than 50 people were taken to hospitals, some airlifted to a burn center in Augusta, 130 miles up the Savannah River, according to police and hospital officials. Several were in critical condition.

The plant is owned by Imperial Sugar and is known in Savannah as the Dixie Crystals plant.

Sugar dust explosion?
"A far as we know, it was a sugar dust explosion," Imperial Sugar CEO John Sheptor said. He said it happened in a storage silo where refined sugar is stored until it is packaged.

Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Lynn said the river was closed to ship traffic from the Port of Savannah while the river was searched for possible victims.

"It's a large facility, and there is still a significant amount of fire," said Clayton Scott, assistant director of Chatham County Emergency Management Agency. He described the refinery as covering an area the size of a Super Wal-Mart.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said Friday it is sending an investigative team to the plant.

Sugar dust is combustible, according the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration's Web site. Static electricity, sparks from metal tools or a cigarette can ignite explosions. Sugar dust is suspected of sparking a nonfatal explosion last summer at a factory in Scottsbluff, Neb., and one that killed a worker in Omaha in 1996.

Imperial Sugar, based in Sugar Land, Texas, acquired Savannah Foods & Industries, the producer of Dixie Crystals, in 1997. The acquisition doubled the size of the company, making it the largest processor and refiner of sugar in the U.S., according to the company's Web site.

Imperial markets some of the country's leading consumer brands, Imperial, Dixie Crystals and Holly, as well as supplying sugar and sweetener products to industrial food manufacturers.

[Soldier4Christ]

Pentagon charges 6 in 9/11 attacks
Death penalty will be sought against alleged mastermind, others

The Pentagon has charged six detainees at Guantanamo Bay with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, it was announced Monday. Officials said they’ll seek the death penalty in what would be the first trials under the terrorism-era military tribunal system.

“These charges allege a long term, highly sophisticated, organized plan by al-Qaida to attack the United States of America,” Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann, the legal adviser to the tribunal system, told reporters. He added that the charges have been sworn “against six individuals alleged to be responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks” which occurred on Sept. 11, 2001 and killed nearly 3,000 people.

Hartmann said the six include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the attacks in which hijacked planes were flown into buildings in New York and Washington. Another hijacked plane crashed in the fields of western Pennsylvania.
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White House press secretaryt Dana Perino said that President Bush had no role in the decision to seek the death penalty.

“Obviously 9-11 was a defining moment in our history,” she said, “and a defining moment in the global war on terror. And this judicial process is the next step in that story. The president is sure that the military is going to follow through in a way that the Congress said they should.”

The military will recommend that the six men be tried together before a military tribunal. But the cases may be clouded because of recent revelations that Mohammmed was subject to a harsh interrogation technique known as waterboarding — which critics call torture.

Asked what impact that will have on the case, Hartmann said it will be up to the military judge to determine what evidence is allowed.

Prosecutors have been working for years to assemble the case against suspects in the attacks that prompted the Bush administration to launch its global war on terror.

The other five men being charged are:

    * Mohammed al-Qahtani, the man officials have labeled the 20th hijacker;
    * Ramzi Binalshibh, said to have been the main intermediary between the hijackers and leaders of al-Qaida;
    * Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, known as Ammar al-Baluchi, a nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has been identified as Mohammed’s lieutenant for the 2001 operation;
    * Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, al-Baluchi’s assistant;
    * Waleed bin Attash, a detainee known as Khallad, who investigators say selected and trained some of the hijackers.

Tribunal system has changed
The men would be tried in the military tribunal system that was set up by the administration shortly after the start of the counterterror war and has been widely criticized for it rules on legal representation for suspects, hearings behind closed doors and past allegations of inmate abuse at Guantanamo. Original rules allowed the military to exclude the defendant from his own trial, permitted statements made under torture, and forbade appeal to an independent court; but the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the system in 2006 and a revised plan set up after Congress enacted a new law has included some additional rights.

Defense lawyers still criticize the system for it’s secrecy.

But Hartmann said Monday that the defendants will get the same rights as U.S. soldiers tried under the military justice system including the right to remain silent, call witnesses, and know the evidence against him. Appeals can go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

He called the charges sworn Monday “only allegations” and said the accused will remain innocent until proven guilty.

The decision to seek the death penalty also is likely to draw criticism from within the international community. A number of countries, including U.S. allies, have said they would object to the use of capital punishment for their nationals held at Guantanamo.

The military tribunal system requires that a panel of 12 unanimously find the defendant guilty for capital punishment cases, Hartmann said.

Trial to be held at Guantanamo
Officials plan to hold the trial in a specially constructed court at Guantanamo that will allow lawyers, journalists and some others to be present, but leave relatives of Sept. 11 victims and others to watch the trial through closed-circuit broadcasts.

Mohammed was among 15 so-called “high-value detainees” who were held at length by the CIA in secret overseas prisons — some subject to what critics call torture — before being handed over to the military in 2006.

Last week, for the first time, the Bush administration acknowledged that Mohammed was among three suspects who were waterboarded. CIA Director Michael Hayden said that waterboarding was used, in part, because of widespread belief among U.S. intelligence officials that more catastrophic attacks were imminent.

Waterboarding involves strapping a person down and pouring water over the suspect’s cloth-covered face to create the sensation of drowning. It has been traced back hundreds of years, to the Spanish Inquisition, and is condemned by nations around the world. Critics call it a form of torture.

In Guantanamo Bay hearings that have been criticized as unfair, Mohammed confessed to the 9/11 attack and a chilling string of other terror plots last March.

“I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z,” Mohammed said in a statement read during the session, according to hearing transcripts later released by the Pentagon.

Under the system, the charges are forwarded to the convening authority for military commissions, Susan Crawford. She can refer some or all of them for trial.

And it could be months or longer before trials begin for the six Sept. 11 defendants. With the appeals process, it would likely be some time after any convictions before executions would be possible.

[Soldier4Christ]

Bush orders clampdown on flights to U.S.
EU officials furious as Washington wants extra data on all air passengers

The US administration is pressing the 27 governments of the European Union to sign up for a range of new security measures for transatlantic travel, including allowing armed guards on all flights from Europe to America by US airlines.

The demand to put armed air marshals on to the flights is part of a travel clampdown by the Bush administration that officials in Brussels described as "blackmail" and "troublesome", and could see west Europeans and Britons required to have US visas if their governments balk at Washington's requirements.

According to a US document being circulated for signature in European capitals, EU states would also need to supply personal data on all air passengers overflying but not landing in the US in order to gain or retain visa-free travel to America, senior EU officials said.

And within months the US department of homeland security is to impose a new permit system for Europeans flying to the US, compelling all travellers to apply online for permission to enter the country before booking or buying a ticket, a procedure that will take several days.

The data from the US's new electronic transport authorisation system is to be combined with extensive personal passenger details already being provided by EU countries to the US for the "profiling" of potential terrorists and assessment of other security risks.

Washington is also asking European airlines to provide personal data on non-travellers - for example family members - who are allowed beyond departure barriers to help elderly, young or ill passengers to board aircraft flying to America, a demand the airlines reject as "absurd".

Seven demands tabled by Washington are contained in a 10-page "memorandum of understanding" (MOU) that the US authorities are negotiating or planning to negotiate with all EU governments, according to ministers and diplomats from EU member states and senior officials in Brussels. The Americans have launched their security drive with some of the 12 mainly east European EU countries whose citizens still need visas to enter the US.

"The Americans are trying to get a beefing up of their visa-waiver programmes. It's all contained in the MOU they want to put to all EU member states," said a diplomat from a west European country. "It's a very delicate problem."

As part of a controversial passenger data exchange programme allegedly aimed at combating terrorism, the EU has for the past few months been supplying the American authorities with 19 items of information on every traveller flying from the EU to the US.

The new American demands go well beyond what was agreed under that passenger name record (PNR) system and look certain to cause disputes within Europe and between Europe and the US.

Brussels is pressing European governments not to sign the bilateral deals with the Americans to avoid weakening the EU bargaining position. But Washington appears close to striking accords on the new travel regime with Greece and the Czech Republic. Both countries have sizeable diaspora communities in America, while their citizens need visas to enter the US. Visa-free travel would be popular in both countries.

A senior EU official said the Americans could get "a gung-ho frontrunner" to sign up to the new regime and then use that agreement "as a rod to beat the other member states with". The frontrunner appears to be the Czech Republic. On Wednesday, Richard Barth of the department of homeland security was in Prague to negotiate with the Czech deputy prime minister, Alexandr Vondra,

Prague hoped to sign the US memorandum "in the spring", Vondra said. "The EU has done nothing for us on visas," he said. "There was no help, no solidarity in the past. It's in our interest to move ahead. We can't just wait and do nothing. We have to act in the interest of our citizens."

While the Czechs are in a hurry to sign up, Brussels is urging delay in order to try to reach a common European position.

"There is a process of consultation and coordination under way," said Jonathan Faull, a senior European commission official involved in the negotiations with the Americans.

To European ears, the US demands sound draconian. "This would oblige the European countries to allow US air marshals on US flights. It's controversial and difficult," an EU official said. At the moment the use of air marshals is discretionary for European states and airlines.

While armed American guards would be entitled to sit on the European flights to the US, the Americans also want the PNR data transfers extended from travellers from Europe to the US to include the details of those whose flights are not to America, but which overfly US territory, say to central America or the Caribbean.

Brussels has told Washington that its demands raise legal problems in Europe over data protection, over guarantees on how the information is handled, over which US agencies have access to it or with whom it might be shared, and over issues of redress if the data is misused.

The Association of European Airlines, representing 31 airlines, including all the big west European national carriers, has told the US authorities that there is "no international legal foundation" for supplying them with data about passengers on flights overflying US territory.

The US Transport Security Administration has also asked the European airlines to supply personal data on "certain non-travelling members of the public requesting access to areas beyond the screening checkpoint".

The AEA said this was "absurd" because the airlines neither obtain nor can obtain such information. The request was "fully unjustified".

If the Americans persevere in the proposed security crackdown, Brussels is likely to respond with tit-for-tat action, such as calling for visas for some Americans.

European governments, however, would probably veto such action, one official said, not least for fear of the "massive disruption given the huge volume of transatlantic traffic".

[Soldier4Christ]

Man carrying Quran, Bible caught with box cutter at airport
Weapon hidden in hollowed-out book found when backpack passed through X-ray

A 21-year-old Clearwater man was arrested at Tampa International Airport this weekend after security personnel found a box cutter in a hollowed-out book, authorities said.

If convicted, Baines faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for a federal charge of attempting to board an airplane with a concealed dangerous weapon. He is currently serving a 30 day
sentence after pleading guilty Monday to a state misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, airport security ran Benjamin Baines Jr.'s backpack through an X-ray machine and saw the image of a box cutter, according to a report from the Transportation Security Administration.

When searching the backpack, a security officer found a book titled "Fear Itself." The book was hollowed out, and the box cutter was inside.

After Baines was read his rights, he said his cousin had cut away the pages to make the hollow section in the book. Later, reports state, he said he had hollowed it out himself to hide money and marijuana from his roommates.

Baines told officers he was moving to Las Vegas and forgot the cutter was in the book.
Officers found books in the backpack titled "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an." He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible.

Several sheets of paper in the backpack included rap lyrics that referred to police, narcotics, weapons and killing. Baines told officers he is a rapper who writes his own lyrics and that rap music writers need to "play the part," the report states.

Officers performed a background check and found no record of crimes or active warrants.
He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and booked into Orient Road Jail. At his first appearance in court Monday, Baines pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, according to an employee with the Hillsborough County clerk of court. He remained in Orient Road Jail today.

The U.S. Attorney's Office also filed a federal charge of attempting to board an aircraft with a concealed dangerous weapon. The federal charge against Baines was filed Sunday but was not announced until today, said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa.

Cole said Baines will be arrested by U.S. marshals upon his release from jail on the state charge.

[Soldier4Christ]

Michigan congressman says security threat thwarted

Congressman Thad McCotter says a "stealth assault on America's national security" by Communist China has been stopped.

The global Chinese telecom company Huawei has failed in its attempt to purchase a stake in the U.S. technology group 3Com, which makes anti-hacking software for the military. Private equity firm Bain Capital and Huawei withdrew their takeover filing with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States after some lawmakers warned the proposed $2.2 billion deal threatened national security. Huawei has ties to the Chinese military, which recently conducted a cyber attack on the Pentagon.
 
Representative McCotter (R-Michigan) was one of the critics of the deal. "... [We are] a nation ... conceived and dedicated to liberty -- especially religious liberty. We're not seeing this out of Communist China," he points out, "and trading with them has not furthered the process of them recognizing people's God-given, constitutionally recognized rights."
 
As a member of Congress, McCotter continues, if "we do not understand our duty to uphold and defend every human being's God-given rights, then we will have betrayed our birthright." McCotter also states that the new generation of Chinese communists is trying to destroy the U.S. through capital markets and financial services.
 
The Michigan Republican is also recommending that President Bush not attend the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing because it would be a "propaganda victory" for the Chinese -- the same way Hitler would have had a propaganda coup had Franklin Roosevelt attended the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

[Soldier4Christ]

9/11 Redux: 'Thousands of Aliens' in U.S. Flight Schools Illegally
Former FAA Inspector: TSA's Enforcement of Post-9/11 Laws 'Basically Nonexistent'


Thousands of foreign student pilots have been able to enroll and obtain pilot licenses from U.S. flight schools, despite tough laws passed in the wake of the 9/ll attacks, according to internal government documents obtained by ABC News.

"Some of the very same conditions that allowed the 9-11 tragedy to happen in the first place are still very much in existence today," wrote one regional security official to his boss at the TSA, the Transportation Security Administration.

"Thousands of aliens, some of whom may very well pose a threat to this country, are taking flight lessons, being granted FAA certifications and are flying planes," wrote the TSA official, Richard A. Horn, in 2005, complaining that the students did not have the proper visas.

Under the new laws, American flight schools are only supposed to provide pilot training to foreign students who have been given a background check by the TSA and have a specific type of visa.

But in thousands of cases that has not happened, according to the documents and current and former government officials involved in the program.

"TSA's enforcement is basically nonexistent," said former FAA inspector Bill McNease, in an interview for ABC News' "World News With Charles Gibson."

Watch the full report tonight on "World News With Charles Gibson" at 6:30 p.m. ET.

McNease, who retired last year, says in one year alone, 2005, he found some 8,000 foreign students in the FAA database who got their pilot licenses without ever being approved by the TSA.

"And a flight school wants the money to teach 'em. And they are gonna teach 'em how to fly and get their ratings, and then they just slip through the cracks," McNease said.

In another internal e-mail obtained by ABC News, Monty Thompson, an official in the TSA Flight School Inspections section, complained in 2005 to his bosses in Washington, "I fear we are 'danger close' to losing sight of the mission and the intent of the 'Flight School Security' provisions."

The new laws were passed after it was learned that all of the 9/ll hijackers, including ringleader Mohammed Atta, who were involved in flight operations had trained at U.S. flight schools with improper visas.

The FAA and Homeland Security are now starting to crack down on a number of flight schools suspected of training students illegally.

Just last month, agents raided a flight school outside San Diego, Anglo-American Aviation International, as part of an investigation of alleged fraud and misuse of visas.

A lawyer for the school said the raid only involved a technical, paper-work issue and that the school was "cooperating" in the investigation.

But federal officials say the so-called paper-work is extremely important.

"What happened in 9/ll we don't want to happen again or anything like that so something has to be done," said McNease.

No one from the TSA or Homeland Security would agree to be interviewed for this story, but officials said they were preparing an official statement in response.

The Department of Homeland Security would not provide an official from the flight school program to be interviewed for this story.

In a statement, the DHS said, "We have a high degree of confidence that our layered security measures, both seen and unseen, have raised the level of security in our aviation sector."

The statement did not address the issue of the thousands of students who have received pilot training and licenses with improper visas, other than to say they "are only one of the multiple layers of security" that the government relies on to "ensure that foreign nationals approved for flight training do not pose a threat to U.S. aviation security." The DHS said it conducts security threat assessments "on all non-U.S. citizens seeking flight training."

[Soldier4Christ]

Man in coma after Ricin find in Vegas
Among people 7 hospitalized, vial discovered in motel room

Police say a man is in critical condition after the deadly toxin ricin was found in his Las Vegas motel room.

Las Vegas police Lt. Lewis Roberts says the man has been in a coma since he was found in his room at the Extended Stay America Motel on Thursday.

He's one of seven people hospitalized after the ricin was discovered. Police have said most were examined as a precaution.

Roberts says police don't think foul play is involved, and the FBI says the case doesn't appear to be terrorism-related.

But authorities aren't sure why the man had a vial of powdered ricin in his room.

Ricin is made from processing castor beans, and can be extremely lethal.

[Soldier4Christ]

Las Vegas ricin investigation continues
Guns, anarchist-type textbook also found in room

Police say there is no indication of any link to terrorist activity involving the discovery of the deadly poison ricin that was found in a hotel room near the Las Vegas Strip.

Seven people were sent to the hospital to be tested for poisoning, including three officers who first responded to the 911 call. All seven people are fine and have been released from the hospital. There was also a dog and two cats found in the room. The cats survived, but the dog had to be put down because of starvation.

The room belonged to a man, Roger Von Bergendorff, who had been admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14 with breathing problems. Von Bergendorff is now in critical condition and police sources say he has slipped into a coma. Police say they don't think foul play is involved, however they are still investigating why the man had ricin in his room.

Police say they were summoned to his room on Feb. 26, 2008 after apartment management called them to remove some firearms. The managers were going forward with eviction proceedings when they found guns and an anarchist-type textbook.

When police arrived, they noted the ricin section of the textbook was highlighted. Officers called Metro's bomb squad to check out the room, but they found no evidence of ricin.

A day later, a relative of Von Bergendorff found vials of ricin while cleaning out the room. He showed the vials to hotel management prompting a huge response by police and medical services.

Several federal and local agencies are involved in the investigation. The incident happened at the Extended Stay America Hotel, not far from the Las Vegas Strip. The hotel is located on Valley View between Flamingo and Harmon.

"Ricin is very serious. Something as small as the size of a pin can be deadly. An individual citizen, other than being involved in cancer research or cancer prevention, would not have any legal means or proper means to have it," said Metro Homeland Security Capt. Joe Lombardo.

Lombardo says the ricin was in powder form and also some of it was in castor bean form. Police say there were several vials of the toxin in a plastic bag and it may have been there for more than two weeks.

"I want to assure everyone the valley is safe we don't have any threat of contamination threat," said Lombardo.

Police say the relative who turned in the ricin also stayed at Excalibur Hotel. As a precaution, Metro went to the hotel and made sure there was no contamination.

"This was precautionary. It would be irresponsible of us not to respond to Excalibur and conduct tests to see if there was ricin," said Capt. Lombardo.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says ricin is a powerful poison made from castor beans. It has some legitimate medical uses but it has most recently made news as a terrorist weapon.

Accidental exposure is very unlikely. It takes a deliberate act to make ricin and use it as a poison.

Meanwhile, as police and even the National Guard converged on the Extended Stay America, guests were locked out with no place to go.

Eyewitness News talked with Dennis Clark, who was locked in his room for hours, not knowing what was going on.

"You have it blocked up here and you are letting me walk around here, and she says, "Well, we are not really. You either go back into your room or you have to leave." and I said, "You are sure it is safe to stay?" and she said, "Yes, it is not a problem. We only have it blocked off to here." He said.

Friday morning, Eyewitness News caught up with Chad McEwan and his wife Darbi. They were married on Wednesday, just one day before the scare. They say their honeymoon is ruined. Luckily, Chad's mother lives in Las Vegas, so they stayed on her pull out bed -- not the honeymoon either had hoped for.

"Aww, she was gotcha8ed. We were panicking. Couldn't get to our room. We were tired," said McEwan.

Eddie Moreira did not get back to his room until 3 a.m., too. He works for an events company and had a large moving van parked nearby. He was upset no one from Extended Stay or the police told him what was happening.

"Are you in Russia or something? You can't have access to information and nobody can tell you anything," said Moreira.

No one from Extended Stay's local or national office had any comment Friday. A few of the guests did get refunds on their reservations, but many went elsewhere.

Ricin has been used in attacks overseas before, but Metro stresses this does not appear to be an act of terror.

[Soldier4Christ]

Homeland Security says northern border at risk
'Undisputed presence in Canada of known terrorists, extremists'

A new report from the Department of Homeland Security is warning that the U.S. is at risk from invasion through its northern border, a 4,000-mile stretch of mostly unattended territory in 12 states, with the confirmed presence of a number of terrorist and extremist groups in Canada.

"The primary threat along the northern border is the potential for extremists and their conveyances to enter the U.S. undetected," the report delivered to Congress this week says. "There is an undisputed presence in Canada of known terrorist affiliate and extremist groups, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria."

While both the United States and Canada long have boasted that the border between the two nations is the longest undefended international border in the world – there even is an International Peace Garden straddling the boundary on the edge of North Dakota, in the post-9/11 world, concerns over the movement of terrorists and their weaponry into the United States has increased exponentially.

That, especially since it was revealed that even before 9/11, an Algerian-born operative for Osama bin Laden's network was caught crossing from Canada into Washington with a trunk loaded with bomb-making materials, allegedly for use in a plot to bomb Las Angeles International Airport.

The new report, delivered to Congress on the instructions of legislation supported by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., calls the northern border porous and vulnerable to clandestine crossings.

The report, Tester told the Helena, Mont., Independent Record, "is just the first step, but it's good to see that the conversation on how to best shore up our northern border has started."

The report notes terrorists could blend into the Canadian population, because 90 percent of Canada's residents live within 100 miles for the border. But then on the U.S. side, much of the border is fronted by tens of thousands of square miles of sparsely populated forests in northern Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota.

"As such, the northern border's operating environment differs appreciably from the southwest border and requires a different law enforcement approach," the report said.

During 2007 more than 70 million people traveled across the border, and law enforcement agents arrested 4,000 people and intercepted 20 tons of contraband – mostly drugs.

The Department of Homeland Security had proposed that those crossing the border be required starting this year to present documents denoting citizenship and identity when entering the U.S. from Canada, but Congress then voted to delay that plan until 2009.

DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff said the "honor" system in place at the border for decades doesn't provide for the safety of American people. "Requiring secure and reliable documentation at our borders will drastically reduce security vulnerabilities posed by permitting entry based on oral declarations alone," he said.

Authorities noted from October to December 2007, authorities found 1,517 cases of individuals trying to enter the U.S. from Canada by falsely stating to be U.S. citizens. In another case, a suspect in a murder case was captured.

The Independent Record noted in its report that reconnaissance flights by the Montana National Guard and federal agents revealed numerous roads that crossed the international boundary with virtually no demarcation.

The newspaper said it located on Internet mapping services at least 58 roads or trails leading across the border with no checkpoints at all.

Tester told the newspaper he's seen such weaknesses personally. "This report will get the ball rolling to make the northern border as safe and secure as possible," he said.

Another issue is the staffing level for law enforcement agents. There are thousands of agents assigned to the southern U.S. border, but only a few hundred from Customs and Border Protection for the nation's northern edge, officials said.

"Vulnerabilities still exist along the northern border and must be addressed," the report said.

A second report on the situation, which is expected to detail measures that would improve security, is expected this summer.

Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, a Democrat, earlier expressed concern about the ability of first responders in border states to respond, communicate and coordinate "in the event of a terrorist attack."

And a spokesman for the Border Patrol admitted the stretch "is not as secure as it should be."

The Independent Record noted that sometimes law enforcement authorities actually get their information from ranchers and farmers. "Because of the vastness of the area, the farmers help us out a lot, serving as our eyes and ears," a spokesman told the newspaper.

Hill County, Mont., sheriff Greg Szudero told the newspaper he has major concerns. "Terrorists – their goal is to murder people. If they can murder one or 30 or 3,000, they're going to do it. If we get too relaxed and don't act professional, we could be in serious trouble."

"The mindset of the local citizenry and some law enforcement is that terrorism won't happen here," he told the paper. "I do have concerns, and those are the terrorism issues we have in our country. We know terrorism incidents do happen. It could happen in rural Montana."

The southern border issues have, however, been given a higher profile. WND has reported that over the past few weeks, four Iraqis have been captured by Mexican officials, reportedly trying to enter the United States through its southern border.

Back in 2004, WND reported that al-Qaida planned to use Mexico as an entry point into the U.S. In addition, the 911 commission reported the terrorist network actually owned a travel agency in Mexico.

The commission also concluded that immigration enforcement failures led directly to the 911 attack . At least seven of the 19 hijackers carried false passports.

Also in 2004, WND reported Mexico was not fully cooperating with anti-terrorist efforts because of corruption and red tape inside the government.

That same year, WND reported al-Qaida expanding operations in Mexico and Latin America because of financial pressures brought on by the war on terrorism.

This followed an admission by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that al-Qaida was attempting to smuggle operatives into the U.S. across the Mexican border.

In 2003, WND reported a Mexican smuggling ring specializing in bringing Middle Easterners in the U.S. was discovered.

Just a month after the 911 attack, WND reported on the evidence Arabs were routinely making the trek from Mexico to the U.S.

[Soldier4Christ]

FBI: Even more sensitivity
to Islam required by agents
Weeks added to required 'enrichment' program:
'We all need to learn and understand each other'

The FBI believes its agents still aren't sensitive enough to Muslims and their culture, so the bureau has extended by "a few weeks" its Islamic cultural "enrichment" training program, WND has learned.

During a recent outreach event at a Washington-area mosque, FBI officials also reassured a large turnout of concerned Muslims that the bureau is not profiling Arabs and Muslims for terrorism, and has made investigating alleged "hate crimes" against them and other minorities "the second-highest priority in the criminal division of the FBI."

Among the officials who attended the Feb. 8 "town hall meeting" at the large ADAMS Center mosque were Timothy Healy, deputy assistant director for FBI intelligence, and Dave Bennett, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Washington field office.

The officials said terrorism is "not a new phenomenon" limited to Muslims, and they cited abortion-clinic bomber Eric Rudolph as an example of a Christian terrorist.

While they said they are concerned about the threat from "homegrown terror" perpetuated by second-generation Muslim immigrants, the officials assured the Muslim audience they are no more concerned about such homegrown attacks than they are "about bank robberies," and are not targeting the Muslim community for special surveillance.

One official offered that FBI headquarters has extended the bureau's Arabic curriculum, which includes Muslim culture, by "a few weeks" to expose agents to Islam and cultivate a better understanding of the faith.

"We all need to learn and understand each other," he said, adding that the Muslim sensitivity program is part of basic training for agents.

"One of the things that the FBI believes in is diversity," he said. "Diversity is important."

To that end, he says the bureau is "under a hiring push this year" and is heavily recruiting Muslim agents. The FBI wants to hire 900 FBI agents and 2,000 professional support staff, including Arabic translators, by Sept. 30.

"One of the things that we are critically seeking are special agents and support staff who are Arabic speakers," he announced to the audience at the ADAMS mosque, which was founded and funded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and has been one of the top distributors of Wahhabist anti-Semitic and anti-Christian dogma.

"We also need folks who, candidly, are familiar with Islam," the official said. "We're learning, many of us. And I've had many conversations with Muslims, and I've learned quite a bit. I'm a Roman Catholic, and there are so many similarities I have learned between Islam and Christianity that was a surprise to me."

ADAMS Center is not the only Muslim Brotherhood-tied organization where the FBI has recruited agents. In September, it also set up a recruitment booth at the annual Islamic Society of North America convention. Just four months earlier, federal prosecutors named ISNA as an unindicted co-conspirator in a major terror fundraising case, and listed it as a member of the U.S. branch of the radical Brotherhood.

What's more, the agency is advertising for agents in ISNA's magazine "Islamic Horizons," as well as on the website of the Saudi-backed Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, which has supported Hamas and other known terrorists.

Last November, Lebanese former FBI agent Nada Prouty was arrested and pleaded guilty to charges in connection with a Hezbollah espionage investigation.

As WND first reported, the FBI summarily rejected some 90 Jewish Arabic speakers who after 9/11 applied to become translators and language specialists at the FBI's New York field office.

As WND also first reported in 2003, national Arab-American and Muslim leaders have made presentations at an FBI training course on civil rights at the Washington offices of the FBI, and at the FBI Academy at Quantico, Va., as part of "Enrichment Training Sessions" for new special agents there.

In addition, the imam of a large Manhattan mosque has lectured veteran counterterrorism investigators at the FBI's New York field office about misinterpretation of the meaning of jihad in the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

The sensitivity training program, denounced by some active and former agents, was mandated after the 9/11 attacks by FBI Director Robert Mueller.

FBI headquarters defends the program as a way to reach out to the Muslim community in America.

"I hate the word 'sensitivity' training," said FBI spokesman Ed Cogswell. "I would call it an awareness training relative to cultural issues."

Mueller has met several times with Arab and Muslim groups since 9/11. He even agreed to be the keynote speaker at the American Muslim Council conference in Washington – a move that drew fire from AMC critics, who note the group has sung the praises of Islamic terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, and was headed by al-Qaida fundraiser Abdurahman Alamoudi, now serving time in federal prison on terror charges.

"Mueller should lead the FBI in this war, and leave the sensitivity sessions to the human resources department or CNN," complained retired FBI special agent Don Lavey, who served 20 years in the bureau's counterterrorism unit.

"Let's just hope the director is leading the charge in this war against terrorism with an equal amount of zeal that he shows for cultural sensitivities," added Lavey, who claims Mueller is so politically correct he refuses to use "Islamic" and "terrorism" in the same sentence.

[Soldier4Christ]

Doctors charged with illegally transferring money to Pakistan
Pair used tax-exempt, charitable organization to move more than $800,000 from U.S.

A Florida Panhandle doctor and a New York doctor illegally transferred more than $800,000 from the United States to Pakistan, according to a federal grand jury indictment announced Thursday.

Dr. Muhammad Ishaq Zafar, 63, of Chipley, and Dr. Mohammed Tariq Randhawa, 64, of Hornell, N.Y., used a tax-exempt, charitable organization, Pak-American Islamic Cultural Corporation Inc., as an unlicensed money transmitting business, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The men used the organization to transfer funds for the benefit of family members and friends who contributed to the organization, the indictment said.

The men also were charged with filing false tax return forms on behalf of the organization.

The money contributed to the organization was disguised as charitable donations, and donors falsely claimed the money transfers as tax deductions, authorities said.

The men face a total of 10 separate counts. Randhawa was arrested in New York, but Zafar remains a fugitive. If convicted, Zafar could face up to 33 years in prison and $2.1 million in fines, and Randhawa could face up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines. It was not immediately known if either man had an attorney.

Chipley is located approximately 45 miles north of Panama City.

[Soldier4Christ]

Senior military strategist disagrees with Air Force tanker deal

National defense expert Bob Maginnis believes the Air Force made a serious mistake in awarding a $40 billion contract to a European company to build 179 tankers that will replace America's aging airborne refueling fleet.

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne recently told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the European-made refueling tanker "was clearly a better performer" than its U.S. rival, and that was why the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) and its U.S. partner Northrop Grumman Corporation were awarded the contract. Wynne argues the EADS-designed plane was determined to be less expensive and risky than the one offered by Boeing Aircraft Corporation.
 
But Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis (USA-Ret.) disagrees, and claims the decision effectively outsources American jobs to a firm subsidized by foreign governments. "One of the reasons they're far more competitive is because they ... are not forced to make a profit, whereas Boeing has to be competitive in a market that is pretty vicious," argues the senior Pentagon strategist.
 
Maginnis says he understands why Boeing plans to fight the move. "The issue will be ongoing. It will be in the courts; it will be in Congress," he points out. "And in fact, I expect there will be some legislation offered to block it."
 
Apparently Europeans have money to subsidize their aircraft industry, says the retired Army commander, but not enough to fund their own security, because they rely on American troops, planes, and ships to make their continent safe. Maginnis suggests this issue should become a presidential campaign issue.

[Soldier4Christ]

Wall Street Terror Threat From al Qaeda Non-specific

Law enforcement officials have alerted Wall Street firms of a new, non-specific terror threat centering on lower Manhattan.

Officials point out that the threat is based on unverified intelligence from overseas but was time-specific. The non-specific threat information suggests an al Qaeda terror would like to strike the city sometime this month, a security official said on condition of anonymity.

An NYPD spokesman said the department is aware of the threat and is taking added precautions. The spokesman stressed there is no credible information any plot is imminent, but extra measures will be in place until officials learn more about the overseas sourcing.

Officials with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task force and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security also downplayed this latest threat to Wall Street. Investigators said a security bulletin was issued as a precaution.

    Homeland Security states there is no reason to believe an attack is imminent and that it is not giving much credibility to the threat.

    “It is quite indirect … not a continuous chain of possession, meaning not U.S. sourcing,” said the official. “Of course you exercise caution and you always pay attention when you hear this, but there is nothing specific on targets, and it’s not even clear who the source of the threat is. It is uncorroborated.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Red Line Train Searched After Report of Suspicious Activity - Boston

Red Line service was halted this morning for about 15 minutes after a woman told MBTA workers in Cambridge that she overheard two men dressed in fatigues talking about explosives.

MBTA transit police stopped the southbound Red Line train, which left Central Station at about 7:35 a.m., at Park Street and searched the train for the suspicious men, said Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

“It’s certainly the type of activity that should be reported,” Pesaturo said.

[Soldier4Christ]

Arabs screaming 'Allahu Akbar' attack rabbi
Suspect grabs yarmulke, hit by car as he flees

A police investigation has been launched into an attack in New York City on a rabbi who was kicked and punched by Arabs screaming "Allahu akbar," the same chant reportedly used by the 9/11 hijackers as they killed thousands of people in the same city in 2001.

The report comes from Vox iz Neiaas, which means "What's News," in New York.

The incident happened in the jurisdiction of the 78th Precinct, according to the report, and is being investigated as a possible bias crime.

The report said an 18-year-old Arab man grabbed the yarmulke of a Jew at the 4th Ave. and 9th Street train station in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, "while his friends kicked and punched the victim while screaming 'Allahu akbar.'"

The perpetrator grabbed the rabbi's head covering, then fled the scene only to be hit by a vehicle on a nearby street. The report said police arrested him and requested an ambulance, but were trying "to brush off the crime as just teenagers who don't know what 'Allahu akbar' means."

Israel National News identified the rabbi as Oriah Ohana, a 25-year-old from Kfar Chabad.

The rabbi had chased the suspect who grabbed the yarmulke, and when the thief was hit by a car, the rest of the attackers renewed their assault, "claiming he was the cause of their friend's misfortune," the report said.

They all escaped before police arrived except the man hit who was hit by the car.

The Arabic declaration, translated as "Allah is great," often is chanted by Muslims before or during terrorist attacks.