Homeland Security

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June 2009
- High Court Won't Hear Challenge to Border Fence
  
  Fox News | Jun 15, 09 2:47 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to the completion of the border fence between the US and Mexico, Fox News reports. Environmental groups, an Indian tribe, and the city of El Paso brought the challenge, contending that a fence will cut off access to the Rio Grande for religious, cultural, and municipal purposes. The Obama administration had encouraged the court to reject the case. More »
- Pentagon's Cybercommand Raises Privacy Fears
  
  New York Times | Jun 13, 09 8:04 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Plans to put America's cybersecurity under the control of the Pentagon are raising some thorny privacy and diplomacy issues, the New York Times reports. President Obama has insisted that the military, under the cybercommand being developed, will not be monitoring private sector networks and Internet traffic—but Pentagon officials say the nature of cyberwarfare could make that promise difficult to guarantee. More »
- DHS Report on Target: Domestic Nuts on Rise
  
  Politico | Jun 10, 09 8:12 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Today's shooting at the Holocaust museum, on the heels of the murder of an abortion provider, is bringing renewed attention to a Homeland Security report issued in April that warned of a rise in exactly these kinds of attacks, Politico reports. At the time, critics including Rush Limbaugh blasted the DHS report as an attack on conservatives, but now civil rights groups say it was right on target. More »
- Pentagon Drops Ball on Contractor Oversight: Report
  
  Associated Press | Jun 9, 09 9:33 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Though US defense contracting has reached “unprecedented proportions” in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department isn’t adequately monitoring the contracts, according to an independent watchdog. A report to be presented to Congress tomorrow says the government lacks central records showing the identities, activities, and pay of some 240,000 private workers contracted for tens of billions of dollars, the AP reports. More »
- Intelligence Pick Bows Out Over CIA Tactic Ties
  
  Associated Press | Jun 5, 09 5:32 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - President Barack Obama's pick for intelligence chief at the Homeland Security Department withdrew from consideration today amid questions about his role in the CIA's interrogations of suspected terrorists. Philip Mudd was scheduled to appear next week before senators, but notified the White House today that he was withdrawing his name because he did not want to be a distraction. More »
- US Judge Boots Warrantless Wiretap Cases Vs. Telecoms
  
  Associated Press | Jun 3, 09 2:17 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - A federal judge has tossed out more than three dozen lawsuits filed against the nation's telecommunications companies for allegedly taking part in the government's email and telephone eavesdropping program that was done without court approval. The dismissals were widely expected after Congress in July agreed on new surveillance rules that include immunity from lawsuits for telecommunications companies that allegedly helped the US spy on Americans. More »
- US Fears al-Qaeda Bioattack From Mexico
  
  Washington Times | Jun 3, 09 1:52 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - US counterterrorism officials are worried that al-Qaeda may mount a biological attack from Mexico and could even seek to collaborate with domestic terrorists, the Washington Times reports. The fears are bolstered by a February video from Kuwait al-Qaeda recruiter Abdullah al-Nafisi. In the video, Nafisi boasted that anthrax “carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the US” would “kill 330,000 Americans.” More »
May 2009
- Pentagon Builds Legion of 'Hacker Soldiers'
  
  New York Times | May 31, 09 10:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Military recruiters may still prize the strapping jock, but military contractors are wooing the scrawny computer geek to join the ranks of young "hacker soldiers" enlisted to defend the US in cyberwarfare, the New York Times reports. Most of the biggest companies, like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, have “cyber contracts” with the military, and the Pentagon now has thousands protecting the US against threats and developing offensives of their own. More »
- Obama Lays Out Plans for 'Cyber Czar'
  
  Associated Press | May 29, 09 11:56 AM CDT
  
  (AP) - The US has for too long failed to protect the security of its computer networks, President Obama said today, announcing he will name a new cyber czar to take on the job. This is a "transformational moment" for the country, Obama said, with computer networks probed and attacked millions of times a day. "We're not as prepared as we should be, as a government or as a country." No word yet on when the new czar will be named. More »
- CIA Wants You, I-Banker
  
  New York Post | May 28, 09 3:50 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The CIA is looking for a few good bankers to track down millionaire bad guys and stymie financial terrorism, the New York Post reports. Ads on Bloomberg Radio ask money whizzes to use their “intelligence for the work of a nation.” The $160,000 salary will probably be a pay cut for most applicants—provided they still have a job. Interviews will be held at an undisclosed New York location. More »
- FBI to Expand Role Battling Terrorism
  
  Los Angeles Times | May 28, 09 9:21 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The FBI will take a bigger role in the fight against terrorism, the Los Angeles Times reports, moving into investigation and criminal prosecution of accused terrorists. The shift marks a change from the secretive CIA operations favored by the Bush administration, and ties in with President Obama’s assertion that most alleged terrorists should be able to defend themselves against charges. More »
- Man Without Prints Stumps Airport Security
  
  USA Today | May 27, 09 4:42 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The side effects of a drug to treat cancer led to a Singapore man being detained for hours by airport security officials who couldn’t find his fingerprints, USA Today reports. The drug capecitabine causes hand-foot syndrome, in which the skin peels off; the man was finally allowed through after being advised to carry a doctor’s note. His oncologist describes the unusual case today in an online letter to the Annals of Oncology . More »
- Obama, Tell W You're Sorry for Mocking His Policies
  
  Financial Times (UK) | May 25, 09 12:54 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - President Obama’s national security policy has been surprisingly close to his predecessor’s—a policy he hammered on the campaign trail. For that, he “owes George W. Bush an apology,” writes Clive Crook in the Financial Times . But his supporters also deserve an apology. His election rhetoric “misled” them: “In office he has found that the issue is more complicated” than he presented it. More »
- Cheney 'Answers' Obama, Defends Bush Policy
  
  CNN | May 21, 09 11:38 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Dick Cheney offered an “answer” to President Obama’s national-security speech today, standing up for the policies of the Bush administration and saying he remained “a strong proponent of our enhanced interrogation program,” CNN reports. “In the fight against terrorism,” Cheney said, “there is no middle ground, and half-measures leave you half-exposed,” Politico adds. President Bush aimed to ensure 9/11 wasn’t “a prelude to something worse.” More »
- Boy Scouts Train to Fight Terror, Patrol Borders
  
  New York Times | May 14, 09 7:02 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Think of it as Extreme Boy Scouting: the co-ed Explorers program has trained kids across the country in law enforcement techniques for decades. But lately “our emphasis is on terrorism, illegal entry, drugs, and human smuggling,” says a Border Patrol agent of the program. That means charging around with pellet guns amid simulated terrorist showdowns or drug raids, the New York Times reports. More »
- Publicity Hound Cheney Makes Strategic Return
  
  Time | May 13, 09 12:09 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Dick Cheney isn’t in an undisclosed location anymore. The former VP is suddenly waging a one-man campaign defending the Bush administration’s interrogation tactics. Even he can’t believe that’s a great political move, writes Michael Duffy of Time , so what’s he up to? It’s possible that Cheney is playing the long game. By arguing now that President Obama is making us less safe, he’s setting Republicans up to point fingers if another terrorist attack occurs. More »
- Hackers Expose Holes in Air Traffic Safety
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 7, 09 7:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Civilian air traffic computer networks are riddled with security holes, and hackers have breached them several times in the past few years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Intruders could gain access to operational systems by first hacking into administrative areas using 763 separate “high risk” holes in those systems, according to a new report, which recommends that the FAA add more intrusion sensors to its networks. More »
- FBI Neglected Terror Watch List: Audit
  
  Associated Press | May 6, 09 12:44 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - The FBI is slow to update the national terror suspect watch list, and the lapses pose real risks to US security, according to a Justice Department audit. Twelve terror suspects who were either not listed or were slow to be added may have traveled into or out of the US, the report says. The watch list, which is used to screen people entering the US and by local law enforcement, contains more than 1.1 million names. More »
- Obama Seeks $27B to Clamp Down on Border
  
  Los Angeles Times | May 6, 09 10:32 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In the budget he’ll hand to Congress tomorrow, President Obama is seeking $27 billion for border and transportation security as he focuses on immigration enforcement and battling the flow of US arms to Mexico. The 8% increase over this year’s budget allows for an expansion of border teams, a security boosts at airports and seaports, and immigrant screening programs, the Los Angeles Times reports. More »
April 2009
- Obama Policies Make Boehner 'Want to Throw Up'
  
  Washington Times | Apr 29, 09 1:41 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Obama administration’s policies on national security, spending, and the law make John Boehner almost physically ill, the House minority leader tells the Washington Times . Democratic hate-crime legislation in particular, which Boehner says could be used against religious leaders who don’t support the gay agenda, makes him “want to throw up.” It would amount to prosecutions based on “what we think they were thinking as opposed to what they did.” More »