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    July 26

    News That Matters will stand-down during NLE-09 Exercise

     
    NTM Staff Note:
     
    Many of our associates/writers have spent numerous hours on the border, doing what our government fails to do. Given the fact that an attempt to secure the border is an ongoing political debate in Washington, the U.S. Border Patrol agents and associated border watch groups (neighborhood watch) trained by Homeland Security specialists and counter terrorism instructors, know very well the condition and dangers we face on a regular basis by thugs that exploit illegal aliens and continue to smuggle drugs.
     
    We're fighting a war in Afghanistan that is a left-over of the "war on terror" and the fear-mongering by the Obama administration to use a heavy hand on internal opposition to the party, is a misdirected focus that continues to place our border security concerns on the back burner, while "not to offend Mexico."
     
    The upcoming FEMA NLE-09 Exercise is a concerted effort by Homeland Security, in conjunction with foreign military observers, to gather intel and evaluate the internal strife in America. Border security is mentioned in their press releases, but how aggressive will they be during the exrercise from July 27th through July 31st? Will they attempt to shutdown the border with National Guard?
     
    Many questions remain elusive with the Obama adminstration, as to exactly what the exercise will accomplish. Virtual versus pragmatic seems to be the norm over practical applications.....
     
    As a matter of courtesy to our U.S. Border Patrol agents in the field, and in memory of USBP Agent Robert Rosas, that gave his life for our national security, and in conjunction with FEMA's NLE-09 Exercise, our office and all communications will be shutdown at midnight tonight (July 26th) and will not open until midnight July 31st. If you have articles or reports for Traffic Alert USA or News That Matters, we encourage you to send any relative reports concerning the NLE-09 exercise or information concerning possible 4th amendment violations to: articles@infowars.com
     
    Alex Jones and the GCN Network will be in full operations during this military exercise. Shortwave listeners can listen daily at 11am CST on frequency 12.160 mhz and is replayed each evening at 9pm CST on frequency 5.070 mhz. Those that are not participating with us and others for a complete communications shutdown can access the Alex Jones show 24/7 at: www.prisonplanet.com
     
    The purpose of a complete shutdown of all communications, cellphone, internet, and vulnerable communications is to recognize the slain agent as an example of a border that is out-of-control, to encourage Homeland Security to make the border their number one concern, instead of looking for Americans in mid-America with opposite viewpoints and/or conservative values.
     
    If you are not aware of what NLE-09 entails, then you are likely not a potential "NLE-09 Exercise" target......
     
    Dave Bertrand
    Traffic Alert USA
     
    *******************************************************************************************************
    By Carl Braun (Border Patrol Auxiliary)
     
    Campo, CA--According to published reports from AFNTijuana and the LA Times, a 36 year old Mexican male was arrested as a suspect in the shooting of US Border Agent Robert Rosas.

     

    Teccate police observed the man, who was injured, at 1:30 am in Ejido El Encinal a community on the Mexican side near where the shooting occurred. He was reportedly in possession of a US Border Patrol issued sidearm.

    The man identified as Ernesto Parra Valenzuela was taken to the hospital for his injuries and is being questioned by Mexican authorities who have detained upwards of twenty-five people in connection with the border agent's murder.

    On Friday, KPIX in San Francisco reported that two men and 1 woman were arrested also in connection with the murder at a local hospital where they too were seeking treatment for injuries. Details are sketchy but law enforcement apparently located them by tracking cell phones used in the area at the time of the assault.

    The FBI and Border Patrol have not yet issued any statements on the arrests.

     
    This opening in the fence is approximately where the shooting took place. Openings along the 1940's built fence are plenty along the Mexican/California border, plus.... many border stretch locations are NOT even defined!
     
    July 25

    Afghanistan: Analyst Bergen explains why we are there (Did we miss something?)

     

    http://www.worldthreats.com/?p=1458

    Afghanistan Is Not Vietnam

    Peter Bergen has an excellent analysis on why the media’s negative attitude towards the prospects for success in Afghanistan are wrong. It’s interesting to see how the media is treating Afghanistan now like it did Iraq before and during the early stages of the surge. Yes, political bias seeps into the media, but I’ve often said that the media’s attitude towards war efforts is pessimistic no matter who is president.

    Bergen notes that, similar to Iraq in 2006, the American public’s patience is running thin:

    “This has caused consternation among some in the Democratic Party. In May, fifty-one House Democrats voted against continued funding for the Afghan war. And David Obey, the chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which controls federal spending, says the White House must show concrete results in Afghanistan within a year—implying that if it doesn’t do so, he will move to turn off the money spigot. If this is the attitude of Obama’s own party, one can imagine what the Republicans will be saying if his “Af-Pak” strategy doesn’t start yielding results as they gear up for the 2010 midterm elections.”

    Amazingly, 42% of Americans believe the war in Afghanistan is a mistake. Amazing. I can think of no war more jusitified. This proves that the American people’s attitude towards war is more based on their optimism of winning, than an appraisal of the justification and objectives.

    Bergen also debunks the notion that Afghanistan isn’t a real country, noting that it’s been a nation-state longer than the U.S. has.

    Other noteworthy observations by Bergen:

    • Karzai has a 52% approval rating
    • Afghanistan had an over 80% turnout during the 2004 elections
    • “In 2008 more than 2,000 Afghan civilians died at the hands of the Taliban or coalition forces; this is too many, but it is also less than a quarter of the deaths last year in Iraq, a country that is both more sparsely populated and often assumed to be easier to govern. (At the height of the violence in Iraq, 3,200 civilians were dying every month, making the country around twenty times more violent than Afghanistan is today.)”
    • There are only about 20,000 Taliban militants.
    • In 2005, 80% had a favorable opinion of the U.S. and supported having foreign forces in the country. In Iraq at that time, only one-third supported having foreign forces in their country. Now, slightly less than half of Afghans have a favorable opinion of the US, but it’s still high for a Muslim country.
    • “BBC/ABC polling found that 58 percent of Afghans named the Taliban—who only 7 percent of Afghans view favorably—as the greatest threat to their nation; only 8 percent said it was the United States. “
    • The economy is booming with a 14% increase in GDP in 2007, and one in six have cell phones.

    Bergen writes that the surge will allow a huge expansion of the Afghan security forces, whose personnel will also be paid more so as to better compete with the Taliban for recruits. There’s only 16,000 cops/soldiers, and Afghanistan is bigger than Iraq, so there’s currently a huge shortage.

    Read the whole thing by clicking here. Thank you Peter Bergen for putting the war there in the proper context.

     
     
     
     

    Iran: We will strike Zionist Regime if we are attacked

     

     

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/027017.php

    "If the Zionist Regime attacks Iran, we will surely strike its nuclear facilities with our missile capabilities"

    No, no, no, that wasn't Obama, it was Mohammad Ali Jafari, Revolutionary Guards commander-in-chief.

    "Iran vows to hit Israel’s atomic sites if attacked," from Reuters, July 25 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

    TEHRAN - The Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Iran would strike Israel’s nuclear facilities if the Jewish state attacked it, state television reported.

    “If the Zionist Regime (Israel) attacks Iran, we will surely strike its nuclear facilities with our missile capabilities,” Mohammad Ali Jafari, Guards commander-in-chief, told Iran’s Arabic language al-Alam television.

    The Revolutionary Guards are the ideologically driven wing of Iran’s military with air, sea and land capabilities, and a separate command structure to regular units....

    “We are not responsible for this regime and other enemies’ foolishness ... If they strike Iran, our answer will be firm and precise,” state television quoted Jafari as saying....

    “Our missile capability puts all of the Zionist regime (Israel) within Iran’s reach to attack,” Jafari said. “The Zionist regime is too small to threaten Iran.”...

    Israel believes that a multi-level missile shield underwritten by the United States would protect the country against possible missile attacks.

    Jafari said such a shield could only protect Israel “in a limited way”.

    “But they will have no answer when Iran bombards them (and) sends a great number of its missiles,” he added....

    Projection Alert:

    Jafari said Iran “was not scared” of Israel’s military capabilities. “It is part of the psychological war that the West has launched against Iran,” he said.

    Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, was re-elected in a disputed June 12 presidential vote that stirred the largest display of internal unrest in the country since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

     
     
     

    Cheney: Wanted military to arrest inside the U.S., but can't seem to justify a military on our border

     

     

     

    Cheney pressed Bush to test Constitutional limits by using military force on US soil

    Muriel Kane
    Raw Story
    Saturday, July 25, 2009

    According to a story in Friday’s New York Times, Vice-President Cheney advocated in 2002 for the Bush administration to send military troops to Buffalo to arrest the so-called Lackawanna Six as enemy combatants.

    This would have violated both Fourth Amendment guarantees against search and seizure without probable cause and the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which makes it illegal to use the military for law enforcement.

    Despite those prohibitions, Cheney argued that the president did have the power to use the military on US soil, citing an October 23, 2001 Justice Department memorandum co-authored by John Yoo which claimed that presidential power extended to the domestic use of the military as long as it served a national security purpose.

    The Lackawanna Six were a group of young Yememi-Americans who had attended an al Qaeda training camp in 2001. They were arrested in September 2002, and President Bush bragged of having broken their “cell” in his January 2003 State of the Union address.

    However, an investigation by Salon failed to turn up any evidence that they were actually a “sleeper cell” or that they had been planning any kind of violent attack. Most of them were convicted merely of providing material aid to terrorists.

    According to Salon, all six were very ordinary young men who had been led to believe they were traveling to Afghanistan for religious studies. The evidence against them was tenuous — which was one reason Cheney pressed for them to be held as enemy combatants instead of being arrested — and many of their Muslim neighbors told Salon they believed the entire case against them was a scam.

    The October 2001 Yoo memorandum was declassified last March, but the accounts given to the Times by anonymous Bush administration officials are the first indication that there was serious consideration of actually using it.

    Cheney’s legal advisor David Addington and some Defense Department officials supported Cheney’s position, but several aides to President Bush opposed it, along with then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and FBI Director Robert Mueller. President Bush ultimately turned the plan down and ordered the FBI to make the arrests.

    The full registration-restricted Times story can be read here.

     
     
     

    Malkin: Border agent killed responding to possible incursion

     

    http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/24/border-agent-killed-responding-to-possible-incursion/

    Border agent killed responding to possible incursion

    By Michelle Malkin  •  July 24, 2009 10:21 PM


    Border Agent Robert Rosas, Jr., killed in the line of duty

    In my State of the Borders column in January, I warned that Mexican Army incursions into U.S. territory remain a regular occurrence.

    Off the Obama radar screen, violence on the southern border rages unchecked.

    Now this:

    A U.S. Border Patrol agent who was shot and killed Thursday night was responding to a potential incursion into the United States, authorities said.

    U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says, “This act of violence will not stand.”

    Agent Robert Rosas suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene around 9 p.m. in the Campo area in San Diego County, California, said Richard Barlow of the U.S. Border Patrol.

    Barlow, speaking at a Friday news conference, said authorities did not have additional details about the incident, which he said occurred near the fence that separates the U.S. and Mexico.

    Other agents responded to the area and found Rosas, Barlow said.

    Authorities said they believe more than one person was involved in the killing, said Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego bureau. He said one of those involved may have been injured as well.

    A break in the case:

    KPIX in San Francisco is reporting that two men and one woman were arrested in relation to this case in a San Jose Hospital where they were seeking treatment. Reportedly, a blood sample of one of the assailants was found at the scene. Reports that the Agent may have been shot with his own weapon are unconfirmed at this time.

    This tragedy underscores the need for a better fence and tighter control over the United States Border with Mexico. It also signals an escalation of the violence on this side of the fence or lack thereof. The area where the agent was killed is still only protected by the decades old ten-foot fence that smugglers and illegal immigrants have been scaling or crawling under since it was installed.

    Local residents and citizen border watchers are stricken with grief, many of whom knew and worked with Agent Rosas…Agent Rosas is survived by a wife and two small children. Flags across the area are flying at half-staff.

    R.I.P.

     
     
     
     

    National Terror Alert: More precise information concerning Border Patrol death near Campo

     
     
    [See National Terror Alert report below this vague mainstream media report by AP]
     

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32140133/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

    Manhunt launched in border agent’s slaying

    Report: One suspect arrested in Mexico after Southern Calif. shooting

     

    CHULA VISTA, Calif. - Federal investigators are combing hospitals along the U.S.-Mexico border for at least two suspects who may have been injured in gunfire that killed a Border Patrol agent in Southern California.

    Law enforcement agencies were pursuing "a number of leads" in the United States and in Mexico but no one had been arrested or charged with killing Agent Robert Rosas, the FBI said late Friday.

    Investigators said they have notified hospitals on both sides of the border to be alert for patients with suspicious or unexplained injuries.

    The Los Angeles Times reported that police in Tecate, Mexico, said Friday they had arrested an injured man walking near the crime scene with a Border Patrol-issued weapon shortly after the shooting. The man, Ernesto Parra Valenzuela, 36, was taken to a hospital, according to a news release.

    After-hours messages left for the FBI were not immediately returned.

    Rosas, 30, was killed Thursday night while responding alone to a suspected border incursion near Campo, a town in rugged, arid terrain in southeastern San Diego County. He was shot in the head and body and was dead when backup agents arrived, said Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego bureau.

    Federal officials have expressed concerns that the drug cartel battles plaguing Mexico could spill into the United States with the targeting of U.S. law enforcement officials. Slotter said investigators aren't ruling out the possibility that Rosas was slain by drug smugglers or even human smugglers.

    Click for related content

    Investigators said blood evidence at the scene indicated at least one suspect and possibly more had serious injuries, perhaps by gunfire.

    Investigators don't yet know how many shots were fired, if Rosas fired any shots himself and how many guns were used.

    "It's all possible. I can't definitively say X number of people fired or Agent Rosas got off shots or didn't. I mean, it's too early in the investigation to say that with any certainty," Slotter said.

    Authorities said at least one other agent in the field heard gunshots after Rosas left to respond to the call and couldn't reach Rosas on his radio afterward.

    Father of two
    Rosas was the first Border Patrol agent to die in a shooting in more than a decade, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page Inc., which tracks fallen officers using information provided by law enforcement agencies. Another agent, Luis Aguilar, was
    intentionally run over by a fleeing man driving a drug-laden Hummer in January 2008.

    Rosas, a three-year Border Patrol veteran, had a 2-year-old son and an 11-month-old daughter, said Richard Barlow, acting chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol's San Diego sector.

    "My thoughts and condolences are with Agent Rosas' family and his fellow agents at this difficult time," said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement. "His death is a vivid reminder that we are engaged in a serious effort to secure our border and that thousands of Border Patrol agents and other DHS employees risk their lives every single day to protect and defend our nation."

    Barlow said he could not confirm reports that Rosas called for backup and then went ahead before anyone arrived. But he said it isn't unusual for agents to work alone along the 60 miles of border in the San Diego sector.

    "It is a common occurrence for our agents to start tracking individuals or start pursuing individuals that make an incursion into the United State by himself prior to backup arriving," he said.

    'Concern'
    The San Diego sector of the Border Patrol has seen a 22 percent decrease in border apprehensions this year after a 7 percent increase in each of the previous two years. Barlow said agents routinely have rocks thrown at them and are physically assaulted.

    The president of the union representing 17,000 Border Patrol agents declined to discuss the details of the shooting but said his organization has long been concerned about staffing levels and situations where agents work alone in the field.

    T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said it was "fairly common for our agents throughout San Diego County and the rest of the country to work without a partner. They each have separate vehicles, and it's a matter of concern with us."

    Since 1919, 108 Border Patrol agents have died on duty, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page Inc. Gunfire was the leading cause with 30 deaths, followed by automobile accidents and aircraft accidents.

    The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a suspect or suspects.

    NTM Staff Note: The following report from 'National Terror Alert' is more precise than what mainstream media is wanting to report. Bringing attention to violence on both sides of the southwest border is counter-productive for the Obama Adminsitration and the corrupt Mexican government......

    Homeland Security Arrests 3 In Killing of US Border Patrol Agent

    July 24, 2009 by national 

    http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/tag/three-arrested/

      
    Filed under Headline

    oconner_hospital

    Three people were arrested at a hospital in San Jose Friday in connection with the killing of a Border Patrol agent in San Diego County Thursday night.

    Agents with the Department of Homeland Security surrounded the hospital and arrested two men and one woman.At least one suspect wanted for the murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Robert Rosas was reportedly injured during the attack and may seek medical attention on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said Friday.

    Some news reports indicated two men and one woman were taken into custody, Bay Area law enforcement sources confirmed only one person was arrested at the hospital Friday by agents from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security. FBI agents provided backup. The suspect was released from the hospital and was in custody Friday night.

    Authorities said they traced the cell phone of one of the people arrested.Investigators checked hospitals and medical facilities in hopes of finding whoever shot and killed the 30 year old agent.Rosas spotted a suspicious group in a remote area near Campo near the Mexican border Thursday night and called for backup, according to Border Patrol spokesman Daryl Reed. When the suspicious group split up, Rosas went after some suspects by himself. Other agents lost radio contact with him.

    Read Full Article

    Original Story -Border Patrol Agent Shot, Killed Near San Diego

    UPDATE: Man Arrested In Tecate Mexico Carrying Border Patrol Issued Weapon

    Police in Tecate, Mexico, announced late Friday that they had arrested a man walking near the crime scene with a Border Patrol-issued weapon shortly after the shooting. The man, Ernesto Parra Valenzuela, 36, was injured and was taken to a hospital, according to a news release.

    July 24

    Gov Perry caught between a rock and the New World Order, siding with the people

     

    Perry raises possibility of states' rights showdown with White House over healthcare

    By DAVE MONTGOMERY

     

    AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of a showdown with the Obama administration, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking states’ rights protections under the 10th Amendment to resist the president’s healthcare plan, which he said would be "disastrous" for Texas.

    Interviewed by conservative talk show host Mark Davis of Dallas’ WBAP/820 AM, Perry said his first hope is that Congress will defeat the plan, which both Perry and Davis described as "Obama Care." But should it pass, Perry predicted that Texas and a "number" of states might resist the federal health mandate.

    "I think you’ll hear states and governors standing up and saying 'no’ to this type of encroachment on the states with their healthcare," Perry said. "So my hope is that we never have to have that stand-up. But I’m certainly willing and ready for the fight if this administration continues to try to force their very expansive government philosophy down our collective throats."

    Perry, the state’s longest-serving governor, has made defiance of Washington a hallmark of his state administration as well as his emerging re-election campaign against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2010 Republican primary. Earlier this year, Perry refused $555 million in federal unemployment stimulus money, saying it would subject Texas to long-term costs after the federal dollars ended.

    Interviewed after returning from a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, Perry spoke out against President Barack Obama’s healthcare package less than 24 hours after the president used a prime-time news conference Wednesday night to try to sell the massive legislative package to Congress and the public.

    'Not the solution’

    "It really is a state issue, and if there was ever an argument for the 10th Amendment and for letting the states find a solution to their problems, this may be at the top of the class," Perry said. "A government-run healthcare system is financially unstable. It’s not the solution."

    Perry heartily backed an unsuccessful resolution in this year’s legislative session that would have affirmed the belief that Texas has sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government.

    In expressing "unwavering support" for the 10th Amendment resolution by state Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, Perry said "federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens and its interference with the affairs of our state."

    Returning to the "letter and spirit" of the 10th Amendment, he said in April, "will free our state from undue regulations and ultimately strengthen our union."

    Perry, in his on-air interview Thursday with Davis, did not specify how he might use the 10th Amendment in opposing the Obama health plan. His spokeswoman, Allison Castle, said that the governor’s first goal is to defeat the plan in Congress and that any discussion of options beyond that would be "hypothetical."

    "I don’t think it’s surprising that the governor is taking a stand against it," said Anne Dunkelberg, associate director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin-based research organization that supports the House version of Obama’s plan. "Unfortunately, the national dialogue on health reform has been extraordinarily partisan and polarized."

    The White House Media Affairs Office, asked to comment on Perry’s statements, did not have an immediate response. In his remarks to the nation Wednesday, Obama restated his midsummer deadline for passage of the bill in Congress, saying it is urgently needed to help families "that are being clobbered by healthcare costs."

    High stakes in Texas

    Texas has a higher percentage of uninsured people than any other state, with 1 in 4 Texans lacking health coverage. Dunkelberg, whose organization supports policies to help low- and modest-income Texans, said the House version would create a "predictable and comprehensive benefits package" for thousands of struggling middle-income Texans.

    Former Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth of Burleson, a senior fellow for healthcare at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, echoed Perry’s assertion that the Obama plan is the wrong approach and could have disastrous financial consequences for Texas.

    Under the Senate version of the bill, she said, an expansion of the joint federal-state Medicaid program for the poor could cost Texas $4 billion a year.

    "There are good solutions" to the country’s healthcare problems, Wohlgemuth said. "This isn’t it."

    Perry said the plan is another example of the Obama administration’s "massive takeover of the private-sector economy."

    "I hope our leaders will look for solutions that don’t dig our country further into debt," he said.

    Perry called on Texans in the House and Senate to oppose the plan. "I can’t imagine that anyone from Texas who cares about this state would vote for Obama Care. I don’t care whether you’re Democrat or Republican," he said.

    Of those Texans who might consider supporting the plan, he said: "This may sound a little bit harsh, but they might ought to consider representing some other state because they’re sure not representing Texas."

    DAVE MONTGOMERY, 512-476-4294
     
     
     
     

    FEMA to Conduct Massive NLE 09 Martial Law Exercise, U.S. Border security NOT priority

     
     
    FEMA to Conduct Massive NLE 09 Martial Law Exercise

    by Kurt Nimmo
     

    Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate met with several state governors to discuss “emergency preparedness,” according to a press release [1] posted on FEMA’s website. “FEMA is committed to protecting and assisting our states and citizens during disasters,” said Fugate. “By working together and strengthening relationships at the state level, we can continue to build the national emergency response team which includes FEMA, as well as state, local, tribal and federal partners, the private sector and faith-based organizations. The work we are putting in now to build this team will go a long way during the next disaster.”

    Preparations are now underway for FEMA’s NLE 09.

    On Sunday, Fugate addressed governors from around the country at the National Governors Association conference in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he “discussed how FEMA can best support the states and their citizens as we prepare for and respond to emergencies and disasters.”

    FEMA does not specifically detail the “next disaster,” although Fugate had participated “in a video teleconference with governors and officials from over a dozen hurricane prone states on his first day as Administrator.”

    Last October, investigative journalist Wayne Madsen [2] learned from knowledgeable FEMA sources that the Bush administration had put the final touches on a plan that would see martial law declared in the United States with various scenarios anticipated as triggers. “The triggers include a continuing economic collapse with massive social unrest, bank closures resulting in violence against financial institutions, and another fraudulent presidential election that would result in rioting in major cities and campuses around the country,” explained Madsen.

    An additional trigger has since emerged – a mass flu pandemic the government promises will occur this autumn.

    In addition, Army Corps of Engineer sources told the journalist that the assignment of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT) to the Northern Command’s U.S. Army North will augment FEMA and federal law enforcement in the imposition of traffic controls, crowd control, curfews, enhanced border and port security, and neighborhood patrols in the event a national emergency being declared. The BCT was assigned to duties in Iraq before being assigned to the Northern Command.

    On July 3, Infowars [3] reported on National Guard troops training to engage in combat with “militia” groups. In the exercises, held in Missouri and South Dakota, eight members of a Jefferson City-based battalion acted as a “fictitious militant group” and attacked military checkpoints and convoys.

    On September 30, the Army Times reported that the BCT would be deployed in the United States under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks. The BCT mission “marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities,” Gina Cavallaro [4] wrote for the Times. The military is prohibited under the Posse Comitatus Act from working with local law enforcement.

    Madsen reported on a highly-classified document regarding the martial law scenario on April 3, 2008. “WMR has learned from knowledgeable sources within the US financial community that an alarming confidential and limited distribution document is circulating among senior members of Congress and their senior staff members that is warning of a bleak future for the United States if it does not quickly get its financial house in order. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among those who have reportedly read the document.”


    Kurt Nimmo is a frequent contributor to Global Research.  Global Research Articles by Kurt Nimmo

    The Chávez -Obama UN Plot Against Honduras

     

    The Chávez -Obama UN Plot Against Honduras

    Cliff Kincaid

     
    The United Nations on Thursday began a debate over a new UN military doctrine called the “Responsibility to Protect,” which would authorize the world organization to be used as cover to intervene in the sovereign affairs of a nation state, supposedly to protect the people of a country against their own government. The first target could be anti-communist Honduras.
     
    The “Responsibility to Protect,” also known as RtoP or R2P, is mostly the work of the World Federalist Movement, a group dedicated to world government by strengthening the United Nations system. It is the major force behind the “International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect.”
     
    R2P was sold as something to be exercised against regimes practicing genocide against their own people. But the new doctrine is so vague and subject to political manipulation that one can speculate it could be used to justify some form of UN intervention in Honduras on the pretext that the people there are somehow being victimized by a popular military-backed regime. In fact, some Hondurans are telling this columnist that they are fearful that UN “blue helmets” are right now being prepared to invade their country.
     
    It is difficult to dismiss these concerns as baseless rumors, considering what will be happening at the UN. The key UN official orchestrating the debate, General Assembly President and Lenin Peace Prize recipient Miguel D’Escoto, is the same figure who recently managed passage of a UN resolution supporting the return to Honduras of Manuel Zelaya, who was removed by the military on the orders of the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress. Zelaya is a lackey of Venezuelan communist ruler Hugo Chavez, who is using his oil money to buy and influence governments throughout Latin America.
     
    In an ominous development, blogger Jason Poblete, an astute observer of Latin American affairs with excellent sources, reports that “The Obama Administration is considering a United Nations Security Council Resolution against the constitutional government of Honduras.” If true, anticipated UN sanctions against Honduras could be followed by the world organization being used as cover for outside forces to invade Honduras and reinstate Zelaya.
     
    The new government in Honduras replaced Zalaya because he was trying to set himself up as president-for-life, Chávez-style. All of this was found to be in violation of Honduran law and the Constitution. Despite what officials of the Obama Administration said in trying to orchestrate media coverage of this crisis, it was not a military coup in any sense. The military doesn’t run Honduras today. In fact, the new president, appointed by Congress, is from Zelaya’s own political party. Zelaya was dismissed because of the simple fact that he tried to violate the law and the Constitution.
     
    Zelaya flew from Costa Rica, where he was deported, to UN headquarters in New York, where D’Escoto, who is also a Communist Catholic Priest from Nicaragua, greeted him as a comrade. Since the crisis began and the UN voted to have him reinstated, the Obama Administration has been trying to figure out a way to get him back into power. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias recently hosted some negotiations to try to resolve the dispute but they appear to be going nowhere.
     
    The UN may be the logical next step, if Zelaya’s allies in the region don’t act precipitously on their own and intervene. Chavez has already threatened to invade Honduras to put Zelaya back in power.
     
    Interestingly, according to one report, when Zelaya tried to return to Honduras by plane and was turned away, his supporters began chanting “We want blue helmets!” – a reference to UN peacekeepers. This could be the scenario we see developing, using the “Responsibility to Protect” or something similar as justification for UN economic and military intervention.
     
    R2P is usually offered as a possible remedy in the case of Darfur, a region of Sudan where people are being massacred by the Islamic regime. But this was never realistic. President Obama promised but has failed to do anything about this. The real source of the problem in Darfur is the communist regime in China, which directly finances the Sudanese regime through oil purchases. Obama won’t confront China because he needs Chinese help to finance his tax, spend and debt policies.
     
    With Arab and Muslim governments also unwilling to confront the problem directly, the burden of responding to Darfur falls on the incompetent and corrupt UN, which is always anxious to expand its scope and power. The “Responsibility to Protect,” which was actually approved by the UN General Assembly in 2005, when the Bush Administration was in power, is supposed to be the answer. The debate unfolding in the UN is over how to implement this doctrine and under what circumstances. What can be certainly be expected are calls for more money for the UN to finance more military power, perhaps even a standing World Army that includes more UN “blue helmet” peacekeepers.   
     
    Everybody knows, of course, that the doctrine will not be used against China, a member of the UN Security Council. Nobody expects a UN force to liberate Tibet. Neither will a UN force be deployed to protect Georgia from Russia. Instead, it will be used against small countries, possibly Honduras, where there is a UN “consensus” and the Obama Administration could vote and work with China and Russia. 
     
    D’Escoto, or as he is called, “Father D’Escoto,” will preside over the UN debate, which is expected to run into Friday. Pope Benedict XVI endorsed the “Responsibility to Protect” in an April 2008 speech before the UN but has been unclear about how it should be implemented. He has called for dialogue in Honduras.
     
    On the ground in Honduras, an overwhelmingly Catholic Central American country, the Catholic Church has backed the ouster of Zelaya because of the realistic fear that he was a front man for Chavez. In a statement, the Catholic bishops of Honduras declared that Zelaya had been removed from office on the basis of a valid court order.
     
    But not all of the Catholic elements in the country are opposing Zalaya’s return. The Jesuit-run Radio Progreso has been acting as a mouthpiece for Zalaya and his supporters and is the source of the recent report that Zelaya intends to invade the country in cahoots with something called the Peaceful Resistance Front. The Catholic Church in Honduras fears that Zelaya could spark a bloodbath. Such a spectacle could provide the cover for UN intervention. 
     
    With Obama’s plans to seize the health care and energy sectors a focus of public attention, few in Congress are taking a hard look at the prospect of violence in Honduras. However, Sen. Jim DeMint and several other senators have protested the Obama policy. DeMint also introduced an amendment to the defense authorization bill to require the Director of National Intelligence to present a “full report” on the roles played by Chavez and the leaders of Nicaragua and Cuba in facilitating the crisis in Honduras.
     
    What is also needed is for the Congress – and the media – to start investigating the Obama Administration’s role in all of this. On July 13th, the State Department spokesman confirmed that Chávez had called Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon to “discuss the current situation in Honduras and the ongoing negotiations mediated by Costa Rica’s President Oscar Arias.” The confirmation followed news of Chavez boasting about the telephone call on Venezuelan state TV.
     
    This tends to confirm what former Marxist SDS radical Tom Hayden, leader of “Progressives for Obama,” haswrittenabout the Obama-Chavez relationship. Based on his own inside sources of information, Hayden said that he thinks Obama and Chávez are working together on Honduras and have an “understanding,” which he even describes as “collaboration.” The call Chávez made to Shannon suggests that Chávez is calling the shots.
     
    Ultimately, according to a very detailed report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, part of the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center, this would benefit Iran, a terrorist state developing nuclear weapons which is developing a vast network throughout Latin America. A recent report from the organization examines the deep Iranian connections to Venezuela as well as Bolivia.
     
    If the Obama Administration is, in effect, acting as an agent of Venezuela (and Iran) in Honduras, such a foreign policy could be described not only as anti-American but potentially treasonous, considering that the outcome could be the loss of another country in Latin America to the Chávez brand of communism.
     
    It is time for some investigative reporting into the nature of the Chávez -Obama axis.
     
    FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of Accuracy in Media, and can be contacted at cliff.kincaid@aim.org.

    Iran Update, 24 Jul 09

     
     

    Iran Update, 24 Jul 09

    The Iranian Government is deliberately understating the number of its opponents killed in the continuing unrest. The government is apparently conducting secret burials of these people and putting extreme pressure on their families to remain silent.

    More dissension appears to exist over the appointment of Rahim Mashaee as the First Vice President of Iran. Ahmadinejad’s persistence in appointing Mashaee in the face of a written order from Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei caused several other cabinet ministers to leave the July 23rd meeting in protest.

    Some factions of the Majlis opposed to Ahmadinejad are trying to arrange demonstrations in the Majlis during the inauguration of Ahmadinejad. They may also try to prevent other senior leaders from being present for and participating in the inauguration.

    Anti-Terrorism: Protecting the military-industrial complex

     
     
    Anti-Terrorism: Protecting the military-industrial complex
     
     

    Today's weak link in anti-terrorism -- especially protection from unauthorized access to classified material by terrorists or other US enemies -- is the private sector's corporations that develop weapons systems and other vital components of US national security. While most corporations employ security managers with impressive backgrounds in law enforcement, counterintelligence and cyber security, it is the programs themselves that succeed or fail in protecting classified information.

    The Department of Defense is responsible for ensuring that US contractors safeguard classified information in their possession. DOD delegates this responsibility to its Defense Security Service, which oversees more than 11,000 contractor facilities that are cleared to access classified information.
    Some US contractors have foreign connections that may require measures to be put into place to reduce the risk of foreign interests gaining unauthorized access to classified information. In response to a Senate report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, the General Accounting Office looked into the extent to which DSS has assurance that its approach provides sufficient oversight of contractors under foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI).

    DSS's oversight of contractors under FOCI depends on contractors self-reporting foreign business transactions such as foreign acquisitions. As part of its oversight responsibilities, DSS verifies the extent of the foreign relationship, works with the contractor to establish protective measures to insulate foreign interests, and monitors contractor compliance with these measures.

    The GAO found that DSS cannot ensure that its approach to overseeing contractors under FOCI is sufficient to reduce the risk of foreign interests gaining unauthorized access to US classified information.

    First, DSS does not systematically ask for, collect, or analyze information on foreign business transactions in a manner that helps it properly oversee contractors entrusted with US classified information. In addition, DSS does not collect and track the extent to which classified information is left in the hands of a contractor under FOCI before measures are taken to reduce the risk of unauthorized foreign access.
    During the review, the GOA found instances in which contractors did not report foreign business transactions to DSS for several months. They also found a contractor under foreign ownership that appeared to operate for at least 6 months with access to US classified information before a protective measure was implemented to mitigate foreign ownership.

    Second, DSS does not centrally collect and analyze information to assess its effectiveness and determine what corrective actions are needed to improve oversight of contractors under FOCI. For example, DSS does not know the connections of all contractors operating under protective measures, the degree to which contractors are complying overall with measures, or how its oversight could be strengthened by using information such as counterintelligence data to bolster its measures.

    Third, DSS field staff face a number of challenges that significantly limit their ability to sufficiently oversee contractors under FOCI. Field staff claim they lack research tools and training to fully understand the significance of corporate structures, legal ownership, and complex financial relationships when foreign entities are involved. Staff turnover and inconsistencies over how guidance is to be implemented also detract from field staff's ability to effectively carry out FOCI responsibilities.

    Sources: American Society for Industrial Security, General Accounting Office, US Department of Defense, National Security Institute, AmeriCop USA, National Association of Chiefs of Police

     
    Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org).  In addition, he's the new editor for the House Conservatives Fund's weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty. 

    He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations.  He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.   Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com.  He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com.   He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. 

    Border Alert: U.S. Border Patrol agent shot dead near Campo California

     

    Local Border Patrol Agent Shot and Killed

     

    Border Patrol flags are at half staff to mourn the shooting death of Agent Robert Rosas. His lifelong friend Robert Martinez remembers he felt "disbelief, shock, empty" when he heard the news. "He was like my little brother," Martinez says.

    The El Centro man's life was tragically cut short. Thursday night at around 9:15 p.m., Rosas was tracking a group of illegal immigrants near the Campo station when they split into two groups. Soon after, Rosas was shot multiple times, even in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

    Rosas was just 30 years old. He was a beloved son, brother and husband. Rosas leaves behind two young children -- a one year old girl and two year old boy.

    Martinez called Rosas a "dedicated" family man. The friend remembers how "he always talked about how much he loved his family, his siblings, his mother."

    Martinez was designated as the family spokesman, and says "they're in shock and denial ... it comes in waves. They remember the good times and there's times when it homes, they break down."

    But Rosas died doing what he loved. Becoming a Border Patrol agent was a lifelong dream for the El Centro man. Martinez says ""there was something about Border Patrol that he had a passion for ... he wanted to be a Border Patrol agent since he was young." To advance in his career, Rosas was a Corrections Officer at Centinela State Prison and a Reservist Police Officer with the El Centro Police Department.

    Martinez, who is also a Detective with Imperial Police, says many in law enforcement are shocked. "We're all in danger, who ever puts on that uniform, you're in danger. That’s a realization of this job. We go to work in the back of our minds and in the end our families make the ultimate sacrifice."

    It's a sacrifice Rosas' family now knows all too well.

     
     
     

    EFF: Demands Intelligence Agencie's Reports About Possible Misconduct

     
    EFF: DEMANDS INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES' REPORTS ABOUT POSSIBLE MISCONDUCT
     
    The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit
     yesterday against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a
     half-dozen other federal agencies involved in intelligence gathering,
     demanding the immediate release of reports about potential misconduct.
     EFF filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), requesting
     records of intelligence agencies' reporting of activities since 2001
     that might have been unlawful or contrary to presidential order.
     
    "By executive order, federal intelligence agencies must submit
     concerns about potentially illegal activity to the Intelligence
     Oversight Board and the Office of the Director of National
     Intelligence," said EFF Open Government Legal Fellow Nate Cardozo.
     "Intelligence agencies are given a wide berth for national security
     reasons, but at a minimum they're required to act within the limits of
     the law. These records hold important details about how well the
     Executive Branch's internal checks operate."
     
    For the full press release:
     https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/07/22
     
     
     
     
    July 23

    Israel: Reactor highlights world's failure

     

    http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1235410709198&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

    Israel: Reactor highlights world's failure

    By YAAKOV KATZ

    The activation of the Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran demonstrates the international community's failure to stop the Islamic republic and the possibility that it will obtain a nuclear weapon, senior defense officials said Wednesday.

    "If they were not stopped until now, it is very possible that Iran will succeed in becoming a nuclear country," one senior defense official told The Jerusalem Post. "Israel, though, is not the only country that needs to be concerned. Iran is also a threat to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and other countries in the Gulf," the official added.

    Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday that the test run at Bushehr and Iran's claims that it had increased the number of centrifuges enriching uranium to 6,000 constituted an existential threat to Israel.

    "Israel's policy is clear: We are not ruling out any option regarding the Iranian nuclear [program] and we recommend that others don't rule out any option either," Barak said in an address at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, in a hint to US President Barack Obama's administration. "A dialogue with Iran should be defined and limited in time."

    "Time is running out. Clear and decisive sanctions against the Iranian regime, alongside readiness to consider necessary actions in case the sanctions don't work, are necessary," Barak said. He added that Russia has had a crucial role in pressuring Iran, and that sanctions without Russia's participation would be meaningless.

    The power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr, built with Russian help, is meant to be the first in a number of reactors for an energy program. But the opening of the 1,000-megawatt light water reactor has long been delayed by construction and supply glitches. The United States for a time tried to dissuade Russia from helping the project.

    It's unclear when the reactor could be switched on.

    The tests, which began 10 days ago, "could take between four and seven months," Iran's nuclear chief, Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, told reporters at Bushehr. It was not known how long after the tests the reactor could start up.

    The plant, which will run on enriched uranium imported from Russia, has worried the West because the spent fuel could be turned into plutonium, a potential material for nuclear warheads.

    US concerns over the reactor softened after Iran agreed to return spent fuel to Russia to ensure Teheran does not reprocess it into plutonium. Washington largely dropped its opposition to the project and argued instead that the Russia fuel deal showed that Iran did not need its own domestic uranium enrichment program. Russia's fuel deliveries to Iran began in 2007.

    Enrichment is a concern because while low-enriched uranium is used as fuel for a reactor, higher-enriched uranium can be used to build a bomb. In the enrichment process, uranium gas is pumped through a series of centrifuges and spun at supersonic speeds to remove impurities.

    Aghazadeh announced that 6,000 centrifuges were now operating at Iran's enrichment facility in Natanz. He said Iran hoped to install more than 50,000 centrifuges there over the next five years. "We are doing what we need to do in Natanz on the basis of a specific time schedule," he told a press conference.

    Iran says it intends to use the enriched uranium fuel in its first domestically-built nuclear power plant in Darkhovin, which it wants to start operating in 2016. Aghazadeh said any delay in enrichment would mean a delay in opening Darkhovin.

    The tests at Bushehr consist of a computer run of the equipment to ensure there are no malfunctions when enriched uranium fuel is introduced into the reactor. No electricity will be produced during the tests.

    In the first stage of the test, technicians have for the past 10 days been loading "virtual fuel" into the reactor. The virtual fuel consists of lead, which imitates the density of enriched uranium, Iranian nuclear spokesman Mohsen Shirazi said.

    Once the fuel is fully loaded, "we will check to see how the reactor will operate," said Russian nuclear agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko, who was inspecting the process. "This [test] is one of the major elements of an extensive project," he said.

    Kiriyenko said Bushehr witnessed "remarkable progress in recent months" but that work remains to be done to "speed up the launching of the site."

    The Russian-Iranian team was "approaching the final stage" before the plant becomes operational, he said.

    Aghazadeh, who was accompanying Kiriyenko, said the test was going well and that engineers told him they expected no problems.

    "Today was one of the most important days for the Iranian nation," Aghazadeh said. "We are approaching full exploitation of this plant."

    In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said, "Iranians are showing again that they are making progress in their nuclear race."

    "This should be understood as very bad news for the whole of the international community," Palmor said, calling for "immediate and very determined steps in order to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power."

     
     

    International campaign to close down Iranian Embassies

     
     
     

    International campaign to close down Iranian Embassies

    An announcement from Homa Arjomand:

    Public Announcement ! The International Campaign to close down Iranian Embassies

    The world must know that the only way out of political Islam and its global aggression is to support the movement of people of Iran to overthrow the Islamic Republic and defend "freedom, equality, prosperity", for the people of Iran. The People in Iran have spoken. They are demonstrating in the streets, and universities. People in Iran want to overthrow the entire Islamic Republic of Iran, for its terror, imprisonment, gender discriminations, denial of all social and personal freedom and mass execution. They want to get rid of this cruel government for imposing the most inhuman, brutal, misogynist and backward roles on people. Iranian people want universal human and civil rights to become the benchmark.

    Never has it been so urgent to stand firm by the people of Iran and proclaim that:

    * the Islamic Republic of Iran is directly responsible for terrorizing people globally with its daily crimes against humanity from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan to Algeria and Palestine, even in the heart of Europe and the North America; from imposing reactionary and anti-human Islamic laws on people, from beheading and mutilations, to planting bombs and mass murder in buses, café and discotheques;

    * the Islamic Republic of Iran is directly responsible for sustaining terrorism as a main tool in further deepening the national, ethnic and religious splits in the Middle East and keeping alive this conflict as political capital and source for its power;

    * that every one of the leaders of Islamic Republic of Iran, be it so-called reformists such Khatami, Rafsanjani, and Mosavi or hard liners such as Ahmadinezhad, Khamenei are directly responsible for assassinations and executions of over hundred thousand of Iranian activists both in Iran and abroad;

    * that defeating the Islamic Republic in Iran is a prerequisite for demolishing political Islam as a movement, aspiring political power in the Middle East. Without the Islamic Republic of Iran, political Islam will become a trivial and insignificant opposition in the Middle East;

    * that President Ahmadinejad along with other leaders of Islamic Regime of Iran has violated Articles 9, 10, 11 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

    and therefore demand:

    * To close down all Iranian embassies
    * To freeze all bank accounts of the leaders of Islamic Republic of Iran
    * To expel the Islamic Republic from all the International Agencies
    * To trial all the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran in an international court for their crimes against humanity, in particular in Iran

    Homa Arjomand
    The coordinator of The International Campaign to close down Iranian
    Embassies
    www.nosharia.com
    www.closedowniranianembassies.com

    Corruption roundup nets government officials, keep an eye on your organs

     
     
    Feds roundup New Jersey Democrat government officials for widespread corruption
     
     
     

    The mayors of Hoboken, Secaucus and Ridgefield, the Jersey City deputy mayor and council president, two state assemblymen, numerous other public officials and political figures and five rabbis from New York and New Jersey were among 44 individuals charged Thursday in a two-track federal investigation of public corruption and a high-volume, international money laundering conspiracy, Michael Drewniak, public affairs officer for the US Attorney's Office in Newark, NJ.

    All of those arrested are members of the New Jersey's Democrat Party.
     
    Most of the defendants were arrested Thursday morning by a large contingent of federal agents, led by Special Agents of the FBI Newark Division and IRS Criminal Investigation Division.
     
    Court-authorized search warrants were also being executed approximately 20 locations in New Jersey and New York, to recover, among other things, large sums of cash and other evidence of criminal conduct. Additionally, 28 seizure warrants were being executed against bank accounts in the names of the money laundering defendants and entities they control.

    One criminal Complaint charges a Brooklyn man, Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, with conspiring to broker the sale of a human kidney for a transplant, at a cost of $160,000 to the transplant recipient. According to the Complaint, Rosenbaum said he had been brokering the sale of kidneys for 10 years.
     
    In part, the bribe-taking was connected to fund raising efforts in heavily contested mayoral and city council campaigns in Jersey City and Hoboken, and the bribes were often parceled out to straw donors, who then wrote checks in their names or businesses to the campaigns in amounts that complied with legal limits on individual donations – so-called conduit or conversion donations. Other bribe recipients took cash for direct personal use and benefit; others kept some of the cash and used the rest for political campaigns, according to the criminal complaints.
     
    Governor Jon Corzine announced that he asked his Community Affairs Commissioner, Joseph Doria, saying that Doria "could not be effective with such a serious investigation going on."
     
    Doria is one of 44 political figures in New Jersey who were arrested on corruption charges. Others arrested included three mayors -- Hoboken's Peter Cammarano, Secaucus' Dennis Elwell, and Ridgefield's Anthony Saurez -- and Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini. Also arrested were State Assemblymen Daniel Van Pelt and L. Harvey Smith.
     
    These and other politicians, along with several rabbis were arrested in what's being termed "a sweeping corruption investigation" that began as a federal investigation into a money laundering and the trafficking of merchandise, counterfeit designer clothing and apparel, and human organs for surgical transplants.

    In addition, Ridgefield Mayor Suarez was charged with agreeing to accept an illegal $10,000 cash payment for his legal defense fund as a result of prior charges against him.

    "Governor Corzine runs a state that is arguably running neck and neck with Illinois -- Obama's home state --  in The Most Corrupt State in the Union Contest," said one police official on condition of anonymity. 

    "Corzine's had his own scandals such as the one involving a half-million dollar loan he gave to his then-girlfriend, Carla Katz, who just happened to be the head of New Jersey's largest state workers unions,' said the police commander. 
     
    "Eventually, according to investigators, he forgave the loan giving the impression this was a payoff to gain union support for his election campaign and, if elected, garner her future support in the dealings between state workers and the Governor's office," he said. 

    "New Jersey's corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation," said Ed Kahrer, who heads the FBI's white collar and public corruption investigation division, during a press conference. 

    "Corruption is a cancer that is destroying the core values of this state," he said.

    While FBI agents conducted a search of the Community Affairs Commissioner's home and office, they did not indicate whether the former Democratic lawmaker from Bayonne would face federal charges.

    Meanwhile, Van Pelt was charged with accepting $10,000 from a federal informant using the pretext of a developer seeking building permits for a project in Ocean County, New Jersey. In addition, other Jersey City public officials are accused of accepting bribes to help the federal informant gain permits and other favors.

    Jersey City's Deputy Mayor Beldini was charged with conspiracy to commit extortion by taking $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions. And neighboring Hoboken's Mayor Cammarano was charged Thursday with accepting $25,000 in cash bribes from an undercover informant. Secaucus Mayor Elwell is charged in the same case for accepting $10,000.

    Introductions with the informant usually took place at diners and restaurants in Jersey City, Bayonne,
    Weehawken, Hoboken, Staten Island, Toms River, Atlantic City and elsewhere. Envelopes stuffed with cash were often passed from the cooperating witness to recipients or their intermediaries in parking lots after such meetings, according to the criminal complaints.

    The cases are being prosecuted by Brian Howe, Deputy Chief of the Special Prosecutions Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark McCarren, Sandra Moser and Maureen Nakly, all of the Special Prosecutions Division.

     
    Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org).  In addition, he's the new editor for the House Conservatives Fund's weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty. 

    He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations.  He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.   Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com.  He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com.   He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.

    U.S. Border Patrol weekly blotter: July 16 - July 22

     
     
    (07/22/2009)Border Patrol agents seized over 16,638 pounds of marijuana valued at $13,310,360 and 145.7 pounds of cocaine valued at 4,662,400. Agents arrested 13 criminal aliens and 7 gang members. There were 11 rocking incidents.

    *This overview is compiled from incidents reported to Office of Border Patrol and is not intended to reflect all Border Patrol enforcement actions. Most arrests and seizures fail to meet the requirements for mandatory reporting to Border Patrol Headquarters.

    Reported on July 16, 2009

    El Paso Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested two United States Citizens (USC), two illegal aliens from Mexico, and seized a 2006 Nissan Altima and a .45 caliber handgun after conducting

    Official U.S. Border Patrol Seal
    a vehicle stop near Deming, New Mexico. The passenger, who was one of the USCs, relinquished the weapon without incident. Records checks revealed the same subject had an active arrest warrant issued in the State of New Mexico for violation of a restraining order.

    El Paso Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Sunland Park, New Mexico. During processing, the subject admitted to being a member of the Paisa gang. Records checks revealed the subject had an extensive criminal history to include robbery and grand theft auto, and had also been previously removed from the United States.

    Miami Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Lebanon near Tavares, Florida. The subject was in custody of local law enforcement officials when it was discovered he was a fugitive from Federal law enforcement officials and had been previously removed from the United States.

    San Diego Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 77.2 pounds of cocaine valued at $2,470,400, a 1998 Ford Explorer, and arrested a national of Mexico at the traffic checkpoint near Pine Valley, California. The subject presented himself for inspection and a Border Patrol canine alerted to the vehicle. A search revealed the cocaine concealed inside the gas tank.

    Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 1,123 pounds of marijuana valued at $898,000, a 1998 Chevrolet pickup, and arrested a USC near Amado, Arizona. Agents conducted a vehicle stop and a Border Patrol canine alerted to the vehicle. A search revealed the marijuana concealed in the bed of the truck.

    Reported on July 17, 2009

    El Paso Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Columbus, New Mexico. Records checks revealed the subject had a prior conviction in the State of Colorado for attempted sexual assault with a child and had an arrest warrant for failure to complete probation time. The subject had also been previously removed from the United States.

    El Paso Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Santa Teresa, New Mexico. During processing, the subject admitted to being a member of the Sureno gang. Records checks revealed he also had an extensive immigration history.

    San Diego Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 68.5 pounds of cocaine valued at $2,192,000, a 2000 Nissan minivan, and arrested a USC at the traffic checkpoint near Pine Valley, California. The subject presented herself for inspection and a Border Patrol canine alerted to the van. A scan of the vehicle with the Z Backscatter X-ray revealed 25 packages of cocaine.

    Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Casa Grande, Arizona. Records checks revealed the subject had an extensive immigration history and was a convicted sex offender in the State of Michigan.

    Reported on July 18, 2009

    Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 1,987 pounds of marijuana valued at $1,589,600, a 2009 tractor-trailer, and arrested a USC at the traffic checkpoint near Falfurrias, Texas. The subject presented himself for inspection and a Border Patrol canine alerted to the trailer. A search of the trailer revealed the contraband concealed in a load of candy.

    Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 2,203 pounds of marijuana valued at $1,762,400, a 2007 tractor-trailer, and arrested a USC at the traffic checkpoint near Falfurrias, Texas. The subject presented himself for inspection and a Border Patrol canine alerted to the trailer. A search revealed the contraband concealed within a load of junction boxes.

    Reported on July 19, 2009

    El Centro Sector – Border Patrol agents rescued nine illegal aliens near Desert Center, California. After a subject placed a 911 distress call, agents initiated a search and located the subjects. Three individuals were in need of medical assistance, and were airlifted to local hospitals for heat related injuries. The remaining six subjects were treated at the scene and taken into custody.

    Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 3,688 pounds of marijuana valued at $2,950,400, a 2005 tractor-trailer, and arrested a national of Cuba at the traffic checkpoint near Falfurrias, Texas. The subject presented himself for inspection and a Border Patrol canine alerted to the trailer. A search revealed the narcotics concealed inside industrial-sized batteries.

    Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Combes, Texas. During processing, the subject admitted to being a member of the Mexican Mafia gang. Records checks revealed he had an extensive criminal history and had been previously removed from the United States.

    Reported on July 20, 2009

    Del Rio Sector – Border Patrol agents detained a USC near Eagle Pass, Texas. During processing, the subject admitted to being a member of the Sureno 13 gang. Records checks revealed the subject also had an outstanding arrest warrant for criminal sexual conduct in the State of Minnesota.

    Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Coldfields, Arizona. During processing, the subject was identified as a member of the Sureno Street gang. Records checks revealed he had multiple arrests and a felony conviction for burglary in the State of California.

    Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Douglas, Arizona. During processing, the subject admitted to being a member of the Surenos 13 gang. Records checks revealed he had an extensive criminal history to include convictions for carrying a loaded firearm and false imprisonment in the State of California. The subject had also been previously removed from the United States.

    Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Arivaca, Arizona. Records checks revealed the subject had an extensive criminal history to include a conviction for criminal sexual assault in the State of Illinois and had been previously removed from the United States.

    Reported on July 21, 2009

    El Paso Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Santa Teresa, New Mexico. During processing, the subject admitted to being a member of the Sureno 13 gang. Records checks revealed the subject had a criminal history and had been previously removed from the United States.

    Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 2,037 pounds of marijuana valued at $1,629,600, a 2001 tractor-trailer, and arrested a USC at the traffic checkpoint near Falfurrias, Texas. The subject presented himself for inspection and a Border Patrol canine alerted to the trailer. A subsequent search revealed 61 bundles of marijuana within a load of watermelons.

    Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 1,663 pounds of marijuana valued at $1,330,560, a 2004 tractor-trailer, and arrested a USC at the traffic checkpoint near Sarita, Texas. The subject presented himself for inspection and a Border Patrol canine alerted to the trailer. A subsequent search revealed the marijuana concealed in a false compartment.

    Yuma Sector – Border Patrol agent arrested two illegal aliens from Mexico near Blythe, California. Agents searched the vehicle driven by the subjects and recovered a semi-automatic handgun reported stolen in the State of Nebraska. Records checks revealed both subjects had criminal histories and one of the subjects had been previously removed from the United States.

    Reported on July 22, 2009

    New Orleans Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Iran near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Records checks revealed the subject had an extensive criminal history including a conviction for burglary and had been previously removed from the United States.

    Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 157 pounds of marijuana valued at $125,600 and a 1997 Pontiac near Roma, Texas. Agents observed two subjects loading bundles of suspected narcotics into the Pontiac near the Rio Grande River. When agents approached, the driver of the Pontiac struck a Border Patrol vehicle with his vehicle and absconded on foot into Mexico. The marijuana was found inside the Pontiac.

    Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 1,156 pounds of marijuana valued at $924,800, a GMC truck, and arrested a USC near Topawa, Arizona. Agents conducted a vehicle stop and the bundles of marijuana were observed in the back of the truck.

    Tucson Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico near Sasabe, Arizona. Records checks revealed the subject had a prior conviction for harm/death of an elderly adult in the State of California and had been previously removed from the United States

     
     
     

    U.S. Army Reserve man assassinated outside his Tijuana home

    U.S. citizen shot dead outside Tijuana home


    UNION-TRIBUNE

    6:54 p.m. July 21, 2009

    TIJUANA – A 37-year-old U.S. citizen was shot to death Sunday night outside his residence in the suburb of Playas de Tijuana, authorities said Tuesday.

    The victim was identified as Anibal Beltran Jr. He was a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana said.

    Beltran was shot about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in the Jardines section of Playas, according to the Baja California Attorney General's office. The victim had stepped outside his residence to check the source of a power outage, and was shot repeatedly with a 9mm weapon. Police found a dozen spent shell casings nearby.

    Family members reached in Chicago and Munster, Ind., declined comment.

     
     

    Re-branding the (SPP) North American Union: "Toward a New Frontier"

     
     
     

    Think Tank Report: Obama Will “Press The Reset Button” On North American Union Agenda

    Think Tank Report: Obama Will Press The Reset Button On North American Union Agenda 230709feature

    PR campaign to re-brand “Security and Prosperity Partnership” in full swing

    Steve Watson
    Infowars.net
    Thursday, July 23, 2009

    A new report out of left leaning globalist think tank the Brookings Institute confirms an agenda to re-brand the long running effort to merge the US, Canada and Mexico into a Federal superstate akin to the European Union.

    The report was highlighted by author Jerome Corsi, who points out that the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America has become much maligned owing to it’s quasi secretive advancement of a North American integration agenda.

    “Two top Washington think-tanks have now formally suggested in writing that the Obama administration should rename the SPP as a public relations ploy to advance the North American integration agenda without drawing so much flak from those of us interested in preserving U.S. sovereignty,” Corsi writes in his Red Alert newsletter.

    In the Brookings Institute report, titled “Toward a New Frontier: Improving the U.S.-Canadian Border”, Christopher Sands, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, where he specializes on North American economic integration, suggests the Obama administration should continue the agenda of the SPP, but under a new name.

    “Despite evidence that NAFTA has been beneficial on balance to American business, workers, and consumers the argument remains vilified by many as an unwarranted move to embrace globalization.” Sands writes.

    “President Obama recognized this on the campaign trail in 2008, when he called for the renegotiation of NAFTA’s provisions to correct flaws in the original agreement. As a result, the Obama administration will most likely rename the SPP.” Sands concludes.

    The report also suggests focusing more on the integration of the US and Canada as a priority, before bringing Mexico into the equation.

    Sands suggests the following three courses of action:

    1. “President Obama should borrow from the lexicon of the European Union and announce that the United States will proceed in negotiations with its two neighbors ‘at two speeds,’ moving ahead more quickly where possible with its developed neighbor Canada, and allowing Mexico to proceed more slowly as necessary.”

    2. “The Obama administration is likely to want to ‘press the reset button’ on the SPP, an unpopular though valuable initiative that has improved policy coordination between the United States and its neighbors.”

    3. “The SPP must be re-branded to win any kind of consensus support. The Obama administration recognizes this, and could take a few tactical steps to make the SPP (or its eventual successor) work better and win broader support.”

    (Article continues below)

    Think Tank Report: Obama Will Press The Reset Button On North American Union Agenda 250509BANNER

    Sands defines his vision of the re-branded SPP as an effort “to build a truly ‘new frontier’ on the northern border,” adding that “President Obama’s community organizing experience suits him well for the task ahead.”

    Sands is deeply entrenched in the integration agenda, being a member of the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section of The North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to consult with U.S. government officials in negotiations under the SPP.

    The NACC is essentially an elite advisory board comprised of 30 senior private sector representatives of North American corporations that were selected by the American, Canadian and Mexican governments at the June 2006 trilateral meeting in Cancun, Mexico.

    Last year, one month prior to the SPP summit in April, documents were uncovered relating how the NACC was formed as part of a public relations overhaul to counter critics of the SPP.

    The documents detailed how, through the NACC, corporate representatives were urged to “humanize” North American integration, promote NAFTA success stories to employees and unions and evolve the harmonization agenda “without fueling protectionism”.

    The move was seemingly a response to the continued exposition of the integration agenda, which led to representatives within Congress petitioning the government on the secretiveness of the SPP and multiple states introducing resolutions calling on their federal representatives to halt work on the so called “North American Union”.

    Earlier this week we revealed that president Obama is scheduled to attend this year’s SPP meeting in Mexico, slated as the “North American Leader’s Summit”.

    “The key to understanding what is going on with the SPP under the Obama administration is the realization that globalists always proceed under a stealth agenda,” Jerome Corsi comments.

    “Globalists typically mask their real plans to produce regional governments out of trade agreements by changing names and designing different structures when initial attempts to destroy nation-states are exposed and stalled by citizens who are still patriotic enough to cherish what remains left of their national sovereignty.”

    Related: Nafta Superhighway Returns From The Dead

    White House flip-flop: Ok, ok, we’ll tell you which health execs we met

     

    http://michellemalkin.com/

    White House flip-flop: Ok, ok, we’ll tell you which health execs we met

    By Michelle Malkin  •  July 23, 2009 06:46 AM

    Transparency. Not because they really believe in it. But because they were threatened with an embarrassing lawsuit and the fear-mongerer-in-chief didn’t want to have to deal with questions about it last night.

    Distraction, you know. Via Josh Gerstein:

    Minutes before a press conference where President Barack Obama could have been asked about the issue, the White House released a list of visits by health care executives.

    The Secret Service had earlier rejected a request for the same information, asserting executive privilege. The issue could have been an embarassment for Obama at the presser in light of his promises during the campaign to make public White House visitors and to conduct deliberations about health care in public.

    The public interest group which requested the records, Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, filed suit earlier Wednesday over the denial.

    The list:

    · Bill Tauzin visited the White House on March 5, May 19, June 2, and June 24.

    · Karen Ignagni visited the White House on March 5, 6, and 11 and June 30.

    · Richard Umbdenstock visited the White House on February 4, February 23; March 5, March 25, March 30; April 6, and May 22.

    · J. James Rohack visited the White House on March 25, June 22, and June 24.

    · William C. Weldon visited the White House on May 12.

    · Jeffrey B. Kindler visited the White House on March 5, May 6, and June 2.

    · Stephen J. Hemsley visited the White House on May 15 and 22.

    · Angela F. Braly visited the White House on February 13.

    · George Halvorson visited the White House on March 27 and June 5.

    · Jay Gellert visited the White House on February 10, March 11, and March 20.

    · Thomas Priselac visited the White House on April 3.

    · Richard Clark visited the White House on March 24.

    · Wayne T. Smith visited the White House on June 4.

    · Rick Smith visited the White House on May 19 and June 2.

    In addition to the above information, the White House visitor records reflect that Mr. Tauzin, Ms. Ignagni, Mr. Umbdenstock, Mr. Rohack, Mr. Kindler, Mr. Halvorson, Mr. Gellert, Mr. Priselac, David Nexon, and Rick Smith were scheduled to attend a May 11 meeting at the White House. We understand that all the individuals attended the meeting except Mr. Kindler, and that Mr. Clark attended as well. Finally, the visitor records do not reflect any visits by the following individuals: Ben J. Lipps; William A. Hawkins, III; or Robert L. Parkinson.