WT - Trump punishes sanctuary countries, halts visas for nations that refuse to cooperate on deportations

Stephen Dinan at The Washington Times ("hard-hitting news and fearless journalism") explained recent visa sanctions against four countries.

Money quote(s):

"Sanctions have been triggered only twice before — once in 2001 against Guyana and again late last year against Gambia. In both instances, they produced quick results. Guyana moved within months to issue travel documents to take back 112 of the 113 deportees stuck in a backlog."

Limiting the ability of foreign officials and their families' ability to visit the U.S. is what CAA likes to call "The Miami Sanction."

For much of Central America and the Caribbean, Miami provides Third World countries with a First World "capital city."  It's where they send their wives to shop and their kids to school.  Los Angeles and New York City fill similar roles for different regions as London and Paris do for much of the developing world in that hemisphere.  There are direct air-links to those cities from many Third World countries.

The "Miami Sanction" puts an exquisite pressure on foreign government officials.

"State Department officials said the sanctions begin Wednesday, halting issuance of at least some categories of visas to would-be travelers from Cambodia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Eritrea.

“The Secretary of State has ordered consular officers in Eritrea, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Cambodia to implement visa restrictions effective September 13, 2017,” the department said in a statement provided to The Washington Times. “The Secretary determined the categories of visa applicants subject to these restrictions on a country-by-country basis.”

The law allows for all visas to be halted to any country that refuses cooperation, but the department decided to impose less-draconian penalties in each of the four cases.

In Cambodia, only top diplomats and their families will be denied temporary tourism or business visas. In Eritrea, the U.S. Embassy will stop issuing business and tourist visas to all citizens.

In Guinea, government officials and family members will be denied business, tourist, and student and exchange program visas. In Sierra Leone, the government’s diplomats and immigration officials will be denied business and tourist visas."

Interestingly, the visa sanctions against the four countries show a graduated, even nuanced, set of penalties:

Eritrea - no B1/B2 visas for anyone, no how, no way;

Guinea - no B1/B2, F, or J visas for government officials and their families;

Sierra Leone - no B1/B2 visas for either diplomats or immigration officials;

Cambodia - no B1B2 visas for top diplomats and their families.

(CAA would love to know what factors resulted in this range of sanctions, but it's the kind of inside-baseball that only comes to light decades later in some diplomat's small-batch memoir.)

re: "But It’s Just 19 Murders"

Mark Krikorian at The Corner ("The one and only.") was almost ready to miss the Bush Administration.

Money quote(s):

"The House Judiciary Committee has released a report on how many immigrants identified by the Secure Communuties fingerprint-matching system were released (i.e., not deported) after being arrested by local police, and how many went on to commit additional crimes. (The report is here and the Washington Times story is here.) According to the report, over a nearly three-year period, just in the jurisdictions using the Secure Communities system, almost 47,000 illegal aliens were arrested but released because ICE chose not to take them into custody."

&

"(T)he administration refuses to ask Congress for more funds to increase deportations — funds that would be approved. So they’re intentionally setting the ceiling on how many people they can deport lower than necessary, and then pointing to that ceiling to justify the release of illegal aliens who go on to kill Americans."

7/31

re: "State Spreads Obama Book Plague Worldwide"

Jack Cashill at American Thinker (" a daily internet publication devoted to the thoughtful exploration of issues of importance to Americans ") noted a State Department procurement.

Money quote(s):

"(W)e learn that out State Department will be spending $70,000 we don't have to stock "key libraries" around the world with copies of Barack Obama's books, most notably his 1995 memoir, Dreams from My Father.

There are problems with this scenario beyond the fact that we will have to borrow the money from the People's Republic to pay for them. For one, Obama gets a cut out of that action. This has to violate some law, if not lots of them."

Not being an attorney, CAA can't comment on the legality of the thing.

CAA would note having seen, as the Washington Times article described, copies of one or another of the president's books being given as gratuities (i.e., gifts).

That sort of thing makes me cringe at least as much as hearing otherwise sober and thoughtful diplomats blather on about global warming, &tc.

10/26

WT - SIEGEL: A compromise to please both left and right? U.S. could offer illegals registration but leave amnesty indeterminate.

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

SIEGEL: A compromise to please both left and right?

U.S. could offer illegals registration but leave amnesty indeterminate

Thursday, April 8, 2010

By William D. Siegel

One of the critical lessons of the past year-plus of the Obamacare fiasco is that it is often more practical and reasonable to tackle such issues piecemeal. Another area where such a "noncomprehensive" approach could be helpful is illegal immigration; especially before President Obama commences a long struggle for comprehensive reform this year.

Read the whole editorial here.

Snippet(s):

"The "noncomprehensive" near-term approach proactively establishes a defined class of I/Us and separates it from all others (including all future I/Us) by forcing I/Us to make a choice to come forward first before they know their ultimate legislative disposition. In exchange for exposing themselves to a registration process, they are granted immunity from prosecution and deportation for their illegal entry. All other status questions - including any future benefits or penalties to be granted, such as requirements for citizenship, taxation, health care, employment rights, etc. - are left for future congressional determination, just as exists today.

A period is to be chosen, for instance six months, in which notice to register is given. If one does so register truthfully, he can then live "in full light" without fear of consequence for his illegal entry. The immunity, of course, is limited to illegal entry, not for other illegal acts. By coming forth, these I/Us create a newly defined and limited class. One way, perhaps, to identify this class might be to utilize the tamper-proof ID card currently being discussed. And given the effort afforded the 2010 census, there should be no aversion to requiring I/Us to go through a serious registration process.

Further, for I/Us who choose not to register, this approach requires deportation without interference. Congress should make clear its intent that failure to register supersedes any defense against deportation."
&

" "Amnesty" has had different meanings in this context. To some, it means granting anything short of deportation. To others, it has referred to the granting of some pathway to citizenship or other benefits thought not to have been properly earned. A third benefit is that by defining one group of I/Us, amnesty can be refused all others; something that goes a long way to satisfying the right without first determining the ultimate outcome for those who show good faith by registering."

_____

William D. Siegel is a trustee of the Hudson Institute.

WT - LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Don't issue visas to terror-group supporters

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Don't issue visas to terror-group supporters

Friday, February 26, 2010

All of the Sept. 11 terrorists and the Christmas Day bombing suspect were issued visas by U.S. consular officers in the Middle East or Europe.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Before the Immigration Act of 1996, foreigners who were a security risk were denied tourist, student and business visas to the United States. This 1996 legislation was enacted into law by members of both major political parties and signed by the president.

Sponsored by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who wrote immigration legislation for 40 years, the Immigration Act stated that "mere membership" in a terrorist organization was not a sufficient basis for denying an applicant a visa. On June 10, 2002, then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage wrote that believing "an applicant may pose a threat to national security ... is insufficient grounds for a consular officer to deny a visa to an applicant.""

_____

MARGARET NAST
Las Cruces, N.M.

WT - EDITORIAL: PMOI's place on the terrorist watch list. People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran should be cleared.

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

EDITORIAL: PMOI's place on the terrorist watch list


People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran should be cleared


By THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit hears the case of People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran v. United States Department of State. The State Department says the PMOI is a terrorist organization. The PMOI says the United States is falling for Iranian propaganda.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The PMOI was founded in 1963 as a violent anti-Shah movement. It supported the revolution that brought the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power, who returned the favor by executing the group's leaders."

"The group renounced violence in 2001, and it has not engaged in terrorism since. A U.S. Intelligence Community Terrorist Threat Assessment acknowledged that there "has not been a confirmed terrorist attack by [the PMOI] since the organization surrendered to Coalition forces in 2003."

The PMOI has assisted the United States in Iraq by warning Coalition troops against planned attacks by Iraqi insurgents. The PMOI also has provided critical information on Iran's secret nuclear program, such as the first reports of hidden facilities at Qom and Natanz."

"Removing the PMOI from the list of foreign terrorist organizations is one of the few issues on which both parties in Congress agree."

"\The United Kingdom and European Union have removed the group from their terror lists, which has created a disconnect with America's allies that complicates policy-making. The political rationale that put the PMOI on the U.S. terror list also has changed. The Clinton administration tagged the PMOI as terrorists in October 1997 as a means of reaching out to Iran's newly elected moderate leader Mohammad Khatami."

"America's terror list has become an enabler for Iran's state terrorism."

&

"Taking the PMOI off the terror list acknowledges that the group has put violence behind them, creates a credible incentive for other terror groups that might desire to reform their ways, and removes a tool from the hands of a theocratic regime bent on terrorizing its own people."

WT - EXCLUSIVE: Career diplomats protest Obama appointments. Ambassadorships to be less political.

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

EXCLUSIVE: Career diplomats protest Obama appointments. Ambassadorships to be less political.

By Nicholas Kralev (Contact)

Originally published 04:45 a.m., July 10, 2009, updated 05:58 a.m., July 10, 2009

The White House, unaware of historic norms, had been on track to give more than the usual 30 percent of ambassadorial jobs to political appointees until objections from career diplomats forced it to reconsider, administration officials say.

Read the whole article here.

WT - GAFFNEY: Death of 1,000 cuts. Transnationalists imperil our liberties on multiple fronts

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

GAFFNEY: Death of 1,000 cuts


Transnationalists imperil our liberties on multiple fronts


By Frank J. Gaffney Jr.


Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Seasoned observers understand that, in official Washington, the so-called "death of a thousand cuts" technique is the preferred means of stealthily undermining, and ultimately defeating, initiatives and institutions too strong to be taken on via a frontal assault. The Obama administration appears intent on applying this approach of inflicting myriad attacks on the essential ingredient of American exceptionalism - our sovereignty - in ways that seem individually innocuous but that will, over time, surely prove lethal to our Constitution and country.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Mr. Obama's recent Executive Order 12425 is a case in point. Issued with no fanfare on Dec. 17 in the run-up to the Christmas holidays, this document amends an earlier order promulgated by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. The Reagan directive granted the International Criminal Police Organization (popularly known as Interpol) limited immunity with respect to its operations inside the United States. Mr. Reagan, however, ensured that Interpol was subject to constitutional protections (notably, the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures) and U.S. laws (including the Freedom of Information Act).

By contrast, the Obama executive order strips away those limitations, granting the international law enforcement agency blanket immunity from official and private efforts to assess its activities in the United States."

_____
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. is president of the Center for Security Policy, a columnist for The Washington Times and host of the nationally syndicated program, "Secure Freedom Radio."

WT - STEVENSON: End blacklisting of Iranian patriots. People's Mujahedin "terrorist" designation was always about politics.

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

STEVENSON: End blacklisting of Iranian patriots

People's Mujahedin "terrorist" designation was always about politics

By Struan Stevenson

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Back in 1997, the United States and its Western allies thought they saw an opportunity for their first meaningful dialogue with Iran since the 1979 revolution. In the newly elected president, Mohammad Khatami, they saw someone whom they could deal with, a man who could bring about change from within the established system.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"But the mullahs who ruled in Tehran had a price - the West had to blacklist the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI) by adding it to the list of "terrorist" organizations."

"(T)he U.S. no longer can remain blind to the sea change taking place before its eyes in Iran. It must change its approach, and that starts with bringing the persistent dissidents into the equation.

The old policy was based on the premise that the Islamic Republic is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and the United States either has to find a compromise or go to the extreme of waging a war."

"(T)he approach to the opposition also should change.

That should start by removing the PMOI from the terrorist list, which the United Kingdom and European Union did last year and this, respectively, after long court battles that fully exonerated the PMOI from any engagement in terrorism. The delisting came about despite strong resistance from European capitals that were more concerned about the impact of the delisting on their trade with Iran.

Credible records demonstrate that the PMOI has not engaged in any violent activity since 2001. In 2003, it formally renounced violence and voluntarily disarmed. Extensive interviews and investigations by U.S. security agencies of PMOI members based at Camp Ashraf in Iraq confirm that the group poses no threat to U.S. security.

Indeed, through its extensive network and popular support inside Iran, the PMOI has been an important asset by revealing Tehran's clandestine nuclear weapons program over the years; revelations which nuclear experts believe has been correct 90 percent of the time."

&

"The PMOI is more than a thorn on the side of the clerical regime and that's why the mullahs prevailed on their friends in Baghdad to try to wipe out Camp Ashraf in July - but that effort failed.

The blacklisting of Tehran's opponents has been an unwarranted gift to the mullah's regime."

_____
Struan Stevenson is a member of the European Parliament and president of the EP's Delegation for Relations with Iraq. He is also the chairman of the Friends of a Free Iran Inter-Group in the European Parliament.

WT - Grassley calls for more visa screeners. GOP senator writes to Clinton.

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

Grassley calls for more visa screeners


GOP senator writes to Clinton


By Nicholas Kralev

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A senior Republican senator urged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday to drastically increase the number of specialized units at U.S. embassies around the world that screen visa applicants for security concerns, including ties to terrorists or other criminal groups.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"In a letter to Mrs. Clinton, Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa decried the slow pace of setting up visa-security units — only at 14 of more than 220 U.S. missions abroad so far - and blamed the State Department for putting "roadblocks" to efforts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to boost its presence at several consulates."

"Congress directed DHS when it was established in 2002 to create the units in question to help State Department consular officers abroad in screening visa applicants."

"After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., there were calls in Congress for the State Department to be stripped of its visa-issuing responsibilities, but the secretary of state at the time, Colin L. Powell, managed to keep that function in his agency. The visa-security units were created as a compromise."

"State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirmed Monday that there are 14 visa-security units in 12 countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Egypt and Venezuela, but he rejected Mr. Grassley's accusations."

&


continued

"While some critics blame the State Department, which has full authority to cancel visas without permission from other agencies, others say the intelligence community should have recommended revocation based on information it had — but the State Department did not."

WT - MOWBRAY: It's the visas, stupid. State Department can't treat travel to U.S. like a civil right.

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times


MOWBRAY: It's the visas, stupid


State Department can't treat travel to U.S. like a civil right


By Joel Mowbray

Monday, January 11, 2010

Tucked away in a single paragraph near the end of the declassified preliminary report on the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack is the key fact glossed over by most in media and the government: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had a valid visa when he boarded his Detroit-bound flight.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"(T)he State Department has barely budged its default position that visas are to be issued unless they have a clear reason to deny applications."

"This suicidally legalistic approach does not owe to President Obama or previous political leadership, but rather to the long-held institutional mindset of the State Department. Using a questionable legal interpretation, State's position has been that a visa must be issued to qualified applicants, with denials only possible with specific, credible proof that someone can be deemed a security threat.

But unlike in a court of law, foreigners wishing to enter the U.S. should not be presumed innocent.

Moreover, denial of the privilege to come to the U.S. is not reviewable, and it can be made unilaterally by State. Yet it is State who pushes to issue visas to those who raise red flags, but don't quite belong on the terrorist watchlist."

&

"Any probable cause of terrorist connections needs to result in visa denials and revocations unless the evidence can be disproved or reasonably deemed illegitimate. Even when we have no specific information, as was the case with most of the Sept. 11 terrorists, State should enforce the visa laws as strictly with young Muslim men from known terrorist hotspots as it does with poor (or even middle-class) Filipinos.

But for State to enforce existing law and err on the side of security, the department must undergo a complete about-face from its current operating procedures. If Mr. Obama is as serious as he purports to be, however, he must demand nothing less."

_____
Joel Mowbray is an investigative journalist living in New York City.

re: "Not just visas"

Digger at Life After Jerusalem ("The musings of a Two-Spirit American Indian, Public Diplomacy-coned Foreign Service Officer") deconstructs Joel Mowbray's piece in the Washington Times.

Money quote(s):

"(I)ssuing the visa was the appropriate decision. However, even had State revoked the visa the moment his father raised concerns, this would not have affected his ability to get onto the flight because he still had in his passport a visa that looked valid. Airlines don't have access to our visa records for understandable security reasons, and we don't have DHS agents at every overseas airport in the world. So the first place that it could have been noticed that his visa had been revoked would have been at the U.S. border. and his attack occurred long before that."

Which doesn't fit Mr. Mowbray's normal default position of finding State at fault.

"When I took con-gen (the training course for consular officers), I was told that for tourist visas you start at no. All applicants are to be presumed to be intending immigrants until they can prove otherwise."

Under Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (as amended), every applicant for a non-immigrant visa (NIV) must be considered to be an intending immigrant (and thus inelible to receive a non-immigrant visa) unless they convince the interviewing consular officer of their qualifications and non-immigrant bona fides. Period.

There are specific categories of NIV where this doesn't apply (such as fiancee visas for persons who're traveling to the U.S. in order to marry their U.S. citizen intended and who will adjust status to Legal Permanent Resident once the ink's dry on their marriage certificate), but for tourism and business travel it's square one.

"I think this is the default position for every officer working the visa window, especially those of us who joined after 9/11. Because no one wants to be part of letting that happen again. We all jumped through a lot of hoops to join the Foreign Service because we love this country and wanted to serve it."

S&S - Author of report that cited vet threat to be replaced

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

Author of report that cited vet threat to be replaced


Stars and Stripes

Mideast edition, Saturday, April 25, 2009


A Homeland Security official reportedly responsible for a controversial report suggesting military veterans could be recruited by extremists in the U.S. is being replaced, the Washington Times reported Friday.

Snippet(s):

"The report was titled "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."

Under the heading "Disgruntled Military Veterans," the report said "right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat.""

WT - EXCLUSIVE: U.S. seeks to protect Iran terror group. Iraqis urged to keep camp.

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. seeks to protect Iran terror group. Iraqis urged to keep camp.

By Eli Lake (Contact) Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The United States is quietly pressing Iraq not to close a camp that holds more than 3,000 members of an Iranian opposition group that served as Saddam Hussein's shock troops in 1991 when he crushed rebellions after the Gulf War and now is vulnerable to Iraqi and Iranian reprisals.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Last week, Iraqi police stormed Camp Ashraf outside Baghdad, killing at least seven and injuring dozens during clashes with the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, or MEK. At the time, members of a U.S. unit known as Task Force 134, which deals with prisoners of war, were present outside the compound, said two U.S. officials -- one in Washington, one in Iraq -- who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

A day after the raid, officials at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad met with members of the Iraqi government to urge restraint. The next day, the U.S. Army helped medevac at least two dozen injured members of the MEK, the officials said."

"The U.S. has designated the MEK as a terrorist group for these actions and for the assassinations of six Americans in Iran before the 1979 Iranian revolution. But the U.S. nevertheless has sought to protect Camp Ashraf members -- who include women and children -- from Iraqi or Iranian attack and forced repatriation.

The camp had been under U.S. protection since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Iraq now seeks to reassert control under the provisions of the Status of Forces Agreement signed with Washington last year.
Iraqi media have reported that the government plans to close Camp Ashraf and disperse its residents to other locations in Iraq. Such a move could make the dissidents more vulnerable to Iranian intelligence and angry Iraqi Shi'ites who lost family members in 1991."

continued

"President Clinton designated the MEK as a foreign terrorist organization. However, in 2002, the group disclosed that Iran was building a secret nuclear facility south of Tehran. The MEK also claims to have provided valuable intelligence on the Iranian regime to the U.S. military and to no longer commit acts of terrorism. Over the years, the organization has touted itself as a viable opposition movement against Iran, even though it appears to have minimal support within Iran and there is a cult of personality around the group's leader, Maryam Rajavi.

Still, the group has cultivated allies in the U.S. Congress who have pressed the State Department to remove the MEK and affiliated groups from its list of foreign terrorists."

"Raymond Tanter, a member of the National Security Council in the Reagan administration who co-founded and is president of the Iran Policy Committee -- a Washington group that advocates lifting the MEK's terrorist designation -- said Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie told him that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government intends to destroy the camp, disperse its residents and send MEK leaders to Iran. "

&

"Rep. Howard L. Berman, California Democrat and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, the committee's ranking Republican, issued a statement last week expressing concern about the situation at Camp Ashraf.

"The Government of Iraq signed an agreement with the United States guaranteeing the physical security and protection of Ashraf residents following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the area," the statement said. "The Iraqi government must live up to its commitment to ensure the continued well-being of those living in Ashraf and prevent their involuntary return to Iran.""

WT - Visa issues ground Nats prospect

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

Visa issues ground Nats prospect

Mark Zuckerman

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Peter Lockley / The Washington Times The prospect formerly known as Esmailyn Gonzalez — who's now Carlos Alvarez.


VIERA, Fla. The Dominican prospect who falsified his identity before signing with the Washington Nationals three years ago may not return to the United States this season.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Carlos Alvarez, the player formerly known as Esmailyn Gonzalez, remains in the Dominican Republic and has yet to secure a work visa that would allow him to enter the country. Nationals president Stan Kasten said there is still "a lot going on behind the scenes" but added the shortstop may not make it back in time for the season. "

&

"Gonzalez claimed to be 16 when the Nationals gave him a $1.4 million signing bonus in July 2006. An investigation headed by Major League Baseball determined Alvarez is four years older than he claimed."

re: "Are You a Domestic Terrorist?"

Spook86 at In From the Cold ("Musings on Life, Love, Politics, Military Affairs, the Media, the Intelligence Community and Just About Anything Else that Captures Our Interest") provides an intelligence professional's perspective.

Money quote(s):

"As reported by Audrey Hudson and Eli Lake of the Washington Times, DHS recently published a nine-page assessment on "Rightwing Extremism" that appears to lump many traditional conservatives in the ranks of potential terrorist."

"Never mind that the "threat" posed by militias and white supremacist organizations has been routinely inflated, and there hasn't been a serious attack from those elements since Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal courthouse in Oklahoma City 15 years ago. Under the leadership of Janet Napolitano, DHS is hot on the trail of conservative reactionaries."

"Homeland Security has a rather odd way of defining possible terrorists, looking for them among the ranks of libertarians, conspiracy theorists and ex-military members, among others."

&

"Welcome back to the pre-9-11 security mindset, where everyone worried about the "next McVeigh" that was supposedly lurking at every militia meeting. Meanwhile, we never paid attention to the really important stuff, like young Muslim men enrolled in U.S. flight schools--the same ones who had no interest in learning to land the aircraft."

WT - Military strained by Obama trip

Washington Times

Military strained by Obama trip

Bill Gertz INSIDE THE RING (Contact)


Thursday, April 2, 2009


Air Obama


President Obama's European visit this week has strained Air Force heavy-airlift capabilities and obliged the military to hire more foreign contractors to help resupply U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, according to military sources.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The large delegation traveling with the president in Europe required moving several transports, including jumbo C-5s and C-17s, from sorties ferrying supplies to Afghanistan to European bases for the presidential visit, said two military officials familiar with the issue. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid any misunderstanding with White House officials.

The Air Mobility Command, part of the U.S. Transportation Command, was ordered to provide airlift for the president's entourage of nearly 500 people, including senior officials, staff, support personnel, news reporters and some 200 Secret Service agents for the European visit, which began Tuesday in London."

&

"To make up for the shortfall, the Air Force had to increase the number of Eastern European air transport contractors hired to fly Il-76 and An-124 transport jets into Afghanistan loaded with troop supplies, the two officials said."

WT - Outsourced passports netting govt. profits, risking national security

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

Outsourced passports netting govt. profits, risking national security

Bill Gertz (Contact)


Wednesday, March 26, 2008


This is the first in a three-part series on the outsourcing of passports.The United States has outsourced the manufacturing of its electronic passports to overseas companies — including one in Thailand that was victimized by Chinese espionage — raising concerns that cost savings are being put ahead of national security, an investigation by The Washington Times has found.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):


"Public Printer Robert Tapella, the Government Printing Office's top executive, told a House subcommittee on March 6 that increased demand for U.S. passports produced "accelerated revenue recognition," and "not necessarily excess profits."

The Government Printing Office's decision to export the work has proved lucrative, allowing the agency to book more than $100 million in recent profits by charging the State Department more money for blank passports than it actually costs to make them, according to interviews with federal officials and documents obtained by The Times."

"The profits have raised questions both inside the agency and in Congress because the law that created GPO as the federal government's official printer explicitly requires the agency to break even by charging only enough to recover its costs."

"GPO is an agency little-known to most Americans, created by Congress almost two centuries ago as a virtual monopoly to print nearly all of the government's documents, from federal agency reports to the president's massive budget books that outline every penny of annual federal spending.

Since 1926, it also has been charged with the job of printing the passports used by Americans to enter and leave the country."

&

"GPO managers rejected limiting the contracts to U.S.-made computer chip makers and instead sought suppliers from several countries, including Israel, Germany and the Netherlands."

WT - FBI security checks called deficient. Justice questions reliability.

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

FBI security checks called deficient. Justice questions reliability.

Jerry Seper

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Security procedures used by the FBI to check immigration and naturalization applicants have "serious deficiencies" that have resulted in large backlogs and raised questions about the reliability of the information, a Justice Department report said Monday.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"In a highly redacted 120-page report, the department's Office of the Inspector General said that while the FBI generally was able to process millions of fingerprint checks "in an accurate and timely manner," the bureau's name check processes rely on "outdated and inefficient technology, personnel who have limited training, overburdened supervisors and inadequate quality assurance measures."

As a result, the name check process is backlogged and also provides little assurance that necessary information is retrieved and transmitted to customer agencies," Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said."

&

"The IG's review examined the FBI's National Name Check Program (NNCP) and its Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS).

FBI Assistant Director John Miller said that while processing nearly 77,000 name check requests per week, the FBI has completed nearly 97 percent of the requests in the last five years and that the majority - nearly 90 percent - were completed within 120 days, well within the required 180-day limit."

WT - Gates mulling 3-year postings

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

Gates mulling 3-year postings

Lolita C. Baldor ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

SEOUL Extending the tours of U.S. troops serving in South Korea to three years and allowing them to bring their families is overdue, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday as he arrived in Seoul. The change in deployments is caught up in the ongoing transfer of military bases to South Korean control, but Mr. Gates said it's time to stop the one-year, unaccompanied tours that forces currently serve here because it is considered a war zone.

Read the whole article here.