Free Republic

Governors will be able to call on at least 50 percent of their National Guard forces for homeland defense missions and other state emergencies because of a plan to realign Army and Air Guard units during the next few years, the chief of the National Guard Bureau promised in late February. "We will balance our forces, focusing on the right force mix and the right kinds of units with the right capabilities in every state and territory," vowed Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum while addressing the National Governors Association's winter meeting here. The intent is to have no more than...

The mission of homeland security is like playing an "away game and a home game," said the U.S. military's homeland defense commander. In war, just as in sports, it's the away game that you "want to win," but it is the home game that you "must win." Air Force Gen. Ralph Eberhart, head of U.S. Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., used the analogy to explain his views on how to handle the nation's security challenges. He spoke Feb. 25 at the 2004 Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association Homeland Security Conference here. Eberhart, who also heads the...

Acknowledging that the president's budget request for fiscal 2005 represents "an enormous amount of money," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Congress today it funds investments that ensure the nation's ability to face future threats, including those posed by terrorists. Rumsfeld told the House Appropriations Committee's Defense Subcommittee that the $401.7 billion budget request will cover operations and initiatives needed "because our nation is engaged in a struggle that could well go on for a number of years." To ensure victory, he said, the United States must ensure it has "the best- trained, best-equipped fighting force in the world." Likewise,...

The President had a busy weekend. He called the President of China to thank him for his recent comments on Taiwan and they discussed by phone how to restart North Korea nuclear talks. During the conversation Saturday night, the two leaders made a favorable appraisal of Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the United States this month. Hu told Pres. Bush he hoped the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be realized through a way acceptable to all parties concerned. Sunday, after attending St. John's across the street from the White House, the President met with his Security Council...

4:49pm (UK)Blunkett Accused over Anti-Terror Detentions By David Barrett and Tim Ross, PA News Home Secretary David Blunkett threatened to quit as a member of Amnesty International tonight after the human rights group criticised his anti-terror policies. Amnesty said the Government’s emergency measures to combat terrorism had created a “Guantanamo Bay in our own backyard”. But Mr Blunkett, who said he has been a member of Amnesty for 20 years, rejected the criticisms, adding that he was considering resigning from the organisation. Amnesty said Mr Blunkett’s emergency measures – brought in shortly after the September 11 atrocities – had created...

The Austrian Data Protection Commission is claiming that information on airline passengers that the United States is requiring cannot be released in Austria for legal reasons. It is a development that could hamper U.S.-bound flights from the European country. The problem for Austria is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security requirement that airlines pass on Passenger Name Records (PNR) data for flights to the United States. This sort of information includes, among other things, the passenger's name and place of birth, gender, passport number and contact numbers. But the Austrian Data Protection Commission says that because it could also include...

Buckley AFB F-16s take up residence as runways improved By Dominic Weilminster, Rocky Mountain News June 11, 2003 Sleek, sharp curves make Buckley Air Force Base's F-16 squadron look like Ferraris parked in a lot of buslike jumbo jets. But their presence at Denver International Airport so far has caused little commotion. The 15 fighters are stationed away from home temporarily while their runway system is revamped. "Everything is really integrated well," said Maj. Jerome Dyck, acting public affairs spokesman for the squadron. According to Dyck, despite minor delays for F-16 practice flights to accommodate airliners, there have been almost...

Muslims 'draw line in the sand' in D.C. Civil rights rally touted as largest Islamic gathering in capital Posted: May 17, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Art Moore © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com U.S. Islamic activists are uniting with a leading anti-war group to hold a civil rights march and rally they tout as the largest gathering of Muslims ever in the nation's capital. Participants in the May 24 event "will demand an end to the mounting attack on the civil rights of Muslims in America" since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to the organizer, the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation....

In reorganizing the federal government to combat terrorism, President Bush has made a bold step. This seems to be a commonsensical move in light of the apparent collapse in intelligence sharing of various government agencies prior to September 11, 2001. A watchful eye must be ever vigilant, both in defense of our way of life, and in the expansion of government. The new Department of Homeland Security, headed by Tom Ridge, is massive and if not controlled, may be used by the left to increase the pressure on the freedom of Americans Considering that there are now many eyes looking...

During the noon news update (just before the Rush Limbaugh show) today, WMAL reported (and I paraphrase): DC Mayor Anthony Williams is complaining today that the city is quickly going through the funding it received for first-responders as part of the Homeland Defense appropriations "because of all the demands placed on DC police due to the recent Anti-War protests." The Mayor indicated he would be going back to the Administration to seek more funds.

<p>HEAVILY armed al Qaeda thugs practiced storming a school, shooting children and taking hostages in a videotaped training exercise, The Post has learned.</p> <p>The terror rehearsal took place under the mandate of al Qaeda's operations chief, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.</p>

A Tinley Park man was one of four U.S. residents charged today with conspiracy to murder Israelis in terrorist attacks—including a suicide bombing that killed 21 people in 1995. Ghassan Zayed Ballut, 41, was described as a leader in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has been deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, according to a 121-page federal indictment returned in Tampa and unsealed today. Ballut was arrested shortly before 6 this morning at his home in the south suburb. He appeared before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown, who ordered him transferred to Florida. Ballut, represented by...

Does anyone have a nice graphic of the Operation Eduring Freedom Logo you could post to this thread?I would like to download and print out so I could put in my car along with my American flag

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley took President Bush and the Republican Party to task Saturday for failing to provide cities with funds to protect against terrorist attacks. ``Your neglect of homeland defense funding has relegated 'the common defense' to yet another unfunded federal mandate for already cash-strapped cities — cities that are still reeling from federal and state tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy,'' O'Malley said in the Democrats' weekly radio address. O'Malley, who was chosen by Senate minority leader Tom Daschle to give the Democratic rebuttal, said...

Maryland Police: Disabled Man Has 'No Good Reason' for Handgun Jeff Johnson, CNSNews.com Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003 Maryland has denied a physically disabled citizen a permit to carry a concealed handgun because he does not have a "good and substantial reason" to be armed. Dan Sullivan worked as an emergency trauma nurse before muscular dystrophy severely limited the use of his legs. He can now walk only with the assistance of two canes. What Sullivan calls his "visually obvious physical disability" makes him an attractive target for criminals, he believes. It also makes it almost impossible for him to flee...

U.S. Navy Debuts It's New Anti-Terrorist “Catch and Release”Program The US Navy will be implementing a new "Catch and Release" program in its war on terrorism. This new program targets smaller terrorist cells and fringe groups for the purpose of intelligence gathering. Once these small groups are captured and interrogated, they are then released in neutral territory, as seen in this Navy photo.

The Daschle Democrats (bowing to pressure from their union constituency) resisted passing the Homeland Security bill prior to the election because President George W. Bush demanded wide authority to fire or transfer employees in the new 22-agency bureaucracy. In the lame duck session, Congress is hastily passing the bill. But I'm confused. If Bush is so eager to have the right to fire government employees, why hasn't he fired anyone for the many pre-9/11 and post 9/11 mistakes? Mistakes is actually a euphemism for grievous lapses of duty or violations of the law, some of which were fatal to innocent...

AP • Reuters • CBS • MSNBC Justice Dept. Wins Wiretap Authority Email this Story Nov 18, 2:39 PM (ET) By CURT ANDERSON WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department has broad discretion in the use of wiretaps and other surveillance techniques to track suspected terrorists and spies, a federal appeals court panel ruled Monday. In a 56-page opinion overturning a May decision by the ultra-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the three-judge panel said the expanded wiretap guidelines sought by Attorney General John Ashcroft under the new USA Patriot Act law do not violate the Constitution. The special review court ordered...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 — The F.B.I. has initiated an unusual behind-the-scenes attack on another law enforcement agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, as part of an effort to protect its turf and responsibility for domestic security, law enforcement officials said today. An internal F.B.I. draft full of criticisms of the firearms agency has circulated in the last week among law enforcement officials. Some of those officials say the draft is part of an effort by the bureau to head off a plan to move the firearms operations from the Treasury Department to the Justice Department in a broad...

Excerpt from "Ballistics match rifle to sniper attacks" on CNN.com: ROCKVILLE, Maryland (CNN) -- Ballistic tests on the rifle found in the car of the men authorities believe were involved in the Washington-area sniper attacks matched the weapon to the bullets in all but three of the 14 shootings, law enforcement officials said Thursday evening. The rifle "has been forensically determined to be the murder weapon," Michael Bouchard of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms told a news conference in Montgomery County, Maryland. "We have the weapon. It is off the street," said Montgomery County Police Chief Charles...