Free Republic

Included among the suspected terrorists were Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. At the time it was revealed, the program called “Operation Vigilant Eagle” caused some controversy but was quickly forgotten and buried by the media. For the DHS, Vigilant Eagle was the expression of the misdirected paranoia that exists at the agency’s highest levels, which since President Obama stepped into office have issued multiple reports about a supposed wave of terrorism by American conservatives of various stripes, from Tea Party members to off-duty cops.

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year launched a nationwide operation targeting white supremacists and "militia/sovereign-citizen extremist groups," including a focus on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to memos sent from bureau headquarters to field offices. The initiative, dubbed Operation Vigilant Eagle, was outlined in February, two months before a memo giving a similar warning was issued on April 7 by the Department of Homeland Security. ____________________________________ A Feb. 23 draft memo from FBI domestic counterterrorism leaders, obtained by The Wall Street Journal, cited an "increase in recruitment, threatening communications and weapons procurement by white supremacy...

Technology developed in Tucson could soon protect airliners from being attacked by missile-wielding terrorists. Raytheon Co. on Tuesday unveiled a new, ground-based airport protection system that uses high-power microwave beams to disable shoulder-fired missiles. The Vigilant Eagle system - developed by Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems - is an affordable alternative to aircraft-based missile protection systems, a senior company official said at the Paris Air Show. The Vigilant Eagle technology "defeats the most important classes of man-portable missiles in seconds without any alteration to or involvement by the aircraft using the airport," Mike --