EckerNet.Com

Apparently the DHS, in one of their efforts to track potential terrorists, have started to track the border crossing habits of US citizens.

The federal government has been using its system of border checkpoints to greatly expand a database on travelers entering the country by collecting information on all U.S. citizens crossing by land, compiling data that will be stored for 15 years and may be used in criminal and intelligence investigations.

Officials say the Border Crossing Information system, disclosed last month by the Department of Homeland Security in a Federal Register notice, is part of a broader effort to guard against terrorist threats. It also reflects the growing number of government systems containing personal information on Americans that can be shared for a broad range of law enforcement and intelligence purposes, some of which are exempt from some Privacy Act protections.

While international air passenger data has long been captured this way, Customs and Border Protection agents only this year began to log the arrivals of all U.S. citizens across land borders, through which about three-quarters of border entries occur.

Ok now one can certainly make a very credible argument that this is not something the US government should be doing. And its an argument that I would largely agree with. However, let’s put even that aside for another day.

This type of activity seems a bit wasted to me, or at the very least very premature. This program is logging the passage of people passing through border crossings. I don’t think its an exaggeration to say that anyone that is doing something the DHS is interested in, isn’t going to go through a border crossing. And experiences by Border Control agents certainly seems to bear that out, especially drug trafficking.

With a border as porous and unsecured as ours is, it would be a relatively simple matter for any potential terrorists or criminal enterprise to simply go around the border crossings and cross where nobody is watching. So while it’s nice that the DHS is trying to give us a warm fuzzy feeling perhaps it would be a much more productive use of resources if they would work on establishing bottlenecks (i.e. border crossings) first.

[H/T 50c]

Yesterday, I pointed out that the Bush administration’s immigration practices have made the situation worse. By officially adopting a policy of virtual non-intervention in illegal immigration, they have fostered an environment where segments of our economy feel that it’s okay to depend on lawlessness to conduct business. This is not only dangerous, not just from an economic standpoint, but also a national security standpoint.

For most of his term, the one area most people trusted President Bush to handle was the War on Terror and national security. However, it’s apparently that his laissez-faire approach to virtually every situation has made several bad situations even worse.

Immigration is just one small portion. By refusing to enforce our laws and protect our borders, we have no idea who is entering the country and for what reason. We can not say with any level of certainty whether we have hostiles within our borders.

However, that’s only one area in which President Bush has failed us in national security. It has been a virtual constant since the beginning of his administration for secret after secret to be leaked to the media and broadcast for the world, and our enemies, to see. Time and time again, no official action has been taken…at least of any substance. As a result leaks have continued. And now we have lost a very important intelligence network, apparently due to a leak within this administration.

It is time that this administration realizes that our national security takes the active participation of our executive branch. When we have laws that protect our abilities to defend ourselves, we can not simply toss up our hands and beg off responsibility. Borders need to be enforced. Sources need to be protected. Intelligence needs to be kept secure.

Who is to say this network wouldn’t have yielded the information to prevent the next 9/11 or worse. Now we’ll never know. And there is no disincentive for whomever leaked this information not to do this again. Maybe with even worse consequences. It’s time this administration aggressively tracks down leaks and prosecutes them. It’s time this administration gives the impression that they are serious about protecting our nation….even if from ourselves.

Came across an article that may as well been written by Department of Homeland Security Chief Michael “Lettucehead” Chertoff, when you consider how much of a fluff piece it was. Basically you have 26 paragraphs of all the new procedures and checks they are putting into ports, airports, embassies, checkpoints, etc. Everything from biometric data before an international flight leaves the ground, to scanning shipping containers, to radiation detection.

Now don’t get me wrong. All of these things are necessary and a good step forward. But for all it’s cheerleading the rather obvious flaw is unmentioned. Our backdoor is wide open and free to anyone that wants to exploit it.

Why carry a radioactive bomb on a plane and go jump through all sorts of hoops to try to get it into the country, when you could pay a coyote a couple thousand and have him bring you in where there are virtually no obstacles preventing your entry?? As much as critics like to say border security advocates are racists, they have to admit that right now both of our borders are a national security loophole just waiting to be exploited.

I keep thinking back to a situation I found myself in shortly after 9/11, and thanks to changes FINALLY in place, I don’t believe I’m endangering anyone by talking about it.

Years ago, before we were moved to another undisclosed location, I used to work at the base of the MSP airport control tower. It was truly an awesome office location. Every day, I parked next to a F-14…although I think it was being used for spare parts as it never moved. Every day, C-130s, 747s, 737s, the occasional C-5, Air Force One, etc rolled by my office window, not 100 yards away. In the winter, they de-iced the planes right outside the air intake vents for our heating system. More than once I drove home realizing I had been high all day long from jet fumes and whatever is in that de-icing fluid. I’m certain I’ll have lung cancer by the age of 40…and I don’t smoke.

My point is that every day, I simply drove up to my building, parked, got out and walked in. If I wanted I could drive within 10 feet of the actual control tower. After 9/11, airport security went nuts. You couldn’t get on a plane without major inconvenience. Yet every day, I could drive up to the control tower without anyone asking any questions.

While TSA was worried about passengers bringing items onto a plane, every day I could drive my SUV up to the base of the control tower without question. Imagine how much explosives could be put in there?? While a terrorist could take out one plane, an enterprising and creative terrorist could put hundreds of planes in jeopardy.

Of course my co-workers and I mentioned it several times to those that were in charge, but it was quite awhile before anything changed. Fortunately now it has. While it might still be possible to do the same thing, you couldn’t do it unquestioned and certainly not without bashing your way through some barriers.

Today I see the Homeland Security Department effectively doing the same thing on a grander scale. While we have our front doors locked tight, the borders are wide open. Just asking for someone to drive up and blow up something important….like say, Dallas, Or Chicago, Or LA, or New York. It took years for a simple airport, I wonder how long it will take them to put up the protection for the country??? I’m afraid to know the answer.

[Cross-posted at True North]

I understand that Homeland Security Secretary (and professional fuckup) Michael Chertoff has been busy.  Busy sitting on his ass having “gut feelings” about terrorists attacks.  He might not have to rely on “gut feelings” though if he knew who and what was coming across our borders.

Well as it turns out he’s finally getting around to that.

Construction on the wall already has begun in Arizona, Chertoff said. Washington aims to have “operational control” of the border by 2013 by building the 700-mile (1,120-km) wall along parts of the frontier and creating a “virtual fence” in desert areas with drones, sensors, cameras, satellite technology and vehicle barriers.

Oh good, cause I was getting worried ya know.  I mean it’s only almost SIX YEARS after 9/11.  I’d hate to know how long it would take if it weren’t a priority and you weren’t mandated by law (Secure Fence Act of 2006).  Good to know you’re right on top of these things.

But wait…

In heavily Hispanic southern Texas, where cultural and economic ties to Mexico run deep, local officials, business groups and environmentalists have spoken out against the wall as unnecessary and unwanted.

But Chertoff said national security was at stake, so the project will move ahead shortly.

So let me get this straight….national security is at stake, and you are mandated by law to address….plus it’s your damn job, but you’re going to give decision making power to the locals who may have sympathies with the exact persons this fence is designed to stop.  Yeah, I see nothing wrong with that plan at all.

What purpose was this Homeland Security Department supposed to serve again?? Because certainly Homeland Security doesn’t appear to be their primary concern.

Ok I understand, you’re interested in saving your political butt, but how about we think about something more important than politics shall we?? Yes, I assure you such things do exist…

Please explain to me how pulling out and surrendering Iraq to a group of terrorists that BAKES CHILDREN accomplishes anything.  Yes you read that right.

Wallach said that at these luncheons, the families were sat down to eat. And then their boy was brought in with his mouth stuffed. The boy had been baked. Al Qaeda served the boy to his family.

Yeah libs, you can take your “it’s for the children” rhetoric and shove it up your ass.

We know exactly where one cow with mad-cow-disease is located among the millions and millions of cows in America, but we haven’t a clue as to where thousands of illegal immigrants and terrorists are located.

TheAnchoress 

The latest from the Terrorists Rights Activists, is an attempt to get Jose Padilla off the hook….

Still video images of alleged terror operative Jose Padilla in chains and wearing headphones and blacked-out goggles demonstrate the harsh tactics used by U.S. interrogators while he was in military custody as an “enemy combatant,” his lawyers said in court papers.

[...]

They were filed late Friday in federal court in Miami as part of an attempt by Padilla’s lawyers to get criminal terrorism support charges against him dismissed, based on what they claim was treatment that amounted to torture while in military custody.

Wow….it doesn’t take much to qualify for “torture” these days does it?? I remember POW tales of bamboo shoots under fingernails, fingers being broken, bones broken and re-broken, being beat within an inch of your life, starved to the point that they competed with rats for food, dehyration, electrocution, being burned, amputation, beheadings, etc. Apparently, even torture has become more PC…

Existence of the filing containing the video images was first reported reported Monday by The New York Times. The court papers do not give details about the actual video, but The Times reported that it was made as Padilla was being taken out of his cell for dental work.

Wait a second, stop!!!!! Let me get this straight, we have so little disregard for this man that we’re willing to torture him, yet we’re concerned about his smile?!? Now had they claimed that making him go to the dentist was torture, ok then I might have to grant them the benefit of the doubt. But the fact that while taking him to a taxpayer-funded dentist they had to basically blindfold him and prevent him from hearing what’s going on is NOT torture. That’s called security. I realize only the safety of the terrorist is all that matters to you, but I’m more concerned with the safety of his guards…..you know, the infidels.

Padilla claims, among other things, that he was forced to stand in painful stress positions, given LSD or some other drug as a “truth serum,” subjected to loud noises and noxious odors and forced to endure sleep deprivation, extreme heat and cold, and harsh lights.

Heh, I can symphathize. I’ve been there, done that. Of course I called it “college”, although admittedly I probably did grumble that it was like “torture” at the time. However, I’ve since come to realize it was one of the best parts of my life, I’m sure you will too.

“The extended torture visited upon Mr. Padilla has left him damaged, both mentally and physically,” Padilla lawyer Orlando do Campo said in one court filing. “The government’s treatment of Mr. Padilla has robbed him of his personhood.”

Personhood?? Is that a contagious social disease or is that something we’re supposed to have???

Damaged him mentally and physically??? Let’s be serious. NOTHING above would damage him physically. Mentally? The guy is a terorrist, he’s already damaged mentally. If I buy a wrecked car, I don’t sit and complain that it won’t start after I buy it.

Let’s face it, the guy has a roof over his head, three square meals a day, nobody is trying to kill him, and he doesn’t have to work for any of it. He has never had it so good. So he has to answer questions every once in awhile, so what? Considering what the REAL torture he was trying to put our fellow Americans through, I think we can dispense with the attempt at sympathy ok?

The Pajamas Media has more on the Flying Imams story that I commented on a few days ago. Includes many new details that you won’t hear reported in the politically-correct handcuffed mainstream media, including this that tell you who the real victims were:

While the imams were soon released, Pauline is fuming: “We are the victims of these people. They need to be more sensitive to us. They were totally insensitive to us and then accused us of being insensitive to them. I mean, we were a lot more inconvenienced than them.” The plane was delayed for some three and one-half hours. Bomb-sniffing dogs were used to sweep the plane and every passenger was re-screened, the airline spokeswoman confirmed. Another detail omitted from press reports.

Of particular interest is the fact that PM has a copy of the official police report from the incident (as well as a letter from one of the passengers). First of all, on a personal note, having ridden along with police officers on several occasions I can only imagine the “fun” the arresting officers must have had writing this one up.

But back to the report, first thing I notice is on the forms detailing the persons involved are these details:

Shqeirat, Ahmad Tafish - 6′2″ 250 lbs
Ibrahim, Mohamed Said Mitwally - 5′9″ 170 lbs
Faja, Didmar - 6′0″ 178 lbs
Shahin, Omar Ahmad - 6′01″ 206 lbs
Sulaiman, Mahmoud A - 5′9″ 170 lbs
Sadeddin, Marwan F - 6′0″ 230 lbs

Does it really sound like ANY of these men really need a seatbelt extension?? I heard the local media blindly report that the amateur terrorists suspects felt they needed them because they had rather large bellys. Right. I’ll admit I’m not in peak physical condition and some of these guys weigh less than I do, while also being taller, and I have never come even close to needing a seatbelt extension. Indeed, I rarely need more than half the seatbelt. Of course this point is moot, since none of them actually used the seatbelt extension as it was intended which is also listed in the police report.

A little odd is this little tidbit from one of the officers :

While standing in the gate area of C9, I was approached by a passenger, who stated that he saw one of the detained passengers in question ripping up paper and throwing it in the trash. He pointed to the trash can, which was located on the south side of the hallway from C9. I subsequently removed the trash bag and brought it to the Police Operations Center for further investigation. I was able to piece together a US Airways baggage identification tag number US0037982973, a US Airways flight confirmation tag with the name Didmar Jaja on it, confirmation number CX022G/HP, and an email confirmation from an Omar Shahin to Marwan Sadeddin with the names Didmar Faja, Marwan Sadeddin, and Ahmed Shqeirat, listed on the itinerary. The scrap pieces I found in the garbage were taped together and are attached to the report.

Now in and of itself this would not be horribly unusual, but considering the context what was the point of this action?? Conceal the fact that you had checked a bag (bomb-sniffing dog subsequently did not find anything wrong with the bag)?? Conceal the fact that you were traveling together, yet seated apart?? All in all, very unusual, especially considering that the airline would have copies of all the above information anyway. Perhaps just momentary panic?? But if you have nothing to hide, why panic?

Now we’ve already heard that the imams did not sit in their assigned seats, but apparently they went to great lengths to get in the seats they desired. According to one handwritten report by a witness, a deadheading flight attendant:

As everyone boarded around me two of the muslem came on. One stood @ row 4C and pretended to be blind. One went to row 9D. He talked another passenger into trading seats so that blind man, yellow shirt can sit in 9C.

Okay while even on it’s own this is very odd, in context this is very unusual and certainly enough to raise anyone’s suspicion.

The entire police report is 24 pages long but it’s still worth the read. There are lots of other little tidbits in here, especially in the numerous witness statements. All in all this isn’t one racist passenger telling an overzealous pilot to kick a bunch of innocent muslims off the plane. I am convinced this was either a failed test run, or else an intentional provocation of an incident in order to invoke sympathy for the new “flying while muslim” catchphrase.

In my opinion, any public sympathy should be given to the passengers and crew of this flight, who were more afraid of “crashing with musllims”.

Airlines have been lobbying for the position for months now. But it’s finally timed to announce the coveted title of “Official Airline of EckerNet.Com”

Congrats to the winner, and better luck next time to the losers.