Friday, February 29, 2008


Canada resumes Afghan detainee transfers after abuse probe
Jaime Jansen at 9:52 AM ET



The Canadian military has resumed the transfer of Afghan detainees to Afghan authorities, Canadian military officials said Friday. The Canadian government ceased transferring Afghan detainees to Afghan custody in November after Canadian monitors in Afghanistan discovered evidence of torture, but a military spokesman said Friday that both the Canadian military and officials in Kandahar believe conditions in Afghan prisons have significantly improved since the abuse allegations arose. It was not clear when the transfers resumed, but a military official said that each transfer was evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Earlier this month, Canadian Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish refused to issue an interlocutory injunction that would have prohibited the Canadian military from turning over detainees to Afghan authorities. Last fall, the Canadian Army said that independent investigators had found no evidence to support allegations that the Army "may have aided or abetted the torture of detainees" by transferring them from Canadian to Afghan custody. The transfer scandal erupted in April 2007 when the Toronto Globe and Mail reported that more than 30 terrorism suspects had been tortured by Afghan investigators after being transferred from Canadian custody. Following public outcry, Canada signed a new agreement regarding detainee transfers with the Afghan government, giving Canada the right to inspect detainees following their transfer.

Friday, February 29, 2008


Mukasey rejects grand jury probe of Miers, Bolten contempt of congress charges
Mike Rosen-Molina at 6:16 PM ET



US Attorney General Michael Mukasey said in a Friday letter to Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that he will not order a grand jury investigation to determine if misdemeanor contempt of Congress charges should be laid against former White House counsel Harriet Miers and current White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten for failing to cooperate with an inquiry into the US Attorneys firing scandal . Mukasey said that Miers and Bolten had done nothing wrong in refusing to testify or provide documents related to the 2006-2007 firings. Pelosi responded
By ordering the US Attorney to take no action in response to congressional subpoenas, the Bush Administration is continuing to politicize law enforcement, which undermines public confidence in our criminal justice system.

Anticipating this response from the Administration, the House has already provided authority for the Judiciary Committee to file a civil enforcement action in federal district court and the House shall do so promptly. The American people demand that we uphold the law. As public officials, we take an oath to uphold the Constitution and protect our system of checks and balances and our civil lawsuit seeks to do just that.
On Thursday, Pelosi sent a letter to Mukasey urging him to begin a grand jury investigation into the conduct of the two White House aides and saying that the House would initiate a civil lawsuit if she did not receive a response within one week.

Earlier this month, members of the House voted to hold Miers in contempt of Congress for failing to testify and both Miers and Bolten in contempt for refusing to produce documents related to the firings. The White House has said that the information sought in the inquiry is protected by executive privilege and that both Miers and Bolten are immune from prosecution

By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer
Tue Mar 4, 11:13 PM ET



SAN DIEGO - A former Marine drill instructor convicted of abusing 23 recruits has been granted clemency and released more than two months early.

ADVERTISEMENT



The Associated Press confirmed Tuesday that Pvt. Jerrod Glass was quietly released Feb. 23 from the brig after the commanding general at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot signed off an a defense request for clemency.

Glass, 25, was convicted in November of eight counts of cruelty and maltreatment, destruction of personal property, assault and violating orders on how to properly treat recruits.

The former sergeant was sentenced to six months in the brig, a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and a reduction in rank to private.

Brig. Gen. Angela Salinas granted the clemency, which was requested after the court-martials against two senior drill instructors also charged in the case, Marine Maj. Kristen Lasica said.

Lasica said Salinas was out of the country and could not comment on why the general made the decision to give Glass an early release.

Glass is on "appellate leave" from the Marine Corps, meaning he will not be paid but will be subject to Corps rules and regulations while his case is appealed, Lasica said.

Because Glass was sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, his appeal is automatic, she said. An appeal can take as long as five years.

Glass was one of three drill instructors court-martialed in what prosecutors say was the rampant abuse of recruits at the recruit depot between December 2006 and February 2007.

Initially charged with 225 counts of abuse, Glass was eventually tried on 11 and convicted of eight.

In an interview with the AP late last year from the brig, Glass said he had been ordered to testify against the two drill instructors. The clemency, though, was not part of a deal for his testimony.

"There was no deal, no agreement," Lasica said.

Glass' father, Jerrod Glass, told the AP that his son is out and expects to return to his family's Phoenix home. He said his son has plans to pursue a college education.

Glass said his son served 100 of his 180 days with 60 days of the sentence suspended for one year. It was unclear if that meant the Marine Corps could return him to the brig, or under what circumstances they could return him.

Glass had only been a drill instructor for two months when the abuse allegations were made.

During his court-martial, witnesses testified Glass routinely stomped on recruits' toiletry kits, breaking razors and soap containers for minor infractions like not displaying name tags properly.

They also said Glass and another drill instructor forced them after meals to down liters of water in a ritual known as "waterbowling," an act banned by the Marine Corps' standard operations procedure manual.

The former drill instructor has always maintained he was only doing what he was taught by his senior drill instructors.

Also convicted in the case were senior drill instructor Sgt. Robert Hankins, who was found guilty of dereliction of duty in the abuse of recruits; and Sgt. Brian M. Wendel, who was sentenced to a reduction in rank and a reprimand for failing to report the abuse

Tue Mar 4, 11:45 PM ET



LOS ANGELES - A 6-year-old boy riding in a car with his family was shot and wounded in the head by a suspected gang member Tuesday in a crime that is drawing condemnations from city officials dealing with back-to-back outbreaks of brazen gang violence.

ADVERTISEMENT



The boy was hospitalized in critical condition, said Officer Ana Aguirre, a police spokeswoman.

The attack came during a 13-day span in which police engaged in a gunbattle with a carload of suspected gang members after a man was gunned down as he walked with a child, and eight people were wounded on a street and a high school football star was slain as he walked home in shootings authorities say also involved gang members.

The boy, who is black, was shot in Harbor Gateway, an area with a history of racially motivated attacks involving Latino gangs and black victims. Investigators believe the attack was gang-related but had no evidence it was racially motivated, Aguirre said.

The family of six was in a red sports utility vehicle around 12:30 p.m. when a man walked onto the road, flashed gang signs, and fired several shots at the car as it was moving, Aguirre said.

Police said the family did not live in the area, and were driving around looking for an address. The people in the car included a two other children, a man and two women, one of whom is pregnant.

The gunman was described as a Hispanic in his late 20s, who was accompanied by another Hispanic male on a bicycle, police said.

Gang-related killings in Los Angeles declined sharply last year, down to 216 from 294 in 2006

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 17 minutes ago



TEHRAN, Iran - Iran vowed to push ahead with uranium enrichment Tuesday, a day after the U.N. Security Council passed a third round of sanctions that Tehran called "worthless" and politically biased.

ADVERTISEMENT



The council approved the measures in a 14-0 vote, but unity among the major powers faltered Tuesday when Russia and China blocked an attempt by Western nations to introduce a resolution on Iran's nuclear defiance at a meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency.

The dispute reflected the often contentious relations between the West and Russia and China about how to deal with Iran's refusal to suspend enrichment and meet other Security Council demands aimed at ensuring its nuclear program isn't trying to produce atomic weapons.

The sanctions approved Monday ordered a freeze on assets of additional Iranian officials and companies with links to the country's nuclear and missile programs and banned for the first time trade with Iran in some goods that have both civilian and military uses.

"This resolution is contrary to the spirit and articles of the International Atomic Energy Agency. It has been issued based on political motivations and a biased approach. It is worthless and unacceptable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini was quoted as saying by Iran's official news agency.

He said the sanctions would "have no impact on the resolve and determination of the Iranian nation and government to fulfill its legitimate rights in continuing its peaceful nuclear activities within the framework of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty."

Iran insists its enrichment work is intended to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity. The U.S. and others worry about Iran's intentions, because higher-grade enriched uranium can be used to make nuclear warheads.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters in New York on Tuesday that Tehran's response meant the Security Council had taken appropriate action.

"That shows that they don't like what has happened, which means that we've done the right thing, because they are in violation of two previous resolutions and we have to do something that indicates displeasure and causes more pressure on them," Khalilzad said.

The new sanctions came after an IAEA report in late February said Iran continues to defy U.N. demands to suspend uranium enrichment.

While the report said the IAEA had made progress investigating Iran's past nuclear activities, it said Tehran had not responded properly to intelligence forwarded by the U.S. and its allies purportedly showing the Iranians were developing nuclear weapons technology.

In an attempt to keep up pressure on Iran, Britain, France and Germany had hoped to present a resolution before the IAEA board, which is currently meeting in Vienna, Austria, that highlighted Tehran's nuclear defiance.

A draft of the resolution made available to The Associated Press called on IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to continue investigations into the purported nuclear weapons-related experiments, despite Iranian insistence that such allegations are fabrications.

Although they voted for the Security Council sanctions, Russia and China scuttled the Western initiative at the IAEA on Tuesday, a decision that appeared to stem from lingering unhappiness about not being informed earlier of plans for the resolution.

Asked why Russia and China were opposed, one diplomat said Moscow decided to withdraw its support "on principle" and Beijing, which often takes a cue from Russia on the Iran nuclear dispute, followed suit. He, like others accredited to the IAEA, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the confidential information.

A senior Western diplomat said the decision to scrap the resolution was jointly taken by the six powers trying to negotiate with Iran on its nuclear program — the U.S., Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France. He said the six felt the new U.N. sanctions had sent enough of a message.

But two other diplomats, speaking separately, insisted the resolution was scrapped because of Russian and Chinese opposition and said any suggestions of unity on the issue were an attempt to paper over an East-West split among the world powers.

Iran says the latest IAEA report vindicated its nuclear program and left no justification for any Security Council sanctions.

"This illogical, illegal behavior by the Security Council not only won't help resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, but it will make the issue more complicated," IRNA quoted Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as saying.

___

Associated Press writers George Jahn in Vienna, Austria, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
27 minutes ago



UNITED NATIONS - Russia to neighbor and friend Iran: Study the incentives the world's key powers are offering — including improved relations with the United States — and suspend uranium enrichment as the U.N. Security Council is demanding.

ADVERTISEMENT



Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said there is broader consensus among the world's powers today on how to deal with Iran and a new reality on the ground that will hopefully create the right conditions for Tehran to halt enrichment.

But in Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini on Tuesday called a new Security Council resolution imposing a third round of sanctions "worthless" and politically motivated.

Hosseini said Iran will move ahead with its uranium enrichment program, according to the official news agency IRNA.

Speaking to reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Churkin highlighted the unity of the six countries that have been in the forefront of efforts to ensure that Iran's nuclear intentions are peaceful and not aimed at producing atomic bombs.

Foreign ministers of the six — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — issued a joint statement after Monday's council vote reaffirming their dual-track approach: They would sweeten a package of economic incentives and political rewards offered in June 2006 if Iran suspends enrichment, but would push for even more sanctions if Tehran continued its defiance.

"We hope (it) is being very carefully read in Tehran because it does indicate some very important motives ... and intentions of the six in working with Iran," Churkin said. He said the entire 15-member Security Council had "rallied" around the statement.

Churkin said the ministers have dealt with Iran respectfully and have called for further diplomatic efforts and approaches to create the conditions to open negotiations.

As a first step, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana was asked to meet Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, to address the interests and concerns of both sides, he said.

The ministers reiterated Iran's right as a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to develop, produce and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. They said once the international community is confident Iran's nuclear program is peaceful, it will be treated like any other non-nuclear weapon state.

Churkin said Iran does not have to worry about supplies of enriched uranium for years, anyway, now that Russia has provided the fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power plant it helped Iran build.

"That new reality on the ground should provide another incentive, another opportunity for Iran to be more accommodating to the requirement of enrichment suspension," he said.

Churkin said the U.S. has shifted from objecting to Russian participation in Bushehr to supporting the reactor project, which he called "an indication of the goodwill of the international community."

When Iran previously suspended enrichment for two years, it was only negotiating with Britain, France and Germany, Churkin said, but now the U.S., Russia and China have joined the effort.

"I would suggest that greater opportunities are there for Iran if it responds positively to the offers by the six including ... overcoming its problems with the United States of America," he said.

With Russia — a "good neighbor and a good friend of Iran" — participating "it can play its positive role in the course and the outcome of the process."

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Monday the ministerial statement shows the commitment of the six countries to a diplomatic solution.

He reiterated President Bush's statement that if Iran suspends enrichment and reprocessing activities, it will have no better partner than the U.S.

FBI Chief to Testify in Unsolved Civil Rights Cases Investigation

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating 26 unsolved civil rights era cases out of nearly 100 referred to the bureau over the last year, Director Robert Mueller says in calling the protection of civil liberties one of his top priorities.

Mueller was set to testify Wednesday at an FBI oversight hearing before the Senate. Lawmakers were expected to press him about whether his agents violated the civil rights of U.S. citizens whose personal information was obtained secretly in terror and spy investigations.

In a prepared statement sent Tuesday to the Senate, Mueller vows "to protect the security of our nation while upholding the civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution to every United States citizen."

"It is not enough to prevent foreign countries from stealing our secrets — we must prevent that from happening while still upholding the rule of law," Mueller says. "It is not enough to stop the terrorist — we must stop him while maintaining civil liberties. It is not enough to catch the criminal — we must catch him while respecting his civil rights.

"The rule of law, civil liberties and civil rights — these are not our burdens; they are what make us better," Mueller says in his written remarks, which were obtained by The Associated Press.

Mueller's remarks offer the first details about the FBI's efforts to reopen decades-old civil rights cases since the successful prosecution last summer of a reputed Ku Klux Klansman for his role in the 1964 abduction and killing of two black teenagers.

Early last year, more than 100 unsolved cases were referred to the FBI. Mueller said 95 of them were sent to investigators in 17 field offices around the country. Ultimately, 52 cases were opened and 26 of those were being reviewed by the Justice Department "to determine if additional investigation is necessary," he said.

"For those cases in which we can move forward, we will," he said.

Democrats who control the Senate Judiciary Committee, however, were expected to focus on whether FBI missteps over the last year — in civil rights and other areas — have been corrected.

Senate aides for several Democrats said Mueller will probably be asked about the FBI's use of national security letters, which are used under the USA Patriot Act to pursue suspected terrorists and spies.

An audit last year by the Justice Department's inspector general found that FBI agents and lawyers, from 2003 to 2005, demanded personal data on people from banks, telephone and Internet providers, credit bureaus and other businesses without official authorization and in non-emergency circumstances.

The inspector general is expected to issue a follow-up audit at any time that will focus on the FBI's use of national security letters in 2006. Several Justice Department and FBI officials familiar with the upcoming report say it will conclude that the letters were wrongly used at a similar rate as during the previous three years.

But the officials noted that the new audit only examines national security letters that were issued before the FBI was notified of the problems in March 2007 and changed its system. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the audit publicly.

Senate aides said Mueller also probably will be asked about the FBI's failure to pay phone bills on time, prompting telephone companies to cut off wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals. In at least one case, a wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act investigation "was halted due to untimely payment," according to a January internal Justice audit.

FISA wiretaps are used in the government's most sensitive and secretive criminal and intelligence investigations, and allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists or spies.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,335073,00.html

Conflict Grows Between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador

Wednesday, March 05, 2008


Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, speaks during his weekly broadcast "Alo Presidente" in Caracas on March 2.

CUCUTA, Colombia — Venezuela and Ecuador took their growing conflict with Colombia to the diplomatic front, seeking international condemnation of Colombia's deadly assault on a rebel base in Ecuador.

The two countries tightened their borders and were deploying thousands of troops, while Colombia on Tuesday pointed to documents found in a slain rebel leader's laptop that it called proof of stunning links between the leftist guerrillas and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

Ecuador rejected a Colombian apology for the cross-border strike as insufficient, and sought to rally opposition during an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States, convened in Washington to help defuse one of South America's most volatile crises in years. Venezuela's justice minister declared that war "has already begun."

At Venezuela's border with Colombia, National Guard troops turned back Colombian cargo trucks under orders from Caracas.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa began a six-nation tour in Peru and Brazil, calling Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a liar who "wanted war." Correa warned that if the attack goes unpunished, "the region will be in danger, because the next victim could be Peru, it could be Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, any one of our countries."

At the moment, it's mostly a war of words, and other nations have tried to keep it that way, although many said Colombia was wrong to send troops into Ecuador. The military assault on Saturday killed 24 guerrillas, including Colombian rebel spokesman Raul Reyes, who was engaged in hostage talks with Venezuela, France and other countries.

President Bush backed Colombia and accused Chavez of "provocative maneuvers."

Uribe said Chavez should be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court for allegedly financing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Uribe said documents found in a laptop seized in Reyes' camp showed Venezuela recently made a US$300 million payment to the rebels.

Venezuela dismissed the allegations as lies and Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the idea of prosecuting Chavez was "laughable." Justice Minister Ramon Rodiguez Chacin said the hand of Washington was behind Colombia's actions, declaring: "Our enemy is the empire."

Colombia also accused the rebels of trying to make a radioactive dirty bomb, although the documents it shared with reporters don't support that allegation, indicating instead that the rebels discussed the possibility of buying uranium to resell at a profit.

In Brazil, Correa suggested late Tuesday that the Colombian raid was carried out to prevent the liberation of rebel-held hostages.

He offered no proof, but said he agreed with speculation that Colombia targeted Reyes "to prevent a deal for the liberation of the hostages from going forward."

The FARC freed four hostages last week, and Chavez had pledged to try to win freedom for others including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

The rebels said Tuesday that Reyes died "completing a mission to arrange, through President Chavez, a meeting with (French) President (Nicolas) Sarkozy" aimed at securing Betancourt's release.

In Washington, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador said Colombia's apology wasn't enough, demanding that the OAS condemn the incursion, appoint a commission to investigate it and call an urgent meeting of the region's foreign ministers in the next week.

Colombia's attack on the camp 1.8 kilometers (just over a mile) inside Ecuador reflected its frustration over the ability of rebels to take refuge across poorly patrolled borders.

Uribe said he would not allow his nation to be drawn into war.

Venezuela was sending about 9,000 soldiers — 10 battalions — to the border region as a "preventive" measure, retired Gen. Alberto Muller Rojas, a former top Chavez aide, told The Associated Press. Ecuador said it sent 3,200 troops to the border on Monday.

Venezuela's agriculture minister, Elias Jaua, said Venezuela had closed the border — which sees annual trade worth roughly US$5 billion — to imports and exports.

Leonardo Mendez, a spokesman for a Colombian cargo transport association, said some 300 vehicles, including trucks carrying food, shoes, ceramics and other products, were stuck at one major border crossing.

Despite the shrill rhetoric from the Andean governments, in several border towns there was little sign of tension apart from the turning away of trucks by Venezuelan border guards.

Contenting themselves by calling Chavez "crazy", Colombian truckers lounged in the shade drinking beer and saying they hope the crisis won't persist long.

When the border is open, each day some 8,500 metric tons (9,400 tons) of merchandise cross between Colombia and Venezuela in both directions, said Jaime Sorzano, head of the cargo transport association. "In the past, we've had episodes, problems, but like this crisis no. It's unprecedented," he said.

Senate GOP plans to unveil tough new immigration bills

Los Angeles Times
Mar. 4, 2008 07:23 PM

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans are set to announce Wednesday the hardest-hitting package of immigration enforcement measures seen yet -- one that would require jail time for illegal immigrants caught crossing the border, make it harder for them to open bank accounts and compel them to communicate in English when dealing with federal agencies.

Most of the bills stand little chance of being debated in the Democrat-controlled Congress, but the move by some of the Senate's leading Republicans underscores how potent the issue of immigration remains, particularly during a presidential election year.

The bills give Republicans a way to put pressure on the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates to take a tougher stance on immigration. They also reflect a shift toward harsher immigration rhetoric and legislative proposals from both parties since Congress failed to pass a comprehensive overhaul in 2007.





The package, an enforcement smorgasbord assembled by at least eight lawmakers, consists of 11 bills, but could expand to include as many as 14. Some elements echo House bills, but others go beyond House proposals.

One would discourage states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants by docking 10 percent of highway funding from states that continue to do so. Another would extend the presence of National Guard on the border and a third would end language assistance at federal agencies and the voting booth for people with limited English ability.

A bill by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who is leading the effort, would impose a maximum two-year jail sentence on someone caught crossing the border for a second time.

"The point is to reinforce the idea that most of us here feel that we need to make enforcement and border security a first step to solving the overall problem," said Sen. David Vitter, R-La., one of the sponsors.

Although Congress usually avoids tough legislation during an election year, Vitter insisted that he and his colleagues could still get something done. "There are concrete steps we can take. None of us see any reason to waste this time," he said.

Other bills in the package would:


• Block federal funding from cities that bar their police from asking about immigration status.


• Give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to use information from the Social Security Administration to target illegal immigrants.


• Require construction of 700 miles of fencing along the Southern border, not including vehicle barriers.


• Impose sanctions on countries that refuse to repatriate their citizens.


• Deport any immigrant, legal or illegal, for one drunken-driving conviction.


• Enable local and state police to enforce federal immigration laws

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Republican proposal "falls far short of what is needed." Democrats want to combine enforcement with a guest-worker program and a way to deal with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. Reid "continues to support legislation that is tough on people who break the law, fair to taxpayers and practical to implement," Manley said.

But Democrats also have begun embracing a tougher stance on immigration as well. A confidential study assembled for the Democratic leadership earlier this year urged them to start using tougher language. Democrats have focused on offering opportunity to immigrants, but the study by two think tanks urged them to begin speaking in terms of "requiring" illegal immigrants to become legal and about what's best for the United States.

Many House Democrats have gone a step further, endorsing an enforcement-only bill by freshman Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina that would bolster border security and require employers to verify their workers' legal status with an electronic verification system.

The SAVE Act has drawn 140 co-sponsors, 48 of whom are Democrats, many of them vulnerable freshman who won seats from Republicans.

The Democratic leadership dislikes Shuler's bill and has refused to schedule a debate. Republican leaders are considering collecting signatures for a special petition that requires House leaders to bring a bill up for debate if 218 members sign. There are 198 Republicans.

Angela Kelley, director of the Immigration Policy Center, said Senate Republicans might be trying to match their House colleagues. "They might feel they're being upstaged by House Republicans," she said. But she also suggested the Senate bills could provide political protection to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the likely GOP presidential nominee.

Conservatives consider Republican front-runner McCain soft on immigration. McCain, along with the Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, has backed giving illegal immigrants some form of legal status, which conservatives consider "amnesty."

If McCain endorsed the Senate package, that could "create a platform for McCain to look tough on immigration, create distance from Ted Kennedy and erect a shield around the amnesty charge," Kelley said.

Besides Sessions and Vitter, the bills are being introduced by GOP Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, John Barrasso of Wyoming, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Mexican Legislators Decry U.S. Border Control Program

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org

Foreign News Report

Excelsior , Milenio (both Mexico City) 3/6/08

(note: Operation "No Pase", (read: Do Not Come Across) in the El Paso area, and the similar Operation Streamline elsewhere on the border, provide for criminal charges against persons who cross the border into the U.S. illegally; it eliminates the Mexican persons' customary option simply to be returned to Mexico after apprehension)

The Chamber of Deputies of Mexico (read: House of Representatives) urged Mexico's President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express the energetic disapproval of the Mexican State and to reject the "No Pase" border program recently put into effect by the U.S. government because aggressions against migrants will increase.

The Chamber asked their foreign Chancery to send a diplomatic protest note to the U.S. government for this "flagrant violation of human rights."

The accord by the legislators is based on debates which state that 20 million Mexicans reside in the United States, of whom 8 million do so in California, and that their monetary remittances constitute the third item on the balance of payments.

"Nevertheless, not recognizing the need for a Mexican migration and impeding its legal entry has been a source of conflict for the United States of America, developing at the same time a series of xenophobic attitudes, rejecting the Mexican and therefore of discrimination on the part of U.S. society."

-----------------

Tamaulipas en linea (Matamoros, Tamaulipas) 3/6/08

1. A search by Mex. military at a house (no #) on Tratado de Cordoba St., Matamoros, yielded 1,936 rounds of ammo, 22 "40 cal." grenades, 1 fragmentation grenade, 5 pistols, 9 vehicles (3 of them armored) plus a varied amount of uniforms and communication equipment.

2. Five Tamaulipas "Ministerial Police" - two commanders and three "group chiefs" - were detained at dawn today by Mex. army personnel. Details have not been released. All detainees are from the Tampico, Altamira and Ciudad Madero areas.

------------------

a.m. (Leon, Guanajuato) 3/6/08

A few weeks ago six Mexicans entered Malaysia as tourists. Now they are part of a group of thirteen people under arrest in Malaysia and charged with drug trafficking, all part of an operation which netted 250 kilos of drugs valued at almost 14 million dollars. The others are 4 Singaporeans, 1 Canadian and 2 Malays. A synthetic drug manufacturing facility was also seized; there the drugs were made "using a Mexican recipe."

-------------------

Diario 21 (Iguala, Guerrero) 3/6/08

The local police captain at San Miguel Tecuiciapan, Guerrero, was found dead on a field. A shotgun blast caused a sizeable gaping hole in his upper chest.

-------------------

El Sur (Acapulco, Guerrero) 3/6/08

Edgar Armando Calvillo Roux, director of the "Intelligence Center and Advanced Vigilance" of the Acapulco Police was out walking with his wife and children early yesterday afternoon in Acapulco. Then three vehicles came up and "strongly armed men" got out and forcibly took Calvillo with them. His family was left behind. "Strong security measures" have been taken by various law enforcement agencies on all exit points from the city.

--------------------

El Debate (Culiacan Sinaloa) 3/6/08

Two men and a 16 yr. old were "violently' kidnapped in Mazatlan last Monday. The bodies of all three were found on a dirt road in the area yesterday.

--------------------

Diario (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 3/6/08

1. Yesterday morning two more execution murder victims were found in Palomas, Chihuahua (just across from Columbus, NM). Their hands had been bound with tape and each had multiple firearm impacts to head and thorax.

2. In Juarez, four city traffic police officers, nine jail correctional officers and three jail administrative personnel all failed a drug detection test and came up positive for cocaine. And the latest two murders in Juarez itself brought this month's total to nine.

-------------------

Norte (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 3/6/08

Two more "safe houses" were searched by Mex. military at dawn on Tuesday in Colonia Bellavista, Juarez, and weapons, drugs, vehicles and five persons were seized and arrested.

Four of the men confessed their guilt in the murder of sixty persons within the last two years. And one of the four had been a police officer in Culiacan, Sinaloa. Of the five, one, not otherwise identified, was said to be from the U.S.

---------------------

El Financiero (Mexico City) 3/6/08

After a failed attempt to murder a Public Security commander of the state of Nuevo Leon, state and military forces conducted a massive sweep of Monterrey's northern area of San Bernabe. The result was the detention of 376 persons, most of them either drunk or in possession of drugs. One man had some ammo, two handcuffs, a ski mask and a holster.

--------------------

El Universal (Mexico City) 3/6/08

1. Felipe de Jesus Garza, an agent of the state of Durango Investigation Agency, was riddled with AK47 and AR15 gunshots as he left his house in Durango.

2. 4 smugglers, 3 of them Mexican, 92 Guatemalans and 14 Salvadorans were detained north of Tapachula, Chiapas, when state police stopped the bus in which the Central Americans were riding. The 106 illegals were on their way to Puebla & from there to the U.S.; one of the "polleros" offered 30,000 pesos to be allowed to go free.

And a report in Milenio (Mexico City) today stated that 18 "undocumented" Guatemalans and Salvadorans and their two smugglers were detained in Puebla while traveling in a northbound truck. The 18 were headed to the U.S.

-----------------

La Jornada (Mexico City) 3/6/08

Yesterday Mexico's Supreme Court resolved "criteria contradiction" between two circuit court tribunals and ruled that the crime of people trafficking is committed only when a person shelters or transports undocumented persons (read: illegal aliens) for gain but not for humanitarian reasons.

------------------

El Universo (Guayaquil, Ecuador) 3/6/08

Seven Ecuadoreans, thirty-two Dominicans and one Haitian were turned back by a U.S. Coast Guard unit on the waters between Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.

------------------

El Heraldo (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) 3/6/08

Security, army and law enforcement officials announced Operation Cazador (Hunter) which will bring about anti-crime programs including a yet to be specified curfew at certain times and places.

------------------

-end of report-

CBP Officers in South Carolina Discover More Than 1,200 Pounds of Marijuana Hidden in Ore Shipment

Charleston, S.C. March 06, 2008 – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Charleston, S.C., port of entry seized 1,239 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of approximately $1,412,460, concealed in a shipment of barium sulfate.

On February 26, 2008, CBP officers performing cargo examinations, using non-intrusive inspection technology, discovered anomalies in a container. Further examination of the container revealed 356 packages of a green leafy substance hidden in the shipment. The substance field-tested positive for marijuana.

The container was then turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Through interagency coordination, ICE agents and local authorities arrested two subjects. The subjects are currently in custody awaiting prosecution.

Robert Gomez, Director of Field Operations for Atlanta said, "This is an excellent example of how CBP officers and ICE agents are working together, protecting the people of the U.S. from the entry of illicit drugs and arresting the smugglers involved."

http://www.borderfirereport.net/latest/cbp-discovers-mo...in-ore-shipment.html

Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:31 pm Post subject: AZ Checkpoint Equals Success in Cocaine and Marijuana Bust

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, 07 March 2008
Joint Effort at Ariz. Checkpoint Equals Success in Cocaine and Marijuana Busts

Tucson, AZ. March 05, 2008— A joint effort between CBP officers and Border Patrol agents resulted in a seizure of more than 50 pounds of cocaine and 2,100 pounds of marijuana in two separate incidents during routine checkpoint operations. At approximately 10 a.m. yesterday, a Border Patrol agent working at the traffic checkpoint on Interstate 19 in Amado, Ariz. referred a vehicle to a secondary check due to inconsistencies with the driver’s immigration documents. At this time a Border Patrol K9 alerted to the possible presence of narcotics inside the vehicle. A CBP officer working along side the agents was given consent to search the vehicle and discovered a hidden compartment in the floor boards of the vehicle. A total of 26 kilograms (59 pounds) of cocaine was found inside a hidden compartment. The cocaine, with an estimated street value of over $400,000 dollars, driver and vehicle were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

CBP officers and Border Patrol agents seize more than 50 pounds of cocaine and 2,000 pounds of marijuana in two busts at the I-19 Ariz. checkpoint.

Later the same day at approximately 10 p.m., a Border Patrol K9 at the same Interstate 19 checkpoint alerted to the possible presence of narcotics inside a tractor trailer. Further inspection of the trailer revealed 103 bundles of marijuana hidden in a load of rotten tomatoes and squash. A total of 2,172 pounds of marijuana was seized. The marijuana, driver, and vehicle were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In the past two weeks the Interstate 19 checkpoint has seized approximately 9,000 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of nearly $5 million. The seizures highlight the operational effectiveness of checkpoint operations in combating narcotic smuggling.

http://www.borderfirereport.net/latest/joint-effort-equ...narcotics-busts.html