OPINION

Terrorists will strike America again

Americans should understand that preventing every attack is simply an unattainable goal.

By Gregory F. Treverton

January 19, 2010

The Obama administration's mea culpa over the failure to prevent the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas Day is understandable but misses the point. Yes, the United States can do better at catching would-be attackers; that will always be the case. But the truth is that there is no absolute security -- short of conceding victory to the terrorists by making it impossible for foreigners to visit the U.S., hellish for Americans to fly and difficult for all to live normal lives.

America's tolerance for terrorism cannot be zero. Although we obviously aim to do as much as possible, preventing every attack is an unattainable goal. The country needs to steel itself for the near-certainty that there will at some point be another major strike on U.S. territory.

Even if the U.S. curtailed civil liberties to a degree most citizens would find intolerable, sooner or later some suicidal terrorist would find a way to manage a successful attack. The greatest threat may come from lone wolves with scanty records, as is apparently the case with the accused Ft. Hood shooter, or from someone who acts alone even if trained and equipped by one of Al Qaeda's offshoots, as the would-be Detroit bomber allegedly did.

The Christmas Day episode highlights three critical points.

First is how much progress U.S. intelligence has made. The 9/11 attacks were blamed on a failure to "connect the dots." But foiling that plot would have required not just creative leaps of foresight by intelligence analysts, but also the political will to take draconian actions to prevent a large-scale attack organized from abroad on U.S. soil (something that hadn't happened since Pearl Harbor and was therefore almost unthinkable).

By contrast, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and his alleged Yemeni helpers were on the U.S. radar screen. Simply singling him out for a body search might have done the job. The intelligence community certainly failed to connect the dots, but at least this time it had the dots.

Second, the Christmas Day plot demonstrates that much of what passes for security is a waste of time and money. It often seems designed more to bother people than to prevent terrorism. The mass screening of departing passengers in Amsterdam was, almost by definition, too little to catch the "underwear bomber" and probably too much for his innocent fellow passengers.

Finding the right balance is terribly difficult, but what's needed is less mass screening of all those proverbial grandmothers. Racial and ethnic profiling is not only provocative, it is also ineffective, because it produces far too many "false positives" -- people subjected to secondary screening without cause. Rather, what we need is more screening and profiling based on intelligence to provide grounds for suspicion (which should have included the would-be Detroit bomber) or on suspicious behavior (like having no luggage or paying cash for the ticket).

Third, the public furor over the foiled plot shows that more perspective on terrorism is essential. Terrorism frightens Americans because it seems so random. But it does not kill many. In the five years after 2001, the number of Americans killed per year in terrorist attacks worldwide was never more than 100, and the toll some years was barely in double figures. Compare that with an average of 63 by tornadoes, 692 in bicycle accidents and 41,616 in motor-vehicle-related accidents.

Calling another attack "intolerable" is wishful thinking, not making policy. Some honest talk would be useful, so that when the next major attack comes -- as it surely will -- we can respond rationally and not just emotionally.

Soon after 9/11, I was seated at dinner next to former Defense Secretary Harold Brown. I asked him how much of a threat to the U.S. the attacks represented. His answer surprised me at the time, but he was right: On a scale of 1 to 10, the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 was an 8, he said; 9/11 was a 3. Those who lost their lives and their loved ones suffered mightily, and, as with any disaster, the psychological effect was magnified by the number of people who were killed at the same time. But for the nation, it was a blow, not a mortal threat.

When it comes to weathering terror attacks, the reaction of Israelis is instructive. After every bombing, they clean up as fast as possible. Thus, life can go on and the terrorists won't be given a victory. By contrast, Americans let fear of terrorism stop life. So the terrorists win.

America's security and intelligence apparatus can always do better. But it will never be able to stop every terrorist plot -- a grim reality Americans need to grasp.

Gregory F. Treverton, a former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council, directs the Rand Corp.'s Center for Global Risk and Security and is the author of "Intelligence for an Age of Terror."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-treverton19-2010jan19,0,1414417,print.story

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U.S. to allow Haiti orphans to enter temporarily

The United States will temporarily allow entry to orphaned children from Haiti to receive needed care after the devastating earthquake in their country, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Monday.

“We are committed to doing everything we can to help reunite families in Haiti during this very difficult time,” Napolitano said in a statement.

"While we remain focused on family reunification in Haiti, authorizing the use of humanitarian parole for orphans who are eligible for adoption in the United States will allow them to receive the care they need here,” she said.

The “humanitarian parole policy” will be applied on a case-by-case basis to children who are legally confirmed as orphans eligible for adoption in another country by the Haitian government and who are being adopted by U.S. citizens.

Also eligible are children previously identified by an adoption service as eligible for inter-country adoption and who have been matched to prospective adoptive American parents, the Homeland Security Department said.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dcnow/2010/01/us-to-allow-haiti-orphans-to-enter-temporarily.html

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Hackers create opportunity for military firms

Attacks on Google boost the market for cyber-security just as government weapons spending is expected to slow. Military firms are retooling for rising demand by corporations as well as government.

By W.J. Hennigan

January 19, 2010

For U.S. military firms, the latest revelations of highly sophisticated hacker attacks on Google Inc. are highlighting a new reality, and a potentially lucrative business: The battlefield is shifting to cyberspace.

Google's admission last week that it and other large companies were infiltrated by cyber-spies is bolstering prospects for major military contractors that in recent years have been intensifying their focus from developing weapons to defending computer systems and networks.

"Cyber-security is shaping up to be a major growth opportunity for the defense industry," said Loren Thompson, a military policy analyst for the Lexington Institute, a think tank in Arlington, Va. "We've spent the last 20 years putting all of our information onto computers. Now, we don't have any choice but to defend ourselves against foreign intrusion."

As the threat becomes more coordinated and complex, military firms say that demand for sophisticated cyber-security will rise. The attacks on Google alarmed security analysts because it appeared that a new battle was being waged in which corporate computers and the valuable intellectual property they hold had become a target of a foreign government. In the past such intricate attacks were primarily aimed at military and state secrets.

The military industry, having already done extensive work protecting federal government computers, may be in a good position in the emerging market that could exceed $100 billion in revenue within the next decade, analysts said.

It may have little choice. Pentagon spending on weapons is expected to slow, leaving military firms scrambling for new business.

"Each of these companies recognizes that growing demand for cyber skills could help cover any shortfall in revenues," Thompson said.

The federal government is expected to set aside $8.3 billion this year for protecting its computers from hackers, up 60% from just four years ago. In a speech last year, Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn said that at the Pentagon alone, there were an "estimated 90,000 people engaged in administering, monitoring and defending 15,000 networks connecting 7 million computers."

With attacks increasing more than 200% since 2006, federal spending on cyber-security is expected to grow 8.1% annually over the next four years, according to Input, a Reston, Va., government contracting research firm.

"That's significant growth, given the budget pressure that the government is under," said John Slye, principal analyst at Input.

Exactly how much private firms are spending to protect themselves from hackers is unknown, because many do not like to admit that their computers have been breached.

"In today's current state, there's a good chance that you've already been compromised," said Timothy McKnight, vice president of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s intelligence systems division. "We want to stay ahead of this problem. We're doing everything to stay on the cutting edge."

To bolster their staffs, military firms have been hiring former top government officials, partnering with universities for young talent and swallowing up smaller cyber-boutiques.

Century City-based Northrop, maker of the B-2 stealth bomber and nuclear submarines, in 2007 acquired Essex Corp., which specializes in encryption technology used by U.S. intelligence agencies that could be applied to protecting valuable data.

Northrop last year consolidated its cyber-security business, scattered among various divisions across the country, into one unit.

And in December, Northrop created a cyber-security research consortium with Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Purdue University as a way to tap new technologies and recruit emerging talent.

Defense rival Lockheed Martin Corp. took a different route assembling a cyber-security alliance with tech companies, including Microsoft Corp, Cisco Systems Inc. and Dell Inc., to collaborate on developing measures against hackers.

In November, the nation's largest military contractor finished a 5,000-square-foot facility in Gaithersburg, Md., that's dedicated to cyber-security research. Lockheed has also recruited Lee Holcomb, former chief technology officer for the Department of Homeland Security, to head the company's cyber-security initiatives.

Another military firm, General Dynamics Corp., has built a lucrative business protecting companies from cyber attacks. In 2007, the company helped the parent of discount retailers T.J. Maxx and Marshalls patch a security breach in which hackers had gained access to computers that had information on 50 million customers' credit and debit cards.

"Nobody is building aircraft carriers anymore," said James Mulvenon, director of the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis at Defense Group Inc., a national-security firm. "It looks like, from now on, the big money is in cyber space."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-security19-2010jan19,0,2756168,print.story

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Preschool is key to crime prevention

RECENT statistics indicating that crime in Los Angeles has dropped to the lowest level in more than 40 years is most encouraging. Above all, it's a testament to the joint efforts of our political leaders and law enforcement agencies working together to improve our quality of life.

However, we cannot rest on our laurels, but must continue to pursue strategies that will ensure that crime in our communities will continue to decline.

There are obviously numerous methods that can be employed to deter criminal activity. One of these might surprise you, and that is quality early childhood education.

Research shows that children who receive a quality early childhood education are less likely to turn to crime later in life. That is an outcome that has major implications for our communities, as public safety routinely ranks among the top priorities listed by the public and elected officials.

The question then becomes, should we invest resources to ensure access to effective and affordable early education programs, especially for children most at risk for school failure and future criminal activity?

The answer is yes, if we wish to produce future generations of productive citizens who are disinclined to get in trouble with the law. We simply cannot afford not to invest in early childhood education because the evidence is clear: early education - such as preschool - helps reduce crime.

According to an independent survey by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California, an anti-crime organization, an overwhelming 71 percent of the nation's law enforcement leaders chose the provision of more after-school and educational child care programs - such as preschools - as the most effective strategy for reducing youth violence and crime.

Furthermore, consider Michigan's High/Scope Perry Preschool Program, which served 3- and 4-year-olds from low-income families. Children randomly assigned to a control group that did not attend preschool were five times more likely to have become chronic lawbreakers by age 27 than those assigned to attend the preschool program.

Today, there are only about 70,000 licensed preschool spaces available for 4-year-olds in Los Angeles County, meaning about half of children are left out. In many neighborhoods, the problem is much worse.

Publicly-funded programs like State Preschool and Head Start are available to some, but only the poorest families qualify, and spaces are scarce. At any given time, tens of thousands of children languish on a waiting list for spaces in publicly-funded programs. Private preschools often cost too much for working- and middle-class families, even when chosen from the long waiting lists for those programs.

That is why we believe that if California intends to continue to reduce crime, additional state and federal money should be found so that all children can have access to quality early childhood education programs.

Los Angeles Universal Preschool, a nonprofit organization funded by First 5 LA, is doing its part, currently making it possible for about 10,000 children to attend quality preschool at affiliated sites in Los Angeles County at little or no cost to their families. But more needs to be done.

According to the Rand Corp., for every dollar we invest in quality preschool, the public saves $2.62 in crime prevention, special education needs and other social costs. Other prominent studies show an even greater rate-of-return to our society.

The message is clear. Quality preschool programs are a wise public investment, and one of our most effective weapons against crime. In fact, it costs about $49,000 a year to incarcerate a young person. That would cover the annual enrollment of eight to 10 children in a quality preschool. Despite that, the number of children enrolled in California preschools remains well below the national average.

There's little doubt that making quality preschool programs available to more children is crucial to an effective, balanced crime-prevention strategy. Continuing failure to ensure that all of California's children have access to such programs puts every California family at greater risk of crime and violence.

That is why we urge policymakers across California to place increased access to quality preschool high on their agenda.

http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_14218527

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From the Wall Street Journal

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Terror Suspects Win Case Against U.K.

LONDON--Two terror suspects won the right Monday to seek compensation from the British government over the restrictions imposed upon their activities since 2006.

The High Court ruling delivers another blow to Britain's system of so-called "control orders," which officials say is necessary to keep tabs on terror suspects who can't be brought to trial without revealing sensitive intelligence information.

The system allows Britain's Home Office to ask a court to curtail suspects' movements, ban them from foreign travel, restrict their Internet access and forbid them from associating with certain people. At least 45 people have been subjected to such orders, according to the latest count. Twelve people, including nine Britons, remain under the regime.

The two suspects whose case was decided Monday can't be named for legally reasons. One of the two, a Libyan-British dual national identified only as A.F., was subjected to a control order because of alleged links with Islamic terrorists. He had to wear an electronic tag, stay in his house for 18 hours a day, and couldn't work without express permission from the government.

The other man, identified only as A.E., has been described in previous rulings as an imam to the Iraqi community in an unnamed town in northern England. Britain's security service said there was evidence he had taken part in terrorist activities.

Both had their control orders lifted in September after Britain's highest court ruled that the government could no longer withhold evidence from the pair. Britain's government said it lifted the restrictions rather than expose the sources of its intelligence.

Justice Stephen Silber said Monday that while the men were free to seek redress for their time spent under the control orders, he warned them that they wouldn't necessarily succeed in their quest for compensation, adding that it was unlikely to be very substantial in any case.

A.E.'s lawyer Mohammed Ayub called the ruling was "a victory for common sense and decency." The government said it would appeal.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704541004575010770644506244.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews#printMode

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From the Washington Times

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U.S. to repatriate most Haitian refugees

Associated Press

MIAMI | U.S. authorities are readying for an influx of Haitians seeking to escape their earthquake-racked nation, even though the policy for migrants remains the same: With few exceptions, they will go back.

Fears of a mass migration have not materialized so far, but conditions in Haiti become more dire each day and U.S. officials don't want to be caught off guard.

Between 250 and 400 immigration detainees are being moved from South Florida's main detention center to clear space for any Haitians who manage to reach U.S. shores, according to the Homeland Security Department. U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, could house migrants temporarily — far from the terrorist suspects also being held there — and a Catholic church is working on a plan to accept Haitian orphans.

Homeland Security spokesman Sean Smith said Monday that orphans who have ties to the U.S. — such as family members already living here — and Haitians evacuated for medical reasons are among those who can gain special permission to remain in the U.S.

The mass migration plan, known as Operation Vigilant Sentry, was put into place in 2003 because of experiences with Caribbean migrations, said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Task Force Southeast, which would manage any Haitian influx.

"There is no new incentive for anyone to try to enter the United States illegally by sea," Cmdr. O'Neil said. "The goal is to interdict them at sea and repatriate them."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano underscored the message during a weekend appearance at Homestead Air Reserve Base south of Miami, a key staging area for Haiti relief flights.

"This is a very dangerous crossing. Lives are lost every time people try to make this crossing," Ms. Napolitano said, addressing Haitians directly. "Please do not have us divert our necessary rescue and relief efforts that are going into Haiti by trying to leave at this point."

Some immigration advocates say the U.S. should shift away from stopping migrants and ease safe passage. They say those on approved waiting lists should be able to join spouses or relatives in the U.S.

"We should be figuring out an orderly transition for people to come here, instead of being panicked about it," said Ira Kurzban, a leading Miami immigration lawyer.

The Obama administration's decision last week to grant temporary protected status to Haitians in the U.S. illegally as of Jan. 12 does not extend to those attempting to enter the U.S. after that date. The Coast Guard has intercepted 17 Haitians at sea this year, all before the earthquake struck.

U.S. policy notwithstanding, the Catholic Church in Miami is working on a proposal that would allow thousands of orphan children to live in the U.S. permanently. A similar effort launched in 1960, known as Operation Pedro Pan, brought about 14,000 unaccompanied children from Cuba to the U.S.

Under the plan dubbed "Pierre Pan," Haitian orphans would be placed in group homes and then paired with foster parents, said Mary Ross Agosta, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Miami.

"We have children who are homeless and possibly without parents and it is the moral and humane thing to do," Ms. Agosta said.

Officials said many details would have to be settled and the Obama administration would have to grant orphans humanitarian parole to enter the U.S.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/19/us-will-repatriate-most-haitian-refugees//print/

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Iran never halted nuke work in '03

by Eli Lake

U.S. intelligence agencies now suspect that Iran never halted work on its nuclear arms program in 2003, as stated in a national intelligence estimate made public three years ago, U.S. officials said.

Differences among analysts now focus on whether the country's supreme leader has given or will soon give orders for full-scale production of nuclear weapons.

The new consensus emerging among analysts in the 16 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community on Iran's nuclear arms program is expected to be the highlight of a classified national intelligence estimate nearing completion that will replace the estimate issued in 2007.

The unclassified summary of the 2007 document said the U.S. intelligence community had "moderate confidence" that Iran's nuclear weapons work had halted in 2003. In a footnote, it stated that weapons development was defined as warhead design and not the enrichment of uranium, which has continued unabated contrary to the Iranian government's agreement not to develop uranium enrichment techniques outside International Atomic Energy Agency controls.

A senior U.S. military officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity last week revealed that the new argument among analysts is over Iran's decision to move forward with weaponization.

"There is a debate being held about whether the final decision has been made. It is fair to argue that the supreme leader has not said, 'Build a nuclear weapon.' That actually does not matter, because they are not at the point where they could do that anyway."

The officer, who is knowledgeable about operational matters and intelligence on Iran, said Iran's nuclear program is well-advanced and moving toward the point at which a weapon could be built.

"Are they acting as if they would like to be in a position to do what the supreme leader orders if he gives the thumbs up at some point down the road? The answer to that is indisputably yes," the officer said.

Newsweek magazine first reported Saturday that the new estimate was being drafted and may be released as soon as next month.

The new estimate is under debate as the Obama administration seeks to gain international backing for more sanctions against Iran, and amid growing political opposition to the Tehran government from Iran's "green movement" in recent months.

Iran's government has repeatedly denied that its uranium enrichment is part of a nuclear weapons program.

The new estimate also is expected to update testimony by Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, who told Congress in March that Iran "has not decided to press forward" with work to put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile.

Since his testimony, however, Iran was forced to disclose a new parallel uranium enrichment facility near Qom after U.S. and allied intelligence agencies discovered the previously undisclosed site at a military base.

In addition, an internal document from the International Atomic Energy Agency made public last fall concluded that Iran at least had the know-how needed for weaponization, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The 2007 national intelligence estimate prompted harsh criticism from U.S. allies and some members of Congress and the Bush administration, who said the document had been "politicized" to undermine any policy that would authorize a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, Michigan Republican and ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in an interview that "they wrote a political document in 2007 to embarrass President Bush which everyone uniformly agrees was a piece of trash."

The congressman added, "I am glad the intelligence community is redoing it. They were wrong in 2007 when they were doing it, they were wrong by a significant degree. Why would I take the one in 2010 they are doing any more seriously, just because I like the outcome?"

David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, also said the 2007 estimate was flawed. "I think the idea Iran has not restarted with moderate confidence, it is a little like debating whether the glass is half full or half empty. Moderate confidence does not mean much and many intelligence agencies, such as the ones in Britain, France and Germany, disagreed that the weaponization did not exist in 2007," Mr. Albright said in an interview.

Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, declined to comment.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/19/review-says-iran-never-halted-nuke-work-in-2003//print/

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EDITORIAL

When equal opportunity kills

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The Defense Department continues to duck the hard questions about the Fort Hood massacre. As many as eight Army officers might take the fall for not reporting Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's abnormal behavior in the years leading up to his Nov. 5 terrorist rampage. But as Bill Gertz reported yesterday on the front page of The Washington Times, fear of being perceived as insensitive played a critical role in those officers keeping Maj. Hasan in the force. There's no sign the military's politically correct climate is about to change.

On Friday, while discussing the results of the Defense Department's investigation of the Fort Hood terrorist attack, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates noted that personnel management systems are "generally organized to withhold and compartmentalize troubling information about individuals, as opposed to sharing it with the people and leaders who need to know." But what one person perceives as troubling behavior might be another person's expression of cherished religious beliefs. Maj. Hasan was exhibiting signs of a radical jihadist orientation that were frighteningly obvious to those around him, but they were unwilling to take the necessary action because they might have faced an official backlash.

"One of the core functions of leadership is assessing the performance and fitness of people honestly and openly," Mr. Gates said. "Failure to do so, or kicking the problem to the next unit or the next installation, may lead to damaging if not devastating consequences." This sounds nice, but it's well understood in the defense establishment that honest and open assessments of the fitness of some personnel is a guaranteed ticket to potentially career-ending controversy. The system encourages passing the buck.

Maj. Hasan might have been weeded out early in his career had he not been both a member of an ethnic minority group and a Muslim. The government's equal-opportunity system creates tremendous burdens for commanders and administrators who give negative performance reviews to people in protected classes. It is a simple matter for the unscrupulous underperformer to file a series of complaints against his or her rater, charging racism, sexism or sexual harassment, religious persecution or whatever is convenient given the malcontent's circumstances. Because the system must investigate every charge, genuine and bogus claims receive the same amount of attention and impose the same burdens on the guilty and innocent alike.

Equal-opportunity charges mean paperwork, interviews and endless meetings. They are a drain on productivity and morale. It can take months or years for complaints to be fully investigated and closed. Anyone with an open complaint being investigated cannot be promoted until the matter is resolved. Officers attempting to impose high standards can be stigmatized as troublemakers after facing a flurry of retributive and baseless charges. Officers such as Maj. Hasan who exhibit odd and dangerous behavior but are members of minority groups are passed on with good evaluations because it's easier than doing the right thing.

Political correctness continues to dominate official military thinking. The released version of the Fort Hood report does not refer to Islamic extremism, and Mr. Gates refuses to describe the massacre as an act of terrorism. The message to the force is that nothing has changed; keep your head down, continue to pass the buck and hope it doesn't stop with you. The consequences are deadly.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/19/when-equal-opportunity-kills//print/

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Time to say the unsayable

by Frank J. Gaffney Jr.

Most sentient Americans had one question in the wake of the massacre at Fort Hood in November: How on earth could the Army have allowed to remain in its ranks a soldier known to espouse the supremacist, seditious ideology that justifies murderous jihad?

Now, thanks to a report submitted Friday by an official inquiry, we have the answer. Incredibly, though, that answer is not to be found within the 86-page document issued by the Department of Defense Independent Review Related to Fort Hood. Rather, it is evident from what the report does not say.

Like its name, the independent review co-chaired by Clinton administration Army Secretary Togo D. West Jr. and former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vernon E. Clark elides the central fact: The murders of 12 servicemen and women and one civilian at Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2009, was indeed an act of jihad, or Islamic "holy war."

Incredibly, there is exactly one reference to the word "Islam" or its derivatives in the entire report. It is to be found only in a footnote, which cites a publication whose title is "Countering Violent Islamic Extremism."

No mention is made at all of "jihad" or "Shariah," the ideology that, according to authoritative Islam, requires its adherents to engage in holy war. Neither, for that matter, are the following terms ever used: "Muslim," "Muslim Brotherhood," "Salafi," "al Qaeda" or "enemy." Even President Obama's favored euphemism, "violent extremism," is not employed, ever.

Instead of even alluding to the wellspring of Maj. Nidal Hasan's antipathy toward this country and his comrades, the review goes to absurd lengths to leave the obvious unsaid. It tells us there were "signs" of the "alleged perpetrator's" mindset, without telling us what the signs were. It suggests a problem with "officership standards," again without making clear how those standards should be changed.

The review concludes with a recommendation for close monitoring of what it calls "indicators of potential violence," as though that potential is something that can be reliably ascertained, let alone precluded, without acknowledging the underlying cause. Instead, we are told that what is needed is a "Secretary of Defense Initiative on Indicators of Violence," or even, more absurdly, a "Defense Committee on Recognition of the Indications of Violence."

These august institutions would, if Mr. West and Adm. Clark have their way, be tasked to: "Gather, analyze and interpret data useful in identifying indicators of potential for violent action and create a comprehensive and usable catalogue of those indicators with constant updates."

Worse yet, they envision having these bodies "composed of acknowledged experts drawn from inside and outside the Department, such as academia, research institutes, business, former public service and the like." As things stand now, among those used for this purpose would almost certainly be operatives of various Muslim Brotherhood front organizations. Never mind that the U.S. government itself has demonstrated in court that the Brotherhood has as its mission "the destruction of Western civilization from within."

Such adherents to Shariah have contributed materially to our present fix with their "sensitivity training" of government personnel and their exclusive and manipulative facilitation of official "Muslim outreach" programs. The West-Clark review is a prime example of the sort of systematic dumbing-down the Brothers have achieved of the military's "situational awareness" - and that of the American government more generally - about the threat posed by them and their fellow stealth jihadists.

Tragically, at a moment when we urgently need clarity about that threat, not more dissembling, we have gotten pap, not answers. The West-Clark review has properly been scathingly criticized by, among others, retired Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters as evidence of a far-larger crisis. In his New York Post column on Saturday, Col. Peters wrote: "This report's spinelessness is itself an indictment of our military's failed moral and ethical leadership."

The problem, however, is not simply one of failed leadership that feels compelled to defer to "political correctness." Properly understood, the West-Clark review and the institutional mindset it reflects really amount, instead, to collective acts of submission - the literal meaning of the word "Islam" and what its Shariah ideology requires of everyone, adherents and non-adherents alike.

If we are to prevent such an unacceptable outcome and defeat those seeking to impose it - or even just to reduce the danger of further, needless loss of American lives, we must say the unsayable: Adherents to the ideology of Shariah are our enemies, just as were the Nazis, the fascists and communists. Like these other ideologues, their unalterable objective is the destruction of our Constitution, democratic political system and freedom-loving country. Whether they seek these ends through overtly terrifying violence or through stealthy jihad, adherents to Shariah have no place in our military, in our government or, for that matter, in our mosques.

Those who act on these necessary precepts in the armed forces, in the intelligence and law enforcement communities, in other government agencies or among the public at large must know what will be said of them from here on out: Far from being branded as "racists," "bigots," "Islamophobes" or simply "politically incorrect," their countrymen will give them the names they will have earned - "patriots" and "heroes."

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."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/19/time-to-say-the-unsayable//print/

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From Fox News

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Victim to Speak 'From the Grave' in Peterson Case

January 19, 2010

JOLIET, Ill. — 

Six years after she mysteriously drowned in a bathtub, Kathleen Savio is finally getting her day in court.

Savio essentially will testify from the grave Tuesday, with witnesses expected to tell a judge in Illinois how Savio discussed and wrote about her fears that her ex-husband, former Bolingbrook police Sgt. Drew Peterson, would kill her.

The hearing stems from a state law that allows a judge to admit hearsay evidence — testimony from witnesses who recount what they heard from others — in first-degree murder cases if prosecutors can prove a defendant killed a witness to prevent him or her from testifying.

The Illinois Legislature passed the law after authorities named Peterson a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy, then exhumed the body of Savio, his third wife, and reopened the investigation into her 2004 death. Though the bill's sponsors were careful never to link the law publicly to Peterson, it has been referred to as "Drew's Law," and his attorneys have long suggested it was passed to put Peterson behind bars.

During the hearing, which is expected to last three weeks, prosecutors will present to Will County Judge Stephen White about 60 witnesses to testify about 15 hearsay statements. White will then decide if the jury can hear any or all of those statements when Peterson stands trial. Peterson has pleaded not guilty to murdering Savio, whose body was found in a dry tub. A trial date hasn't been set.

Neither side has talked much about the evidence in the case, but from the day Peterson was arrested, Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow has made it clear that allowing Savio to tell jurors why Peterson wanted her dead is crucial to his case.

"In essence, what you're basically allowing the victim of a violent crime to do is testify from the grave," Glasgow, who pushed for passage of the bill, told reporters in May shortly after Peterson was arrested.

The list of witnesses remains under seal, but Savio's niece, Melissa Doman, said her mother, Anna Doman, is among those who have been called to testify.

"It would be about things my Aunt Kitty (Savio) told my mom about how she was afraid for her life, she said she was afraid of Drew," Melissa Doman said, adding that she has not been called to testify.

Also expected to testify are other members of Savio's family, including her sister, Susan Savio. It was Susan Savio who told a coroner's jury shortly after her sister's death that Kathleen Savio had told family members that, "if she would die, it may look like an accident, but it wasn't."

The death initially was ruled an accidental drowning — until Stacy Peterson's disappearance led officials to exhume Savio's body, conduct another autopsy and conclude Savio was the victim of a homicide. Drew Peterson has not been charged in Stacy Peterson's disappearance.

Other possible witnesses who could be asked to testify about the stormy relationship between Drew Peterson and Savio are his former colleagues. Eighteen times in two years, police were called to the couple's Bolingbrook home to respond to reports of trouble between the two, with Savio telling officers that her husband had beaten her and threatened to kill her. Peterson was never charged. Savio was charged with domestic battery and later was acquitted.

There also are court documents that prosecutors are expected to present into evidence, including a 2002 order of protection in which Savio alleges that Peterson knocked her down, ripped off her necklace and left marks on her body.

"He wants me dead, and if he has to, he will burn the house down just to shut me up," she wrote.

Among the more intriguing possible witnesses are members of the clergy at a Bolingbrook church attended by Stacy Peterson. In the days after her disappearance, there were media reports that she had told a clergyman a couple months earlier that Drew Peterson had confessed to her that he killed Savio and made it look like an accident.

Peterson's attorneys have made it clear that they will attack the credibility of at least some of the witnesses.

"All it is, is rumor, innuendo and gossip," defense attorney Joel Brodsky said after a recent hearing concerning information contained in the 15 statements. "People had ulterior motives for saying what they said or are out-and-out unreliable people."

The defense is not expected to call any witnesses of its own during the hearing.

"This is them (prosecutors) laying out their case," Brodsky said. "People should not think this is going to be the trial."

But, he said, the hearing still will help Peterson.

"We think that even in this questioning, a lot of beliefs that people have about what was said and who said them are going to be burst, dashed," he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,583329,00.html

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Serial Rapist Targeting Elderly Women Terrifies Rural Texas Towns

January 18, 2010

YOAKUM, Texas — 

With a serial rapist on the loose, Cassandra McGinty has developed a new routine when she arrives home: search room to room, a handgun or stun gun drawn.

The predator has been assaulting older women in central Texas over the past year, terrifying residents and frustrating investigators who have only a vague description of the suspect.

Pepper spray has been flying off the shelves in the towns where the attacks have occurred, and McGinty said her landlord in Marquez handed out stun guns as Christmas gifts. Nearly 200 miles away in Yoakum, elderly volunteers at the local museum have been locking its doors during business hours.

"I used to think I was too old for anybody to mess with," said McGinty, 55. "I can't say that any more."

Beginning with the rape of a 65-year-old woman in Yoakum last January, authorities have linked eight sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults to the suspect, who has been dubbed the "Twilight Rapist" because most of the attacks occurred around dawn. They also believe he robbed or attempted to rob four other women.

The victims have all been women, ranging in age from 65 to 91. One rape victim played piano at her church on Sundays. An 81-year-old woman scared off an intruder with a gun, firing several rounds for good measure. A 66-year-old woman was attacked twice, despite having moved across town following the first assault.

The attacks occurred in seven rural towns, the largest of which has 6,000 residents.

Two women were attacked — one of them twice — in Yoakum, a quiet town surrounded by wide-open ranches about 100 miles east of San Antonio.

"It does make me sick," Yoakum Police Chief Arthur Rogers said. "We all take it personal. We all visualize this could have been my mother or my grandmother."

Mela Walker, who has a ranch in nearby Cuero, organized a community meeting last spring after the Yoakum attacks and handed out pepper spray as a door prize for the nearly 300 people who showed up.

"They're freaked out," Walker said. "These elderly women are buying Mace and not knowing how to use it. They talk about buying guns, and they don't know how to use guns."

Authorities say the attacks appear to have been planned — phone lines were cut and porch lights were unscrewed outside some of the victims' homes. All the victims lived alone, and one had more than $10,000 stolen.

Yoakum residents say the two victims there had predictable routines that made them easy targets.

"Nobody opens the door for nobody anymore," said Armiro Gomez, 57, who lives across the street from one of the Yoakum victims. "After midnight, people have no rights to be walking the streets anymore."

Just across the interstate in Luling, where the last attack occurred in November, a neighbor said it's no coincidence the victim was the only woman in his retirement village with a job.

A year into the case there is still no sketch of the suspect, only a vague description of a thin, young and dark-skinned man who is between 5 1/2- and 6-feet tall. Authorities wrongly arrested one man early in their investigation, and he has since sued over it.

The assailant left behind DNA and other forensic evidence after some attacks, but authorities have not been able to link the DNA to anything in the state system, said Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger. In addition to the difficult task of investigating attacks that happened as far as 200 miles from each other, authorities have found that some victims don't have the best memories.

"The fact that he is targeting elderly woman at night does make it a little more difficult (to investigate)," Vinger said. "It's a traumatic situation for any age. It's even potentially more traumatic for the elderly."

Walker said a year since the first attack, the fear in Yoakum hasn't waned. Last week, volunteers took down Christmas decorations inside the Yoakum Heritage Museum.

It was the middle of the morning, but the doors were locked. Visitors were let in, one by one, and the door locked behind them.

"These are frail, elderly women. Tiny little things," Walker said. "You just can't imagine why anyone would want to take advantage of them."

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,583256,00.html

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Ringleader of Homegrown Terror Plot Gets Life in Prison

January 18, 2010

BRAMPTON, Ontario  — 

A Canadian judge on Monday sentenced the ringleader of a homegrown terrorist plot to set off truck bombs in Ontario to life in prison.

Zakaria Amara, 24, pleaded guilty in October. He acknowledged being a leader of the so-called Toronto 18 plot to set off bombs outside Toronto's Stock Exchange, a building housing Canada's spy agency and a military base. The goal was to scare Canada into removing its troops from Afghanistan.

The 2006 arrests of Amara and 17 others made international headlines and heightened fears in a country where many people thought they were relatively immune from terrorist strikes.

Judge Bruce Durno said Monday that the attack would have been the most horrific crime in Canada's history if the plot been successful.

Amara had his head down, staring at floor during his sentencing.

Before he left the courtroom, he blew a kiss to his family, and said,

"I just want to reassure you that the promises I made (to rehabilitate), I'll do my best."

The prosecution sought life imprisonment, while Amara's defense asked for a sentence of between 18 and 20 years.

Amara will be eligible to apply for parole after serving six years in prison, said Durno.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police released a statement that said the case "underscores the reality that Canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism. The extent of the preparations and the enormity of the attacks being planned in this case are quite chilling."

Prosecutors said Amara planned to rent U-Haul trucks, pack them with explosives and detonate them via remote control toward the end of 2006. Police found he used a public library computer to conduct searches on bomb-making and the chemicals needed for explosives. A search of his home also turned up a bomb-making manual, circuit boards, and a device that could trigger an explosion via a cell phone.

Through a police agent, Amara tried to buy what he believed was three tons of ammonium nitrate — three times what was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.

His personal computer also had recordings of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and other jihad materials.

The case was developed after the suspects were followed, wiretapped as well as infiltrated by two paid police informants.

Amara apologized in an open letter to Canadians at his sentencing hearing on Thursday, saying he deserved nothing but Canadians' contempt.

Judge Bruce Durno also sentenced one of Amara's coconspirators, Saad Gaya, 22, on Monday to 12 years in prison, minus seven-and-a-half years credit for pretrial custody. The judge called Gaya a "helper" in the plot.

Since the arrest of the 18 Toronto men, four have now pleaded guilty and one was convicted after a trial.

Charges were stayed or dropped against seven people and six men still face trial. One man's trial began last week and five others face a trial in March.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,583303,00.html

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U.S. Man in Cambodia Arrested on Child Porn Charge

January 18, 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — 

Cambodian police said Monday they have arrested an American man on charges that he drugged a 12-year-old girl and took pornographic photos of her.

Chor Heng, deputy police chief of Preah Sihanouk province, said Ronald A. Adams, 51, was arrested at his home Friday after a complaint from the girl's mother.

Provincial prosecutor You Tith Vattanak said Adams was charged Sunday with illegal drug use and possession of child pornography, and could face rape charges if medical tests confirm he physically abused the girl. He could be jailed for at least 10 years on the initial charges, he said.

Police said Adams has lived in the seaside province — about 115 miles (185 kilometers) southwest of Phnom Penh — for at least two years and operates a small restaurant there. His passport says he is from New York, police say.

The suspect, who was being held in the provincial jail, was unavailable for comment.

Lax law enforcement and poverty have made Cambodia a prime destination for foreigners seeking sex with minors. But police recently have stepped up efforts to fight the crime, and several foreigners are serving lengthy prison terms.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,583259,00.html

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Parents of Missing College Students Call on U.S. to Intensify Search Efforts in Haiti

January 18, 2010

The parents of four college students missing in Haiti called on the U.S. government to step up its rescue operations in the earthquake-ravaged country Monday, saying the failure to locate their children after nearly a week was "inconceivable."

"We're hoping today for a miracle," said Jean Gianacaci, whose daughter Christine is one of four Lynn University students still missing in the wake of the 7.0-magnitude quake that rocked the impoverished island nation on Tuesday.

"These kids were not on spring break," said Giannacaci — her voice breaking. "These kids were down with the poorest of poor, helping."

Four students and two faculty members from the South Florida college remain unaccounted for. They were among a group of 12 traveling with the charity Food For The Poor when the hotel at which they were staying in Port-au-Prince collapsed during the quake.

The university had previously announced that 11 of the 12 were safe and accounted for, but later retracted the report, saying it was based on "bad intelligence."

"It just seems inconceivable to me that we can't get the manpower there to make this happen," said Lin Crispinelli of Katonah, N.Y., whose daughter Stephanie is missing. "It's devastating. They're living a hell and so are we."

In a direct appeal to President Obama, Leonard Gengel of Rutland, Mass., said, "We want your help."

The missing students and faculty are: Stephanie Crispinelli of Katonah, N.Y.; Courtney Hayes of Boca Raton, Fla.; Britney Gengel of Rutland, Mass.; Christine Gianacaci, of Hopewell, N.J.; and Professors Patrick Hartwick and Richard Bruno.

The eight Lynn University students located in Haiti were evacuated to the Dominican Republican immediately after the earthquake and returned home to Fort Lauderdale early Friday.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,583279,00.html

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Media Ignores Good News About Race

As the nation celebrates Martin Luther King's birthday today the absence of coverage says a lot about people who don't want things to change when it comes to the old us-versus-them racial politics.

An astonishing poll has signaled a new era in American race relations. It appeared just last week but if you read The New York Times or Washington Post you wouldn't know about it because there was little or no coverage.

As the nation celebrates Martin Luther King's birthday today the absence of coverage says a lot about people who don't want things to change when it comes to the old us-versus-them racial politics.

The poll by the respected Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 70 percent of white Americans and 60 percent of black Americans “believe values held by blacks and white have become more similar in the past decade.” Those numbers are unprecedented. Clear majorities of black and white Americans are saying that the divide born or racial, cultural and educational divisions is closing fast. The history of slavery, legal segregation and suspicion that comes with black anger and white guilt is amazingly close to being eclipsed by agreement across racial lines on common values.

And it is not just values that black and white are agreeing on. The poll also found that 65 percent of whites and 56 percent of blacks believe the gap between standards of living for the two races has narrowed over the last ten years. Even as incomes between the races have slightly widened during those ten years there is the feeling among both races that the level of comfort – living standard – is increasingly similar.

And there is more good news about race in the Pew poll.

For example, 39 percent of black Americans in the Pew poll say the “situation for blacks in the U.S.” is better than it was five years earlier. That is nearly twice the 20 percent of blacks who told Pew in a 2007 poll that the racial climate for black people had improved over the prior five years. In this latest poll, a majority of black Americans, 53 percent, also said they expect life in the future to be even better for black people. In the 2007 poll only 41 percent of black Americans expressed such optimism.

And in what I think is the most amazing finding of the new poll 52 percent of blacks said that black people who are not getting ahead today are “responsible for their own situation.” Only one-third of black Americans said racism is keeping down the black poor.

Fifteen years polls found the exact opposite with most black people pointing to racism as the major impediment to black people rising up the ladder of social and economic opportunity in the U.S.

These are major shifts in opinion among black and white Americans but especially among black people. The Pew researchers, whom I consulted with as they did the poll, point to the election of the first black President, Barack Obama, as the spur for this jump in good feeling among black Americans.

There is no doubt that having a black man elected President has shaken the world view of black people. A lot of folks, especially older African Americans who lived through the bad old days of segregation, did not think they would live to see a black man in the White House. The poll finds their attitude on race has become much more upbeat in the past two years and that has contributed to the overall leap in black optimism.

But there is something else going on here. Since the intense years of civil rights activism in the 1950s and 1960s the rates of high school graduation, income and home ownership have all been climbing for black Americans. But despite those decades of change polls did not find any sudden rise in optimism among black people to match what this latest Pew poll has uncovered.

I think I know why.

Black Americans and especially black civil rights leaders did not want to acknowledge the progress being made on the race relations front. Blacks feared that white America -- in the form of government, foundations, churches and educational institutions -- might point to any admission of racial progress as evidence that there was no more work to be done to heal the damage done to contemporary American life by racism.

But with continued progress for all minorities but especially blacks over the past decades -- and the election of a black President – the silencer is off. There is a new confidence among black and whites that values and opportunities now exist in close to equal measure for blacks and whites who get an education and work hard.

Imagine how sky high this optimism might be if the recession had not hit and unemployment was not 10 percent including 16 percent for black people.

These astounding findings in the Pew poll open a different racial discussion in America. In the past, the big news out of polls of the two races predictably showed that white people thought one way and black people thought another. Now here is a poll that finds black and white people finding common ground as never before.

Yet somehow the New York Times and Washington Post did not find space in their news columns to tell this uplifting story.

If there was a charge of racism against a policeman or a politicians uttered some racially insensitive language that surely would have been on the front pages; in fact, just last week Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ended up on the front pages for just such a racial stumble.

But there was no space for news of new racial attitudes that signal that so much of the bitter feelings and finger-pointing of the past has faded. It is enough to make you think that some newspapers only see racial division as newsworthy.

What would Dr. King say?

Maybe they, like the old race hustlers and racists, think racial progress is not good for business.

Juan Williams is NPR Senior Correspondent and a Fox News contributor.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/ci.Media+Ignores+Good+News+About+Race.opinionPrint

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From the White House

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For Native American Women, a Triumph of Justice

All Americans should be heartened by the recent announcement that the Department of Justice, under the leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder, is strengthening its commitment to fighting crimes of violence against Native American women.

As part of broader DOJ reforms to dramatically improve public safety in tribal communities, the Attorney General recognized that though there is no "quick fix," we "must continue our efforts with federal, state, and tribal partners to identify solutions to the challenges we face."  After holding listening sessions with tribal leaders across the nation, he directed all 44 U.S. Attorneys' Offices with federally recognized tribes in their districts to reinvigorate efforts to combat and prosecute violent crime, particularly against women and children. And he announced an additional $6 million to hire Assistant United States Attorneys—and additional victim specialists—to assist with the ever-growing Indian Country caseload.

After all, for Native American women, even "challenges" may be an understatement. On some reservations, violent crime is more than twenty times the national average—but women tend to suffer most. Some tribes face murder rates against Native American women of more than ten times the national average. And tribal leaders say there are countless more victims of domestic violence and sexual assault whose stories may never be told. As President Obama put it at the White House Tribal Nations Conference on November 5, "the shocking and contemptible fact that one in three Native American women will be raped in their lifetimes is an assault on our national conscience that we can no longer ignore."

The White House strongly supports efforts to strengthen the capability of law enforcement to address public safety needs on reservations, including the announced Justice Department reforms and the Tribal Law and Order Act. That's why at the Tribal Nations Conference, he commended Attorney General Holder for his efforts to ensure greater safety in tribal communities and thanked Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairman Byron Dorgan and Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin for their leadership on this important issue.

In his memorandum to U.S. Attorneys, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden explained why the federal government has a responsibility to address the endemic pattern of abuse, assault, and other violence that reservations across the United States face every day. Our unique legal relationship with Native American tribes mandates it. And the 1994 Violence Against Women Act authored by Vice President Biden calls for it. But our national conscience also demands justice.

Only now, we can finally come to expect it, too.

Lynn Rosenthal is the White House Advisor on Violence Against Women

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/18/native-american-women-a-triumph-justice

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From the Gainesville Sun

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Rhode Island law requires dating violence classes

The Associated Press

October 5, 2008

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. – Ann Burke saw signs of trouble with her daughter's boyfriend.

He'd incessantly call her at night, keep her from her family, and, ultimately, physically abuse her during a tumultuous relationship that ended with her death three years ago.

Burke's 23-year-old daughter, Lindsay, may not have understood the dynamics of an abusive relationship, but her death is helping to ensure that other young people do.

A new law in Rhode Island called the Lindsay Ann Burke Act requires all public middle and high schools to teach students about dating violence in their health classes.

The initiative was spearheaded by Burke and her husband, Chris, who say schools should be obligated to teach teens the warning signs of abusive relationships and broach the subject head-on so victims feel empowered to get help and leave violent partners.

"If this could happen to her, this could happen to anyone," said Ann Burke, a health teacher who runs a memorial fund to raise money for dating violence workshops for parents and educators.

One other state, Texas, mandates unspecified awareness education on dating violence for students and parents, while several other states encourage it. But the Rhode Island measure goes further by requiring the topic be incorporated annually into the curriculum for students in seventh through 12th grade.

Burke says such education would have allowed her daughter to recognize the danger in her relationship earlier. Though her daughter left her boyfriend several times, she didn't change her phone number or have a plan for safely cutting off contact for good.

She also believed she could be friends with her boyfriend if the romance ended.

"I said, 'No, he said that to you before, Lindsay. You can't just be friends,'" Burke recalled.

Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch, who shepherded the proposal through the legislature last year, said domestic violence is a disturbingly common crime, yet education about it is scarce and haphazard.

"You teach sex ed, you teach 'don't do drugs,' you teach 'don't drink,' you should also be teaching 'don't be a victim of domestic violence,'" said Lynch, whose office receives about 5,000 cases a year.

School districts are expected to start implementing the law this school year. By December, officials hope to have established a policy for responding to incidents of dating violence.

The law is gaining traction around the country, with members of the National Association of Attorneys General unanimously adopting a resolution encouraging the education in their states. Nebraska's top prosecutor said he intends to submit legislation modeled after Rhode Island's law, and apparel maker Liz Claiborne Inc. has helped promote it around the country.

The education focuses as much on nurturing good relationships as avoiding abusive ones.

In a recent sophomore health class at South Kingstown High School, teacher Karen Murphy reviewed communication skills for friendships and romantic relationships, including waiting until you're calm before confronting someone with a problem and openly expressing your feelings.

"You've just found out that somebody spread a rumor about you and you approach them at their locker," Murphy told the class. "Are you going to want to start talking to her when you're extremely angry after you've just found out about it?"

"No," the class replied in unison.

Alex Butler, a 15-year-old sophomore, said he didn't think dating violence was a problem at his school but that the education has helped him identify stages of abusive relationships.

"It's nice 'cause then you can warn other people even if you don't know them," he said.

Even if the lessons seem obvious, teachers hope students will recognize that some behaviors they may tolerate in their relationships — obsessive text messaging, for instance, or physical control — are unacceptable and possible precursors to violence.

Ann Burke said Lindsay fell hard for Gerardo Martinez after meeting him at a wedding, and though he seemed respectful and nice, problems emerged after Martinez began exerting control over her daughter.

Ann Burke became so distraught that she couldn't sleep and she sought the advice of counselors. Fearing the worst, she even told Lindsay she couldn't bear to live without her.

One day in September 2005, after Lindsay had moved in with her brother to get away from Martinez, Burke became concerned when Lindsay didn't answer her phone.

Police found Lindsay in the bathtub of Martinez's home, her throat slashed. Martinez was convicted last year of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Burke believes her daughter would have wanted her to teach others about dating violence.

"You may have killed her physical body, but I'll be damned: her spirit is still living on in her family and friends," she said. "We're going to do what we need to do."

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20081005/NEWS/810050271?p=1&tc=pg

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