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From the Los Angeles Times

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Prospective terrorism case against detained Yemenis is closed

Two men arrested after flying from Chicago to Amsterdam are released and will not be charged. Tests on luggage initially showed possible traces of explosives, but that was later ruled out.

By Katherine Skiba, Chicago Tribune

September 2, 2010

Reporting from Washington

Two Yemenis who flew from Chicago to Amsterdam, where they were arrested on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack, were released Wednesday, Dutch officials said.

"They are free men.... This case is closed," said Martijn Boelhouwer, a spokesman for the Public Prosecution Service in Rotterdam.

The pair, en route to Yemen, missed a flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Washington Dulles International Airport, but their luggage flew to Dulles. It was removed before the plane left for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, when officials realized they weren't aboard.

Initial tests of the luggage at Dulles showed "the possibility of a trace of explosives," Boelhouwer said, but further testing proved there were "no traces of explosives whatsoever."

U.S. officials had notified the Dutch about the initial tests, and the men were arrested when they landed in Amsterdam.

The incident began Sunday in Birmingham, Ala., when one of the men, Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, attracted airport screeners' attention. In his checked luggage, they found a cellphone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, several cellphones taped together, watches taped together, a knife and box cutters. Because it is not illegal to carry such items in checked bags, he was allowed to continue his journey.

Al Soofi and the other man, Hezam al Murisi, were believed to be strangers to each other, a U.S. law enforcement official said. Al Soofi is a permanent resident of the U.S. with a Detroit address; Al Murisi was in the U.S. on a visa that had reportedly expired.

Floris van Hovell, an official at the Dutch Embassy in Washington, said the two men were interrogated extensively and search warrants were executed in the U.S. He did not know the men's whereabouts after their release.

A U.S. Justice Department spokesman said that there had been no evidence to indicate terrorist activity and that the men would not be charged with any crime.

Officials in the U.S. repeatedly have warned about terrorist groups in Yemen.

Studies have found that airport explosive-detection machines intended to identify minute traces of bomb-making materials are subject to false readings in the 15%-to-30% range. Manufacturers are working to reduce the "false positive" rate to 10%, the Transportation Security Administration said.

The machines are not intended to analyze an object's chemical composition, but its density and mass. Chocolate, fruitcake and peanut butter have triggered alarms because of their density.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0902-tsa-amsterdam-20100902,0,6758216,print.story

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Mexico's crackdown on organized crime is working, Calderon says

In his state of the nation report, President Felipe Calderon notes the arrests or killings of drug kingpins and efforts to clean up police. He also touts job gains and other economic improvements.

By Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times

September 2, 2010

Reporting from Mexico City

Fresh off this week's capture of a notorious drug lord, Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared Wednesday that his sustained assault on organized crime and efforts to clean up the police were paying off.

In the president's annual state of the nation report, delivered in writing to Congress, Calderon cited a string of drug kingpins arrested or killed during the last year as evidence of success in his nearly 4-year-old offensive against the cartels.

Although not mentioned specifically in the president's report, the arrest Monday of Edgar Valdez Villarreal, an accused trafficker and hit man known as " Barbie," was another big one.

The annual report, or informe , depicts a nation rebounding from a series of hard knocks in 2009, including an economic tailspin and the H1N1 flu crisis that crimped tourism and commerce. Calderon touted gains in employment and healthcare and longer-term public works improvements, such as highway construction.

The report, posted on the Internet, leads with a section on security issues in Mexico, where cartel feuding has been mainly responsible for more than 28,000 drug-related deaths since Calderon took office in December 2006.

Calderon said his administration had sought to clean up Mexican police, long known for rampant graft, and address poverty and other social factors that are believed to contribute to violence in hot spots such as Ciudad Juarez. Strict new standards to root out corruption and modernize police have led to the firings this year of about 3,200 federal officers for poor performance, while around 1,500 others failed periodic screening tests or face criminal charges.

The government's crackdown "has achieved significant results as far as breaking up the leadership, financial, logistical and operational structures of organized crime," the report says.

The government has arrested 34,515 people suspected of drug trafficking during the last 12 months and seized more than 34,000 weapons, the report says. It says authorities seized the equivalent of $2.5 billion in drugs — a figure that, by most estimates, represents a fraction of the illegal narcotics trade involving Mexican groups.

The informe lists more than two dozen top-ranking or local drug bosses taken down since last September. The most significant were kingpins Arturo Beltran Leyva and Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, both killed by Mexican troops.

But growing cartel firepower and runaway violence in a number of regions have left many residents feeling besieged by criminal groups that kill rivals and politicians, kidnap or extort money from business owners and block streets as a public expression of their muscle.

Polls have shown majority support for Calderon's crackdown on organized crime, but also skepticism about the government's ability to prevail.

Calderon's conservative National Action Party has been battered in elections during the last two years and appears at risk of losing the presidency in 2012 to the former governing Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

In a new poll by the Demotecnia firm, a majority of respondents said Mexico was worse off than before Calderon took office. More than two-thirds agreed with the statement that, in general, things were slipping from his control.

Despite worries about rising violence, jobs and the economy are cited in most polls as the issues that most worry Mexicans.

Calderon cited economic improvements during the last year, saying more than 500,000 jobs had been created this year.

The economy is projected to grow by up to 4.5%, a rosier picture than 2009, when it shrank by 6.5%. But recovery will hinge on the health of the U.S. economy because most Mexican exports are destined for the United States.

"After facing a global economic recession comparable to that experienced in the early 20th century, in 2010 the Mexican economy returned to the path of growth," Calderon said.

Interior Secretary Jose Francisco Blake Mora delivered the 4-inch-thick report to Congress as it opened its autumn session. This is the third straight year Calderon has provided the informe in written form without going to Congress.

Mexican presidents traditionally made a speech to Congress at its Sept. 1 opening. But the law was changed to allow a written report after opposition lawmakers prevented Calderon and his predecessor, Vicente Fox, from delivering an address in person.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-informe-20100902,0,6006451,print.story

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U.S. border officer gets 20 years for corruption, smuggling drugs

A former U.S. Customs employee is headed to federal prison for 20 years after being convicted of corruption and smuggling charges in El Paso, Texas. Martha Alicia Garnica, 43, a former Customs and Border Protection officer, conspired to smuggle marijuana and undocumented migrants into the United States and bribed or attempted to bribe fellow officers, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said in a statement .

Garnica had pleaded guilty to the charges in May and was sentenced Aug. 26 by a federal judge. 

These sorts of cases are more common than readers might think. U.S. Homeland Security officials told a Senate panel in March that Mexican drug trafficking groups aggressively attempt to recruit border agents to allow narcotics and human smuggling through ports of entry. The Associated Press tallied 80 corruption-related convictions among enforcement officials along the U.S.-Mexico border since 2007, and 129 arrests of agents on corruption-related charges in all ports since 2003.

Polygraph tests are conducted on only 1 in 10 applicants to border enforcement jobs, and 60% of applicants who undergo a lie detector test are deemed unsuitable to be hired, a Department of Homeland Security official said in Washington. In other words, the AP said, many brought in during the agency's recent hiring boom "could have joined with corruption already in mind."

In June, for example, a federal judge in New Mexico sent another former border agent to prison for smuggling cocaine and marijuana into the U.S. between 2006 and 2008. The agent, Eric Macias, was hired in 2005.

Agents implicated in the smuggling of guns south into Mexico is also an issue the U.S. is attempting to tackle . An ex-FBI agent was sentenced last week to two years in federal prison for buying and selling more than 200 firearms without a license, among other charges.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/09/corruption-customs-agents-border.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LaPlaza+%28La+Plaza%29

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Discovery Channel hostage crisis ends with gunman's death

James J. Lee, who was protesting what he said was the network's promotion of overpopulation, was fatally shot by police after taking three people captive at the company headquarters in Maryland.

Baltimore Sun

September 2, 2010

Reporting from Silver Spring, Md.

Police shot and killed a gunman after he took three people hostage Wednesday afternoon at the Discovery Channel's headquarters here, officials said.

A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing said authorities had identified James J. Lee as the likely suspect.

Lee, 43, who was upset with the channel over its programming, entered the building about 1 p.m., wielding a gun and wearing "explosive devices," and took a security guard and two other employees hostage, police said. The rest of the company's nearly 1,900 employees were evacuated from the building.

After several hours of telephone negotiations, Lee pulled out his gun and pointed it at one of the hostages, police said. Tactical officers then took aim at Lee, killing him. It was unclear whether Lee had been able to fire his gun, but all three hostages were able to escape safely, according to officials.

"I know that he had some history with folks at Discovery Channel," Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said at a news conference after the shooting.

According to electronic court records, Lee was charged with disorderly conduct in 2008 and served 46 days in jail for a protest he staged in front of the channel's headquarters. He said he was protesting that Discovery's programming had little to do with saving the planet.

"He didn't think we were environmentally sound," said David Leavy, a spokesman for Discovery Communications, adding, "there had not been any communication from him in the last couple of years."

A lengthy posting that could be seen Wednesday on a website registered to Lee expressed anger against the Discovery Channel and said it promoted overpopulation, according to a report from the Associated Press.

He said the network and its affiliates should stop "encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants." Instead, he said, it should air "programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility."

"NO MORE BABIES! Population growth is a real crisis," he wrote.

"I want Discovery Communications to broadcast on their channels to the world their new program lineup and I want proof they are doing so," he wrote. "I want the new shows started by asking the public for inventive solution ideas to save the planet and the remaining wildlife on it."

Discovery Health and TLC, both owned by Discovery Communications, spearheaded America's fascination with prodigious families.

TLC is perhaps the most recognizable in the large-family genre of reality television with its one-time flagship series "Jon & Kate Plus 8," which at its peak garnered 10 million viewers. Its spin-off, "Kate Plus 8," premiered with 3.4 million viewers in June.

TLC's other bountiful brood includes The Duggar family in "19 Kids and Counting." The network has also aired "Table for 12," and "Kids by the Dozen," which featured a number of families with 13 to 16 children each.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-discovery-hostages-20100902,0,6020237,print.story

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A heavy price to ending birthright citizenship

The U.S. risks a slow economy, fraud and a disenfranchised underclass, among other problems, if it renounces birthright citizenship. Countries that have done so have had to reconsider.

OPINION

By Julie M. Weise

September 2, 2010

We can already see the future of our nation if it renounces birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, and it isn't pretty. Dragging economies, new forms of fraud, a disenfranchised underclass, children deported to places they have never even visited — countries that do not have birthright citizenship have experienced these problems and more, and have been forced to reconsider their practices. Germany, Israel and Japan are just three of those countries, and their experiences have much to teach us.

The current debate about the future of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship for all born on U.S. soil, centers on the question of individual fairness: Should these children have the right to U.S. citizenship although their birth on U.S. soil was the result of their parents' unauthorized presence here? The debate is really about what citizenship and belonging mean in the United States — profound and important issues but not ones that draw easy consensus. But if we ask what will happen to our society as a whole if we eliminate birthright citizenship, the facts become easy to see.

Since the birth of modern Germany, that country has followed the jus sanguinis , or "right of blood," principle of citizenship, in which any German descendant could claim German citizenship while the children of foreigners — even legal immigrants — born in Germany could not. To meet labor needs while keeping Germany as German as possible, the government implemented guest-worker programs to bring in foreigners for temporary stays.

But things did not work out as planned. Some guest workers remained, and as the economy grew and the workforce aged, immigrants kept coming — both inside and outside the law. Their German-born noncitizen children began to form a vast underclass. These children had known only Germany and German in their young lives but were stuck in a no man's land as people without a country.

So in 2000, Germany made its citizenship laws just a little more like ours. Children born on German soil could claim German citizenship, but only if at least one of their parents had lived in the country legally for eight years. The children born in Germany of two undocumented parents still are not German citizens at birth. The result is an underground market in fraudulent paternity, in which German men who are citizens — derogatorily known as imbissvaeter, or fast-food fathers — claim to be a child's father in exchange for a fee, thus enabling the child to be a German citizen.

Far from promoting the rule of law, Germany's approach to citizenship has created a mess. Unless the U.S. implemented mandatory DNA testing, which many would consider an invasion of privacy, it is likely that a similar black market in paternity would emerge here if birthright citizenship were eliminated.

Over its 60 years of existence, Israel also has had a jus sanguinis system, in which Jews the world over and the descendants of Israeli Arabs can claim citizenship but the children of foreign workers born on Israeli soil cannot. Like Germany, Israel sought to meet labor needs by importing temporary workers — largely from Asia and Eastern Europe — who did not end up being so temporary. The result: The Israeli government announced in August plans to deport 400 Israeli-born children of non-Jewish immigrants. These are children who speak Hebrew, have always expected to perform the obligatory military service that Israel requires of its citizens and know Israel as their only home.

The controversy is dividing Israel. The national organization of Holocaust survivors has called for a halt to the deportations, expressing its sense of shame that "a Jewish government could operate without a conscience and in such an inhumane way." Israelis have taken to the streets to demand that their system move just a step toward the U.S. system and at least grant these children legal residency status.

Some say birthright citizenship motivates immigration, and thus a country without it will attract fewer immigrants. Well, not in Japan. Japan is an island nation, has never had a large guest-worker program and does not confer birthright citizenship. But in recent decades, these policies became a drag on the economy, creating labor shortages and making it difficult to attract high-skilled immigrants.

Change has been slow, but Japan is reexamining its approach to immigration and has given residency status to tens of thousands of "foreigners" born on Japanese soil. Though Japan has fewer immigrants than most developed countries, in 2008 more immigrants than ever before — including 100,000 undocumented immigrants — lived within its borders.

In recent decades, other countries such as Australia and Britain that once conferred automatic birthright citizenship have added limitations for the children of undocumented immigrants. They too found that restrictions on birthright citizenship did not slow undocumented immigration.

Americans will have different opinions on what is fair to taxpayers or innocent children, to would-be immigrants waiting "in line" abroad or undocumented parents already here, to low-skilled American workers or striving newcomers seeking the American dream. What we have seen, however, is that when a country does not offer citizenship to all born on its soil, society as a whole suffers the consequences.

Julie M. Weise is an assistant professor in the international studies program at Cal State Long Beach.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-weise-birthright-20100902,0,4470384,print.story

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From the New York Times

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Grief Across Latin America for Migrant Killings

AGUA CALIENTE, Guatemala — He was warned the journey north would be hard, so Gilmar Morales beefed up on eggs and sausage, bought some ham sandwiches from the bodega across the street, told his mother he loved her and set off with two other relatives on a path well-traveled by young people here in one of Latin America's poorest countries.

Then, a few weeks later his mother, watching a television news show, looked hard at a picture of the bodies of 72 Central and South American migrants killed last week in northeast Mexico near the Texas border. Was that Gilmar, the one with the familiar yellow-and-white striped T-shirt, his blue pants?

“They told us they are sending his body this week,” said Mr. Morales's father in the small cinder-block family home here, next to an altar of flowers and candles in honor of Mr. Morales, 22, and his companions headed north, later confirmed as victims of the massacre.

Despite all the hardships and perils that stand before them — a raging drug war in Mexico, walls, border agents, National Guard troops, anti-immigrant fervor and a fragile economy if they even make it — they still come.

And they still die, often in the deserts of the Southwest, sometimes at the hands of thieves and kidnappers and now, in a startling twist, apparently at the hands of a drug gang seeking money or possibly recruits, officials said, though nobody knows for sure. Mexican officials confirmed Wednesday that they were questioning a second survivor, a Honduran man, beyond the Ecuadorean who first alerted them to the killings.

The toll in this massacre was staggering: 21 Hondurans, 12 Salvadorans, a Brazilian, 5 Guatemalans. Those are just the ones who have been identified. The authorities in Mexico are taking DNA samples, photographs and other steps to make final confirmations of these victims and identify the others killed, but, if the lessons of migrants found dead in Arizona are a guide, it could take months or years to know who the victims were. Indeed, the authorities may never know.

The rush to ministries in the countries where it is believed the migrants originated suggests that many more than these 72 have met uncertain fates. At least 40 people have called Guatemala 's Foreign Ministry, looking for information on loved ones. Ninety showed up in El Salvador doing the same, and a similar crowd gathered in Honduras , where the relative of one man confirmed dead fainted at a government office upon hearing the news.

Both the United States and Mexico say migration is down, because of the economy and the toughening security at the American border. But the true flow is impossible to determine, and it continues to be strong enough that Guatemala recently opened a new consulate near the Mexican border, in conjunction with El Salvador, and plans to open two more, including one in the area where the migrants were killed.

A Guatemala government report said that last year 27,222 of its citizens were deported from the United States and 28,800 from Mexico; Honduras estimates more than 500 of its people leave for the north every day.

“We are deeply concerned about the constant reports of human rights violations of migrants in Mexican territory,” Haroldo Rodas, Guatemala's foreign minister, said this week.

Mexico's National Commission for Human Rights said in a report last year that 9,758 migrants were abducted from September 2008 to February 2009. The Mexican government, in light of the massacre, has promised a new strategy to protect migrants, including better coordination among state and federal agencies to dismantle kidnapping gangs and disrupt their finances.

It seems evident that the lure of the north will be hard to overcome in the impoverished small towns and villages from which many of the men and women, typically in their late teens or 20s, see little hope and roll the dice.

“People farm, go to Guatemala City or the United States,” said Carlos Humberto Paz, the mayor of the municipality that includes Agua Caliente.

Mr. Morales's father, who asked that his name not be used because he fears reprisals from his son's killers, himself journeyed north in the 1980s for several months but eventually returned homesick and frustrated with the sporadic work in the United States.

He told his son of the long trek, a gantlet of thieves, kidnappers, rapists, crooked police officers and border guards, but three of his six sons live and work in the United States and it seemed inevitable that Mr. Morales would go.

He had just married two months ago — his 14-year-old bride, still in shock, barely able to speak — and promised to make life better for his family here. Family members had been rejected for a visa, his father said, so he decided to go undocumented. “He didn't care what could happen,” his father said.

Daniel Boche, the father of Gelder Lizardo Boche, 17, who had traveled with Mr. Morales, told local reporters that he had received threatening calls from men in Mexico, demanding a $2,000 ransom for his son. It was unclear whether Mr. Boche made an attempt to pay, but Gelder did not survive; on Tuesday, Mr. Boche dissolved in tears upon seeing a picture of his son at the altar at the Morales home.

“The truth is, I am scared,” he said, as he left for a Mass in his son's honor.

The Morales family is left now with the memory of a son who sometimes seemed reluctant to embrace adulthood; he would crawl into his mother's lap even at 22 to cuddle and tease her that he was still her baby.

“I am calm now,” his father said. “But we won't be calm when his body arrives.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/world/americas/02migrants.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

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Number of Illegal Immigrants in U.S. Fell, Study Says

The number of illegal immigrants in the United States, after peaking at 12 million in 2007, fell to about 11.1 million in 2009, the first clear decline in two decades, according to a report published Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Center.

The reduction came primarily from decreases among illegal immigrants from Latin American countries other than Mexico, the report found. The number of Mexicans living in the United States without legal immigration status did not change significantly from 2007 to 2009. Some seven million Mexicans make up about 60 percent of all illegal immigrants, still by far the largest national group, the Pew Center said.

The report is based on census data from March 2009, the most recent census sample that is detailed enough for Pew demographers to estimate the statistically elusive population of illegal immigrants. The figures show that more than a year of recession in the American economy, coupled with intensifying immigration enforcement at the Southwest border and in workplaces around the country, brought a reduction of at least 900,000 illegal immigrants.

But the figure that may be most sobering to all sides in the increasingly contentious immigration debate is the estimate that more than 11 million illegal immigrants remain here. The Pew report shows that despite myriad pressures, there was no mass exodus of those immigrants to their home countries, especially not to Mexico.

Instead, the report confirms earlier findings by American and Mexican demographers that the flow of Mexicans coming in to the United States illegally to look for work had slowed sharply.

While the hottest immigration debate has taken place in Arizona over the last two years, that was not the state with the largest decrease in illegal immigrants from 2007 to 2009, according to the Pew report.

Florida, Virginia and Nevada showed the steepest declines — three states that saw booms followed by busts in home construction, an industry that attracts illegal immigrant workers.

The Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research organization in Washington that does not advocate political positions on immigration. The report was written by Jeffrey S. Passel, senior demographer, and D'Vera Cohn, senior writer at the center. It does not try to weigh the respective roles of immigration enforcement and of economic factors like high unemployment in the falling numbers of unauthorized immigrants — the term the report uses for foreign-born residents who do not have some form of legal immigration status.

The Pew report covers the first year and a half of the Great Recession, which economists say began in late 2007. It also covers a period of intensified immigration enforcement operations, which were initiated by the Bush administration and have continued, with some different tactics, under President Obama .

Other researchers said the Pew figures on illegal immigrants were consistent with estimates by the Department of Homeland Security , with previously reported trends in census data and with figures from the Mexican census agency. Pia M. Orrenius, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said that Mexican census data showed a 67 percent decline in the outflow of migrants from 2006 to 2009, while showing no great increase in Mexicans returning home.

“They are settled here,” Ms. Orrenius said. “It is going to take more than a business cycle for them to move back to Mexico.”

She also said that federal enforcement had been concentrated at the border. “Our enforcement policies are targeted toward stopping inflows,” Ms. Orrenius said.

As the border has become harder to cross, the cost of hiring smugglers has soared in recent years, while far fewer jobs await migrants in the United States. Mr. Passel, the Pew demographer, said, “The cost of getting in compared to the payoff from employment is changing the decisions of many potential migrants.”

The illegal immigrant population, after growing rapidly for years, has fallen to 2005 levels, according to the Pew report. In 2000, there were 8.4 million illegal immigrants in the country. In 2009, about 28 percent of 39.4 million foreign-born people in the United States were illegal immigrants, according to the Pew report; the rest were legal immigrants and naturalized citizens. About three-quarters of illegal immigrants are Hispanic, Pew found.

The Pew report does not explain why the numbers of immigrants from Central and South America and the Caribbean fell more sharply, but it finds that immigrants who are returning to those countries “may have increased.”

Demographers said those migrants were more likely to be first generation, with less money, thinner support networks in this country, and far less experience than Mexicans have with the increasingly perilous illegal border crossing.

The passage across Mexico has also become very dangerous. Last month, the bodies of 72 migrants were discovered in Tamaulipas, in northern Mexico, and Mexican authorities said they were killed by drug traffickers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/us/02immig.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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Boy Scouts Settle Suit With Victims of Abuse

The Boy Scouts of America have reached a financial settlement with six men who say they were sexually abused when they were members of the same troop in Oregon in the 1980s.

The settlement, whose terms were not disclosed, was reached last week and announced Wednesday by the plaintiff's lawyers. It was confirmed by the national scouting organization, which is based in Irving, Texas.

“I'm so glad this is over,” Kerry Lewis, 38, one of the former scouts, said in a conference call with reporters.

Deron Smith, a spokesman for the Scouts, said the organization was “deeply saddened by the events in these cases” and extended its sympathies to the victims. He said the Scouts had taken steps to improve its youth protection program and provide a safer environment for boys.

The settlement comes after a trial in which a jury awarded Mr. Lewis $19.9 million in damages in April. His lawyers, Kelly Clark and Paul Mones, based in Portland, are representing more than a dozen other former scouts in abuse cases around the country; several others are also pending.

The six former scouts had initially joined in one lawsuit, in 2007, but the judge in the case, John A. Wittmayer, selected Mr. Lewis's case to go to trial first. At the trial, a former assistant troop leader, Timur Dykes, admitted to molesting Mr. Lewis when Mr. Lewis, who still lives in Oregon, was about 12. After the verdict, the judge sent both sides into mediation in hopes of reaching a settlement in all six cases.

The Scouts intended to appeal Mr. Lewis's jury award and had not yet paid it, Mr. Mones said; a payment to Mr. Lewis is part of the negotiated settlement, but his lawyers would not say whether his settlement exceeded his jury award. The Scouts were ordered to pay the State of Oregon $2.25 million in punitive damages.

The lawyers said their clients had decided to settle because their cases could have gone on for years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/us/02boyscouts.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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When Warriors Hurt Themselves

“Dwell time” is military shorthand for the precious home-front visits back to family life that soldiers enjoy between the multiple deployments of modern warfare. The need for enough dwell time — and for a fairer, less stressful distribution of repeat deployments — is a keystone finding in a study of the alarming rise in suicides afflicting the military as it soldiers on in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Other factors stand out, including the continuing stigmatization of troubled warriors who dare to step forward for help. And, most surprising, perhaps, the lack of a top-level Pentagon office and prevention policy for the hundreds of antisuicide programs now pursued separately by the services.

The ambitious, yearlong study by military and civilian experts was ordered by Congress in facing the fact that the suicide tally has been increasing despite intensified prevention programs. From 2005 to 2009, more than 1,100 members of the military killed themselves, with the highest tolls among Army soldiers and Marines carrying the burden on the battlefronts.

No service has yet tracked the myriad factors involved in suicide. One of the more ambitious recommendations of the Task Force on the Prevention of Suicide is to set up an investigatory process to standardize the gathering and analysis of the facts of each case, much like an aviation crash is studied.

The services have hardly ignored the problem. But soldiers testified “they almost died from boredom listening to yet another suicide prevention briefing.” The challenge is to make prevention more credible and urgent — for officers and even more for soldiers wrestling with depression in a monolithic organization.

Suicides are doubly tragic casualties of war. They are increasing at a record rate — higher than civilian suicide. The task force has laid out a mandate for Congress and the Pentagon to target suicide as a most vital wartime mission.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/opinion/02thu2.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

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The Real Say on Pay

OPINION

The Financial Times reported this week that lawyers for corporate America are warning of a “logistical nightmare” from a provision in the new financial reform law that requires companies to disclose the ratio between a chief executive's pay package and that of a typical employee.

The lawyers say that the ratio would be unfairly complex to calculate and could encourage false comparisons. But the real problem is that C.E.O.'s and corporate boards would have to justify — to shareholders, employees and the public — what are sure to be some very large gaps between pay at the top and pay for everyone else.

Federal filings already tell investors how much top executives make. The median salary of a Standard & Poor's 500 chief executive last year was $1.025 million, and the median total pay package including bonuses and nonsalary income was $7.5 million, according to Equilar, an executive compensation research firm. The median pay of private-sector workers in the United States was about $30,000 in 2008, the most recent year of data. With benefits added in, that comes to roughly $36,000.

Without company-specific data, however, it is impossible to measure and judge the effect of pay structures on companies and the broader economy. It is clear that C.E.O. pay has skyrocketed while workers' pay has stagnated; it is also clear that skewed pay and rising income inequality correlate to bubbles and crashes.

How does the pay gap between the boss and the workers figure into performance? Are companies efficiently providing goods and services or are they being run for the enrichment of the few? Disclosure of the gap could help provide answers and in the process, help investors, policy makers and the public understand the forces that are shaping business and the economy.

It is up to the Securities and Exchange Commission to develop rules to calculate employees' total compensation, including whether to include workers outside the United States. The best approach would be to measure the pay gap both against the global work force and the American work force, because company performance — and the impact of corporate decisions on investors and the economy — are tied to each number.

Corporate opponents of the law insist that pay-gap disclosures would be misleading. A company that outsources its low-wage work, for example, could have a smaller gap than a company that employs low-wage workers, even though the outsourcer is not necessarily a better-run company. That misses the point. The point is to calculate, disclose and explain the gaps as they exist for the way a company does business.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/opinion/02thu3.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

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From the Chicago Sun Times

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Shooting of cops highlights gang woes

Weis says Englewood incident shows new strategy is needed

September 2, 2010


BY MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA Staff Reporter

Wednesday's shooting of two officers conducting a search warrant on an alleged gang member only highlights the need for the recent drastic strategy taken when he and other law-enforcement officials met with gang leaders, Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said.

Speaking at the opening of a new Southwest Side high school named for Eric Solorio, an officer killed in an auto accident while responding to a call in February 2006, Weis said the shooting is further evidence that "gangs are our biggest problem."

The Gresham District tactical officers were executing a search warrant for weapons shortly after midnight at the home in South Side Englewood, when shots were fired from inside, authorities said. Weis said the target of the warrant was a known gang member who lived at the home in the 7700 block of South Hoyne. The officers identified themselves as police, he said.

"Thank God, their wounds were not life-threatening," Weis said.

A 41-year-old male officer with seven years on the force suffered a gunshot wound in an arm. A 38-year-old male officer with six years on the force suffered gunshot wounds in an arm and leg. Both were treated and released at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Two men were taken into custody, and an SKS rifle and several handguns were confiscated from the single-family residence, Weis said.

"These offenders showed complete disregard for life, firing a gun at police officers while elderly residents were in the home," he said. "I would really like to compliment our officers on their fire discipline. . . . No one fired into the home after being fired upon, and that is a true testament to their training. Those officers did good police work. We took weapons off the street."

The controversial new Chicago Gang Violence Reduction Initiative -- a program under which Weis, the FBI and federal and state prosecutors recently met with gang leaders to warn them the killing must stop -- currently is focused only on the West Side Harrison District.

"It's a pilot program that could be expanded," Weis said.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/2666010,CST-NWS-copshot02.article

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Gang members: Chicago's top cop unfair

They say threats Weis made at secret sit-down are harassment

September 2, 2010

BY MARY MITCHELL Sun-Times Columnist

At 10 a.m. today, a group of black men will gather in front of the Columbus Park Refectory on the West Side to denounce Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis' threats to crack down on gang leaders.

These are not the usual suspects.

They are men who are affiliated with some of the city's most notorious street gangs. They are Vice Lords, Gangster Disciples, Kings, Stones, Hustlers, Souls and Cobras.

And they are going to Columbus Park to let Weis know they believe the threats he made during a secret meeting amount to unfair harassment.

Weis vowed to use federal RICO laws against gang leaders if a member of one gang shoots a member of another.

The threat represents a new anti-violence strategy that includes seizing a gang leader's car and home.

"The general feeling out here is that [the meeting] was a trick, and we feel it is unconstitutional for a person to be declared guilty before innocent," said Jim Allen, a self-identified Vice Lord and convener of the news conference.

On Monday, aldermen ripped Weis' secret meeting as "a desperate tactic" and accused Weis of negotiating with "urban terrorists."

The men who pulled together the Columbus Park press conference don't fit that stereotype.

They are media savvy -- even using the Internet to get the word out to gang members -- and are openly involved in trying to tackle some of the problems plaguing their communities.

Still, these men claim to represent the gangs that have been blamed for the ongoing carnage.

Unlike the aldermen who blasted Weis, these men don't consider Weis' meeting with gang leaders "negotiation."

"When [President] Obama was senator, he said he was willing to sit down with terrorists without pre-conditions," Allen told me. "What about doing that on a local level? If you trick me into a meeting, then I am there against my will. You don't have to play games and trick people."

Mark Carter, who will participate in today's gang press conference, is a consistent critic of Mayor Daley and his police superintendent.

"We've talked with Jody Weis about solving the violence in the past, but he is not interested in solving it from a community perspective," said Carter, an ex-offender who now advocates on their behalf.

"He is taking his marching orders, and whoever is giving those orders is trying the same strategies they have used for the last 40 years," he said.

Carter argues that under former U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar, and Patrick Fitzgerald, the current U.S. attorney, the hierarchy of street gangs was eliminated.

"They were very successful in dismantling street organizations," Carter said. "A lot of young people are not in communication with these older guys who have outgrown going back and forth to jail."

Larry Hoover, founder of the Gangster Disciples, is serving a life sentence in a federal maximum-security prison, after he and six associates were brought down by drug conspiracy and extortion charges.

And Jeff Fort, co-founder of Black P. Stones and founder of the El Rukn faction, is serving 155 years in the same federal prison on charges of drug-trafficking conspiracy and murder.

"You don't have traditional gang leaders in the black community in Chicago anymore," said Tio Hardiman, director of CeaseFire, an anti-violence campaign heavily funded by the state.

"Gangs are more like cliques. They may be 30 strong or 100 strong, but nobody is checking in with a leader before they shoot somebody," said Hardiman.

"It is hard to stop shootings even if you have gang leaders," he said.

Perhaps the most well-known former gang member in the city, Wallace "Gator" Bradley, said he intends to "draw a line in the sand" at the press conference.

"We want to know who are these individuals that are saying can't nobody tell them anything," said Bradley. "Brothers are coming out to say if you are part of my family or blood family, I am not with senseless shootings and killings."

Hopefully, these men will do more than criticize Weis.

If they have any influence on the street that could help reduce the violence, now would be the time to use it.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/2665720,CST-NWS-mitch02.article

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Murders down 40% after gang meetings in Cincy

September 2, 2010

BY FRANK MAIN Staff Reporter

David Kennedy -- the New York professor behind a nearly 15-year-old law enforcement strategy of warning gang leaders to put their guns down or else -- said he expects Chicago will see a dramatic decrease in killings after launching a pilot program here.

It has been done in about 60 jurisdictions across the country, including Cincinnati, where murders are down about 40 percent since 2007, Kennedy said.

"It's almost to the point in the crime control business that if [Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis] were not to do it, it would be borderline irresponsible," Kennedy said.

"What we would like to see in Chicago is what we've seen everywhere else where it's done well, which is a very large and sustained crime reduction," he said.

Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, is an adviser for the Chicago program along with two former Chicagoans, Andrew Papachristos, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, and Tracey Meares, deputy dean of the Yale Law School. The MacArthur Foundation is funding it.

The idea was first tried in 1996 in Boston, where homicides fell nearly 30 percent in the program's first six months.

On Aug. 17, Weis and representatives of other law-enforcement agencies met with a small group of alleged gang chiefs from the West Side.

At the hush-hush meeting in Garfield Park Conservatory, gang leaders were given a phone number offering help with jobs and social services.

People in the community recounted tragic stories of loved ones killed in gang violence.

Then came the warning: Police told the leaders they must stop the killing or they and their gangs would immediately be targeted by law-enforcement officials with everything from federal conspiracy charges to increased parole visits and traffic enforcement.

News of the meeting, which Mayor Daley has defended, drew immediate criticism from other politicians. The latest came Wednesday from Gov. Quinn, who said: "I don't think that's a particularly good strategy."

Labar Spann, a reputed leader of the Four Corner Hustlers, told the Chicago Sun-Times it was unfair for him to be held responsible for what others do. And a group purporting to represent the Vice Lords Nation said it will hold a news conference today to voice its opposition.

That shows the message is grabbing gang leaders' attention, Kennedy said.

"It's a matter of fact that even really hard-core offenders will jump out of the way of a speeding car," he said.

In other cities, Kennedy said, the streets are usually abuzz after such meetings.

"You get it from wiretaps, jailhouse phone calls, people talking to their parole officers -- even [gang members] talking to cops," he said.

In Cincinnati, police identified members of 69 gangs. The first meeting with gang leaders was in June 2007 in the county courthouse there.

As a result, Kennedy said, murder fell through mid-2008.

Then the cops put the hammer down on a gang that wasn't getting the message, Kennedy said. About 25 members of the Northside Taliband6 were arrested in a conspiracy case, he said.

Authorities in Cincinnati have continued to hold meetings with gang leaders about every four months, Kennedy said. As of last year, about 100 people had received jobs through the program -- and almost half had kept them.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2665580,CST-NWS-gangs02.article

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The new Ford Police Interceptor rolls out Tuesday at the Ford Assembly Plant

At South Side plant, Ford unveils police weapon September 2, 2010 BY MIKE NOLAN SouthtownStar You could call it Ford's version of the blue-light special, only this one has flashing red lights, too. On Wednesday, the automaker unveiled the new vehicle that the men and women of law enforcement will be riding in come 2012. The Police Interceptor, which will be built at Ford's Southeast Side factory, will be sold in sedan and sport-utility versions. It will be built to customer specifications, coming off the assembly line equipped with a cop motor, cop shocks and even lights and siren. But don't think you'll be able to walk into your local Ford dealership and drive out in one of these 280-horsepower buggies.

They're available only to law-enforcement agencies, not the general public, said Megan Whatman, a Ford spokeswoman.

The Interceptor will replace the Crown Victoria police vehicle, which is built in Ontario, Canada. Ford said it will phase out Crown Vic production in late 2011, when assembly of the new vehicles will begin in Chicago.

Ford said it has been the police vehicle market leader for the last 15 years, with a commanding 70 percent of the market.

Chrysler has been working to make a dent in that domination with a Hemi-engine-equipped Dodge Charger targeted to law enforcement.

The sedan version of the Interceptor will be built on the same platform as the Chicago-built Ford Taurus, and the sport-utility version will be similar to the Explorer SUV, which Ford will start producing in Chicago later this year.

While some police departments opt to add aftermarket equipment, such as light bars, radios and whatnot, to vehicles, Ford said it will be able to produce cruisers ready to go on patrol when they leave the assembly line.

http://www.suntimes.com/business/2665572,CST-NWS-ford02.article

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From the White House

Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on the End of Combat Operations in Iraq

Oval Office

8:00 P.M. EDT

     THE PRESIDENT:  Good evening.  Tonight, I'd like to talk to you about the end of our combat mission in Iraq, the ongoing security challenges we face, and the need to rebuild our nation here at home. 

I know this historic moment comes at a time of great uncertainty for many Americans.  We've now been through nearly a decade of war.  We've endured a long and painful recession.  And sometimes in the midst of these storms, the future that we're trying to build for our nation -- a future of lasting peace and long-term prosperity -- may seem beyond our reach.

But this milestone should serve as a reminder to all Americans that the future is ours to shape if we move forward with confidence and commitment.  It should also serve as a message to the world that the United States of America intends to sustain and strengthen our leadership in this young century.

From this desk, seven and a half years ago, President Bush announced the beginning of military operations in Iraq.  Much has changed since that night.  A war to disarm a state became a fight against an insurgency.  Terrorism and sectarian warfare threatened to tear Iraq apart.  Thousands of Americans gave their lives; tens of thousands have been wounded.  Our relations abroad were strained.  Our unity at home was tested.

These are the rough waters encountered during the course of one of America's longest wars.  Yet there has been one constant amidst these shifting tides.  At every turn, America's men and women in uniform have served with courage and resolve.  As Commander-in-Chief, I am incredibly proud of their service.  And like all Americans, I'm awed by their sacrifice, and by the sacrifices of their families.

The Americans who have served in Iraq completed every mission they were given.  They defeated a regime that had terrorized its people.  Together with Iraqis and coalition partners who made huge sacrifices of their own, our troops fought block by block to help Iraq seize the chance for a better future.  They shifted tactics to protect the Iraqi people, trained Iraqi Security Forces, and took out terrorist leaders.  Because of our troops and civilians -- and because of the resilience of the Iraqi people -- Iraq has the opportunity to embrace a new destiny, even though many challenges remain.

So tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended.  Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country.

     This was my pledge to the American people as a candidate for this office.  Last February, I announced a plan that would bring our combat brigades out of Iraq, while redoubling our efforts to strengthen Iraq's Security Forces and support its government and people. 

That's what we've done.  We've removed nearly 100,000 U.S. troops from Iraq.  We've closed or transferred to the Iraqis hundreds of bases.  And we have moved millions of pieces of equipment out of Iraq.

This completes a transition to Iraqi responsibility for their own security.  U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq's cities last summer, and Iraqi forces have moved into the lead with considerable skill and commitment to their fellow citizens.  Even as Iraq continues to suffer terrorist attacks, security incidents have been near the lowest on record since the war began.  And Iraqi forces have taken the fight to al Qaeda, removing much of its leadership in Iraqi-led operations.

This year also saw Iraq hold credible elections that drew a strong turnout.  A caretaker administration is in place as Iraqis form a government based on the results of that election.  Tonight, I encourage Iraq's leaders to move forward with a sense of urgency to form an inclusive government that is just, representative, and accountable to the Iraqi people.  And when that government is in place, there should be no doubt:  The Iraqi people will have a strong partner in the United States.  Our combat mission is ending, but our commitment to Iraq's future is not.

Going forward, a transitional force of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq with a different mission:  advising and assisting Iraq's Security Forces, supporting Iraqi troops in targeted counterterrorism missions, and protecting our civilians.  Consistent with our agreement with the Iraqi government, all U.S. troops will leave by the end of next year.  As our military draws down, our dedicated civilians -- diplomats, aid workers, and advisors -- are moving into the lead to support Iraq as it strengthens its government, resolves political disputes, resettles those displaced by war, and builds ties with the region and the world.  That's a message that Vice President Biden is delivering to the Iraqi people through his visit there today.

     This new approach reflects our long-term partnership with Iraq -- one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect.  Of course, violence will not end with our combat mission.  Extremists will continue to set off bombs, attack Iraqi civilians and try to spark sectarian strife.  But ultimately, these terrorists will fail to achieve their goals.  Iraqis are a proud people.  They have rejected sectarian war, and they have no interest in endless destruction.  They understand that, in the end, only Iraqis can resolve their differences and police their streets.  Only Iraqis can build a democracy within their borders.  What America can do, and will do, is provide support for the Iraqi people as both a friend and a partner.

     Ending this war is not only in Iraq's interest -- it's in our own.  The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people.  We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home.  We've persevered because of a belief we share with the Iraqi people -- a belief that out of the ashes of war, a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilization.  Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility.  Now, it's time to turn the page.

As we do, I'm mindful that the Iraq war has been a contentious issue at home.  Here, too, it's time to turn the page.  This afternoon, I spoke to former President George W. Bush.  It's well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset.  Yet no one can doubt President Bush's support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security.  As I've said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it.  And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hopes for Iraqis' future.

     The greatness of our democracy is grounded in our ability to move beyond our differences, and to learn from our experience as we confront the many challenges ahead.  And no challenge is more essential to our security than our fight against al Qaeda.

     Americans across the political spectrum supported the use of force against those who attacked us on 9/11.  Now, as we approach our 10th year of combat in Afghanistan, there are those who are understandably asking tough questions about our mission there.  But we must never lose sight of what's at stake.  As we speak, al Qaeda continues to plot against us, and its leadership remains anchored in the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.  We will disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda, while preventing Afghanistan from again serving as a base for terrorists.  And because of our drawdown in Iraq, we are now able to apply the resources necessary to go on offense.  In fact, over the last 19 months, nearly a dozen al Qaeda leaders -- and hundreds of al Qaeda's extremist allies -- have been killed or captured around the world.

Within Afghanistan, I've ordered the deployment of additional troops who -- under the command of General David Petraeus -- are fighting to break the Taliban's momentum. 
As with the surge in Iraq, these forces will be in place for a limited time to provide space for the Afghans to build their capacity and secure their own future.  But, as was the case in Iraq, we can't do for Afghans what they must ultimately do for themselves.  That's why we're training Afghan Security Forces and supporting a political resolution to Afghanistan's problems.  And next August, we will begin a transition to Afghan responsibility.  The pace of our troop reductions will be determined by conditions on the ground, and our support for Afghanistan will endure.  But make no mistake:  This transition will begin -- because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan people's.

     Indeed, one of the lessons of our effort in Iraq is that American influence around the world is not a function of military force alone.  We must use all elements of our power -- including our diplomacy, our economic strength, and the power of America's example -- to secure our interests and stand by our allies.  And we must project a vision of the future that's based not just on our fears, but also on our hopes -- a vision that recognizes the real dangers that exist around the world,
but also the limitless possibilities of our time.

     Today, old adversaries are at peace, and emerging democracies are potential partners.  New markets for our goods stretch from Asia to the Americas.  A new push for peace in the Middle East will begin here tomorrow.  Billions of young people want to move beyond the shackles of poverty and conflict.  As the leader of the free world, America will do more than just defeat on the battlefield those who offer hatred and destruction -- we will also lead among those who are willing to work together to expand freedom and opportunity for all people.

     Now, that effort must begin within our own borders.  Throughout our history, America has been willing to bear the burden of promoting liberty and human dignity overseas, understanding its links to our own liberty and security.  But we have also understood that our nation's strength and influence abroad must be firmly anchored in our prosperity at home.  And the bedrock of that prosperity must be a growing middle class.

     Unfortunately, over the last decade, we've not done what's necessary to shore up the foundations of our own prosperity.  We spent a trillion dollars at war, often financed by borrowing from overseas.  This, in turn, has short-changed investments in our own people, and contributed to record deficits.  For too long, we have put off tough decisions on everything from our manufacturing base to our energy policy to education reform.  As a result, too many middle-class families find themselves working harder for less, while our nation's long-term competitiveness is put at risk.

     And so at this moment, as we wind down the war in Iraq, we must tackle those challenges at home with as much energy, and grit, and sense of common purpose as our men and women in uniform who have served abroad.  They have met every test that they faced.  Now, it's our turn.  Now, it's our responsibility to honor them by coming together, all of us, and working to secure the dream that so many generations have fought for -- the dream that a better life awaits anyone who is willing to work for it and reach for it.

     Our most urgent task is to restore our economy, and put the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs back to work.  To strengthen our middle class, we must give all our children the education they deserve, and all our workers the skills that they need to compete in a global economy.  We must jumpstart industries that create jobs, and end our dependence on foreign oil.  We must unleash the innovation that allows new products to roll off our assembly lines, and nurture the ideas that spring from our entrepreneurs.  This will be difficult.  But in the days to come, it must be our central mission as a people, and my central responsibility as President.

     Part of that responsibility is making sure that we honor our commitments to those who have served our country with such valor.  As long as I am President, we will maintain the finest fighting force that the world has ever known, and we will do whatever it takes to serve our veterans as well as they have served us.  This is a sacred trust.  That's why we've already made one of the largest increases in funding for veterans in decades.  We're treating the signature wounds of today's wars -- post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury -- while providing the health care and benefits that all of our veterans have earned.  And we're funding a Post-9/11 GI Bill that helps our veterans and their families pursue the dream of a college education.  Just as the GI Bill helped those who fought World War II -- including my grandfather -- become the backbone of our middle class, so today's servicemen and women must have the chance to apply their gifts to expand the American economy.  Because part of ending a war responsibly is standing by those who have fought it.

     Two weeks ago, America's final combat brigade in Iraq -- the Army's Fourth Stryker Brigade -- journeyed home in the pre-dawn darkness.  Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of vehicles made the trip from Baghdad, the last of them passing into Kuwait in the early morning hours.  Over seven years before, American troops and coalition partners had fought their way across similar highways, but this time no shots were fired.  It was just a convoy of brave Americans, making their way home.

     Of course, the soldiers left much behind.  Some were teenagers when the war began.  Many have served multiple tours of duty, far from families who bore a heroic burden of their own, enduring the absence of a husband's embrace or a mother's kiss.  Most painfully, since the war began, 55 members of the Fourth Stryker Brigade made the ultimate sacrifice -- part of over 4,400 Americans who have given their lives in Iraq.  As one staff sergeant said, “I know that to my brothers in arms who fought and died, this day would probably mean a lot.”

     Those Americans gave their lives for the values that have lived in the hearts of our people for over two centuries.  Along with nearly 1.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq, they fought in a faraway place for people they never knew.  They stared into the darkest of human creations -- war -- and helped the Iraqi people seek the light of peace.

     In an age without surrender ceremonies, we must earn victory through the success of our partners and the strength of our own nation.  Every American who serves joins an unbroken line of heroes that stretches from Lexington to Gettysburg; from Iwo Jima to Inchon; from Khe Sanh to Kandahar -- Americans who have fought to see that the lives of our children are better than our own.  Our troops are the steel in our ship of state.  And though our nation may be travelling through rough waters, they give us confidence that our course is true, and that beyond the pre-dawn darkness, better days lie ahead.

     Thank you.  May God bless you.  And may God bless the United States of America, and all who serve her.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/31/remarks-president-address-nation-end-combat-operations-iraq

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The Worst Natural Disaster in Pakistan's History: Support Victims of the Floods

Americans have a rich history of showing great generosity when other communities around the world face crises.  Today, the people of Pakistan are confronting one of the worst crises in their history.  Over 20 million people throughout Pakistan have been affected since flooding began just over a month ago and there is an urgent need for shelter, clean water, food, and medical supplies.

That is why the State Department has established the Pakistan Relief Fund for American's to join the relief, recovery and reconstruction effort by donating online or by texting "FLOOD" to 27722 for a contribution of $10 that will be added to their cell phone bill. 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton encourages American's to help continue our tradition of generosity in a public service announcement released by the Ad Council.

Contributions to the Pakistan Relief Fund will go towards funding programs run by the Department of State and other federal agencies for relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts in Pakistan, or to provide funds to international organizations, non-profit organizations and other appropriate recipients for relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts in Pakistan.  

For more information about the Pakistan Relief Fund, visit www.state.gov/pakistanrelief .

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/01/worst-natural-disaster-pakistans-history-support-victims-floods

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From the Department of Homeland Security

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Statement by Deputy Press Secretary Matt Chandler on Pew Hispanic Center Report on Unauthorized Immigration Flows

September 1, 2010

“This Administration's unprecedented commitment of manpower, technology and infrastructure to the Southwest border has been a major factor in this dramatic drop in illegal crossings.  We are cracking down on employers who hire illegal labor, seizures of illicit goods are up across the board, criminal alien removals are at an all-time high, the Border Patrol is better staffed than at any time in its 85-year history, and the southwest border is more secure than ever before.

In addition to efforts already undertaken, the President has authorized the deployment of an additional 1,200 National Guard troops to the border to provide intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, and immediate support to counternarcotics enforcement while Customs and Border Protection recruits and trains additional officers and agents to serve on the border.  The Administration is dedicating $600 million in new funding to enhance security technology at the border, share information and support with state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and increase federal law enforcement activities at the border.  That effort will include the deployment of more agents, investigators, and prosecutors as part of a coordinated effort with states and cities to target illicit networks trafficking in people, drugs, illegal weapons, and money. We continue to work with Congress to pass a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill that would provide lasting resources for border security while restoring responsibility and accountability to our broken immigration system.”

Among the progress achieved to date:

1 – Expand Unmanned Aircraft Systems operations to cover the entire Southwest Border.

Results : On Sept. 1st, CBP will expand Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) flight operations, covering all Southwest border states and providing critical aerial surveillance assistance to personnel on the ground.

2 – Dedicate historic levels of personnel to the Southwest border.

Results : The Border Patrol is better staffed than at any time in its 86-year history, having nearly doubled the number of agents from approximately 10,000 in 2004 to more than 20,000 today – including more “boots on the ground” in Arizona than ever before.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also deployed a record number of agents to the Southwest border with more than a quarter of its personnel deployed in this region, doubling the number of agents assigned to Border Enforcement Security Task Forces and tripling the number of ICE intelligence analysts working along the U.S.-Mexico border. Further, President Obama has ordered the deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops to the Southwest border to contribute additional capabilities and capacity to assist law enforcement agencies.

3 – Deploy additional technology and complete fencing construction along the Southwest border.

Results : Over the past 17 months, CBP has deployed additional Z-Backscatter Van Units, Mobile Surveillance Systems, Remote Video Surveillance Systems, thermal imaging systems, radiation portal monitors, and license plate readers to the Southwest border. DHS has also completed 646.5 miles of fencing out of nearly 652 miles mandated by Congress, including 298.5 miles of vehicle barriers and 348 miles of pedestrian fence, with the remaining construction scheduled to be complete by the end of 2010.

4 – Increase outbound inspections to interdict illegal weapons, drugs, and cash leaving the United States.

Results : In addition to placing an increased emphasis on screening southbound vehicle traffic, CBP began screening 100 percent of southbound rail shipments for illegal weapons, drugs, and cash – for the first time ever. These enhanced outbound inspections have yielded more than $39.2 million in southbound illegal currency – an increase of more than $29.4 million compared to 2008.

5 – Increase seizures of drugs, weapons, and currency to disrupt the operations of transnational criminal organizations.

Results : In 2009, DHS seized more than $103 million in illegal currency, more than 1.7 million kilograms of drugs and more than 1,400 firearms – increases of more than $47 million, more than 450,000 kilograms of drugs and more than 300 firearms compared to 2008.

6 – Deter illegal immigration through unprecedented investments in border security.

Results : Illegal border crossings have been significantly reduced, as apprehensions of illegal aliens decreased from 723,825 in FY2008 to 556,041 in FY2009, a 23 percent reduction, in part as the result of increased security along the southwest border.

7 – Increase employer audits to deter violations of employment verification laws and protect American workers.

Results : Since Jan. 2009, DHS has audited more than 2,785 employers suspected of hiring illegal labor, debarred more than 100 companies and 80 individuals, and issued more than $6.4 million in fines—more than the total amount of audits and fines issued in the entire previous administration.

8 – Deploy Secure Communities technology to all southwest border communities.

Results : The Obama Administration has expanded the Secure Communities initiative—which uses biometric information to identify criminal aliens in state prisons and local jails to expedite removal proceedings—from 14 to 567 locations, including all jurisdictions along the Southwest border. DHS expects to expand this program nationwide by 2013. As of July 31, 2010, this program had identified more than 287,500 aliens in jails and prisons who have been charged with or convicted of criminal offenses, including more than 43,000 charged with or convicted of major violent or drug offenses (level 1 offenses). Through Secure Communities, over 37,900 convicted criminal aliens have been removed from the United States, including more than 10,800 convicted of major violent or drug offenses (level 1 offenses).

9 – Target criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety.

Results : The Obama Administration has fundamentally reformed immigration enforcement, focusing on identifying and removing criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety. Overall, criminal removals/returns increased by almost 22,000 between FY 2008 and FY 2009, a 19 percent increase. So far this fiscal year, ICE has removed a record 170,000 criminals from the U.S. DHS will continue to increase focus on removing those convicted of crimes who pose a threat to the safety of communities. 

10 – Boost funding for Southwest border infrastructure, technology, and law enforcement.

Results : The recent passage and signing of Southwest border security supplemental legislation will provide critical additional capabilities to secure the Southwest border at and between our ports of entry and reduce the illicit trafficking of people, drugs, currency and weapons. This law provides $14 million for improved tactical communications systems along the Southwest border and $32 million for two additional CBP unmanned aircraft systems – in addition to $176 million for an additional 1,000 Border Patrol agents to be deployed between ports of entry; $68 million to hire 250 new Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at ports of entry and to maintain 270 officers currently deployed to ports of entry; and $6 million to construct two forward operating bases along the Southwest Border to improve coordination of border security activities.

DHS and the General Services Administration (GSA) are also directing more than $400 million in Recovery Act funding to the Southwest border, including funds for:

• Port and other infrastructure projects in Otay Mesa, California; Antelope Wells, New Mexico; Los Ebanos, Amistad Dam, Falcon Dam and Corpus Christi, Texas; and Nogales, Arizona.
  
  
• Non-Intrusive Inspection Equipment at Southwest border ports of entry, including both low energy and large-scale systems;
  
  
• Modernized tactical communications equipment for the El Paso and Rio Grande Valley Sectors; and
  
  
• Tested, commercially available security technology including thermal imaging devices, ultra-light detection, backscatter units, mobile radios, cameras and laptops for pursuit vehicles, and Remote Video Surveillance System enhancements.

Further, DHS has increased the funds state and local law enforcement can use to combat border-related crime through Operation Stonegarden—a DHS grant program designed to support state, local, and tribal law enforcement efforts along our nation's borders. Based on risk, cross-border traffic and border-related threat intelligence, nearly 83 percent of 2009 and 2010 Operation Stonegarden funds – more than 124 million dollars – went to Southwest border states, up from 59 percent in 2008.  

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1283367908466.shtm

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Secretary Napolitano Announces Expansion of "If You See Something, Say Something" Campaign and New Information Sharing Partnership in Tennessee

Meets with Tennessee emergency management officials to discuss ongoing recovery efforts following recent flooding

September 1, 2020

NASHVILLE, TENN.—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today traveled to Nashville, Tenn., to announce the launch of the federal government's collaboration with Southern Shield—a consortium of state homeland security and law enforcement officials from 14 Southeastern states and territories—as part of the national Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) initiative, as well as the expansion of the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign to fusion centers across the Southeast.

“Homeland security starts with hometown security, and our state and local law enforcement partners and the public play an important role in keeping our country safe,” said Secretary Napolitano. “By expanding the SAR initiative and the ‘If You See Something Say Something' campaign to the Southeast, we are providing critical tools to the region's communities that will strengthen our ability to identify and disrupt threats.”

Secretary Napolitano was joined at today's event by Tennessee's Department of Safety Commissioner Dave Mitchell and Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn, DHS Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Bart Johnson and U.S. Department of Justice Associate Deputy Director for the Bureau of Justice Assistance James Patrick McCreary

During her remarks, Secretary Napolitano announced that Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Florida and Alabama have officially launched their participation in the national Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) initiative—a partnership among federal, state, and local law enforcement to establish a standard process for law enforcement to identify and report suspicious incidents or activity and share that information nationally so it can be analyzed to identify broader trends.

She also highlighted the Department's continued commitment to supporting fusion centers and the key role they play in facilitating information sharing among federal, state, local and tribal and private sector partners—underscoring the expansion of the “If you See Something, Say Something” campaign via the Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Florida and Alabama fusion centers.

The “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign—originally implemented by New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority and funded, in part, by $13 million from DHS's Transit Security Grant Program—is a simple and effective program to raise public awareness of indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats and emphasize the importance of reporting suspicious activity to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.

Today's launch represents DHS's fourth major expansion of the “If You See Something, Say Something” initiative this summer—following expansions to Amtrak, general aviation and the Washington, D.C. metro area earlier this summer. In the coming months, DHS will continue to expand the campaign nationally with public education materials, advertisements and other outreach tools to engage travelers, businesses, community organizations and public and private sector employees to remain vigilant and play an active role in keeping the country safe.

While in Nashville, Secretary Napolitano also met with emergency management officials to discuss ongoing recovery efforts following recent flooding in Tennessee caused by severe weather. The Obama administration has been deeply involved in response and recovery efforts since before the storms hit. FEMA personnel and resources were on the ground in Tennessee within hours of the storms, working with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and local officials, the private sector, faith groups and non-profits, and the public to respond.

President Obama declared a Major Disaster for Tennessee on May 4, 2010—a total of 46 counties were designated for Individual Assistance and 49 counties were designated for Public Assistance. As of August 31, 2010, more than 67,600 Tennessee individuals and families have registered for federal assistance, and to date, FEMA has approved more than $159 million. In addition, the Small Business Administration has approved more than $113 million in loans for homeowners and $46 million in loans for Tennessee businesses.

FEMA Community Relations teams have visited nearly 25,000 residences and more than 1,800 faith-based organizations, 500 community organizations and 6,000 businesses across the state, making sure families and organizations received the support they need. FEMA Private Sector specialists have also worked with more than 650 businesses, chambers of commerce and nonprofit organizations to provided needed support and response and recovery information.

Families that have been impacted by the floods and need assistance can call FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or visit DisasterAssistance.gov .

If You See Something Say Something™ used with permission of the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1283365250093.shtm

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From the Department of Justice

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Pakistani Taliban Leader Charged in Terrorism Conspiracy Resulting in Murder of Seven Americans in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON – Hakimullah Mehsud, the self-proclaimed emir of the Pakistani Taliban, has been charged by criminal complaint for his alleged involvement in the murder of seven American citizens on Dec. 30, 2009 at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, the Justice Department announced today.

The two-count criminal complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Aug. 20, 2010 and unsealed today, charges Hakimullah Mehsud, aka Hakimullah Mahsud, with conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens abroad and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) against U.S. citizens abroad. 

According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Hakimullah Mehsud, a resident of the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) in Pakistan, is the leader of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or what is more commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban.  The TTP's primary purpose is to force withdrawal of Pakistani troops from the FATA of Pakistan, which is located along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border; to unite against NATO forces in Afghanistan and to establish Sharia – or Islamic law – in the tribal territories. 

The affidavit alleges that the TTP has had alleged roles in, or claimed responsibility for, a number of acts of violence, including the December 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the September 2009 suicide attack on the Bannu, Pakistan, police station and numerous attacks on NATO supply lines throughout the FATA.  These attacks are often coordinated with other insurgents or terrorist groups, including the Taliban and al-Qaeda. 

Today, the State Department designated the TTP as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and also designated Hakimullah Mehsud and another Taliban leader, Wali Ur Rehman, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.  The State Department's Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $5 million each for information leading to their location.

Hakimullah Mehsud inherited the role as the leader of the TTP after its former leader and founder, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in August 2009, according to the affidavit.  Hakimullah Mehsud remains the commander of TTP, which continues to plan and carry out attacks against the interests of the United States from the FATA.  The TTP has recently claimed responsibility for the May 1, 2010 failed bombing of Times Square in New York and also claimed responsibility for the Dec. 30, 2009 suicide bombing in Afghanistan that is charged in the criminal complaint unsealed today.

On Dec. 30, 2009, the affidavit alleges, Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, also known as Abu Dujanah al-Khorasani (al-Balawi), a Jordanian physician, entered a U.S. military base near the town of Khost, Afghanistan, for a pre-planned meeting.  Shortly after entering the base, al-Balawi detonated a suicide device concealed beneath his clothing, killing himself and seven U.S. citizens.  Six other U.S. citizens were injured.

Soon after the attack, the affidavit alleges, the media arm of the TTP released a video depicting Hakimullah Mehsud and al-Balawi seated together, in which they explain in detail their motivation for launching a suicide attack against the Americans.  In the video, Hakimullah Mehsud introduces al-Balawi, states al-Balawi's reasons for becoming a suicide bomber and describes Americans as the enemy of the mujahideen . 

According to the affidavit, Hakimullah Mehsud and al-Balawi both claim responsibility for an upcoming attack in the video, stating together, “And we arranged this attack to let the Americans understand that the belief of Allah, the iman [faith] that we hold, the taqwa [piety] that we strive for cannot be exchanged for all the wealth in the world.”  In the video, Hakimullah Mehsud then explains that the motive for the attack against the Americans is revenge for the death of the former emir of the TTP, Baitullah Mehsud.  Today, Hakimullah Mehsud is a fugitive believed to be residing in the FATA.

“Today's charges underscore our continuing commitment to seek justice for Americans who are murdered or victimized by overseas terrorist attacks,” said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.  “I applaud the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who helped bring about this prosecution.”

“We have no higher priority than bringing to justice terrorists who kill Americans serving and working abroad,” said Ronald C. Machen, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.  “We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to seek justice for the victims of this heinous terrorist attack.  I am proud of the efforts of our agents, analysts and prosecutors who have worked so hard on this case.”

“The FBI is committed to bringing to justice those responsible for this horrific crime and, equally important, to provide answers and closure to family and friends of those killed,” said Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office.

The investigation into this matter was conducted by the FBI's Washington Field Office.  The prosecutors handling the case are Trial Attorneys Sharon Lever and Jeffrey Groharing of the Counterterrorism Section in the Justice Department's National Security Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel Carlson Lieber and Michael C. DiLorenzo of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

If convicted of the charges unsealed today, Hakimullah Mehsud faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.  A criminal complaint is merely a formal charge that a defendant violated a criminal law.  All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/September/10-nsd-987.html

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From the FBI

HEALTH CARE FRAUD

$600 Million Settlement in Botox Case

The pharmaceutical company Allergan has agreed to pay $600 million in criminal and civil penalties for aggressively promoting its flagship drug Botox for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for paying kickbacks to doctors, and for other violations of the False Claims Act.

Today's announcement represents the culmination of a complex, three-year investigation by the FBI and our federal partners in which millions of documents and dozens of hours of electronic evidence were collected.

“This case sends a clear message,” said Brian Lamkin, special agent in charge of our Atlanta Division, “that the FBI will not allow manufacturers to promote their prescriptions or products for uses beyond their intended purpose.”

Botox is widely known for its cosmetic use, but the FDA has approved the drug for therapeutic treatment in a few rare cases. Still, for nearly a decade, Allergan—an international company based in California—made it a top corporate priority to maximize sales in the lucrative off-label market. The company promoted the drug to treat headaches, pain, spasticity, and juvenile cerebral palsy—all without FDA approval.

As part of that promotion, Allergan provided kickbacks to doctors in the form of cash, travel, and meals and held seminars instructing physicians on how to bill Medicare for off-label procedures. The company also made false and fraudulent statements regarding Botox's efficacy for those off-label treatments “even when there was little clinical evidence that these uses were effective,” said Sally Yates, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

Our investigation began in 2007 in Atlanta, when a doctor and an Allergan employee came forward to complain about Allergan's practices . “We took a look at the numbers involved in the case and knew immediately that it was not regional but national in scope,” said Special Agent Mike Badolato. Joining in the investigation were the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigation and the Health and Human Services Administration's Office of Inspector General.

Agent Badolato and Special Agent Scott Stephan, who both specialize in health care fraud investigations, traveled the country gathering evidence in the case. “One of the benefits the FBI brings to the table in health care fraud investigations like this is the resources we can marshal,” Stephan said. “We have the ability to travel and to cover leads almost anywhere.”

U.S. Attorney Yates said Allergan made “hundreds of millions of dollars” promoting the off-label uses of Botox. And Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice's Civil Division, pointed out that this is not a victimless crime.

“When our public health care programs are burdened with fraudulent charges, it drives the cost of health care up for all of us—consumers pay more in premiums, companies pay more to cover their employees,” West explained. “And when a pharmaceutical manufacturer violates the integrity of the drug approval process established by Congress and the FDA by paying kickbacks to encourage the off-label use of an unapproved drug, that not only undermines the judgments of health care professionals, it also threatens to put patients' health and safety at risk.”

Agents Stephan and Badolato, on hand for today's announcement in Washington, were pleased with the outcome of the case. “This was a good team effort,” Stephan said. “And it all started when citizens came forward to report wrongdoing.”

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/september10/botox_090110.html

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