FLE

A Harriet Miers moment

Since a column raising an alarm about CFIUS' decision appeared in this space last week, three new factors have come to light that compound the strategic folly of the UAE deal: * First, in addition to the six affected ports mentioned above, two others would also have part of their operations managed by DP World — on behalf of none other than the U.S. Army. Under a newly extended contract, the owner of P and O will manage the movement of heavy armor, helicopters and other military materiel through the Texas seaports of Beaumont and Corpus Christie. How much would our enemies like to be able to sabotage such shipments? * Second, while advocates of the stealthy CFIUS decision-making process point to the involvement of the Defense Department in its DP World decision, it is unclear at what level this bizarre proposition was reviewed in the Pentagon. Many top jobs remain unfilled by presidential appointees. Past experience suggests the job may have fallen to lower-level career bureaucrats who give priority to maintaining good relations with their foreign "clients," like the UAE. * Then, there is the matter of financing the DP World takeover of Peninsula and Oriental. The UAE evidently intends to raise nearly all of the $6.8 billion price for P and O on international capital markets. It must be asked: Who will the foreign investors be, and might they have malign intentions towards the U.S.?....Also see
Bush Shrugs Off Objections to Port Deal,
Frist Calls for Halt to U.S. Ports Deal ,
Port security pits Bush against conservatives,
Congress rises up against UAE deal,
White House: Bush not initially aware of port deal,
Shipping industry sees little threat to national security in port deal and
Ports Debate Reawakens Foreign-Investment Jitters.

Bush, Fox join forces to cut violence on border

President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox agreed yesterday to try to reduce violence on the U.S.-Mexico border and pledged to have their countries' domestic security departments work together on the issue. In a telephone conversation, Mr. Bush designated Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to be the top U.S. contact on border violence, and Mr. Fox tapped Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal Carranza as his point man. "The two leaders talked about the importance of working together to improve our border security and stop the violence," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. Concern over border violence is growing as violent encounters in Mexico increase, spreading rapidly throughout northern Mexico from the lawless confines of Nuevo Laredo, which lies across the Rio Grande from Laredo, Texas. Last week, two police chiefs were killed within hours of each other in what U.S. and Mexican law-enforcement authorities have described as an escalating war among drug cartels for control of key smuggling routes into the United States. Hector Ayala, chief in San Pedro Garza Garcia, outside Monterrey, was killed Feb. 13 when a car passed his vehicle and opened fire. Four hours earlier, Sabinas Hidalgo Police Chief Javier Garcia was abducted by armed men, bound and shot in the back of the head. The violence has not been confined to Mexico. Since Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year, there have been more than 200 assaults on U.S. agents in the Tucson sector alone, and the Border Patrol has warned agents in Arizona of incursions by men dressed in Mexican military uniforms....

Congress Told of ATF Seizures, Threats to Gun Buyers

Agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), allegedly acting without warrants or legislative authority to do so, seized firearms from at least 50 gun show patrons in Virginia according to congressional testimony and an agency document made public Wednesday. Witnesses also testified that African-American and female gun buyers in Richmond, Va., and Pittsburgh, Pa., were profiled based on their race or sex and some in Pittsburgh were threatened with arrest by ATF agents for alleged actions that are not violations of law. Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.) chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, which has jurisdiction over ATF. While he supports the agency's mission, Coble questions some of its tactics. "ATF reports that 206 [gun show] participants were stopped and interviewed while it confiscated firearms from another 50 participants," Coble said, referring to gun shows in Richmond, Va. "Although most of the firearms were ultimately returned, the purchasers were notified via official letter from ATF that [they] were ordered to appear at the local ATF office to discuss their transactions. In addition, the letter explained that failure to appear could result in an arrest warrant being issued for the alleged charges." Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said the ATF letter and the reported interrogation of lawful gun buyers raise "serious questions." "There's a way to have a sting operation that's legal. This dragnet, apparent dragnet, however, is not the way it ought to be done," Scott said. "You have to show probable cause and it can be done. But you ought not just stop people without probable cause and without any indication of guilt." John White, a former law enforcement officer who is now an FFL operating under the business name "The Gunsmith," said female customers who approached his sales area at the Richmond shows were immediately targeted by the "undercover" officers. "If a woman showed up at my table, she was surrounded by law enforcement," White recalled....

Threats have rallied Hudspeth residents

Big-city worries invaded Jose Franco's once tranquil turf. The Fort Hancock school superintendent now has a police radio in his office with access to law enforcement. Uniformed officers now guard the two public schools in this farming town of about 1,800 because officials say suspected drug smugglers recently threatened Hudspeth County sheriff's deputies and their families in Fort Hancock. "I don't think we're in the panic stage," Franco said. "The staff is doing an excellent job reassuring children that they're safe." Franco, a Fort Hancock native, is responsible for almost 600 students. Hudspeth County sheriff's officials and the 1,700-square-mile school district elevated security after three men in an older-model Ford Bronco approached a deputy sheriff's wife and warned her to tell her husband to stop patrolling the Rio Grande. Almost a month ago, sheriff's deputies and other law enforcement officials said they chased three SUVs loaded with marijuana back to the river and were confronted by Mexicans dressed in military uniforms and armed with large-caliber weapons. The standoff at a remote border spot between Fort Hancock and Sierra Blanca has sparked investigations. Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said he wants to meet this week with local, state and federal law enforcement officials throughout the region to discuss a team approach to fighting drug smugglers. The Apostolic Church in Sierra Blanca, about 88 miles southeast of El Paso on Interstate 10, planned a prayer service today for all law enforcement officers in Hudspeth County as a show of support....

Man wasn't hit in back, lawyer for agent says

The alleged drug dealer who was shot in the buttocks by Border Patrol agents last year was not shot in the back, but was shot as he turned around toward the agents, defense lawyers said during the trial's opening statements Tuesday. Mary Stillinger, the lawyer for agent Ignacio Ramos, said medical records will show that the bullet entered the victim's buttock at an angle, suggesting he was partly turned around. It was Ramos' single bullet that hit the victim, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila. Another agent, Jose Alonso Compean, also shot at him more than 10 times, reloading once, on Feb. 17 near Fabens. Stillinger contends that the shooting was justified because Ramos was trying to help his colleague, Compean. Compean's lawyer, Maria Ramirez, said Compean started shooting because he feared for his life. Aldrete was running back to Mexico after abandoning a van filled with marijuana. The court hearing Tuesday afternoon also showed that nine other Border Patrol agents were at the scene and saw at least parts of the incident but did not report it....

Shoes Designed to Help Border Crossers

Now here’s something that’s sure to create a little bit of controversy. They’re called Brincos, and they’re shoes designed to help illegal immigrants cross the U.S.-Mexican border. Designed by Argentinean artist Judi Werthein, these shoes feature an array of items designed to make the dangerous trip across the border a little less so. There’s a built-in compass, a pouch inside the tongue used to store aspirin and a map of popular routes going from Tijuana to San Diego on the insole. An Aztec eagle adorns the heel, while the shoes’ red, white, and green colors remind you that, yes, the shoes were designed with Mexican nationals in mind. The Brincos (the name derives from the Spanish verb brincar, “to jump,” as in, to jump the border) were handed out for free to migrants, while so-called hip stores in San Diego were spotted selling them for $215.

Surveillance Cameras To Monitor Santa Monica Promenade, Pier

Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade is the latest public place that will soon apparently be under the watchful eye of police surveillance cameras. Tuesday night the Santa Monica City Council has given the green light for a new video surveillance system at the 3rd Street Promenade and the Santa Monica Pier. The video cameras will monitor areas visited by thousands of people. City officials say they decided on the plan after suspicious people took pictures of some of the facilities there. "Some men were videotaping in a manner that was inconsistent with tourist photography. They were photographing access roads and security structures," said Chief James Butts with the Santa Monica Police Department. The system will go online as soon as the cameras and recording system are installed.

Houston eyes cameras at apartment complexes

Houston's police chief on Wednesday proposed placing surveillance cameras in apartment complexes, downtown streets, shopping malls and even private homes to fight crime during a shortage of police officers. "I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?" Chief Harold Hurtt told reporters Wednesday at a regular briefing. Houston is facing a severe police shortage because of too many retirements and too few recruits, and the city has absorbed 150,000 hurricane evacuees who are filling apartment complexes in crime-ridden neighborhoods. The City Council is considering a public safety tax to pay for more officers. Building permits should require malls and large apartment complexes to install surveillance cameras, Hurtt said. And if a homeowner requires repeated police response, it is reasonable to require camera surveillance of the property, he said....

Daley wants security cameras at bars

Surveillance cameras — aimed at government buildings, train platforms and intersections here — might soon be required at corner taverns and swanky nightclubs. Mayor Richard Daley wants to require bars open until 4 a.m. to install security cameras that can identify people entering and leaving the building. Other businesses open longer than 12 hours a day, including convenience stores, eventually would have to do the same. Daley's proposed city ordinance adds a dimension to security measures installed after the Sept. 11 attacks. The proliferation of security cameras — especially if the government requires them in private businesses — troubles some civil liberties advocates....