U.S. Hospitals Take Mexican Drug Casualties

By: Phil Brennan

Mexico's war on drugs is costing American taxpayers big bucks, as the U.S. government is bringing Mexican casualties from the conflict to hospitals north of the border and paying for medical treatment.

According to The Los Angeles Times, El Paso’s Thomason Hospital has treated 28 victims of the Mexican drug war this year, at a cost of about $1 million. The costs are not confined to medical treatment. With the border area becoming a battle zone where drug gangs, seeking to finish the job by pursuing their victims even into hospitals, Thomason has had on occasion been turned into an armed camp.

The Times reported that on three occasions this year, the hospital was placed under maximum security, with local law enforcement providing additional protection for patients, visitors, and employees at the hospital.

Being the only hospital within a 280-mile radius that offers offer state-of-the-art trauma care, Thomason, the Times reported, has become an unwilling treatment center of choice for law enforcement officials and others in the vicinity wounded in Mexico's bloody drug turf battles.

More than 2,000 people have been killed this year, and more than double that number in the 20 months since President Felipe Calderon began deploying 40,000 troops across the country to crack down on narcotics trafficking, the Times recalled.

"We have not accepted these patients. They are brought here. We are mandated by law, federal law, to provide care, a medical assessment and treatment," James Vilenti, Thomason hospital's president and CEO, told KFOX-TV. ....

The War on Terror - War or metaphor?

(Compiler's note: This one is a "must read." So check out the original article for "the rest of the story." rca)

Prof. Jefferey F. Addicott*

I. INTRODUCTION

In remarks given in November of 2007, President George W. Bush, reminded the Congress that the United States of America remained in a state of war – the so-called War on Terror: “We are at war – and we cannot win this war by wishing it away or pretending that it does not exist.”[1] Considering the fact that President Bush never wavered in this view, his remarks came as no surprise. Nevertheless, even seven years after the al-Qa’eda terror attacks of September 11, 2001, there are many who still refuse to accept the premise that the United States is in a state of war. For them, the term “War on Terror” has nothing to do with a real international armed conflict; it is merely a metaphor, similar to the Johnson era “war on poverty” or the Reagan era, “war on drugs.”

According to their reasoning, since there is no “war,” terrorists should be dealt with in the same manner as they were prior to September 11, 2001, by the domestic criminal process.

Undoubtedly, the friction between those who believe that the War on Terror is a real war and should be fought under the international law of war verses those who do not has created deep fissures in the legal community and, by extension, in society as a whole. While individual citizens of every vocation in life are certainly entitled to their personal opinions on the matter, what ultimately resonates in a representative democracy is what the government asserts. In short, does the executive, legislative, and judicial branch of the United States government view the War on Terror as a real war? In other words, if one accepts the premise that the United States is in a state of war, then various actions taken by the government, e.g., the use of military commissions, targeted killings, and detention facilities is perfectly legitimate. On the other hand, if one does not accept the premise that the War on Terror is a real war, then a very strong case can be made in a number of arenas of interest that the United States has engaged in activities that clearly violate both domestic and international law. ....

Consequences of approaching the matter from a law of war perspective include not only a plethora of policy and legal challenges, many not yet fully appreciated, but also confusion from the general population. Unfortunately, this state of confusion often emanates from the government itself, particularly when it sends mixed signals in terms of where it chooses to prosecute al-Qa’eda terrorists. If al-Qa’eda terrorists are unlawful enemy combatants and the United States is at war, then all should be treated as such and tired (sic) by military commissions and not by domestic federal courts, e.g., Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE -- Chain Migration Puts Nearly Everybody In Line To Overwhelm U.S. Communities

As soon as we take a single skilled immigrant from a developing nation, around 17 different families may be put in line to follow because of our reckless Chain Migration policies. Our immigration policies literally "take a village" every time a new Anchor Immigrant is admitted to this country. ....

U.K.: Jihadist cell may have been plotting to attack Queen, other royals

Aabid Khan Update. "Islamic terror cell 'may have been plotting to attack Queen'," by Duncan Gardham for the Telegraph, August 18:

A terror cell caught with details of bomb-making and suicide vests may have been plotting to attack the Queen and members of the Royal family, it can be disclosed.

The cell, which included Britain's youngest ever terrorist, arrested on his way home from his GCSE chemistry exam, was found with information about the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh along with the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex and the Princess Royal.

Also on the list were Princess Michael of Kent, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and The Duke and Duchess of Kent.

Aabid Hussain Khan, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, had compiled pictures, maps and details of the opening hours of official residences from information available on the internet. ....

Covert Screener Testing Still Problematic; Managerial Problems Linger

‘TSA is limited in its ability to use covert test results to strengthen aviation security’

Last November, investigators for Congress’ investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), disclosed that they repeatedly were able to smuggle liquid bomb and incendiary explosives components through dozens of airport screening checkpoints.

Once on board a plane, HSToday.us noted in its report, “TSA, Legislators Lock Horns Over GAO Getting Explosives Past Screeners,” some of these components could have been assembled in as little as ten minutes and, if they had been successfully detonated, potentially have caused a “catastrophic” explosion, two senior GAO officials told lawmakers.

The GAO investigators told lawmakers they were able to slip past airport security screeners with liquid bomb-making components 19 times last year, and in 2006, got past screeners 21 times with incendiary devices and bomb detonators that could have “caused not insignificant explosions,” as one of the GAO investigators involved in the covert testing explained.

While the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has designed and implemented risk-based national and local covert testing programs to achieve its goals of identifying vulnerabilities in, and measuring the performance of, the aviation security system, and has begun to determine the extent to which covert testing will be used in non-aviation modes of transportation, a more recent GAO audit determined that TSA’s Office of Inspection (OI) “did not systematically record the causes of test failures or practices that resulted in higher pass rates for tests.” ....

OFAC adds more Iranian WMDs

The Office of Foreign Asset Control, OFAC, has named a number of Iranian entities as SDN/NPWMDs in connection with their reported contribution to Iran's Weapons of Mass Destruction nuclear programme. If you bank clients in the nuclear energy industry, even if only as suppliers of equipment, it is strongly suggested that you ensure that your clients are not, even indirectly, doing business with any of these companies. Note well that all of these firms are also known by their acronyms and/or other names. If you are unsure, go directly to the complete OFAC text, which appears at the bottom of this article.

The designated firms:

• ESFAHAN NUCLEAR FUEL RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION CENTRE, a/k/a NERPC (has several alternative names) [World-Check UID 588163 ]
  

• JABBER IBN HAYAN RESEARCH DEPARTMENT a/k/a JHL [World-Check UID 584120]
  

• JOZA INDUSTRIAL COMPANY [World-Check UID 815552]
  

• NUCLEAR RESEARCH CENTRE FOR AGRICULTURE AND MEDICINE a/k/a NRCAM [World-Check UID 584109]
  

• SAFETY EQUIPMENT PROCUREMENT COMPANY a/k/a SEPCO [World-Check UID 815548]
  

The complete text of the OFAC notice appears at:

http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/actions/20080812.shtml

Will terrorist financiers and money launderers take advantage of South Ossetia hostilities?

For those of you who are watching the disturbing developments in South Ossetia and Georgia; note well, whenever there is armed conflict resulting in civilian casualties and refugees, the United Nations and private charities are not the only one who react. Money launderers, particularly those involved in terrorist financing operations, look upon these as opportunities. Let's look at the types of activities they typically engage in as they seek to take advantage of the chaos and urgent needs in the aftermath of war.

Compliance officers at international banks whose clients often include charities might want to raise the level of awareness of their staff to financial crime by using these illustrations:

• Terrorist financiers divert desperately needed air relief, food and supplies whilst it is en route to the region. I personally would be watching the accounts and assets of Kurdish charities, particularly those linked to the PKK terrorist organisation, for an increase in activity.
  

• Small and previously obscure EU charities specialising in the Caucuses could be co-opted by terrorist groups, to then make a broad-based appeal for funds for South Ossetia, which, of course, never reach the needy.
  

• Financial professionals working for terrorist organisations might obtain large amounts of relief donations by using the name of a charity or NGO that is deceptively similar to that of a known, bona fide entity. Given the diplomatic and military support rendered to Georgia in the recent past by America, I would look for a terrorist financing group to try to raise funds inside the United States, properly assuming that donors would not vett the entity too closely, due to their emotional response to the Russian attack.
  

The other emerging threat is that money launderers, operating in the region for narcotics traffickers, will seek to move the proceeds of crime by disguising the wire transfers as relief funds in transit, hoping that compliance officers will not investigate in the rush to get relief to the injured, wounded and displaced refugees.

Remember, the emergency nature of the emerging South Ossetia/Georgia refugee problem operates to interfere with normal customer identification, due diligence and overall compliance functions.

NATO won't let Russia succeed in Georgia: Rice

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that Russia is playing a "very dangerous game" with the U.S. and its allies and warned that NATO would not allow Moscow to win in Georgia, destabilize Europe or draw a new Iron Curtain through it.

On her way to an emergency NATO foreign ministers meeting on the crisis, Rice said the alliance would punish Russia for its invasion of the Georgia and deny its ambitions by rebuilding and fully backing Georgia and other Eastern European democracies.

"We have to deny Russian strategic objectives, which are clearly to undermine Georgia's democracy, to use its military capability to damage and in some cases destroy Georgian infrastructure and to try and weaken the Georgian state," she said.

"We are determined to deny them their strategic objective," Rice told reporters aboard her plane, adding that any attempt to recreate the Cold War by drawing a "new line" through Europe and intimidating former Soviet republics and ex-satellite states into submission would fail.

"We are not going to allow Russia to draw a new line at those states that are not yet integrated into the trans-Atlantic structures," she said, referring to Georgia and Ukraine, which have not yet joined NATO or the European Union but would like to.

Rice could not say what NATO would eventually decide to do to make its position clear but said the alliance would speak with one voice "to clearly indicate that we are not accepting a new line."....

In God We Trust

Hurry...NBC is taking a LIVE poll on "In God We Trust"

Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith
in God as a nation. NBC is taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our
American currency. Please send this to every Christian you know so they can
vote on this important subject. Please do it right away, before NBC takes
this off the web page.

Poll is still open so you can vote. As of 6:24 p.m. on 8/17, the results
were 50/50.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/

Georgia Takes a Beating in the Cyberwar With Russia

Warfare is not just kinetic in today's cyber connected world. Here is an overview of Russia's cyber-attack in recent dust-off with Georgia.

Here also is a posting on Wired.com blog how other former Soviet satellites helped Georgia function during the recent cyber attack. It does not bode well for them as Russia appears determined to reassert dominance over the region.

They Fought and Must Now Fight Again!

By CHELSEA J. CARTER

IRVINE, Calif. — A former Marine sergeant facing the first federal civilian prosecution of a military member accused of a war crime says there is much more at stake than his claim of innocence on charges that he killed unarmed detainees in Fallujah, Iraq.

In the view of Jose Luis Nazario Jr., U.S. troops may begin to question whether they will be prosecuted by civilians for doing what their military superiors taught them to do in battle.

Nazario is the first military service member who has completed his duty to be brought to trial under a law that allows the government to prosecute defense contractors, military dependents and those no longer in the military who commit crimes outside the United States.

“They train us, and they expect us to rely back on that training. Then when we use that training, they prosecute us for it?” Nazario said during an interview Saturday with The Associated Press. ....

“This boils down to one thing in my mind: Are we going to allow civilian juries to Monday-morning-quarterback military decisions?” said Nazario’s attorney, Kevin McDermott. ....

Nelson and Weemer were jailed in June for contempt of court for refusing to testify against Nazario before a federal grand jury believed to be investigating the case. Both were released July 3 and returned to Camp Pendleton.

Lee ADDS: This is a direct result of Rep. John Murtha interfering with matters he has no business doing. First the Marine Corps held a trial and all were aquitted and now Murtha wants another bite at the apple. Our military should not be subjected to ‘third basing’ by anyone or anybody!

The Iran Scenarios

by Alan Caruba

These days you can read as many different scenarios regarding the likelihood that Israel will attack Iran’s nuclear facilities as there are experts putting them forth. History, past and present, may have already written the script.

....Militarily, Iran would prove to be an extremely difficult nation to invade or conquer. Thus, an Israeli strike would be limited to destroying or at least significantly delaying Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. At issue is when Iran would be capable of manufacturing and delivering its own nukes.

The next question to be answered is what benefit Iran’s leaders would perceive in launching a nuclear attack on Israel? Any use of nuclear weapons by any nation would come with a huge price. Iran is already a pariah nation despite its oil.

Since 1979 the Iran government has deemed the U.S. the Big Satan and Israel the Little Satan. When people spend nearly 30 years shouting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”, history teaches that it is folly to ignore them or to suggest reasons to believe that it’s just bluster....

An Israeli attack, if followed by the collapse of the Iranian regime, would likely result in a relatively brief disruption in the flow of oil from the Middle East. The opening of the Strait of Harmuz would become an international priority, nor is the U.S. likely to be seriously affected because it imports much of its oil from Canada, Central and South America. It would surely increase the growing demands to open up ANWR in Alaska and authorization of off-shore oil exploration.....

A new government, even one led by Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, is not likely to take on the huge risks involved in an attack on Iran without explicit reassurances of U.S. approval and possible involvement. The problem for Israel is that such an attack would trigger war by a heavily rearmed Hezbollah based in Lebanon and a Gaza-based Hamas.

The irony is that all of Iran’s Arab neighbors would love to see Iran removed as an obstacle to peace in the region. Moreover, Iran represents Shiite Islam whereas other Muslim nations with the exception of Iraq are the majority Sunni sect. No love loss there.

Speculation will exist as long as the ayatollahs and the crazed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remain in power. In the end, like the sudden invasion of Georgia, the issue will be resolved by action, not talk.

Police investigating whether man died from police Taser

(Compiler's note: Is it just me or what? I'm becoming very tired of hearing about and watching our police and their "liberal" use of a weapon that can kill. The weapon should be used to help control NOT to deliver a form of punish the individual on the spot.)

....According to Severence, police told Oliver to get down and put his hands behind his back. Apparently, Oliver didn't put his hands behind his back quick enough and Severence said he watched police use a Taser three times. "They Tased him three different times. They just kept Tasing him. I told the police, 'You're going to kill that man,' so after they did it a third time, I just walked away," said Severence.

Severence said his friend saw police shock Oliver a fourth time.

Edwin Oliver said his brother has pins in his shoulders, which make it too difficult to put his arms behind his back. "He can't put his hands behind his back," he explained, "and they just start tasing him and tasing him until they killed him, and, you know, it's sad, it's so many incidents in South Florida with these Tasers, trigger-happy Tasers, and they're killing people and they try to justify it."

Oliver was pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Family and friends say Oliver had a heart condition and that is probably why he was wandering the streets asking for help.....

Arab world fears an Iran war may be impending

DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources report that the Iranian satellite carrier space launch Sunday, Aug. 17, was prompted by a joint caution to Tehran from Saudi King Abdullah and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

After their meeting Saturday, the spokesman of the presidential palace in Cairo, Suleiman Awwad, said: Iran should not present on a silver platter the “justifications and pretexts for those [US and Israel] who want to drag the region down a dangerous slope.”

This warning was interpreted by the London Arabic daily Al Quds as a warning to Tehran that an attack is impending by the US, some European nations and Israel.

The article recalled the fate of Saddam Hussein “who didn't adequately refute claims over Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction.”

Tehran immediately responded to the warning by launching the Safir satellite carrier into orbit, thereby exhibiting a ballistic missile capable of reaching outside the Middle East, as far as Britain and France, should they decide to join an American attack on Iran, as well as US military installations on that continent.

Our military sources report that the war scare in Cairo and Riyadh also infected Kuwait.

Last week, the small oil emirate placed its military on “war alert,” to avoid being caught off-guard by a possible conflict in the region. On Saturday, Kuwait boosted its naval force in the Persian Gulf to ward off a possible Iranian reprisal against its oil installations if attacked.

The scare was fed by the impending arrival of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the USS Ronald Reagan, and the USS Iwo Jima in the Persian Gulf to reinforce the US strike forces in the region, as first revealed by DEBKAfile on August 11.

They are to join the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is patrolling the Arabian Sea opposite Iran, and the USS Peleliu, on beat in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. This deployment would be the largest naval task force the US and its allies had massed in the region since the 1991 Gulf War.

A US Pentagon spokesman last week denied that these forces were gathering to impose a partial naval blockade on Iran, but declined to disclose their mission. The denial apparently failed to convince the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kuwait.

Russia says withdrawal from Georgia underway

....

The statement came amid uncertainty about whether Russia was fulfilling its promise of a military withdrawal from Georgia, with earlier media reports from the ground indicating Russian forces were not showing any sign of moving out.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said his country's troops would begin pulling back from their positions in the former Soviet republic on Monday, but he gave no firm deadline for completion of the withdrawal.

Russian tanks moved even deeper into Georgia on Sunday, digging in at a checkpoint barely 30 kilometres west of the capital, Tbilisi, the CBC's Mike Hornbrook reported from the city.

By midday Monday, residents of the central Georgian city of Gori were still waiting for Russian forces to begin their promised pullout.

Meanwhile, Russian troops set up new checkpoints along the main road from Gori to the capital, Reuters reported. ....

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf resigns

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced Monday that he will resign, just days ahead of impeachment in parliament over attempts by the U.S.-backed leader to impose authoritarian rule on his turbulent nation. ....

Musharraf dominated Pakistan for years after seizing power in a 1999 military coup, making the country a key strategic ally of the U.S. by supporting the war on terror. But his popularity at home sank over the years. ....

Read this SkyNews report for additional information

Libya to receive reparations for Reagan air strike

(Compiler's note: I'll bet the gov't wants to keep this one as quiet as possible. I had to read the first paragraph three times myself ... you may want to read the entire original article)

By Chelsea Schilling

Despite 189 American lives lost in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, the U.S. settled all lawsuits against Libya for terrorist killings and restored diplomatic relations with the country today – with reparations to be paid to Libya. ....

An Associated Press report reveals that foreign companies conducting business in Libya – including U.S. companies – will begin paying into a fund to award damages to both Libyan and American claimants. ....

When WND asked the State Department spokeswoman if oil companies would have any part in paying reparations, she said, "I don't have any information on that, but it has been established. I have no information on what the financial agreement will be or the financial compensation that will be paid."

While Thompson said Libyans will receive a settlement as part of the agreement, she declined to reveal the source of the money.

"None of this will be U.S. government funding," she said.

The State Department has provided little information about the agreement. It issued a short press release stating only the following:

The United States and Libya concluded a comprehensive claims settlement agreement on August 14 in Tripoli. Both parties welcomed the establishment of a process to provide fair compensation for their respective nationals, and thereby turn their focus to the future of their bilateral relationship. They also underscored the benefits an expansion of ties would provide for both countries as well as for the American and Libyan peoples.

The U.S now plans to open an embassy in Tripoli, confirm a U.S. ambassador to Libya and grant Gadhafi's government immunity from more terror-related lawsuits, according to the Associated Press. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to visit Libya before the year's end. ....

"This is done after the murder of my innocent daughter and 270 people killed," she said. "Gadhafi was the one who was behind the attack on that disco, and Reagan responded. Does that mean the Republican administration is saying that Ronald Reagan and Gadhafi are equivalent terrorists?"