Works So Well In Pakistan, So On To US- Mexican Border & Gulf

(11AM EST – promoted by Nightprowlkitty)

The future is now.   Got some crazy, yellow Gasden snake flag flying neighbors, who are arming themselves for the 2nd Coming ? Is your Congressman or Senator a birther, or just an exuberant alien exporter?

How would you like the Tea Party or the uber right wing of the CIA telling Homeland Security where to deploy these next ?

With Nixon, it was the  National Guard.

With Obama, during an election year, one day after sacking his Afghan general,  it’s the   Drones.

They’re all the latest international fashion.    They even give them cute names like “Herons” when drones that are operated by Israel on behalf of Turkey are used in Iraq.

And they are so handy for killing the al Qaeda number three.  

Some 70 drone strikes have killed more than 200 people in North and South Waziristan since the start of 2010, officials say.

So many number threes, so little time.  

In 2009, the frequency of Predator strikes in Pakistan has continued to trend upwards. There have already been 31 Predator strikes in Pakistan this year (as of July 18) (2009) – nearly matching the total of 36 strikes for all of 2008.

If airstrikes continue at the current rate, the number of strikes in 2009 could more than double the dramatic increase in Predator activity seen in 2008.

…. we have determined that airstrikes resulted in 317 deaths during 2008. Already, the airstrikes in 2009 have surpassed that total, with 365 killed in 2009 as of July 18. [see Chart 2, Deaths]

Somewhere in a village, there has to be the person running this insurgency.  Really.  At least according to Leon Panetta.  

And now, back in the motherland,  the Dept of Homeland Security is going to  use those oh, so effective drones on the border with Mexico.

And fly them over the Gulf of Mexico.   Where charming BP Oil has been throttling attempts to see what’s going on with the oil from the wreck of the Deepwater Horizon spreading all along the coastlines, and with the cleanup workers not being allowed to wear respiratory protection gear against petroleum and dispersant fumes brought up out of the water by heat of the sun every day, and the toxic sludge of oil mixed with   Corexit brand dispersant, ( in which BP itself has a financial interest, as it’s a petroleum product made in Sugarland, TX), a month after the EPA and Lisa Jackson said they’d run some tests, and get back to us on finding a less toxic oil breaker- upper.  By now, the Coast Guard has dumped 1.3 million gallons of the stuff into the Gulf.

…. the Obama administration has publicly insisted that Corexit poses no problem. At a White House press briefing last week, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the commander of the Gulf effort, and Carol Browner, a White House aide on energy and climate change, dismissed qualms about Corexit. “We know there is some toxicity with dispersants, but it is far less than the toxicity of the oil,” Allen said. Browner compared Corexit to dishwasher detergent: “If you have a oily pan and wash it, you squirt some Dawn in, right?… So in your kitchen sink, you have the oil starting to break up and you’re seeing that biodegrading process right in front of you. That’s what happens.”

Yupper, that’s right, harmless, that’s why those silly Brits banned the stuff.   And when we scrub our frying pans, I go straight out to the shop and get me a cup of kerosene, mix it with some sulfer, 2butoxyethanol, butanedioc acid, sorbitan, propanol, and a dash of Dawn, and then pour it down the drain because my septic tank just LOVES the stuff. And so does my neighbor’s pond that he irrigates his crops with.  And the rest of the valley people on wells, farther downstream.  I was using Ivory or 7th Generation, but ever since we elected an administration that makes science based decisions,  I go for the more bio degradable stuff.  Degrading the biology is trendy this year per the social media.

But I digress.  Back to the drones, and the US military now flying routine surveillance over the civilians below, as the US military sprays them with toxic petroleum distillates  er, something just like Dawn above.  

Drones aren’t just for guarding our right to import oil.  They’re for guarding our right to look at misplaced oil as per BP and the government’s best interests.   And they can keep the submersibles from sneaking up upon our shores.

The agency has the green light from the FAA to operate the drones along the Texas border and throughout the Gulf Coast region. Customs and Border Protection will base a surveillance aircraft at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station in Texas.

http://www.wlos.com/template/i…

Can we really afford Arizona in an Oil Spill year ?

In a letter released late Tuesday, (June 22) Obama asks Congress to consider amending the fiscal year 2010 proposals to include the additional money to go toward securing the Southwest border, enhancing federal border protection and drug-fighting efforts.

“This request responds to urgent and essential needs,” Obama wrote.

Of the requested $600 million, $297 million would go toward ( 1,000 ) new Border Patrol agents, $52.5 million would go toward 160 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and $37 million would pay for two unmanned aircraft, according to amendments enclosed with Obama’s letter. The money also would go toward 30 new Customs and Border Protection officers and 20 new canine teams.

http://azcapitoltimes.com/blog…

That’s $297,000 per Border Agent to help elect Republicans to office in Arizona, and $325,000 per Immigration agent,  to promote racial profiling, deport parents of American children (and the children themselves) for doing menial work, and bust pot smokers.  Bipartisanship you can hope on at a third of a million dollars each.

Governor Brewer said she wasn’t sure how to respond yet, which means that she’s going to have to come up with another right wing hook to get the Feds to deport all the less wealthy school children out of the state, as a cost saving measure, after her Arizona state legislature cut off all their health care funding.

Cleanup workers on the states with beaches get $10 an hour.  That’s $20,000 a year.  We have at least 3 million gallons of oil invading our southern coastal border every day, poisoning, suffocating, and killing creatures, plants and livelihoods.  Hello, priorities.

After the Civil War and “Reconstruction,”  there was ongoing conflict between northern and southern states over the ongoing roles of  

Civilian vs Military, or actions taken on behalf of local domestic policy vs. the federal government using the military as law enforcement upon the civilian population.    As a result of that, the Posse Comitatus Act was passed in 1878.   It and the Insurrection Act of 1807 stood the test of time until the presidency of George W. Bush, under which it was “enhanced.”

Posse Comitatus says the military cannot occupy your state and be used as local law enforcement.  

Posse Comitatus (Latin): Power of the county

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P…

Recent legislative events

On September 26, 2006, President Bush urged Congress to consider revising federal laws so that U.S. armed forces could restore public order and enforce laws in the aftermath of a natural disaster, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

These changes were included in the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (H.R. 5122), which was signed into law on October 17, 2006.[3]

Section 1076 is titled “Use of the Armed Forces in major public emergencies”. It provided that:

     The President may employ the armed forces… to… restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition…. the President determines that…. domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order… or [to] suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy if such… a condition… so hinders the execution of the laws… that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law… or opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.[4]

In 2008, these changes were repealed in their entirety, reverting to the previous wording of the  Insurrection Act.    

Part that was supposedly repealed in 2008

333.

Major public emergencies; interference with State and Federal law

(a) USE OF ARMED FORCES IN MAJOR PUBLIC EMERGENCIES.–

(1) The President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to–

(A) restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that–

(i) domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order; and

(ii) such violence results in a condition described in paragraph (2); or

(B) suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy if such insurrection, violation, combination, or conspiracy results in a condition described in paragraph (2).

(2) A condition described in this paragraph is a condition that–

(A) so hinders the execution of the laws of a State or possession, as applicable, and of the United States within that State or possession, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the constituted authorities of that State or possession are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right, privilege, or immunity, or to give that protection; or

(B) opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.

(3) In any situation covered by paragraph (1)(B), the State shall be considered to have denied the equal protection of the laws secured by the Constitution.

(b) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.–

The President shall notify Congress of the determination to exercise the authority in subsection (a)(1)(A) as soon as practicable after the determination and every 14 days thereafter during the duration of the exercise of the authority.  

___________

334.

Whenever the President considers it necessary to use the militia or the armed forces under this chapter, he shall, by proclamation, immediately order the insurgents or those obstructing the enforcement of the laws to disperse and retire peaceably to their abodes within a limited time.

 

Insurgents?  Over….  Dispersants ?

federal authorities also signed an agreement that will allow law enforcement officials from non border communities to temporarily work along the border region to help with security.  

Did we miss something ?

According to the press release of Rep Henry Cuellar of Laredo, this stuff has already been going on.

Earlier this month, CBP (Customs and Border Protection)  began flying a remotely-piloted aircraft based in Arizona over a portion of West Texas. FAA’s most recent approval will allow CBP to fly over the remainder of the Texas-Mexico border between El Paso and Brownsville along the Rio Grande.

In addition, CBP will patrol the state’s coastline along the Gulf of Mexico. The remotely-piloted aircraft, known as a Predator B, can fly for up to 20 hours and provide to CBP real-time critical intelligence information from attached cameras, sensors and radar systems.  

“Increasingly these aircraft will become a familiar means for providing homeland security,” said Congressman Cuellar. “By putting eyes in the sky, we can provide real-time information to our law enforcement on the ground. This combination of technology and manpower keeps our law enforcement a cut above the challenges they face.”

http://aviationblog.dallasnews…

When head of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced this yesterday while speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,  and had their logo in the background, this is who they are:

Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Sam Nunn — Cochairman & CEO, Nuclear Threat Initiative

Vice Chairman & Co-Founder

David M. Abshire — President & CEO, Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress

Chairman of the Executive Committee

William A. Schreyer — Chairman Emeritus, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.

President & CEO

John J. Hamre– President & CEO, CSIS

Trustees

George L. Argyros — Chairman & CEO, Arnel & Affiliates

Richard Armitage — President, Armitage International

James A. Bell — Corporate President and CFO, The Boeing Company

Reginald K. Brack — Chairman Emeritus, Time, Incorporated

William E. Brock — Counselor and Trustee, CSIS

Harold Brown — Counselor and Trustee, CSIS

Zbigniew Brzezinski — Counselor and Trustee, CSIS

Carlos A. Bulgheroni — Trustee, CSIS

William S. Cohen — Chairman & CEO, The Cohen Group

Ralph Cossa — President, Pacific Forum/CSIS

Richard Fairbanks — Counselor and Trustee, CSIS

Henrietta H. Fore — Former Administrator of the USAID

William H. Frist — Former Senate Majority Leader

Michael P. Galvin — President, Harrison Street Capital, LLC

Helene D. Gayle — President & CEO, CARE USA

Linda W. Hart– Vice Chairman & CEO, The Hart Group, Inc.

Ben W. Heineman, Jr. — Senior Adviser and Trustee, CSIS

John B. Hess, Chairman and CEO, Hess Corporation

Thomas O. Hicks — Chairman & CEO, Hicks Holdings LLC

Carla A. Hills — Chairman & CEO, Hills & Company

Ray L. Hunt — Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, Hunt Consolidated, Inc.

E. Neville Isdell — Trustee, CSIS

Muhtar Kent — President, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company

Henry A. Kissinger — Chairman & CEO, Kissinger Associates, Inc.

Kenneth G. Langone — President, Chairman & CEO, Invemed Associates, LLC

Chong-Moon Lee — Chairman of Board of Directors, Nara Bancorp

Donald B. Marron — Chairman & CEO, Lightyear Capital

Joseph Nye — Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government

Thomas Pritzker — Chairman & CEO, The Pritzker Organization, LLC

Joseph E. Robert — Founder and Executive Chairman, The J.E. Robert Companies (JER)

Felix G. Rohatyn — President, FGR Associated, LLC

David M. Rubenstein — Cofounder and Managing Director, The Carlyle Group

Charles A. Sanders — Former Chairman & CEO, Glaxo Inc.

James R. Schlesinger — Former Secretary of Defense and Energy

Brent Scowcroft — President, The Scowcroft Group

Rex Tillerson — Chairman & CEO, Exxon Mobil Corporation

Frederick B. Whittemore — Advisory Director, Morgan Stanley

” Border Security and Immigration Law Enforcement ” Napolitano at CSIS Yesterday, June 23, 2010  

C- span video, C- span partial transcript of the speech here:  http://wwww.c-spanvideo.org/pr…

(partial transcript of highlights off the tape by ARC) Read below-   First off, we’re already deporting over a third of a million people per year from this transcript, according to the Federal government.  Obama, by the end of his first term, will therefore have deported a million and a half people.  If he got a second term, and they held that rate,  it would be 3 million.  Yet only half of them are criminals.   Secondly, by the time you get to the end, you will see that Homeland Security exists to perpetrate itself.  It never gets smaller.  It never spends less.   First, all the southern winger Republican Governors and most of the wing nut contingent in Congress (either party)  want to declare that it’s completely illegal for undocumented immigrants to work or be hired.  Lacking legal employment, then they would be working ….  illegally.  Having thus declared their attempt to survive their existence to be a crime, and criminals must be deported,  then these states can suck up all sorts of Federal funding.  Napolitano seems to be suggesting that they turn themselves in….  to be deported ?

Uh, why would anyone want to get dumped back into Mexico or China with all the crazy drug and organized crime cartels ?

And the White House has a policy that they want people to take less drugs.  That was really noble, but….  look at how it worked out with the health care bill when we had Pharma lobbyists making sure that prescription drugs would stay expensive.  And the ersatz reason we started the Afghanistan surge, (War supplemental, 70 billion, cha $ ching, cha $ ching ) was to get control of the Afghan poppy crop before the Taliban did.  Uh….

So we’re going to spend over a half billion more per year,  to interdict…..  pot at the border.   So more people can go to (overcrowded) jails, aka “criminal training & tatooing facilities”  Which costs only $35,000 or so a year in CA, assuming they snag a legal criminal once in a while.

We have a CA ballot measure on the fall election, to decriminalize marijuana.  I would list the Democrats in office or campaigning against this, as the state goes bankrupt, but why spoil a good system of taxpayer funded, money wasting cognitive dissonance while we’re at it.  

_____________  video highlights

Napolitano, on first half of video:  ICE has removed 117,000

half deported are convicted criminals   we are not satisfied, there is more work to do

Minute 17 has the money details

Minute 21 The drones to Texas and the Gulf

Wants Congress working across party lines to enact changes to immigration laws comprehensive set of reforms, too long just heard in this debate tough talk, debate about accountability,

“and yes, illegal immigrants also need to be held accountable, register (with the government), get right with the law, pay taxes, learn English

before they can ever get in line to earn American citizenship”

we need a comprehensive policy, we cannot have a 50 state policy, it will not work

Q.Question from Mexican journalist about the recent border shooting (of teenager who was running across the border back into Mexico)

A. David Aguilar, Customs and Border Deputy Commissioner,  “the incident” is being investigated, loss of life regrettable, investigation once completed, info will be put out there in an open fashion,  claims the National Guard more boots on the ground, clear division of them not arresting , not engaging in enforcement activities against illegal crossings of  aliens or narcotics or things of that nature, we have experience,  the National Guard, the citizen soldiers, will bring a tremendous amount of capability in securing our borders.

Q.Federal lawsuit against states, comment ?  

A. No.  (laughter from audience)

From “Homeland Security Magazine”

Q.Reports of shots exchanged across the border ?

A.Hard to verify identity.   Relationships are strong (with Mexican counterparts) that is our best chance to get after these drug cartels.

A. (Aguilar) has happened in the past, inadvertent,  our partnership with our Mexican partners has been tremendous.

Q. Canada ?

A. International, It is all about flows (of people traffic)

Q. Timeline when border will be secure or is the question political posturing because the goalposts keep moving.

A.  border is as secure now as it ever has been, but we can do more.   Mexico for 22 of our states is our largest trading partner we have a lot of commerce across the border we want to encourage that. the notion we are going to (totally) seal the border and only then will you discuss immigration reform that is not an answer to the problem

Q.  how many deportations per year?  how much does it cost per deportation ?

A. John Morton, Homeland Security:  in any given year, 380,000 people, a little over a thousand a day. we count that daily, we keep close track on it.  (does not answer 2nd part per cost)

Final question.



Q.  Where do we want to be in 24 months as threat compression occurs, (as smugglers use different routes) as trafficers come up with submersibles ?

Napolitano: we want to focus on the removal of criminal aliens which form a danger to our communities. I believe the measures we are taking further secure the land border, counterterrorism 1st priority, but also secure sea and air borders.

Gill : Obama released his National Drug Enforcement policy (few weeks ago)  24 months from now,  what I’d like to see is Americans consuming less drugs. There are some ambitious goals with that, if we weren’t such a huge consumer nation, we would not only be causing less grief within our borders we’d be causing less grief in Mexico.

John Morton Assistant Homeland Security:  I think in 2 years from now, from ICE and technology,  if we meet again, in almost every state local prisoner jail, Secure Technologies , when somebody is arrested, what is their immigration status, going to have an enormously profound effect,  for the first time in our nation’s history, we will know exactly who we are dealing with, criminal offenders who are not here lawfully,  we are already well underway with that, it works, avoids concerns in the past about profiling, targeted enforcement, the beauty of Secure Communities, is every single person gets their fingerprints run,   I get my fingerprints run, you get your fingerprints run, and the fingerprints don’t lie.   (minute 53) (phrases not in exact order in the beginning, but I got the ending about the fingerprints as it was spoken.  He seemed to really like that part. )

Rob Davis, San Jose CA Police Chief Major Cities Chiefs Association President:  what we want to see is comprehensive immigration reform Federal, law enforcement is getting squeezed, what do you want us to do, focus on robberies, assaults, crimes, etc  do we want our local law enforcement to be the primary enforcement of immigration laws with limited resources, no,  that is a civil law, we don’t want to see 50 different laws how we are going to solve this problem,  no win situation for local law enforcement.  Beginning to hamper our community policing efforts,  we have over a million people in San Jose, we don’t have a majority of anything, local people don’t understand what is taking place with this populist issue, and are having fear when we do calls.

___________  end of transcript highlights

This is your Government’s Brain On Drugs.

And no, I don’t want to have whatever they’re sharing.