MSNBC.com: 'We are safe,' says Chertoff

'We are safe,' says Chertoff

With no plans to raise terror alert level, Chertoff encourages vigilance

MSNBC News Services

Updated: 9:11 p.m. ET July 2, 2007

WASHINGTON - The United States remains safe after the attack at a Scottish airport and two foiled car bombs in London, and no raising of the terror alert status is planned, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Monday.

"We are safe, but we are safe because we continue to pay attention and we continue to add security measures," Chertoff said as the Fourth of July holiday approaches.

The homeland security chief noted the incidents over the past several days in Great Britain sent a message that would-be terrorists have a wide variety of ways to attack.

"If you look back at all the plots, you've seen a wide variety of techniques," he said on CBS's "The Early Show." But Chertoff said authorities in the United States must prepare for a wide variety of threats, even though the suicide attacks often are the most spectacular.

He also said the country needs to be especially vigilant about how and under what circumstances the threat increases.

"I think we've been saying for some period of time that we need to be looking not only at homegrown terrorism, but that international terrorism might come to the United States through Europe," Chertoff said.

Chertoff also played down a report that al-Qaida was planning a big attack in the United States. "We do not currently have any specific threat information that is credible about a particular attack on the United States," Chertoff told Fox News.

ABC News, quoting a senior U.S. official, said on Sunday a secret law enforcement report prepared for the Department of Homeland Security warned that al-Qaida planned to carry out a "spectacular" attack this summer.

"This is reminiscent of the warnings and intelligence we were getting in the summer of 2001," ABC quoted the unidentified official as saying.

National alert level remains the same
The United States' terrorism alert for airports is at orange, the second-highest level, and yellow, the midlevel stage of the alert status, for the rest of the country as a whole. Red is the highest alert level.

Chertoff said on CBS that the decision was made to leave the terror alert where it is for now, "based on what we've seen so far."

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity while the investigations were ongoing, said Sunday that American authorities were running the names of the suspects in Britain through their databases to look for links to the United States.

Those checks would include watch lists such as the no-fly list; any clue that the suspects had shared an address with people in the U.S.; intelligence indicating the suspects made calls into the U.S.; and other similar types of investigative work.

It was not immediately clear if counterterrorism agencies had any hits or connections.

Appearing Monday morning on ABC's "Good Morning America," Chertoff reiterated that "we do not have any specific credible information about an attack directed against the United States."

Chertoff also said that although U.S. authorities have not increased the alert level, "we have taken some steps to implement pre-existing plans to increase security at our airports and our mass transit and other transportation centers."

"That's partly a reflection of what happened over the last few days," he told ABC. "It's partly a recognition of the fact that during the heavy travel, there will be crowds and we want to be prudent and take some extra precautions. But there is no specific threat that we're aware of at this point."

Airport security tight ahead of holiday
U.S. airports and mass transit systems are tightening security ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and more air marshals will travel on overseas flights.

"We will be doing operations at various rail locations and other mass transit locations in cooperation with local authorities. Again, not because of a specific piece of credible threat information, but because we are going into a holiday season. There will be a larger number of people traveling," Chertoff said.

From Kennebunkport, Maine, where he is hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin for a visit, President Bush said Sunday that he was grateful for the new British government's "strong response" to terrorist threats in London and Scotland.

"It just goes to show the war against these extremists goes on," Bush said. "You never know where they may try to strike, and I appreciate the very strong response that the Gordon Brown government's given to the attempts by these people."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19546414/

MSNBC.com: Mexico to introduce drug testing in schools

Mexico to introduce drug testing in schools

President hopes program will reduce narcotics use among youth

Reuters

Updated: 7:01 p.m. ET July 2, 2007

MONTERREY, Mexico - Mexican students will take drug tests in schools as part of an effort to reduce narcotics use among young people, President Felipe Calderon said Monday.

Calderon said 8,000 schools will take part in the first stage of the program when the school year begins in August and September. Students ages 12 to 17 whose parents consent will take the test, which will ultimately will be administered nationwide.

"We must join forces to have ... permanent review of pupils' health to detect any addiction and to act immediately, not to punish them but to help them," Calderon said during a visit to a poor neighborhood of Monterrey in northern Mexico.

About 5 percent of young Mexicans have tried illegal drugs at least once, a much lower number than in the United States, but narcotics use is on the rise, the United Nations says.

Mexican drug smugglers channel billions of dollars worth of South American cocaine and marijuana into the United States every year, but increasing amounts are staying in Mexico.

Mexican drug users bought $3 billion worth of cocaine last year, Mexican newspaper Reforma reported on Monday.

Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19570049/

NBC news: Chemtrails over California

youtube

Castro blasts CIA over spy papers

BBC
Monday July 2, 2007

Cuban President Fidel Castro has said recent CIA admissions of illicit Cold War activities disguise the fact the US is using such "brutal" tactics today.

Last week the CIA published documents called the "Family Jewels", revealing spy plots and assassination attempts.

The documents included plans to use Mafia help to kill Fidel Castro.

Mr Castro, still recovering after surgery last year, said in the official media the US was trying to pretend the tactics belonged to another era.

"Everything described in the documents is still being done, only in a more brutal manner around the entire planet, including an increasing number of illegal actions in the very United States," President Castro wrote.

In an editorial called the Killing Machine, he wrote: "Sunday is a good day to read what appears to be science fiction."

Lee Harvey Oswald

One of the key revelations of the documents was that the CIA tried to persuade mobster Johnny Roselli in 1960 to plot the assassination of the Cuban leader.

The plan was for poisoned pills to be put in Mr Castro's food, but it was shelved after the US-sponsored invasion of the Bay of Pigs failed a year later.

Mr Castro has long accused the US, including President George W Bush, of plotting to kill him.

In his editorial, Mr Castro also refers to the assassination of John F Kennedy, saying the US president was the victim of the CIA and anti-Castro Cuban exiles.

Mr Castro says Lee Harvey Oswald could not have acted alone in killing the president.

"You lose the target after every shot even if it is not moving and have to find it again in fractions of a second," Mr Castro, himself an expert marksman, says.

Mr Castro underwent intestinal surgery in July last year but in recent weeks his writings have been appearing more frequently.

The abuses and illicit activities listed in the CIA report date from the 1950s to the 1970s.

On Friday Cuba's parliament passed a resolution stating that: "What the CIA recognises is not old history. It is present-day reality and the facts show it."

Alarmist global warming claims melt under scientific scrutiny

JAMES M. TAYLOR
Chicago Sun Times
Sunday July 1, 2007

In his new book, The Assault on Reason, Al Gore pleads, "We must stop tolerating the rejection and distortion of science. We must insist on an end to the cynical use of pseudo-studies known to be false for the purpose of intentionally clouding the public's ability to discern the truth." Gore repeatedly asks that science and reason displace cynical political posturing as the central focus of public discourse.

If Gore really means what he writes, he has an opportunity to make a difference by leading by example on the issue of global warming.

A cooperative and productive discussion of global warming must be open and honest regarding the science. Global warming threats ought to be studied and mitigated, and they should not be deliberately exaggerated as a means of building support for a desired political position.

Many of the assertions Gore makes in his movie, ''An Inconvenient Truth,'' have been refuted by science, both before and after he made them. Gore can show sincerity in his plea for scientific honesty by publicly acknowledging where science has rebutted his claims.

For example, Gore claims that Himalayan glaciers are shrinking and global warming is to blame. Yet the September 2006 issue of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate reported, "Glaciers are growing in the Himalayan Mountains, confounding global warming alarmists who recently claimed the glaciers were shrinking and that global warming was to blame."

Gore claims the snowcap atop Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro is shrinking and that global warming is to blame. Yet according to the November 23, 2003, issue of Nature magazine, "Although it's tempting to blame the ice loss on global warming, researchers think that deforestation of the mountain's foothills is the more likely culprit. Without the forests' humidity, previously moisture-laden winds blew dry. No longer replenished with water, the ice is evaporating in the strong equatorial sunshine."

Gore claims global warming is causing more tornadoes. Yet the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated in February that there has been no scientific link established between global warming and tornadoes.

Gore claims global warming is causing more frequent and severe hurricanes. However, hurricane expert Chris Landsea published a study on May 1 documenting that hurricane activity is no higher now than in decades past. Hurricane expert William Gray reported just a few days earlier, on April 27, that the number of major hurricanes making landfall on the U.S. Atlantic coast has declined in the past 40 years. Hurricane scientists reported in the April 18 Geophysical Research Letters that global warming enhances wind shear, which will prevent a significant increase in future hurricane activity.

Gore claims global warming is causing an expansion of African deserts. However, the Sept. 16, 2002, issue of New Scientist reports, "Africa's deserts are in 'spectacular' retreat . . . making farming viable again in what were some of the most arid parts of Africa."

Gore argues Greenland is in rapid meltdown, and that this threatens to raise sea levels by 20 feet. But according to a 2005 study in the Journal of Glaciology, "the Greenland ice sheet is thinning at the margins and growing inland, with a small overall mass gain." In late 2006, researchers at the Danish Meteorological Institute reported that the past two decades were the coldest for Greenland since the 1910s.

Gore claims the Antarctic ice sheet is melting because of global warming. Yet the Jan. 14, 2002, issue of Nature magazine reported Antarctica as a whole has been dramatically cooling for decades. More recently, scientists reported in the September 2006 issue of the British journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Series A: Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences, that satellite measurements of the Antarctic ice sheet showed significant growth between 1992 and 2003. And the U.N. Climate Change panel reported in February 2007 that Antarctica is unlikely to lose any ice mass during the remainder of the century.

Each of these cases provides an opportunity for Gore to lead by example in his call for an end to the distortion of science. Will he rise to the occasion? Only time will tell.

James M. Taylor is senior fellow for environment policy at the Heartland Institute.

Iran: US no more a wall of fear

Press TV
Monday July 2, 2007

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution says the false façade of the US, which used to intimidate other nations, has dissipated.

He made the comment in his meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who is in Tehran on a three-day visit.

"Its shaky political structure as well as the ongoing domestic complications it has to deal with has proven the bullying policies of the US government," Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei added.

Referring to the futile efforts of the US to debilitate both Venezuela and Iran, which have independent popular governments, the Leader said, "Therefore, cooperation between the two nations is not only natural but needs to be boosted as well."

"Given the fact that world powers have always tried to weaken independent countries, these nations must beef up cooperation in all sectors," he stated.

He also stressed that the bilateral agreements between the two countries should be implemented.

In the meantime, Chavez pointed to the large number of contracts between the two countries in the fields of oil and gas, petrochemical sectors and said that Caracas is seriously seeking stronger ties with Tehran.

He said the recent developments in Latin America and the emergence of independent anti-American governments indicates that imperialism is declining.

"Independent nations should look forward to the future,” he added.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was also present at the meeting.

Lieberman calls for wider use of surveillance cameras

Klaus Marre
The Hill
Monday July 2, 2007

Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said Sunday he wants to “more widely” use surveillance cameras across the country.

“The Brits have got something smart going in England, and it was part of why I believe they were able to so quickly apprehend suspects in the terrorist acts over the weekend, and that is they have cameras all over London and other of their major cities,” Lieberman said.

“I think it’s just common sense to do that here much more widely,” he added. “And of course, we can do it without compromising anybody’s real privacy.”

Lieberman lamented the “petty, partisan fighting” in Congress and called on his colleagues to join together to upgrade the nation’s electronic surveillance capabilities.

“Right now, we’re at a partisan gridlock over the question of whether the American government can listen into conversations or follow e-mail trails of non-American citizen,” he said on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos. “That’s wrong. We’ve got to solve that problem, pass a law to give the people working for us the ability to protect us.”

Lieberman, who is more closely aligned with the GOP than the Democrats he caucuses with on the war in Iraq and many national security issues and insisted Sunday that the surge in Iraq is working.

“You might say that, in Iraq, we’ve got the enemy on the run, but for some reason, in Washington, a lot of politicians are on the run to order a retreat by our troops even as they are beginning to succeed,” he said.

Lieberman stated it is not fair to conclude that he is more likely to endorse a Republican for president.

But he added that “so far I would say that Democratic candidates, in the larger questions of American security, have been disappointing, and I hope things will get better as this goes on.”

Secret Document: U.S. Fears Terror 'Spectacular' Planned

Official Cites Resemblance to Warnings and Intelligence Before 9/11

BRIAN ROSS, RHONDA SCHWARTZ and RICHARD ESPOSITO
ABC
Monday July 2, 2007

A secret U.S. law enforcement report, prepared for the Department of Homeland Security, warns that al Qaeda is planning a terror "spectacular" this summer, according to a senior official with access to the document.

"This is reminiscent of the warnings and intelligence we were getting in the summer of 2001," the official told ABCNews.com.

U.S. officials have kept the information secret, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" that the United States did not have "have any specific credible evidence that there's an attack focused on the United States at this point."

As ABCNews.com reported, U.S. law enforcement officials received intelligence reports two weeks ago warning of terror attacks in Glasgow and Prague, the Czech Republic, against "airport infrastructure and aircraft."

The warnings apparently never reached officials in Scotland, who said this weekend they had received "no advance intelligence" that Glasgow might be a target.

Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff declined to comment specifically on on the report today, but said "everything that we get is shared virtually instantaneously with our counterparts in Britain and vice versa."

Unlike the United States, officials in Germany have publicly warned that the country could face a major attack this summer, also comparing the situation to the pre-9/11 summer of 2001.

Little cop lesson: Students participate in mock raid

Lindsay Schoon
qconline.com
Monday July 2, 2007

ROCK ISLAND -- The kids sat in Frances Willard Elementary School's library Thursday morning, waiting for their teacher.

She arrived about 9:10 a.m., dressed in all black, including a black face mask.

"Sorry I'm late," Rock Island Police Officer Dytanya Robinson told the Junior Police Academy class. "I've already been working two raids ... I've been sweating in this hot suit since 6 a.m."

The students were wide-eyed and curious. They wanted to know more about her job with the tactical unit -- and her uniform.

It's the first year for the academy, designed to teach pre-teens about the different aspects of police work. They academy just wrapped up the last of four, three-day sessions.

Rock Island police Chief John Wright was inspired by Springfield's Junior Police Academy program, and wanted to try one here, Officer Robinson said.

Ten to 13 students committed to each session. There was no cost to students, since DARE funding was used to pay for it.

Classes were held at Frances Willard, Thomas Jefferson and Audubon elementary schools and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center.

School Resource Officer Jim Pauley and Officer Robinson led the sessions. Through guest speakers -- other officers -- students were exposed to crime scene investigation, detecting speeders, bike patrolling and emergency response.

Learning took place both inside and outside the classroom. After spending part of the two-hour sessions in the classroom, students headed out to participate in demonstrations.

"I thought we were just going to be talking about the stuff they do every day," said 11-year-old Ashley Ayala, adding that the hands-on aspect of the program made it more exciting.

Thursday, students learned about SWAT teams and then participated in a mock building entry. Earlier in the week, they tested radar guns along the street.

Officers said they were careful to not just explain what police do, but why they do it. Some children believe police are just out to hassle people, Officer Robinson said, and she hopes the program changed their perceptions.

Ashlee Moore, 11, said the program helped her understand "why they give people tickets and stuff."

The officers also hoped the program would spark interest in some participants in becoming police officers.

It did for 10-year-old Carmentae Henry. "I'd just like to be a police officer ... because it helps people and it’s the best thing to do."

IMF/World Bank: Power Grabs and Dirty Secrets, Reports International Development Agency

WASHINGTON, July 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in trouble, says the international development agency, ActionAid. With recent power upsets at both institutions, poor nations and global civil society are taking a closer look at how the institutions govern themselves -- and not liking what they see.

While World Bank and IMF policies directly impact millions of those living in the developing world, the institutions' leaders have traditionally been selected unilaterally by the US, in the case of the World Bank, and by Europe, in the case of the IMF. Poor countries, which are demanding more say in the selection process, have been thus far ignored.

Currently, the US and Europe control some 50% of World Bank/IMF voting shares, while Africa, which is most affected by the institutions' policies, controls a mere 5%.

"Already damaged by the Wolfowitz scandal, the World Bank lost further credibility last month when the US insisted on installing Bob Zoellick as its President. Developing countries saw this as a deliberate snub to their demand for a greater say in Bank policies," says Anne Jellema, ActionAid Policy and Campaigns Director.

"Europe's dirty little secret is it acquiesced to the US power grab at the World Bank out of self-interest to maintain its own crumbling empire at the IMF. This is the direct result of an antiquated gentleman's agreement between Europe and the US that divides power without the inconvenience of a democratic process," says Amy Gray, ActionAid IFI Liaison Manager.

"The carve-up of top posts between the US and Europe is only the tip of the iceberg of monopoly power threatening to sink both institutions. Without fundamental reforms to give poor countries a fair say in IMF decision-making, introducing a new way of choosing the Fund's head will be like voting on a new captain for the Titanic," adds Jellema.

"Now that the Managing Director of the IMF has announced his resignation, Europe has been handed a silver platter upon which to heap leadership and example. By introducing a transparent, merit-based selection process for the next Managing Director, and giving up some of its voting share in line with democratic principles to African, Latin American and Asian nations, Europe can seize the higher ground," says Sandeep Chachra, ActionAid International Governance Coordinator.

Amidst calls for the US and Europe to give up their archaic "rights" to award the number-one positions at the World Bank and IMF, experts warn that such reforms must also be paired with greater voting power for developing nations, if the institutions are to maintain relevancy.

"It's time that the countries most impacted by World Bank and IMF policy are allowed a fair voice through a truly democratic process," says Jellema.

ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency working in over 40 countries, taking sides with poor people to end poverty and injustice together. http://www.actionaid.org/

Contact: Sandy Krawitz of ActionAid USA

+1-202-492-7207 sandy.krawitz@actionaid.org ActionAid International

CONTACT: Sandy Krawitz of ActionAid International, +1-202-492-7207,
sandy.krawitz@actionaid.org

Web site: http://www.actionaid.org/

Third U.S. soldier charged in Iraq murder probe

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Monday it had charged a U.S. soldier with the murder of an Iraqi and of trying to cover up the crime by placing a weapon by the body.

The charge is linked to an investigation into the unlawful killing of three Iraqis in separate incidents during U.S. operations between April and June near the town of Iskandariyah, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, the military said in a statement. Two other soldiers have been charged separately.

Sergeant Evan Vela, from Phoenix, Idaho, was charged with one count of premeditated murder, wrongfully placing a weapon beside a dead Iraqi, making a false official statement and obstruction of justice.

The statement said the charges were merely an accusation of wrongdoing and that the soldier was presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Murder charges were announced on Saturday for Staff Sergeant Michael Hensley and Specialist Jorge Sandoval, stemming from complaints made by other U.S. soldiers to the authorities.

The three men all served in the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.

The charges are the latest to be leveled at U.S. forces serving in Iraq that include the killing of 24 unarmed Iraqis in 2005 by U.S. Marines in the town of Haditha, and the rape and murder of a 14-year old girl in Mahmudiya in March 2006.

Incidents of American soldiers illegally killing Iraqis since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 have incensed Iraqi public opinion and added to calls for a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

US accuses Iran of attacks in Iraq

telegraph uk
By staff and agencies

Last Updated: 3:06pm BST 02/07/2007

Senior Iranian officials knew about militant attacks in Iraq and have been using Hezbollah militiamen to train Iraqi extremists, US commanders have said.

The charge that senior Iranian officials had prior knowledge of attacks including one that killed five US soldiers in Karbala, is the most serious levelled at Teheran yet.

The US has previously accused Teheran of financing and arming the militants accused of carrying out the killings, but this was the first time they have accused Iranian officers of instigating the attack.

Military intelligence has suggested that Iranians planned an attack and have been using Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah militiamen to sponsor violence in Iraq.

Brigadier General Kevin Bergner told reporters that US-led forces had captured a senior Hezbollah militant who confessed to training Iraqi extremists to carry out attacks.

Bergner said Ali Musa Daqduq, a Lebanese man whose real name is Hamid Mohammed Jabur al-Lami, is a senior figure in Hezbollah and was captured in Iraq's southern city of Basra on March 20.

"In 2005 he was directed by senior Lebanese Hezbollah leadership to go to Iran and work with the Qods force to train Iraqi extremists," he said.

The Qods force, a unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and Hezbollah were jointly operating camps near Tehran in which they trained Iraqi fighters before sending them back to Iraq to wage attacks.

In the Karbala assault, militants disguised in US-style uniforms driving trucks swept past security at a local Iraqi security base and attacked a visiting group of American soldiers.

One US soldier was killed at the scene and four more dragged into the trucks, driven away, and later shot dead.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday dismissed the US allegations as "unfounded."

"There is no doubt about the Iranian government's and people's hatred towards the US administration but America's problem stems from elsewhere," he said.