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Some of the recommendations of the recently published Congressional Report into the Reserves and National Guard seem ill-advised and counter-productive. Targeting the Department of Defense’s reported upon lack of ability to respond to nuclear, biological and chemical threats, one conclusion drawn is that the non-active elements should be refocused exclusively on domestic disasters. [...]
Under the REAL ID Act, federal agencies are prohibited, effective May 11, 2008, from accepting a driver’s license or a state-issued personal identification card for an “official purpose” unless the issuing state is meeting the requirements of the REAL ID Act. Bottom line? Travelers from non-compliant states will likely encounter significant travel delays because they will be required to undergo secondary screening.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff responds to criticism of the Department’s new policy requiring proof of citizenship for people crossing the border, including the northern border. Members of Congress from northern border states have demanded that DHS rescind the policy, asserting that it could harm trade.
As of January 31, 2008, all individuals seeking to enter the U.S. at land borders will have to present documentary proof of citizenship. Until this change in policy takes effect, any individual in the Western Hemisphere can enter the United States by attesting they are a United States citizen and presenting a driver’s license. This approach places entry into our country into the realm of the honor system – a concept that has failed in our immigration policies - and relegated DHS Inspectors to the realm of bartenders attempting to distinguish a phony driver’s license from a real one.
And now the latest is Ron Paul, who has run a maverick campaign based on libertarian principles — except when such principles seem to get in the way of political expediency. He has now launched an ad proclaiming himself to be the tough-on-illegal-immigrants candidate, even going so far as to call for a ban on student visas from “terrorist nations.” (Would that include France?) For a guy who is supposed to embrace civil liberties, the idea of a blanket ban of any student who comes from any “terrorist nation,” no matter how deserving the individual student, is ironic to say the least.
The new reality of the Middle East presents new challenges to US foreign policy makers as they shape future US engagements and/or disengagements in part or parts of that region. On the other hand, this new reality gives the United States a larger degree of maneuverability unthinkable of few years ago. As intelligence is key to national security strategy-making, so is cultural intelligence essential to the development of foreign policy strategies.
Passed in 2002 by one vote, the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY) Act provides limited liability protection to companies and/or organizations that have technologies, products or services that could be used to combat terrorism. The rationale was to protect providers from being disemboweled by a litany of lawsuits should a product or service fail during a terrorist event.
With Lieberman and Collins both supporting Myers nomination, the nation’s chief immigration and smuggling enforcement officer wins the patina of bipartisanship. This will make it more difficult — though by new means impossible — for senators like Claire McCaskill of Missouri to rally enough opposition to block her nomination.
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