| Home Front: Politix |
| Congress: moratorium on military hospital contracts |
| 2007-03-23 |
| Congress has moved a step closer to placing a one-year moratorium on Pentagon competitions to outsource military hospital work to private companies. The provision was included in a bill approved 59-0 late Tuesday by the House Armed Services Committee and expected to be considered by the full House later this week. The moratorium was added to the legislation in the wake of outrage over an Associated Press report that a three-year delay in awarding an Army contract at Walter Reed Army Medical Center contributed to substandard conditions and inadequate non-medical staffing there. The provision, introduced by Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, would prevent the Defense Department from starting any contract bidding that would let private companies and existing government managers compete for non-medical work at veterans' treatment centers. Members of Congress have asked the Pentagon for a comprehensive list of all public-private competitions at treatment centers following criticism of the drawn-out process that led to IAP Worldwide Services Inc. getting the Walter Reed contract in 2006. IAP is led by former executives of Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, the Texas-based oil services firm once run by Vice President Dick Cheney. It is owned by Cerberus, a New York hedge fund whose board is chaired by former Treasury Secretary John Snow. IAP Chairman David L. Myers on Wednesday sent a three-page letter to lawmakers detailing its role at the Walter Reed facility and the government competition to outsource non-medical federal jobs. Neither the Pentagon nor the Army directly addressed the legislation. Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith pointed to plans to close Walter Reed by 2011 and move patients to another military hospital in Bethesda, Md. |
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| Al Qaeda Leader: Materials Smuggled Across Border | ||||
| 2006-11-04 | ||||
A NEWSCHANNEL 5 investigation reveals what the feds don't want you to know. Suspected terrorists are hiding inside the U.S. and they got here by sneaking across the Mexican border. What we've been reporting for more than a year has been confirmed by a government report just released.
And a brand new interview by Pakistani investigative reporter Hamid Mir is bringing in more information. Mir has interviewed some of America's most dangerous terrorist enemies. This time the Al Qaeda commander he talked to gave a grim warning that another attack on America is coming very soon. "We can attack America anytime," says Abu Dawood during the interview. He also told the reporter that Muslims must leave America. Mir says, "Abu Dawood told me, 'We are determined to attack America again and that attack will be bigger than 9/11." The Al Qaeda commander says the attack will be led by Adnan El Shukrijumah. He goes by many aliases but is called Brother Adnan by his terrorist friends. Brother Adnan is wanted by the feds for possible terrorist threats against the U.S. He's considered armed and dangerous According to the Pakistani reporter, Dawood said Brother Adnan "had smuggled some dangerous materials from the Mexican border to inside the United States of America." "It's the kind of scenario that worries everybody," says Fred Burton, a former special agent for the U.S. State Department. Burton spent much of his federal career studying terrorists, predicting their next move. He now does the same thing at Stratfor, a private intelligence agency in Austin.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 asked Burton about the threat. "I think it has to be viewed credible, until proven otherwise," he says. The former special agent tells us the U.S. government is well aware Al Qaeda's been working hard to get a dirty bomb into the country, an explosive packed with nuclear materials small enough to carry in a suitcase. Smugglers have been caught 300 times in the past four years trying to sneak in radioactive material, which could be used to make a dirty bomb. That's what the International Atomic Energy Agency told the London Times last month.
Burton says there are several specific locations in Houston, which if hit, could carry out a devastating terrorist attack on U.S. soil. However Burton also says if Al Qaeda really does have a dirty bomb, border cities are much more vulnerable to attack, because he says terrorists don't want to get caught. "You'd want to bring that in right across the border, and you'd want to detonate that as soon as you can," he explains. We asked who would be at risk. "You would look at cities such as El Paso or Brownsville," he replied. For law enforcement, it's a very big worry, says Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. He testified to lawmakers in Washington about the dangers of terrorists and terrorist weapons getting smuggled in through South Texas. The sheriff tells us his biggest fear is that something could go wrong with a bomb. "We're not prepared," he says. The possible dangers are also a concern to U.S. Congressman Solomon Ortiz. He was among the first in Washington to sound the alarm about dangers at the border. Ortiz says, "The biggest threat is people coming in and we don't know who they are."
We're also learning these Middle Easterners are changing their Islamic names to Hispanic names, buying fake documents, learning Spanish and posing as Hispanic immigrants. Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo says there's even a training camp in Brazil teaching Middle Easterners how to blend in to the Mexican culture. According to government intelligence, Middle Eastern aliens from countries known to harbor terrorists are smuggled to staging areas in places like Venezuela and the tri-border region between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Then they're smuggled again through Mexico and our border right into the U.S. There's a big payoff for those who sneak them in. Mexican illegals pay smugglers an average of $2,000. Middle Easterners pay as much as thirty times that amount, up to $60,000! "I don't think they really care who they're bringing across, as long as they get paid for it," says Texas Congressman Michael McCaul. He put out the report, which also says Islamic terrorist groups may be using Mexico as a refuge. During our investigation, we found out a lot of people from suspicious countries are crossing right here in South Texas. Since 9/11, literally hundreds of illegal aliens have been caught here from places like Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Pakistan. Federal law enforcement estimates only ten to thirty percent of illegals who cross are actually caught. Governor Rick Perry says, "To think that international terrorists have not already exploited our border is naive." | ||||
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| Both Parties Decry Border Security, Lack of Funding | |
| 2005-03-04 | |
| WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic and Republican House members found common ground Thursday in decrying the state of security on the nation's borders - particularly with Mexico - and criticizing President Bush's proposed spending for immigration enforcement. Lawmakers shared concerns that terrorists may hide themselves among hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and said the Border Patrol doesn't have the manpower or equipment to weed them out. Particularly vexing to the lawmakers was the federal practice of releasing into the United States non-Mexican immigrants arrested for illegally entering the country so they can await deportation hearings. "The Border Patrol remains our first line of defense against the entry into the country of terrorists, drug smugglers, gangs, criminal aliens and others seeking to break our laws," said Rep. John Hostettler, R-Indiana, chairman of the Judiciary Committee immigration, border security and claims subcommittee. He added that he was disappointed by Bush's Border Patrol funding proposal. The lawmakers also said they were disappointed with Bush's spending plan for 2006, which would provide $37 million to hire 210 Border Patrol agents. The intelligence reorganization bill Bush signed last year called for hiring 2,000 more agents a year over five years - nearly doubling the size of the Border Patrol. Texas Democratic Rep. Solomon Ortiz, whose district abuts the Mexican border, said the "strength of the Border Patrol is dwindling" because 24 more agents from the McAllen, Texas, sector, which takes in several border counties, were deployed with the National Guard for the Iraq war. Salvador Zamora, Customs and Border Protection spokesman, did not immediately know how many agents have been deployed nationally for the Iraq war. Meanwhile the numbers of non-Mexican immigrants entering the country are increasing, Ortiz said. Nearly 40,000 non-Mexican immigrants were released in the country last year, and they came from 135 countries, he said. Although they are required to report later to authorities for deportation hearings, the no-show rates are 90 percent or higher, Ortiz said. Texas had the highest no-show rate at 40 percent, he said. Ortiz showed news video of some of the non-Mexican immigrants being released and dropped off at bus stations. He said some take taxis to Border Patrol stations to turn themselves in and get "walking around papers" - paperwork stating they are required to show up for a deportation hearing. Often they use aliases, he said. "At least those we stop. Let's be sure we know who they are," Ortiz said. When fiscal year 2004 ended Sept. 30, Border Patrol had 11,100 agents, up from the previous fiscal year's total of 10,700, Zamora said. As of January, the total dropped to 10,700, but the goal is to have 11,200 agents by the end of this fiscal year, he said. T.J. Bonner, president of the Border Patrol union, said the fine print in Bush's budget actually calls for hiring only 105 full-time Border Patrol agents in 2006. To offset attrition, the Border Patrol would have to hire about 750 agents to add 210, he said. In a Wednesday hearing, senators from both parties criticized Bush's funding levels for border security. Richard Bonner, Customs and Border Protection commissioner, said in the hearing that spending on technology - such as radiation monitors and unmanned aerial vehicles - would help make up the staffing difference.
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| Official sez al-Qaeda may enter the US through Mexico | |
| 2005-02-18 | |
| Rep. Solomon Ortiz has been sounding an alarm since last summer that al-Qaeda might exploit the porousness of the nation's southern border and now the Department of Homeland Security agrees with him. Admiral James Loy, deputy Homeland Security secretary, said in written testimony he gave the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday that "recent information from ongoing investigations, detentions and emerging threat streams strongly suggests that al-Qaeda has considered using the southwestern border to infiltrate the United States." Loy said that al-Qaeda operatives believe they can pay to get into the country through Mexico and that entering illegally is "more advantageous than legal entry." But Loy also said there's no conclusive evidence that al-Qaeda operatives have entered the country illegally through those methods.
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| Caribbean-Latin America | ||
| More on ties between El Salvadoran crooks and al-Qaeda | ||
| 2004-09-09 | ||
A week ago, U.S. Congressman Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) announced Salvadoran gangs members are in the Valley possibly to help Al-Qaeda members cross into our country. He says Brazil is now becoming a country of interest for the United States. Former Middle Eastern policy planner Edward Moore explains Al-Qaeda is not just a Middle Eastern problem, their members are recruiting anyone who will help them. Moore says, "They're sending out their political operations to try to encourage these people not necessarily to join in their Islamic radicalism, but to join in their efforts to destabilize the United States." Both Ortiz and Moore say thousands of Brazilians are crossing our border illegally. Terrorists are recruiting Brazilians because they can fly into Mexico with no problem because of a Visa Waiver policy.
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| US border on alert for al-Qaeda cells |
| 2004-09-03 |
| Three members of the Congressional Homeland Security Committee visit the Valley Tuesday with concerns for tighter security measures along the Texas-Mexico border - particularly in the Rio Grande Valley. Action 4 News has learned that Al Qaeda cells - each group having from seven to fifteen suspected terrorist members can be found just across the Rio Grande Valley in Mexico. "We know from intelligence reports that there are middle easterners that are making their way in our direction," said U.S. Congressman Jim Turner during a news conference at the Veterans Memorial International Bridge in Brownsville. "We don't know their purpose, but we do know that they are there and those reports are coming in increasing numbers. So it should be a wake-up call." Action 4 News has learned that federal agents have been placed on heightened alert. Local law enforcement agencies have also been notified to keep a watchful eye out for possible terroristic movement. "I think they know exactly where they might be, so I feel very comfortable knowing that once we get the right information we can put a stop to it," said U.S. Congressman Solomon Ortiz. But there is a problem says Ortiz and the other homeland security committee members who say the Texas border is not secure enough. And that is why they wanted to see the border facilities first hand. Another major concern is the increasing number of Central and South American immigrants who are coming into the country. "We do have a very serious problem... The Salvatrucha gangs are very serious, very viscous and we have confirmed that they have had contact with Al Qaeda," said Ortiz. El Salvador, Honduras, even Brazil are among the Central and South American countries where gangs have been potentially infected by Osama Bin Laden's recruitment for terror. Members of the House Homeland Security Committee say surveillance is there but the nation is not secure. It's a critical border shortfall committee member Sheila Jackson Lee is bringing to light. "We have failed to pay attention to some of these areas and provide full funding." The committee points to a billion dollar border upgrade for technology, manpower, training, equipment and most of all detention cell space. Statistically some 400,000 illegal immigrants are detained each year. Thousands every day. But with only 19,000 detention cells to hold them, it's a border battle Congressman Turner says we are losing. "About 80 to 90 percent of those released into our country never show up for a hearing. You know that represents a serious security threat to this country and it's got to stop." The lawmakers agree on one clear message: "We need help!" |
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| Indictment in altered passport case (Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed) | |
| 2004-08-21 | |
| A South African woman originally suspected of having links to terrorist groups but in the end charged only with being an illegal immigrant pleaded innocent in federal court Friday. Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed, 48, faces a possible 15 years in prison and $500,000 in fines if convicted on three counts, including illegal entry into the United States, altering a passport and lying to a federal officer. She has been in custody without bail since July 19 when she was seized at the airport in McAllen, Texas, for not having a visa. An FBI affidavit said Ahmed admitted she entered the United States illegally by crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas. In her arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy, Ahmed replied "not guilty" when asked for a plea on the charges. Stacy set her trial for October 12. The quiet court scene contrasted with the ruckus that accompanied her detention in July when leaks and official statements strongly suggested Ahmed was part of the "terrorist" scourge the government says is descending on the United States. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, a Texas Democrat, told reporters last month Ahmed was on a "watch list" for suspected terrorists. The FBI said her passport was missing several pages and she had travel documents that showed she had flown from South Africa to the United Arab Emirates to London and on to Mexico City. But prosecutors have toned down the official rhetoric as the investigation has progressed and moved away from any alleged terrorist connection. "This is an immigration case and we're treating it as one," Assistant U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle told reporters after Friday's hearing.
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| Arab terrorists entering the US through Mexico |
| 2004-08-15 |
| President Bush has launched a drive to halt illegal immigration across America's porous southern border, amid growing fears that terrorists may be using Mexico as a base camp before heading to Arizona, Texas and California. A string of alarming incidents has convinced Bush administration officials that lax immigration rules, designed to cope with the huge numbers of illegal entrants from Mexico, have become a significant loophole in the war on terror. Over the past month, border agents from Arizona and Texas have anonymously reported recent encounters with dozens of Arab men, who have made their way across the 2,000-mile Mexican border. Patrol agents told one Arizona newspaper that 77 males "of Middle Eastern descent" were apprehended in June in two separate incidents. All were trekking through the Chiricahua mountains and are believed to have been part of a larger group of illegal immigrants. Many were released pending immigration hearings. According to Solomon Ortiz, the Congressman for Corpus Christi in Texas, similar incidents are "happening all over the place. It's very, very scary". The two groups of Arab males were discovered by patrol guards from Willcox, Arizona. "These guys didn't speak Spanish," said one field agent, "and they were speaking to each other in Arabic. It's ridiculous that we don't take this more seriously. We're told not to say a thing to the media." A colleague told the paper: "All the men had brand-new clothing and the exact same cut of moustache." Local ranchers have also reported a rise in the sightings of large groups of young males. Last month, border patrol agents at McAllen airport, Texas, arrested a woman believed to be Pakistani, who was carrying a false South African passport. The woman, Farida Ahmed, is still being questioned by the FBI. She was travelling to New York, and admitted to having illegally crossed the Mexican border. She was still carrying a pair of wet jeans in her travel bag. "If you want to enter the US illegally," said the official, "the way to do it is to get to Mexico first." The possibility of a southern border loophole for potential terrorists was recognised as early as last year. In testimony before Congress, Steve McCraw, the assistant director of the FBI's Office of Intelligence, stated that "the ability of foreign nationals to use [the hearings procedure] to create a well-documented but fictitious identity in the United States, provides an opportunity for terrorists to move freely within the US without triggering name-based watch lists. It also enables them to board planes without revealing their true identity". |
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| South African Woman Confirmed on Watch List | |||
| 2004-07-29 | |||
| EFL: NEWSCHANNEL 5 confirms that the name of a South African woman taken into custody while trying to board an airplane in McAllen last week appears on an FBI watch list. A senior Homeland Security official confirmed that 48-year-old Farida Goolam Mohamed Ahmed is a "person of interest." This information follows on the heels of Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) telling NEWSCHANNEL 5 Wednesday in Brownsville that Ahmed is "on a list of persons (investigators) wanted to talk to and possibly on a list of terrorists."
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| Afghanistan |
| Congress team to meet former king |
| 2001-09-30 |
| Washington Times A bipartisan delegation from Congress will meet former Afghan King Mohammed Zahir Shah today to demonstrate Washington's support for efforts to build a post-Taliban government. The delegation of 11 members includes Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican and vice chairman of the House International Relations Committee's East Asia and Pacific subcommittee; Curt Weldon, Pennsylvania Republican and chairman of the Armed Services military readiness subcommittee; the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, Solomon Ortiz of Texas; Silvestre Reyes, Texas Democrat; and Republicans Nick Smith of Michigan and Roscoe G. Bartlett of Maryland. "Ultimately our goal is to show support for the unity of the Afghan people. It's not a matter of eliminating [Osama] bin Laden. It's a matter of [eliminating] the whole terrorist network in Afghanistan. And the foundation of that network is the Taliban," said Al Santoli, national security adviser to Congress. Afghan elders and military commanders met the former king of Afghanistan yesterday. King Zahir Shah, 86, who has lived in exile in Italy since 1973, has become the focal point of diplomatic activity to find an alternative to the Taliban regime in Kabul following the terrorist attacks on the United States. The former king wants to convene a grand council of elders, a so-called Loya Jirga, to try to rally Afghanistan's fractious tribes behind a government of national unity. |
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