while the focus of the recent report is right-wing extremists... an agency spokeswoman noted these reports are done "all the time..."
Isn't that nice? While they're doing these domestic reports on "political" ideology, have they missed doing any thorough research about our borders currently in need of protection?
U.S. border with Canada vulnerable to terrorists
Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007
By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Terrorists carrying radioactive materials could easily enter the United States from Canada undetected, government investigators said Thursday after they were able to cross the 5,000-mile border four times carrying a large, red duffel bag without being intercepted.
The crossings took place at unguarded and unmonitored sites in four northern-border states. The Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, did not disclose the sites.
"Our work shows that a determined cross-border violator would likely be able to bring radioactive materials or other contraband undetected into the United States by crossing the U.S.-Canada border at any of the locations we investigated," the report said.
Even though the northern border is more than twice as long as the U.S.-Mexico border, it has less than one-tenth as many agents patrolling it.
Lawmakers from northern states blamed the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for the lax security on the U.S.-Canada border.
"This report is just as unacceptable as it is shocking," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who along with others have sought to secure more Border Patrol agents and high-tech surveillance and communications equipment for the northern border. "We simply cannot accept this level of vulnerability."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/20046.html
Iraqi terrorists caught along Mexico border
American intelligence chief confirms 'people are alive' as a result of capture
Posted: August 23, 2007
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57289
Fox News reports Homeland Security has produced two such reports, and the network has hold of both. One concerns right-wing extremists while the other concerns left-wing extremists. According to the Fox report, the studies were authorized during President George W. Bush's presidency.
Isn't that nice. the same question applies. How many studies have been completed about the insecure borders of the United States?
What is being done?
Factsheet: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Actions Taken Since 9/11
http://www.itintl.com/factsheet-us-customs-and-border-protection-actions-taken-since-911.html
August 15, 2006
Review of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Anti-Terrorist Actions
Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General, "Review of CBP Actions Taken to Intercept Suspected Terrorists at U.S. Ports of Entry," OIG-06-43, June 2006.
Results in Brief:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/08/review_of_us_cu.html
Net the Truth Online
Recession fueling right-wing extremism, U.S. says Tue Apr 14, 2009
...The April 7 report, which Reuters and other news media obtained on Tuesday, said such fears were driving a resurgence in "recruitment and radicalization activity" by white supremacist groups, antigovernment extremists and militia movements. It did not identify any by name.
DHS had no specific information about pending violence and said threats had so far been "largely rhetorical."
But it warned that home foreclosures, unemployment and other consequences of the economic recession "could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists."
"To the extent that these factors persist, right-wing extremism is likely to grow in strength," DHS said.
The report warned that military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with combat skills could be recruitment targets, especially those having trouble finding jobs or fitting back into civilian society.
The department "is concerned that right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities," the report said.
DHS spokeswoman Sara Kuban said on Tuesday the report was one of an ongoing series of threat assessments aimed at "a greater understanding of violent radicalization in the U.S."
A similar assessment of left-wing radicals completed in January was distributed to federal, state and local police agencies at that time.
"These assessments are done all the time, this is nothing unusual," Kuban said.
The Department of Homeland Security was formed in response to the September 11 attacks of 2001 and has focused largely on threats from Islamist extremists.
The report said domestic right-wing terrorist groups grew during the economic recession of the early 1990s but subsided as the economy improved.
Government scrutiny disrupted violent plots following the April 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City by Army veteran Timothy McVeigh which killed 168 people.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE53D5SH20090414?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true
Federal agency warns of radicals on right
9-page report sent to police
By Audrey Hudson (Contact) and Eli Lake (Contact) | Tuesday, April 14, 2009
...The report, which was first disclosed to the public by nationally syndicated radio host Roger Hedgecock, makes clear that the Homeland Security Department does not have "specific information that domestic rightwing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence."It warns that fringe organizations are gaining recruits, but it provides no numbers.
The report says extremist groups have used President Obama as a recruiting tool.
"Most statements by rightwing extremists have been rhetorical, expressing concerns about the election of the first African American president, but stopping short of calls for violent action," the report says. "In two instances in the run-up to the election, extremists appeared to be in the early planning stages of some threatening activity targeting the Democratic nominee, but law enforcement interceded."
When asked about this passage, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said, "We are concerned about anybody who will try to harm or plan to harm any one of our protectees. We don't have the luxury to focus on one particular group at the exclusion of others."
Congressional debates about immigration and gun control also make extremist groups suspicious and give them a rallying cry, the report says.
"It is unclear if either bill will be passed into law; nonetheless, a correlation may exist between the potential passage of gun control legislation and increased hoarding of ammunition, weapons stockpiling, and paramilitary training activities among rightwing extremists," the report said.
The FBI was quoted Monday as saying that, since November, more than 7 million people have applied for criminal background checks in order to buy weapons.
The Homeland Security report added: "Over the past five years, various rightwing extremists, including militias and white supremacists, have adopted the immigration issue as a call to action, rallying point, and recruiting tool."
The report could signify a change in emphasis for Homeland Security under former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. A German magazine quoted Ms. Napolitano as rebranding "terrorism" as "man-made disasters." Since its inception in 2003, the department has focused primarily on radicalization of Muslims and the prospect of homegrown Islamist terrorism.
In January, the same DHS office released a report titled "Leftwing extremists likely to increase use of cyber attacks over the coming decade."
These types of reports are published all the time. There have actually been some done on the other end of the spectrum, left-wing," Ms. Kuban said.
A similar headline was used in a report issued in January, Ms. Kuban said, although she could not provide the content of the headline.
Ms. Kuban said she did not know how long the new report had been in the making.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/14/federal-agency-warns-of-radicals-on-right/?page=3
Homeland Security on guard for 'right-wing extremists'
Returning U.S. military veterans singled out as particular threats
Posted: April 12, 2009 9:40 pm Eastern © 2009 WorldNetDaily
WASHINGTON – A newly unclassified Department of Homeland Security report warns against the possibility of violence by unnamed "right-wing extremists" concerned about illegal immigration, increasing federal power, restrictions on firearms, abortion and the loss of U.S. sovereignty and singles out returning war veterans as particular threats.
The report, titled "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," dated April 7, states that "threats from white supremacist and violent anti-government groups during 2009 have been largely rhetorical and have not indicated plans to carry out violent acts."
However, the document, first reported by talk-radio host and WND columnist Roger Hedgecock, goes on to suggest worsening economic woes, potential new legislative restrictions on firearms and "the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks."
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The report from DHS' Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines right-wing extremism in the U.S. as "divided into those groups, movements and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups) and those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."
"[T]he consequences of a prolonged economic downturn – including real estate foreclosures, unemployment and an inability to obtain credit – could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities similar to those in the past," the report says...
...Most notable is the report's focus on the impact of returning war veterans.
"Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right-wing extremists," it says. "DHS/I&A is concerned that right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize veterans in order to boost their violent capacities."
The report cites the April 4 shooting deaths of three police officers in Pittsburgh as an example of what may be coming, claiming the alleged gunman holds a racist ideology and believes in anti-government conspiracy theories about gun confiscations, citizen detention camps and "a Jewish-controlled 'one-world government.'"
It also suggests the election of an African-American president and the prospect of his policy changes "are proving to be a driving force for right-wing extremist recruitment and radicalization."
The report also mentions "'end times' prophecies could motivate extremist individuals and groups to stockpile food, ammunition and weapons. These teachings also have been linked with the radicalization of domestic extremist individuals and groups in the past, such as the violent Christian Identity organizations and extremist members of the militia movement."
"DHS/I&A assesses that right-wing extremist groups' frustration over a perceived lack of government action on illegal immigration has the potential to incite individuals or small groups toward violence," the report continues.
The report states the DHS will be working with state and local partners over the next several months to determine the levels of right-wing extremist activity in the U.S...
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=94803
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