SubscribeReport: U.S. Security Impeding Global Business
January 24, 2008
“The United States must more effectively reconcile its need to enhance security and its desire to welcome foreign travelers or it will be unable to take advantage of growing global mobility and an increasingly international economy in which U.S. multinational companies play a key role. Discussed in a report issued this month by a committee appointed by the U.S. departments of Homeland Security and State, that challenge may be met if the U.S. government follows up on many of 44 recommendations related to public diplomacy, visa policies and ports of entry.” (The Transnational)
Doomsday 101 - If disaster strikes, Columbus will respond with new, high-tech gear and old-school detective work
January 24, 2008
“Franklin County Coroner Brad Lewis lies in wait with his $57,000 atomic absorption spectrometer. Should a large group of people mysteriously fall dead in Columbus, the spectrometer would tell him if a chemical agent was to blame. It’s part of a network of hundreds of leaders and first responders who are on call if all hell breaks loose here in the heartland.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, Franklin County and its regional partners have invested more than $37.5 million in planning, equipment and training exercises for its police, fire and other regional first responders.” (The Other Paper)
White House Order Increases Scrutiny Of Foreign Investors In American Industries
January 24, 2008
“President George Bush issued an executive order on Wednesday amending the way the government implements the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007. The order calls on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to “review carefully the national security concerns, if any, raised by certain foreign investments into the United States.”" (All Headline News)
Government should make IT security a priority, execs say
January 24, 2008
“The next U.S. president needs to pay more attention to securing the government’s data and information technology systems, and Congress must be willing to provide adequate funding for the task, say executives from Symantec.
“These are clear and present dangers,” Symantec Chief Operating Officer Enrique Salem said Thursday during a lunch with Washington IT reporters. “There is a real exposure.” ” (GCN)
Iran vows to follow nuclear path despite sanctions
January 24, 2008
“Iranian leaders vowed on Wednesday to press on with Tehran’s disputed nuclear work regardless of any new U.N. sanctions, one day after world powers agreed the outline of a new resolution.
“The Iranian nation has chosen its path and will continue with it,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the student news agency ISNA.” (Reuters)
Airports Fingerprint Foreign Travelers
January 23, 2008
“As a foreign traveler, Punit Pawar is used to the security when he flies into the U.S., so he barely noticed Tuesday when he was asked to put his 10 fingers on a digital scanner as part of an enhanced security system rolling out at airports across the country.”It didn’t take much of my time, so it didn’t bother me,” said Pawar, a citizen of India and a student at Boston’s Northeastern University. “I’m OK with it, if this is what they need to do for security.”" (AP)
FEMA reaquires disaster authority under new Homeland Security framework
January 23, 2008
“In the first overhaul of the nation’s emergency response system since Hurricane Katrina, government officials announced Tuesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will once again take the lead role in disaster response and that it will use an amenable, computer-driven doctrine to coordinate federal, state, and local resources.” (Nola)
Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff warns of border violence surge
January 22, 2008
“Violence along the border with Mexico will likely increase this year as the administration bolsters Border Patrol 
staff and adds more fencing and technology to catch illegal immigrants, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday.
Chertoff’s comments came after the death Saturday of Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar in California. Aguilar, a 32-year-old father of two, was hit by a Hummer driven by suspected drug smugglers as he tried to place spike strips in front of the escaping vehicle.” (LA Times)
Musharraf: Pakistan Isn’t Hunting Osama
January 22, 2008
“Pervez Musharraf says he still gets the question a lot: When will Osama bin Laden and his top deputy be caught? The Pakistani president insists it’s more important for his 100,000 troops on the Afghan border to root out the Taliban than search for al-Qaida leaders.
That bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri are still at large “doesn’t mean much,” the former general said Tuesday on the second day of a swing through Europe. He suggested they are far less a threat to his regime than Taliban-linked militants entrenched in Pakistan’s west.” (AP)
Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, Nato told
January 22, 2008
“The west must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the “imminent” spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, according to a radical manifesto for a new Nato by five of the west’s most senior military officers and strategists.” (Guardian)
