Getty Images The Navy SEAL who says he killed Osama bin Laden is unemployed and waiting for disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. In an exclusive story for Esquire by Phil Bronstein of the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Shooter adds many details to what already is known about the death of the […]
National Security
Our system of national security is full of holes – on the border, at the airports and inside our computers, where the fight against cyberterrorism rages.
Posted inBorder Patrol, Criminal Justice, National Security
Border agency report reveals internal struggles with corruption
Since Oct. 1, 2004, 147 Customs and Border Protection officers and agents have been charged with or convicted of corruption-related offenses, ranging from taking bribes to stealing government money. U.S. Border Patrol/Shutterstock UPDATE, Jan. 29, 2013: This story updates to include comment from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Turf battles, internal dysfunction and other troubles […]
Posted inBorder Patrol, Immigration, National Security
Immigrant busts fall, but is border enforcement the reason?
Flickr/Brian Auer When the Department of Homeland Security trudged up to Capitol Hill this year and asked lawmakers for another 365 days worth of funding, as every federal agency does each year, officials ticked off a list of accomplishments they presented as evidence of the agency’s ongoing success. The department pointed to a marked decrease in […]
Posted inBorder Patrol, National Security
Border agency looks to expand drone aircraft fleet
The border agency has locked in a five-year deal with a San Diego-area aeronautical company estimated to be worth as much as $443 million.
Posted inNational Security
Homeland Security office OKs efforts to monitor threats via social media
Surfing the InternetBrian Lane Winfield Moore/Flickr A little-known privacy office in the Department of Homeland Security has given its stamp of approval to an ongoing initiative aimed at monitoring social media sites for emerging threats. Congress created the department’s privacy office in 2003 to review major initiatives and databases and make certain those initiatives respected […]
Posted inNational Security
Report savages terrorism ‘fusion centers’ for high cost, low value
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick looks through a microscope to see how bullet casings are matched at the Commonwealth Fusion Center and State Police Crime Lab on July 15, 2011. A new U.S. Senate report has criticized fusion centers for failing to produce meaningful results. Office of Gov. Deval Patrick The nation’s vast network of anti-terrorism “fusion centers” […]
Posted inNational Security
More Americans support torture to fight terrorism, poll finds
Former President George W. Bush speaks to reporters about the war in Iraq after meeting with senior Pentagon officials in 2007.Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen A surprising number of Americans are supportive of controversial Bush-era tactics used to undermine terrorism, and are even open to more extreme measures like using nuclear weapons. That’s what […]
Posted inNational Security
$245M program under way for new type of airport body scanners
San Francisco International AirportFlickr/Trodel Airports in California could soon see the second generation of full-body scanners used to detect nonmetallic weapons and improvised explosive devices after earlier machines raised privacy and health concerns. Following a solicitation process that began in February, the Transportation Security Administration last week selected two contractors as part of a $245 […]
Posted inCybersecurity, National Security
Plugins to kill Facebook Timeline come with security headaches
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shows off his profile page using Facebook Timeline.Niall Kennedy/Flickr Not all of Facebook’s 900 million global users are pleased with the mega-site’s slow lurch toward what it calls Timeline, a new profile format that displays photos, updates, wall messages and more based on when the material was posted over the lifetime […]
Posted inNational Security
Airport security costs go beyond TSA budget, report says
Airport security screeningCarolina K. Smith, M.D./Shutterstock.com The roughly $6.5 billion Washington spent last year alone to make air travel safe from terrorists is not the only expense being shouldered by taxpayers. There are lesser-noticed costs that factor into the total bill, according to a new report from the Santa Monica-based think tank RAND Corp. Among […]