Security

February 18, 2009, Juneau, Alaska - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today encouraged U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to support recently adopted regulations allowing concealed weapons in national parks and wildlife refuges. Secretary Salazar has directed a review of the regulations that were approved by the Bush administration.

In a letter to the Interior secretary, Governor Palin outlined the importance of the possession and use of firearms as a matter of safety.    » read more »

Melissa Hathaway Selected to Lead the Review

February 9, 2009 -- President Obama has directed the National Security and Homeland Security Advisors to conduct an immediate review of the plan, programs, and activities underway throughout the government dedicated to cyber security.

This 60-day interagency review will develop a strategic framework to ensure that U.S. Government cyber security initiatives are appropriately integrated, resourced and coordinated with Congress and the private sector.    » read more »

February 4, 2009 -- While al Qaeda is the primary terrorist/extremist threat in East Africa, the region suffers more broadly from a danger of radical Islamist groups and organizations that the United States and its allies must address to reshape the region's security environment, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today.

"The internal conflict and corruption enveloping weak African governments make it easy for terrorists to move, plan and organize," said Angel Rabasa, the report' author and a senior policy analyst at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "The United States and its allies in the region need an effective, long-term solution to rid the area of the extremist and terrorist elements that reside there."    » read more »

January 27, 2009 -- U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today two action directives, on Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) integration with state and local partners and national planning.    » read more »

January 21, 2009 -- On her first official day as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Janet Napolitano issued five Action Directives, all centered on one of the primary missions of DHS: Protection. In the coming days, Secretary Napolitano will issue other action directives focused on other missions critical to the department: Preparedness, Response, Recovery and Immigration.    » read more »

25 September 2008 -- Iraqi police have raised the death toll from an ambush in Diyala province to 35 people, most of whom were police officers.

Gunmen ambushed the group of Iraqi policemen and anti-al-Qaida fighters on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said Thursday a suicide bomber killed an American soldier Wednesday in Diyala.

In other news, Iraqi lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill that calls for provincial elections to be held by January 31, several months later than originally planned.

U.S. President George Bush and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the move, saying it will contribute to political reconciliation in Iraq.    » read more »

27 August 2008 -- The U.S. Defense Department says it wants to turn over security responsibility to Iraqi forces as quickly as possible, but that the timing should be based on conditions. A spokesman repeated the position Tuesday in response to a statement by Iraq's prime minister calling for a full U.S. withdrawal by 2011.

Iraqi policemen and US soldier: Iraqi policemen gather around U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ian Putansu of Camden, MN, 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, as he instructs tactical maneuvers at the Hammiyat police station in Taji, Iraq, August 4, 2008.    » read more »

25 August 2008 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says the United States has agreed in negotiations to withdraw all its troops from Iraq by 2011. But U.S. officials insist no deal has been reached.

Mr. Maliki Monday said his government has reached an agreement with Washington that any foreign presence on Iraqi soil will end by 2011. He did not offer any further details.

Iraqi Army soldiers, Mahmudiyah, Iraq: Photo by James Gordon (CC)

Meanwhile, a spokesman for U.S. President George Bush said there has not been any final security deal with Iraq.    » read more »

August 22, 2008 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designates certain major events - including the national conventions and the presidential inauguration - as National Special Security Events (NSSEs). The U.S. Secret Service is designated as the lead agency with unified command representation from participating federal, state, and local agencies with NSSE responsibilities.

Federal resources are deployed to an NSSE to maintain the level of security needed for the event and area. A number of factors are taken into consideration when designating an event as an NSSE, including anticipated attendance by dignitaries and the size and significance of the event.    » read more »

24 August 2008 -- Iraqi officials say a suicide bomber has struck a dinner feast west of Baghdad, killing at least 25 people and wounding 32 others.

Officials say the attacker blew himself up at the home of a local sheikh who was celebrating his son's release from U.S. detention. The guests at the dinner included members of a Sunni Awakening council -- a U.S.-allied militia group that has turned against al-Qaida.

In other violence Sunday, a double bomb attack in Baghdad against Iraqi security forces killed four people. In the eastern province of Diyala, a roadside bomb killed four Iraqi soldiers in the town of Balad Ruz, while gunmen also killed two policemen in Baquba, the provincial capital.    » read more »

23 August 2008 -- A suicide bomber blew himself up in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk Saturday, killing at least five people and wounding at least eight others.

Local police say among those killed at a car dealership in the southern part of the city was a senior member of a U.S.-allied Sunni group from Diyala province.

Earlier Saturday, unknown gunmen killed an adviser to Iraq's culture minister in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad. Authorities say Kamel Shiya was driving on a highway when the gunmen opened fire, killing him and wounding his bodyguard.    » read more »

21 August 2008 -- Authorities in Pakistan say at least 15 people have been killed in two explosions outside a weapons factory Thursday.

The blasts occurred simultaneously at two gates outside the military facility in the town of Wah. Several people were also wounded in the explosions.

Preliminary reports suggest the explosions were caused by two suicide bombers.

Pakistani security has been engaged in a growing battle with Islamic militants based in tribal regions along the Pakistani border.

Source: VOA News

13 August 2008 -- U.S. and Iraqi officials say car bomb attacks have killed at least four people and wounded at least 28 in northern Iraq.

Police say a bomb exploded in a parked car in the town of Qayara, south of Mosul Wednesday, killing two civilians. At least nine people were wounded in the blast.

Elsewhere, police say a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives near a convoy carrying Abdul-Karim Ali Nsaif, the mayor of the town of al-Multaqa, near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Officials say the bomb wounded the mayor and at least three of his bodyguards.

Police say another suicide car bomber struck an Iraqi army patrol in Mosul, killing an Iraqi soldier and a civilian and wounding at least 15 people.    » read more »

12 August 2008 -- Iraqi officials have imposed a curfew in the capital of eastern Diyala province after a suicide bomber killed at least two people and wounded at least seven others Tuesday.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say the blast occurred near a convoy carrying the Diyala governor Raad Rasheed and an Iraqi army commander in the provincial capital, Baquba. The two were unharmed in the attack.

The U.S. military says the bomber, dressed as a woman, was attempting to approach the convoy when soldiers identified him as a threat and opened fire, causing the explosives to detonate.

Iraqi and U.S. forces recently launched an offensive in Diyala to crack down on insurgents. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is offering amnesty to militants who surrender.    » read more »

Push Ban To Keep Dangerous Materials Out Of Terrorists' Hands

August 12, 2008 -- Today Representative Peter King (R-NY), Ranking Member on the House Homeland Security Committee and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo warned that current restrictions on access to highly enriched uranium (HEU) are too lax and could potentially lead to terrorists acquiring the potentially lethal material. There are seven civilian facilities across the country that continue to use HEU even though safer alternative materials exist.    » read more »