Links I received from our friends at the DHS.

Homeland Security team to focus on U.S. terrorists.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Wednesday, March 14, it has created a unit to combat the threat posed by "homegrown terrorists" −− citizens or legal residents who plot attacks from inside the nation's borders. "This phenomenon presents a real and serious challenge to our nation," DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff told a Senate panel. Chertoff emphasized that violent extremists "represent a small, fringe element within the American Muslim community" and that members of that community have been "outspoken in their opposition to terrorist violence." He noted that the last major attack by homegrown terrorists was the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. DHS's Chief Intelligence Officer Charles Allen's new unit will address all forms of extremist activity but will focus mainly on the threat from radicalized Muslims. The group has met with officials in 18 cities from Albany, NY, to Sacramento to get a handle on the problem. Chertoff said some Muslim groups are working with his office to combat radicalization.

Yup, right now it is radical American Muslims. That is a real threat and I have personally met a few prior to 9/11. They were pretty crazy but so much so that you typically just ignored them. However, it is only a matter of time and tactics before that changes. I am very skeptical since during the Clinton administration I fit the profile for a probably domestic terrorist. Why? because I was outspoken on the Second Amendment to the point where I had several opinion pieces printed in and outside of the USA. I also belonged to a group (that did not advocate violence at all but ferocious things like voting and being educated on what the Congress Critters were doing) that the FBI was not overly fond of at the time. That was a few years after the Oklahoma City bombing.


Terrorism drill tests first responders

A "bomb" went off Wednesday, March 14, at the former site of East Coast Bible College in west Charlotte, NC, and emergency crews were called in to respond to the simulated terrorist attack. The drill produced mass casualties and injuries in a real−life setting. The firefighters said the task was tough as they each carried about 15−20 victims down stairs as a team while trying to avoid debris on the ground. Crews will be working 12−hour shifts Wednesday, March 14, through Saturday, March 17. The first crews to respond were from Mecklenburg and Gaston counties, but other crews from around the state will join in as they would do for a real
emergency.

Joint Strike Fighter: Progress Made and Challenges Remain {PDF Report from the GAO}

The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program −− a multinational acquisition program for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and eight cooperative international partners −− is the Department of Defense’s (DoD) most expensive aircraft acquisition program. DoD currently estimates it will spend $623 billion to develop, procure, and operate and support the JSF fleet. The JSF aircraft, which includes a variant design for each of the services, represents 90 percent of the remaining planned investment for DoD’s major tactical aircraft programs. In fiscal year 2004, the JSF program was rebaselined to address technical challenges, cost increases, and schedule overruns. This report −− the third mandated by Congress −− describes the program’s progress in meeting cost, schedule, and performance goals since rebaselining and identifies various challenges the program will likely face in meeting these goals in the future. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending that DoD limit annual production quantities to no more than 24 aircraft per year until each variant’s basic flying qualities have been demonstrated in flight testing now scheduled in the 2010 time frame. DoD non−concurred, believing its current strategy provides a balance of technical risk, financial constraints, and operational needs.