School installs facial scan system

Face-scanning technology designed to recognize registered sex offenders and missing children has been installed in a Phoenix school in a pilot project that some law enforcement and education officials hope to expand.

Two cameras, which are expected to be operational next week, will scan faces of people who enter the office at Royal Palm Middle School. They are linked to state and national databases of sex offenders, missing children, and alleged abductors.

Civil libertarians have raised red flags about the idea, pointing to potential privacy violations, and biometrics experts say facial recognition programs are not foolproof.

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne came out in support of the pilot program Dec. 11, saying he would seek funding for the cameras, which cost roughly $3,000 to $5,000, to be placed in every school in the state.

An officer will be dispatched to the school in the event of a possible match, said Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. “If it works one time, locates one missing child or saves a child from a sexual attack, I feel it’s worth it,” said Arpaio, a sheriff notorious for his tough talk and controversial tactics. (Associated Press)

Bush signs bill to let US penalize Syria

President Bush has signed legislation that provides for economic and diplomatic sanctions on Syria, but it also allows him to waive the penalties.

Bush signed the legislation in private on Dec. 12. The White House had opposed the measure until Congress gave him the waiver authority.

Several lawmakers have said they would take a dim view if Bush used his waiver authority, in view of the wide margins by which the legislation passed.

The bill bars trade in items that could be used in weapons programs until the administration certifies that Syria is not supporting terrorist groups, has withdrawn personnel from Lebanon, is not developing unconventional weapons and has secured its border with Iraq.

With trade between the countries a modest $300 million or less annually, the penalties would have more political than economic effects. (Reuters)

US generals, admiral come out of the closet

Three retired US military officers — two generals and an admiral — who had been among the most senior officers to criticize the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for homosexuals in the military, have revealed that they are gay.

The three — army Brigadier-Generals Keith Kerr and Virgil Richard, and Rear-Admiral Alan Steinman of the Coast Guard — said the policy had been ineffective and undermined the military’s core values.

The officers said they were the first of their rank to come out publicly, and that they hoped that others would follow.

Ten years after the Clinton administration instituted the policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell”, it remains contentious and has fallen far short of President Bill Clinton’s pledge to allow gays to serve openly.

Nearly 10,000 service members have been discharged for being gay under the policy signed into law on Nov. 30, 1993, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a gay rights group. (NY Times)

Halliburton overcharged US gov’t, probe finds

A Pentagon investigation has found overcharging and other violations in a $15.6 billion Iraq reconstruction contract awarded to Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company. An ongoing audit of Halliburton’s Kellogg, Brown & Root subsidiary found substantial overcharging for fuel and other items.

Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman of California and John Dingell of Michigan have accused KBR of price gouging for gasoline used in Iraq. The two congressmen said Halliburton charges the Army $2.65 a gallon for gas under a no-bid contract, while another Pentagon agency imports fuel from Kuwait to Iraq at a cost of $1.09 to $1.15 per gallon.

Halliburton has denied any price gouging. The company has said it needs to charge a high price because the fuel must be delivered in a combat zone.

Some of the Democratic presidential candidates have said the awarding of several no-bid contracts to Halliburton appears to be a political payoff to a firm whose executives were Bush campaign donors. Bush administration and Halliburton officials have denied politics played any role in awarding the contracts to KBR, which also has Pentagon contracts for food service and other support for troops in Iraqand other countries.

Cheney, a former defense secretary, stepped down from Halliburton when he became Bush’s running mate in 2000 and has said he played no role in contracts for his former company.

The Army is to open its KBR contract to competitive bidding next month. (AP)

Bush ally’s firm vies for Medicare cards

A Texas company owned by a campaign contributor and former business associate of President Bush could profit if Medicare endorses its drug card program under guidelines set by legislation the president signed into law on Dec. 8.

David Halbert, a longtime friend and contributor to several of Bush’s campaigns, helped craft the portion of the Medicare bill that allows seniors to buy discount drug cards they can use to purchase medicine from May of 2004 until 2006, when prescription drugs will begin to be covered by Medicare.

Halbert’s company, Irving, Texas-based AdvancePCS, is one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit management companies and would be well-positioned to compete for Medicare’s endorsement to issue the discount cards.

Bush had been an investor in a Halbert-owned predecessor company to AdvancePCS, called Advance Paradigm. Bush’s trust sold his shares in 1998. Halbert contributed to Bush campaigns from his 1994 gubernatorial race through his White House bid in 2000.

All Medicare recipients would be eligible for the card. However, the companies, called prescription benefit managers, would not be required to pass on all the saving that they might be able to negotiate from drug manufacturers. Instead, the law allows firms to pocket much of the discount themselves, passing a smaller amount on to consumers.

Medicare officials will decide in April which companies can issue the discount cards. (Boston Globe)

Figures show ‘hype’ of terror war

Of the thousands of people referred by the FBI and other federal investigators to prosecutors in connection with terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001, only a handful have been convicted and sentenced to long prison terms, according to an analysis of Justice Department figures published on Dec. 8.

The analysis, carried out by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) based at Syracuse University, found that in the two years after the Sept. 11 attacks about 6,400 people were referred to prosecutors in connection with terrorism or terrorist offenses.

But of the 2,681 cases that had been wrapped up by the end of September 2003, some 879 were convicted of a crime and less than half of those — 373 — were sent to prison. Five received sentences of 20 years or more, which was actually fewer than in the two years before Sept. 11.

The figures analyzed have been repeatedly cited by administration officials to justify their contention that the government is winning the war against terror. In a speech at the FBI academy in Quantico, Va., on Sept. 10, President Bush said, “More than 260 suspected terrorists have been charged in US courts; more than 140 have already been convicted.”

“Our report raises serious questions,” David Burnham of TRAC told United Press International, “When such large numbers of cases are declined, dismissed or acquitted, we have to ask: Is the government pursuing the right strategy? Are they targeting the right people?” (UPI)

Savannah prepares for protests

Seven police officers and two firefighters from Savannah, GA traveled to Miami last month to witness firsthand the confrontations between globalization protesters and black-clad, baton-wielding cops.

The summit of world leaders is designated a Level 1 national security event. Miami, where the Western Hemisphere’s trade ministers were separated from 10,000 protesters by 2,500-plus police officers during a recent meeting, was a Level 2 event.

Gerry Long, the Savannah police captain, like other Georgia security planners, has been studying recent globalization gatherings. Each location — Genoa, Italy; Denver; Calgary, Alberta; Cancun, Mexico; Evian, France — offers a different summit preparation lesson.

None, however, yielded as many insights as Miami. In blue jeans, polo shirt and tennis shoes, Long followed the protesters one morning as they marched toward the InterContinental Hotel, where the trade ministers had gathered.

She watched as police steered the 1,500 demonstrators down a side street, where they were met by phalanxes of shield-carrying, riot-ready officers.

She was impressed by the police response: in-sync officers, beginning slowly and using their shields and batons, nudged protesters backward. Eager to disperse the crowd, police turned to stun guns, pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

FBI applies new rules to surveillance

The FBI has implemented new ground rules that fundamentally alter the way investigators handle counterterrorism cases, allowing criminal and intelligence agents to work side by side and giving both broad access to the tools of intelligence gathering for the first time in decades.

The result is that the FBI, unhindered by the restrictions of the past, will conduct many more searches and wiretaps that are subject to oversight by a secret intelligence court rather than regular criminal courts, officials said.

The FBI’s new strategy is the culmination of a series of new rules and regulations issued since the Sept. 11 attacks to govern terrorism investigations. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft last month issued new national security guidelines, for example, that allow the FBI to conduct an initial “threat assessment” of potential terrorists without firm evidence of a threat or crime, which is required to open a full investigation.

The strategy stems from a November 2002 decision by an intelligence appeals court, which ruled that the anti-terrorism USA PATRIOT Act permits intelligence investigators and criminal prosecutors to more easily share information about terrorism cases. It marks the final step in tearing down the legal wall that had separated criminal and intelligence investigations since the spying scandals of the 1970s, authorities said.

“By eliminating any distinction between criminal and intelligence classifications, it reduces the respect for the ordinary constitutional protections that people have,” said Joshua L. Dratel, a New York lawyer who has filed legal briefs opposing government anti-terrorism policies. “It will result in a funneling of all cases into an intelligence mode. It’s an end run around the Fourth Amendment,” which protects citizens from unreasonable searches, he said. (Washington Post)