Iran admits having material for A-Bomb

Iran has produced more than 220 pounds of enriched uranium, the country's interior minister was quoted Friday (6/22/07) as saying about the process that can make fuel for civilian energy or fissile material for a bomb. The ISNA news agency carried comments by Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the interior minister, who said that Iran now has 3,000 hooked-up centrifuges actively enriching uranium. And what was the IAEA doing during this time of failure of oversight?

"In the first steps, we were halted and they (the West) did not allow our only 20 centrifuge machines to work," Pourmohammadi said. "But right now, 3,000 of the machines have been operational and more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of enriched uranium has been ready and stored."

In Vienna, a diplomat familiar with Iran's enrichment activities said the interior minister appeared to be talking about "material ... over the past two years" that Iran has produced.
Pourmohammadi also said that more than 165 tons of primary materials of uranium gas have been stored in the Iranian nuclear facilities. Centrifuge machines spin uranium hexafluoride gas and convert it into enriched uranium. Pourmohammadi did not elaborate on the percentage of enrichment of the stored enriched uranium. Depending on the level of enrichment, uranium can be used for both nuclear fuel and nuclear weaponry. Experts say about 1,100 pounds of enriched uranium would be needed for one bomb.

The comments came as Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, was scheduled to meet Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency in Vienna, Austria, for talks expected to push for a new round of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. It was hoped that the meetings could find a way to bridge the impasse over Iran's rejection of U.N. Security Council demands that it suspend enrichment.

The United States and some of its allies fear that Iran is using its nuclear program as a cover to produce weapons. Iran denies the charge, saying it only seeks to generate electricity. In a report last month, the U.N. nuclear watchdog provided the potential trigger for a new, third round of U.N. sanctions, saying that Iran continued to defy the Security Council by expanding its enrichment activities. The Security Council first imposed sanctions on Iran in December and modestly increased them in March.

Lawmakers Probe Prosecution of Border Agents Who Shot Mexican Drug Runner

Pressure is growing on Capitol Hill to investigate the prosecution of two former Border Patrol agents doing prison time for their on-duty shooting of a Mexican man who was transporting drugs into the United States.

Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos are serving 12 and 11 years, respectively, for the non-fatal shooting in 2005 of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila. The agents shot Davila in the buttocks as he was transporting more than 700 pounds of marijuana into the United States through Fabens, Texas.

Davila was given immunity in exchange for his testimony against the agents.

Now the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight is organizing a hearing on any influence the Mexican government may have had on prosecuting Compean and Ramos.

Rep. Bill Delahunt, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, said a formal invitation to testify will be also be sent to U.S. prosecutor Johnny Sutton "so there will be no confusion as to whether he’s available or whether he’s willing to appear."

California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee who requested the hearing, is asking for information from the State and Homeland Security departments about possible contact the Mexican government made with the U.S. government about the case.

Rohrabacher’s office has been trying to get information from the Justice and Homeland Security departments about Davila’s border crossing and parole documents to determine whether he delivered another load of marijuana in Texas in October 2005, after he entered the U.S. to have surgery by U.S. Army doctors to repair his shattered urethra, a wound he sustained during the arrest.

"We’ve been stonewalled unbelievably," said Rohrabacher spokeswoman Tara Setmayer, particularly about her office’s request for correspondence from the agency investigator in the case and for details of Davila’s immunity agreement.

"It’s absurd … they claim the reason for the denial of that information is because of the privacy act. They require a privacy waiver to be signed by the drug smuggler before they can release that information.

"We want to find out what type of access he had to the country and if it was unfettered access, why would our government grant him such a privilege and also, because of the second drug bust, the relationship between that second drug bust and the dates he was supposed to have surgery in Texas."

Documents prepared by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and obtained by FOXNews.com show that on Oct. 22, 2005, Davila was identified by a witness as the driver of a 1990 Chevy Astro van that contained six bundles — approximately 752.8 pounds — of marijuana. He allegedly dropped off the load around 3 p.m. at the home of a man in Clint, Texas. The man described the van’s driver to DEA investigators, saying he was a "Mexican male, 5’10", dark skin, 20-30 years of age, short hair, and has a colostomy bag," according to the DEA documents.

Rohrabacher’s office has also been asking why residents of the Clint, Texas, home, where the so-called "October load" was stashed, were not charged.

Sutton, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, left open the door of possibility that charges could still come from that incident.

"The bottom line is, we are still arresting people out of that event," Sutton told FOXNews.com. "We’ve arrested a number of suspects out of that investigation and the investigation is ongoing."

As for Davila, Sutton said: "As soon as we have sufficient, competent admissible evidence to charge him with a crime, we will do it."

Justice Department spokeswoman Kimberly Smith said her department is "committed to working with Congress to answer questions and educate the public on the facts of the Ramos/Compean prosecution and has provided numerous documents explaining the court record and facts of the case to members of Congress," including statements, transcripts and other information.

"We will continue to provide materials and answer questions pursuant to Department of Justice regulations and guidelines," she added.

But Delahunt told FOXNews.com: "We continue to have difficulty in terms of ascertaining a date and there has been some indication that since there’s an appeal, there was hesitation on having him testify."

Delahunt said he also met with the Mexican ambassador privately to discuss the matter, but foreign officials are prevented by protocol and the practices of the Mexican government from testifying to the U.S. Congress. As a matter of course, the congressman added, "We do not have foreign government representatives at hearings."

"I’ve met with the Mexican ambassador. I’ve indicated to other members, including Mr. Rohrabacher, that the Mexican ambassador would be willing to meet with him and other members of Congress privately and we’re making an effort to arrange that," Delahunt said.

As for his invitation, Sutton said he has not yet been formally asked to appear.

"I’m absolutely willing to testify before Congress and cooperate in any way with any congressional hearings or invest, subject of course, to Department of Justice regulations, rules and policy," Sutton said, adding that he would not be allowed to talk about anything that could jeopardize pending cases. "But we also need to do the people’s business and investigate crimes and prosecute criminals."

The department "will carefully consider any invitation for witnesses should Congress choose to hold hearings," Smith added.

Smith said both Sutton and Justice officials "have actively sought to educate members of Congress and the American public about the facts of the Ramos/Compean prosecution."

In a separate incident, the Mexican consulate sent a letter to Edwards County Sheriff Don Letsinger in Texas, and the FBI, pushing for Deputy Gilmer Hernandez to be prosecuted.

On April 14, 2005, Hernandez shot at an SUV full of illegal immigrants in Rocksprings as it sped off while he tried to stop it for running a red light. One of the bullets shattered the teeth of a woman inside the SUV. Hernandez reported the incident, was jailed for 266 days, and the immigrants now may be suing the U.S. government.

"Based on the Consular Convention between Mexico and the United States and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Consulate of Mexico is entitled to represent, protect and defend the rights of Mexican nationals in this country," the Mexican consul wrote to Letsinger, Hernandez’s boss, in a letter obtained by FOXNews.com. "That is the care of my country that this kind of incidents against our nationals, do not remain unpunished."

Sutton prosecuted that case as well.

Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?

The House Judiciary Committee also may take up the issue of federal sentencing guidelines known as "924c" in light of recent cases involving law enforcement on the border. It’s those guidelines that called for 10-year sentences for Compean and Ramos for shooting at someone who was running away.

The section of the U.S. Criminal Code says "during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime," any person who uses or carries a firearm should be sentenced to no less than 10 years in prison if a gun is discharged. The law, however, does not make any allowance for law enforcement.

North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones wrote Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in October 2006 asking that Compean and Ramos not be subjected to any misapplication of the law.

"When §924(c) is applied to law enforcement officers, it is in the context of heinous crimes, such as sexual assaults, which are clearly outside the realm of official duties. The application of §924(c) in this case is overly broad, setting a dangerous precedent of application to law enforcement officers trying to act within the scope of their official duties,” the letter states.

"This is an issue that both the majority and the minority want to address and we expect a hearing to be scheduled," said Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.

On the Senate side, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security subcommittee, is also looking into how Compean and Ramos were prosecuted.

"This is something Senator Feinstein has been very interested in, she has expressed interested in holding a hearing," said her spokesman, Scott Gerber. The length of the ex-agents’ sentences and "whether they’re appropriate is a significant policy question she’d be interested in looking into," he added.

Meanwhile, a House bill sponsored by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., to pardon Compean and Ramos includes a provision that requires DHS to revisit engagement policies on the border — policies that even Sutton has called harsh.

"Mr. Hunter, he was worried not only for the safety of the agents but the effect this particular conviction would have on the morale and future efforts of the U.S. Border Patrol," said Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper. "These are two law enforcement officials who are empowered as law enforcement officials to enforce our nation’s laws … these two agents were given the equivalent of murder sentences arguably, arguably … the facts of these cases do not merit 11 and 12-year prison sentences."

Those who have rallied around Compean and Ramos worry that their case could set a disturbing precedent for how Border Patrol agents are prosecuted for on-the-job shootings and other violence, particularly at a time when there is so much pressure to strengthen border security as part of a broader immigration reform debate.

But Sutton, as well as officials at the Border Patrol and Justice Department, point out that the case was decided by a jury and there is more to the story than what’s being told.

"There’s just an extensive misrepresentation of the facts," Sutton said. "I’d be outraged, too, if it was just two Border Patrol agents doing their job ... they don’t tell you these guys shot 15 times at a guy running away, covered up a crime scene and filed false reports.

"If I had five minutes to tell the real facts, most people say ‘oh, that’s different’ … we can’t have federal agents shooting people and covering it up."

Paris is crying again!

Paris Hilton lost it as she was hauled off in cuffs in the back of a black and white. With her fate hanging in the balance, Paris Hilton decided to face the judge dressed in ... drab gray sweats!

Paris Hilton arrived at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, just under 30 minutes after officers handcuffed her and tossed her into the back of a Sheriff's cruiser. With more special treatment from the Sheriff's Office, Ms. Hilton was able to avoided the media frenzy at the court when Sheriffs used a private, covered entrance to escort her into the courtroom.

There is no word yet on exactly what type of enterance it was, and if more rules were broken by having an inmate enter though a employee enterance.

The problem here is that there is a medical issue and it isn't wise to keep a person in jail with her problem over an extended period of time and let the problem get worse," bleated Sheriff Lee Baca into his wads of $50 notes. "In my opinion, justice is being served by the decision to have her serve her time at home. She would still be in the county jail if it were not for the medical advice. My message to those who don't like celebrities is that punishing celebrities more than the average American is not justice. Justice is being served by the decision to have her serve her time at home."

The frenzy began early Thursday (6/7/07) when sheriff's officials released Hilton because of an undisclosed medical condition and sent her home under house arrest. She had been in jail for three days. Hilton was fitted with an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet and was expected to finish her 45-day sentence for a reckless driving probation violation at her four-bedroom, three-bath home. The decision by Sheriff Lee Baca to move Hilton chafed prosecutors and Sauer, who spelled out during sentencing that Hilton was not allowed to serve house detention.

Immigration bill grants amnesty to lawbreakers

Last June I had an unexpected exchange of viewpoints in the News Journal with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. In explaining why I had voted against Nelson in the previous election, I cited his abominable record re suppression of illegal immigration.

Nelson responded: "I oppose amnesty. The immigration bill Sen. Martinez and I voted for doesn't grant amnesty to anyone. Instead, it would allow only certain immigrants who play by all the rules to seek a path to legal status."

I noted in follow-up letter that illegals had already broken a key law by entering the U.S. illegally, so none of them could actually qualify.
Well, Sens. Nelson and Martinez are at it again.

As a member of NumbersUSA (www.numbersusa.com), I have sent more than 100 faxes -- many to Nelson and Martinez, but also to President Bush, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Jeff Miller, Gov. Crist and others -- expressing concerns about the illegal-alien situation.
Hundreds of thousands of like-minded concerned citizens have done likewise, all to no avail if the present bill granting amnesty -- whatever they want to call it -- is passed.
The senators negotiating the present amnesty "compromise" would have you believe that illegal immigration can be solved by rewarding it, even though what it really means is that the American people will be subjected to a flood of accelerated immigration, which will overwhelm and forever change America.

A recent study by the bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform found that guest worker programs depress wages, burden local communities with substantial costs, and fail to reduce unauthorized migration. The American Legion likewise emphatically opposed amnesty.
There are 23 million low-skilled Americans, including 40 percent of working-age African-American men, who currently do not have jobs. Shouldn't they get first shot at the American Dream? By 2020, amnesty would increase the number of green card holders from about 25 million to 50 million, further depressing wages and opportunities for this segment of the American populace.

By 2050 immigration could result in 200 million additional workers. Construction, restaurants, hotels and hospitality services would be overwhelmingly manned by these newcomers, to the detriment of lower-skilled Americans.

Then there's the cost to taxpayers -- estimates are that 60 percent of illegals are high-school dropouts, and the Heritage Foundation found that every household that includes a high school dropout costs taxpayers $22,500 per year, i.e., they pay $10,000 a year in taxes and receive $32,500 in taxpayer-subsidized benefits.

Can you imagine the effect on already overburdened Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and education programs? In short, we will become a giant welfare state paid for by the rest of us.
We need a change in immigration policy, but not one based on closed-door negotiations between Senate leaders and the Bush White House. The status quo, as bad as it is, is far better for American workers than the Bush/Kennedy immigration compromise.

Border security and a reliable employment verification system must be our first priorities. Stronger enforcement plus stiffer penalties for illegal workers and their employers will address our illegal immigration crisis.

With a secure border and strong enforcement in place, we can then consider a tightly controlled guest worker program geared to serving America's interests.
American taxpayers need a legion of heroes to protect us from this outrage. Be one of those heroes. Call your senators -- (202) 224-3121 -- and express your opposition now, before it's too late.

Paris Crying Behind Bars

Jailbird Socialite Paris Hilton, has spent her second day behind bars at California’s Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood yesterday- is reportedly struggling to cope behind bars.
Inside sources revealed to TMZ.com: ‘Paris is scared. She has been crying on the phone, saying she’s not sleeping or eating. “Paris says her cell is freezing cold. She has three little blankets and no pillow. She’s using one of the blankets as a pillow.

And I say this is a very good thing. She has lived her life thinking she can do anything she wants without any punishment. I think the judge went easy on her giving her only 45 days, maybe the judge was blinded by her celebrity.


The question I have is: Do you think a regular person would only get 45 days in jail after being pulled over three diffrent time with a susspended license?

Updated: 6/7/07 15:03
Hilton's path to jail began when she was arrested Hilton in Hollywood on Sept. 7. She pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to 36 months' probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines.

On Jan. 15 she was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol. Informed that her license was suspended, Hilton signed a document acknowledging she was not to drive. Then, on Feb. 27, she was pulled over a third time, which led to her brief incarceration.

Border Agents Warn Immigration Bill Will Compromise National Security

A group of former Border Patrol Agents convened on Monday to warn U.S. senators that the current immigration bill would compromise national security if signed into law.

Chairman of the National Association of Border Patrol Officers Kent Lundgren said, "First and most dangerous, is the fact that there will be no meaningful criminal or terrorist record checks of the applicants. If the amnesty passes, we will legalize them despite what past history they may have. Despite what the Administration and Congress say about record checks to ease voters' minds, they are lying about it."

Under the current bill, those who entered the country illegally would be eligible to obtain a "z visa" if certain requirements are met. The z visa is described as a legal, renewable, identification card that could be issued without requiring its holder to first return to their home country. In order to get a z visa, applicants must undergo a full background check.

The bill only gives government officials a single business day to determine if the applicant is a criminal. If nothing suspicious turns up within 24 hours, the applicant would immediately be given a probationary z visa that would be valid for up to six months after the official z visa is issued.

According to varying estimates, there are between 12 million and 20 million illegal aliens currently living inside the United States. All of them would be able to apply for the z visa under the Senate bill.

At the National Press Club, Lundgren explained: "There is no way that record checks can be done on that many people in a limited time frame. And the provision that [background] checks must be completed within 24 hours would be laughable if it were not so outrageous, told obviously to deceive."

"And, it makes no mention of foreign criminal record checks, which are simply an impossibility," Lundgren added. "There won't even be an attempt made there."

The bill also allows illegal-alien gang members to sign a "renunciation of gang affiliation" that would clear the applicant of past gang affiliation and help them obtain a visa. Another provision shelters illegal aliens who have defied a court ruling to leave the country. If the illegal alien, called an "absconder" in this context, could prove leaving the United States "would result in extreme hardship" to the absconder or immediate family, the criminal alien would be permitted to apply for a z visa.

Lundgren said these provisions would benefit members of the notorious terrorist gang Mara Salvatrucha 13, commonly known as MS-13, which is largely made up of illegal aliens from El Salvador and Honduras.

Another unworkable provision of the Senate bill, according to the group, is a requirement that 6,000 new agents be installed to by 2008.

Jim Dorcy, who retired as a senior special agent with the Justice Department's Inspector General's Office after serving the Border Patrol, said the process of hiring Border Patrol Agents is "extremely complicated and exacting."

"To do it properly, it would take months or even year to bring on board and train personnel staff to do a minimally adequate job of pre-hire vetting," he said.

The Border Patrol's residential training program is 19 weeks long. Its curriculum includes immigration law, physical training, firearms instruction, driving and the Spanish language. There is only one training facility, located in New Mexico, where potential agents can receive this instruction.

To qualify for Border Patrol training, a recruit must pass a three-part entrance exam that gauges reasoning skills, a recruit's ability to learn Spanish and job-related experiences and achievements. During resident training, an agent must complete 200 hours of Spanish-language instruction and then pass periodic refresher courses.

In June 2006, there were 11,300 Border Agents on staff.

Dorcy said that there has already been a rush to bring agents on staff that has comprised their ranks. "The rush to hire is bringing about agents in place before background checks [on the agents] are completed," he said. "There have already been illegal aliens, not just aliens, but illegal aliens found in the green uniform. Other agents have been found to be married to illegal aliens, and still others have illegal family members. That is a conflict of interest, even for the agent who has the best of intentions."

Former Chief of U.S. Border Patrol Hugh Brien, a legal immigrant from Ireland, asked listeners to pay special attention to recent news reports. "I am sure you have read about the potential terrorist that were scoping out Fort Dix, New Jersey," he said "Did you notice that the report said that two of them were illegal aliens who entered the border between the United States and Mexico? They are certainly not the only ones."

On May 7, six men--the "Fort Dix Six"--were arrested for plotting an attack on the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey. Three of the men were brothers, who migrated with their family illegally from Mexico to the United States in 1984. None of the family members were ever given legal status. Yet, the family owned and maintained a roofing business, called Colonial Roofing, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The business was approved by Cherry Hill's local zoning bard in December 2000.

Brien said worrying about illegal immigration was "a good reason to stay awake at night. No one knows how many [potential terrorists] there are, where they come from and where they are now. Worst of all, we don't know what they are up do and that can hurt us badly."

The National Border Patrol Council, a union for Border Patrol Agents 11,000 strong, also opposes the Senate immigration bill. T.J. Bonner, president of the NBPC, said in a May 17 statement the legislation "needlessly jeopardizes the security of this Nation."

"Rewarding criminal behavior has never induced anyone to abide by the law," Bonner said. "And there is no reason to believe that the outcome would be any different in this case."

Social Security and immigration

In fiscal 2001, President Bush used the Social Security lockbox that Al Gore cherished throughout the 2000 presidential campaign. By the end of the current fiscal year, Mr. Bush will have spent more than a trillion dollars in Social Security surpluses over the last five years. And he recently submitted a five-year budget plan (2008-12) that proposes to spend $1.2 trillion more in Social Security surpluses. Moreover, according to the latest trustees' report, the present value of Social Security's unfunded liabilities over the next 75 years is $4.8 trillion. Redeeming an additional $2 trillion in current trust fund bonds will almost certainly require dipping into general revenues, which would squeeze government operations everywhere else, including national security. Thus, the present value of Social Security's 75-year shortage is $6.8 trillion, and it's rising each year.

In a fiscally catastrophic environment like this, what's another $207 billion? Well, as former Republican Sen. Everett Dirksen once said, "A billion here, a billion there -- pretty soon it adds up to real money." By several orders of magnitude, a $100 billion here, a hundred billion there . . . So, yes, $207 billion is real money.

Thus, the Bush administration should think twice about the U.S.-Mexico Social Security totalization agreement, which would have the effect of transferring an estimated $207 billion in Social Security assets by 2040 to 1.6 million Mexican workers and dependents. The majority of those cash benefits would go to Mexicans who worked illegally in the United States. According to a recent study by TREA Senior Citizens League, a Social Security advocacy group, $207 billion represents the price tag of paying Social Security benefits to (a) 827,000 aliens from Mexico who used "non-work" Social Security numbers to work illegally in the United States; (b) Mexican citizens who overstayed their visas here and worked illegally; and (c) illegal aliens from Mexico "who entered the United States illegally on or after Jan. 1, 2004, and worked for at least 18 months," provided that immigration amnesty passes and they gain work authorization.

Beyond the Social Security benefits that would be collected by Mexicans who worked here illegally, their dependents "are also eligible for benefits and could increase the cost of totalized retiree benefits by as much as 50 percent," the TREA Senior Citizens League study asserts.

If Mr. Bush goes forward with his intention to sign this agreement, either chamber of Congress has 60 days to reject it. Both bodies should exercise that duty. In the meantime, as the ill-advised immigration "reform" bill makes its way through the Senate, the appropriate amendments should be passed to prevent illegal aliens from making Social Security's precarious finances worse than they already are.