News from Elsewhere
Thousands of Sudanese Refuse to Leave Their Land
The NATO Occupation and Fundamentalism: An interview with Miriam of RAWA
By Justin Podur, Z Net
ISLAMABAD – The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) is a women’s organization that runs underground schools and other projects, educates Afghan girls, runs a periodic journal, and agitates politically for women’s rights, human rights, secularism, and social justice in Afghanistan. From the 1979 Soviet invasion through to the 2006 closings of the camps, millions of Afghan refugees lived in Pakistan and many still do. While RAWA’s operations were always based primarily in Afghanistan, they have also had a strong presence in the Pakistan refugee community. I spoke to Mariam from RAWA in Islamabad when I was there in July 2008.
JUSTIN PODUR (JP): To begin, perhaps you could introduce readers to RAWA and its work in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
*RESISTANCE 2010!
- No Olympics on stolen land!
- Disrupt and abolish the G8 and SPP
- Active support and solidarity for local struggles of self-determination,
justice and dignity*
[August 2008 - OTTAWA]
In the year 2010, three major international events will be taking place in
the Canadian state: the Winter Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler (between
February 12-28); the G8 Leader's Summit in Huntsville, Ontario (most likely
in June or July); and the meeting of the NAFTA leaders as part of the
so-called "Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP)" (date and location not
yet known).
Already, groups and individuals on the West Coast have come together under
the banner of "No Olympics on stolen native land." They have been organizing
and raising awareness, from an anti-colonial and anti-capitalist
perspective, against the 2010 Olympics, for several years. [More info
available at www.no2010.com and http://harrietspirit.blogspot.com/]
Inspired by the mobilizing on the West Coast, organizers across "Canada"
have begun awareness-raising efforts. Building on the call from the West
Coast for anti-capitalist and anti-colonial resistance to the Olympics, some
organizers affiliated with the "People's Global Action" Bloc (PGA-Bloc) in
Ontario and Quebec have begun mobilizing around "Resistance2010", linking
anti-Olympics efforts to organizing against the G8 and SPP, and the
Guatemala: SalvaVidas Purified Water Union Suffers Threats and Injustice
Tree Sitters Descend--Old Growth Won't Be Cut on Old Pacific Lumber land
An Open Letter to Canada and All First Nation Leaders
First Nations Strategic Bulletin August 2008
The Radical Politics of Today’s SDS
Dakota women arrested countering Minnesota genocide
By Brenda Norrell
Dakota women were arrested on Saturday, August 16, 2008 during a counter genocide protest. Dakotas from the Yellow Medicine Dakota Community, with their allies, countered the Upper Sioux Agency State Park's program. The genocide celebration was part of the Sesquicentennial of the state of Minnesota, portraying the 1858 1st Regiment.
Chris Mato Nunpa, retired Dakota professor, said, "My daughter, Waziyata Win, and my grand-daughter, Winuna were arrested. Fortunately, they both were released later in the day.
"It was incredible the amount of armed law enforcement personnel that were there. We had no guns, clubs, knives, etc. We were peaceful and non-violent. To me, it just illustrates the level of racial hatred and fear of the Dakota and of Indigenous Peoples that is present here in southwestern Minnesota and elsewhere throughout the U.S.
"Again, it shows how we as Indigenous Peoples are living in oppression, in this case we are oppressed by their law, their legal ideology which is used to enforce the exploitation and continued oppression of the Indigenous Peoples. They have the guns and the men to enforce their law, even though we were on Dakota land," Mato Nunpa wrote.
"They, the wasicu, have the forums and and freedom of expression. We express our views, the TRUTH, and we get arrested."
Dr. Mato Nunpa, Ph.D., retired, was an associate professor of Indigenous Nations and Dakota Studies at Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall.
Mato Nunpa said the state's celebration reveals nothing about the massive land theft, broken treaties or genocide perpetrated on the Dakota by the Euro-Minnesotans. The state's celebration does not reveal the bounties, mass executions, forced marches and forced removal of the Dakota People from their ancient homelands in Minnesota.
Watch video of arrest of Dakota women:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wcTPQLKGz4
Chris Mato Nunpa: "Dakota exercised their fishing rights on Sunday, July 20, 2008 on Lake Harriet, a lake in the ceded area of our Treaty of 1805."
Watch video of treaty fishing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5kgLcC7afQor
http://www.youtube.com/user/alliesms
More by Chris Mato Nunpa on Minnesota's genocide and concentration camps:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/08/chris-mato-numpa-minnesotas-genocide.html
US border wall increases risk to lives of Tohono O'odham from monsoon flash floods
US/Mexico border wall increases risk to lives of Tohono O'odham during monsoon flash floods
Flash floods damage businesses and government offices in Arizona and Mexico after Homeland Security flaunts federal laws and builds border wall
By Brenda Norrell
LUKEVILLE, Ariz. - The risk to the lives of Tohono O'odham and other residents living on the Arizona and Sonora border due to monsoon flash floods has increased because of a newly constructed border wall. Homeland Security flaunted federal laws and the laws of nature to build the border wall in 2008.
In a report made public this week, the National Park Service details the ecological and infrastructure damage in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument caused by flood obstruction and debris accumulation along recently constructed portions of the border wall. Tohono O'odham and others reside in the area on both sides of the international border.
The report points out that the border wall resulted in the flooding of private businesses and government offices in both Lukeville, Arizona and the adjacent Sonoyta, Mexico.
The NPS report describes flash flooding from the July 12, 2008 monsoon thunderstom.
"Headquarters Wash flowed over 200 feet to the east along the pedestrian fence and through the international port of entry. It caused flood damage to private property, government offices and commercial businesses in Lukeville, Arizona, and Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico," the report states.
The NPS report describes how the faulty border wall design has increased flash flooding.
Flash floods during the monsoon season, July to September, claim lives as fast falling rain in thunderstoms skirts across the surface of the dry baked earth and causes fast and dangerous flooding each summer.
The NPS report states the damage was foreseen and Homeland Security was warned of the outcome. It states that, as predicted, the damage includes severe erosion and infrastructure damage. The damage included the movement of floodwaters and drainages behind debris obstructions into adjacent deserts and, in one case, through a border-crossing station.
Robin Silver at the Center for Biological Diversity said that an environmental analysis conducted by the Department of Homeland Security in 2007 concluded that the fence would "...not impede the natural flow of water." It would be "...designed and constructed to ensure proper conveyance of floodwaters and to eliminate the potential to cause backwater flooding on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border."
Further, Customs and Border Protection would "...remove debris from the fence within washes/arroyos immediately after rain events to ensure that no backwater flooding occurs."
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has since exempted the border wall from all environmental laws.
"The callousness displayed by Homeland Security in ignoring warnings to damage a national treasure is mind-boggling," Silver said.
"The border wall does not stop humans, but it will stop jaguars and other wildlife. It is already wreaking havoc on the southern part of Oregon Pipe National Monument."
"The contrast between the report findings and the environmental assessment displays the Bush administration's wholly meaningless approach to environmental analysis," Silver said. "The administration essentially did no analysis at all."
The Park Service report shows several instances in which debris collected in flash floods in south-flowing drainages caused natural resource and infrastructure damage and states that National Monument resources and infrastructure will continue to be impacted, as well as resources and infrastructure on neighboring lands in the United States and Mexico. The report anticipates the following short- and long-term impacts:
Accelerated scour below the pedestrian fence will damage the structural integrity of the vehicle barrier along the U.S./Mexico boundary unless continued maintenance occurs.
Floodwaters will flow laterally along the pedestrian fence and on the patrol road. These flows will result in erosion and scour above and below the foundation wall of the fence, including areas hundreds of feet outside existing drainage channels. As a consequence, the need for routine maintenance and repairs of the patrol road and vehicle barrier will increase..
"While the Bush administration may claim it's taking environmental impacts of the border wall into consideration, building wire mesh fences across washes prone to debris-laden floods is fundamentally flawed," Silver said. "It's time for Homeland Security to lift its embargo on environmental laws. The border fence does not stop humans. Now we have more proof if the wall's destruction of our national treasures.
The National Park Service said short- and long-term impacts expected due to the pedestrian fence include the following:
- Accelerated scour below the pedestrian fence will damage the structural integrity of the vehicle barrier along the U.S./Mexico boundary unless continued maintenance occurs.
- Floodwaters will flow laterally along the pedestrian fence and on the patrol road. These flows will result in erosion and scour above and below the foundation wall of the fence, including areas hundreds of feet outside existing drainage channels. As a consequence, the need for routine maintenance and repairs of the patrol road and vehicle barrier will increase.
- The patrol road associated with the pedestrian fence will change vegetation in OPCNM by changing rainfall retention or runoff along the northern road edge.
- Riparian vegetation will change in response to increased sedimentation.
- Channel morphology and floodplain function will change over time.
- Channelized waters will begin a gullying process that has the potential to transform land surfaces in the affected watersheds.
- Read report at:
- More at: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Photo: National Park Service/Flooding at Lukeville/Sonoyta border crossing in July, 2008.
The Leech and the Earthworm
Two ICE Raids and 99 suspected illegal aliens in custody shows our U.S. Government’s vulnerability security infrastructure risk!
Finally, I can say thank you U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for showing that our U.S. government’s national security critical infrastructure is as weak as a "Samson without his hair."
Nevertheless, these two raids were nothing but a “show” to justify ICE’s immigration enforcement initiatives. I reviewed some of the news video clips from the Asheville, NC raid, and the ICE spokesperson, along with his peers looked rather non-enthusiastic, frustrated and bored. I know that feeling because it is exactly the way I used to feel in 1982 when we were conducting immigration employment raids in San Francisco, CA.
For the anti-immigrant and foreigner phobic, ICE did an excellent job arresting the 99 suspected illegal aliens (but later releasing some of them for humanitarian reasons). For the wise and neutral tax-payer American Citizen, this was another waste of ICE’s monies and manpower resources. I can list a number of valid reasons why I agree that ICE can be servicing our country better by going after the violent criminal illegal aliens who are involved in the drug smuggling and other crimes usually associated with illegal aliens, and employers of illegal aliens.
I hate to bring it up over and over again, but ICE just committed more waste of tax-payer’s monies, and mismanagement. No wonder, the mainstream media is losing interest in covering ICE immigration employment raids. I even want to stop writing about this subject because to tell you the truth, it is a boring subject. However, this report brings a different twist to the same old record - so please don't stop reading.
May I suggest, since it appears that ICE will continue executing more raids under its Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) program, that the best places to target would be our federal, state and local police departments. For example, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for years has been recruiting non-United States citizens for police officer positions. I remember when in the 1970s and 1980s, they were recruiting Lawful Alien Permanent Residents (LAPR). In fact, it is my understanding that LAPR or “green card holders” (I-551 cards) can apply for top security clearances of employees working for private defense contractors.
Further, the U.S. Department of State is probably the largest federal agency who hires more foreign citizens to work at our U.S. Embassies and Consulates than any other federal agency.
Let’s go back to the two raids in question. If I would have been the head of ICE or the head of the ICE’s Office of Investigation, which I thank God I am not, since Dulles International Airport and Mills Manufacturing Corporation were cooperating with ICE, I would have assigned one or two agents (for each site) to conduct all immigration queries to determine who was using stolen or fake social security numbers etc., in order to determine the immigration status of all employees. Any employee who claimed to be born in the USA, ICE investigators would go to the vital statistics office, Department of Motor Vehicles to check on their driver’s license, would have conducted other background employment verification without wasting thousands or millions of tax-payer’s monies in conducting such employment raids, especially when the employer is cooperating. Now, if the assigned ICE agents discover that additional manpower is required, I would meet with my immediate supervisor, brief him/her of my findings and request additional manpower from the ASAC, ASAC or RAC office having jurisdiction over the employer under investigation.
I reviewed several comments posted on the very few mainstream news reports that the two recent ICE’s raids conducted at the Dulles International Airport, Washington, D.C., and at the Mills Manufacturing Corporation (MMC) in Asheville, NC. I noticed some pretty bad racist comments, some containing mixed emotions, and some right on target such as the cost involved when ICE conducts such employment raids, the lack of taking enforcement action against the employers, and finally the weakness of our national security critical infrastructure.
Since these two raids were conducted under the ICE’s Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) program, I believe the mainstream media did not consider such immigration raids worth reporting them either because the media moguls are already tired of covering such employment immigration raids, and or they did not wanted to expose our federal government’s weak national security infrastructure system under the current Bush administration. In other words, the mainstream media wanted to remain neutral at this time. It is why, I believe, only a handful of mainstream media covered both raids.
However it is this author’s opinion that based on his government and private security management experience as a former Legacy U.S. Defense Investigative Service as a special agent and as a Certified Protection Professional (certification issued by the American Society for Industrial Security), it is rather almost impossible to find illegal aliens, i.e. spies, terrorists etc., at sensitive area facilities such as airports, nuclear power plants, chemical plants, military bases, defense facilities and seaports. If ICE does find illegal aliens working at such facilities, it is due to the poor internal personnel hiring security controls by the employer. In the case of the two raids mentioned in this report, the illegal aliens were employees working in non-classified security areas.
The fact the ICE has been able to find illegal aliens working at major international airports only shows that the U.S. Transportation Security Agency (TSA), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and in the case at Dulles, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority are at fault for not conducting their own security personnel background investigation on all employees working for any employee working at the airport or employees of any private contractor or sub-contractors.
Having illegal aliens working at our airports such as the Dulles International Airport should be a major concern of not only ICE, but to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and our other national security intelligence agencies. We don’t want another 9-11. ICE already has special agents from its Office of Investigations stationed at certain large international airports, such as at Los Angeles, CA. However, in the past, I reported that a suspected “person of interest” from the middle-east detained by a U.S. Federal Air Marshal agent at a major international airport with a student visa, when asked for an ICE agent to respond to verify the non-immigrant student visa holder was released because no ICE agents were available.
In closing, may I remind that if ICE is contemplating conducting Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) program raids at certain private Defense Contracting sites, U.S. Department of Defense military installations or federal law enforcement agencies, that ICE make sure that their agents have the proper security clearance to enter certain classified areas. Not doing so, the ICE agents, managers and supervisors conducting the raid may be subjecting themselves of getting arrested for not having the proper security clearance level and for being in a classified security area that requires higher security clearances than what the average ICE special agent has, which I believe is at a "Secret" security clearance level.
The following is a quotation of the meaning of the ICE’s Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) program taken from the ICE’s website:
“ICE agents prioritize enforcement efforts by focusing on the sites related to critical infrastructure and national security. The goal of CIP operations is to reduce the vulnerabilities at these facilities and other key assets to prevent potential attacks. Critical infrastructure has been defined as systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so crucial to the United States that the damage or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economy, public health or safety, and/or any combination of those matters.
Unauthorized workers employed at sensitive facilities such as airports, nuclear power plants, chemical plants, military bases, defense facilities and seaports, may compromise the integrity of these key assets. In FY 2008, ICE agents have made more than 700 administrative arrests and 100 criminal arrests at critical infrastructure facilities.") - ICE’s Press Release
ICE arrests 42 illegal aliens working at Dulles International AirportICE Press Release – August 13, 2008“WASHINGTON - This morning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 42 men illegally present in the country at Dulles International Airport as part of a critical infrastructure protection (CIP) operation. ICE agents, with support of airport security agencies, arrested the illegal aliens just inside the airport grounds at a checkpoint established to verify the identity and immigration status of workers entering a service gate.
"It is crucial to ICE's homeland security mission to know who enters sensitive areas like airports, military bases and power plants to ensure the integrity of these key assets," said Mark X. McGraw, Special Agent in Charge of ICE's Office of Investigations, Washington field office. "This operation illustrates ICE's ongoing efforts in partnership with federal and local agencies to secure the critical infrastructure within the National Capital Region."
ICE agents interviewed more than 200 individuals to verify their identities, immigration status, and eligibility for lawful employment in the U.S. Most of the individuals encountered worked on construction projects at the airport. Those detained are being interviewed, fingerprinted, photographed and entered into Department of Homeland Security databases at a local ICE office. Relatives and friends wishing to check on the custody status and detention location of those detained may call 1-866-341-3858, ICE's toll-free, 24-hour hotline.
Interviews can often generate critical law enforcement information that may lead to future investigations. There is no indication that any of the aliens were involved in any terrorist activity.
ICE agents prioritize enforcement efforts by focusing on the sites related to critical infrastructure and national security. The goal of CIP operations is to reduce the vulnerabilities at these facilities and other key assets to prevent potential attacks. Critical infrastructure has been defined as systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so crucial to the United States that the damage or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economy, public health or safety, and/or any combination of those matters.
Unauthorized workers employed at sensitive facilities such as airports, nuclear power plants, chemical plants, military bases, defense facilities and seaports, may compromise the integrity of these key assets. In FY 2008, ICE agents have made more than 700 administrative arrests and 100 criminal arrests at critical infrastructure facilities.
Transportation Security Administration and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority supported this operation.”
http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080813washington.htm
ICE arrests 57 illegal aliens employed by Asheville Department of Defense Contractor
ICE Press Release – August 12, 2008
“ASHEVILLE, NC - Fifty-seven illegal aliens working at Mills Manufacturing Corporation (MMC) were arrested here this morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents.
The arrests were based on an ICE critical infrastructure investigation that revealed that the illegal aliens had used fraudulent social security numbers to obtain employment. The company, located at 22 Mills Place, has been fully cooperative and is not a target of the ICE investigation.
MMC is a Department of Defense contractor responsible for the manufacturing of parachutes for the U.S. military. Illegal aliens employed at sensitive facilities -- such as military bases, nuclear plants, chemical plants, airports and Department of Defense contractors -- pose a homeland security threat.
ICE doesn't believe that those arrested today at MMC had any ill intent against the United States; however, their illegal status could have made them susceptible to blackmail by those with ill intent. Today, ICE has neutralized a potential vulnerability.
"Protecting the integrity of our nation's critical infrastructure is among ICE's highest priorities," said Delburt Richburg, assistant special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Charlotte. "When individuals use fraudulent social security numbers to get jobs, they hide their true identity and history. We need to know who is working on our critical infrastructure sites."
All of those arrested today were transferred to the Henderson County Sheriff's Office for immigration processing. All have been placed into removal proceedings for being in violation of U.S. immigration law.
At this point, no criminal charges have been presented against the illegal aliens; however, the investigation continues.
Those arrested today were interviewed by ICE agents to determine if they had medical, caregiver, or other humanitarian issues. ICE identified approximately 29 individuals who qualified for a humanitarian release. These individuals are still required to appear before a federal immigration judge who will ultimately determine whether or not they will be deported.
Among those arrested, were nationals of Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and Honduras. ICE contacted local Consular officials, community groups and other to provide accurate information regarding today's operation.
Family members wanting information regarding those arrested today may contact ICE by dialing 704-679-6140.
ICE's worksite enforcement investigations are aimed at promoting national security and public safety, protecting critical infrastructure, and ensuring fair labor standards. As of July 2008, ICE has made more than 3,800 administrative arrests for immigration violations during worksite enforcement operations.”
http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080812asheville.htm
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
“The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is governed by a 13-member Board of Directors with five members appointed by the Governor of Virginia, three by the Mayor of the District of Columbia, two by the Governor of Maryland and three by the President of the United States.
The Airports Authority operates a two-airport system that provides domestic and international air service for the mid-Atlantic region. The organization consists of more than 1,300 employees in a structure that includes central administration, airports management and operations, and police and fire departments.
The Airports Authority is not taxpayer-funded but is self-supporting, using aircraft landing fees, rents and revenues from concessions to fund operating expenses. The Dulles Development Program is funded by bonds issued by the Authority, Federal and State Airport Improvement Program funds, and Passenger Facility Charges.” - http://www.mwaa.com/about_the_authority/facts
Mills Manufacturing Corporation
“Mills Manufacturing Corporation is a prime defense contractor for the United States Government. All our parachutes are produced in strict accordance with current US Government design and drawings and comply with all quality and manufacturing specifications. We are an approved US Government manufacturer in accordance with General Specification for Parachutes, Personnel, MIL-DTL-6645J, August 3, 2001, and listed in the US Government Qualified Products List, QPL-6645-26, Amendment #1, August 8, 2006. We are also an ISO9001:2000 registered company.” - http://www.millsmanufacturing.com/
References
HOMELAND DEFENSE AND HOMELAND SECURITY - http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/3430/3430lect02c.htm
The Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets – The White House – U.S. President George Walker Bush – February 2003 - http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/Physical_Strategy.pdf
42 Workers Detained In ICE Raid At Dulles
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/13/AR2008081303649.html
Vigil Held for 42 Suspected Illegals Arrested in ICE Raid at Dulles Airport - http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0808/543909.html
ICE arrests 42 men at Dulles immigration raid - http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=8837236&nav=menu45_2
Immigration raid spurs fear, devastation - http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880812109
Raids a poor substitute for real immigration policy - http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880813087
Plant raid leaves immigrant workers with few legal options
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880813120
Immigration raid at parachute plant nets 57 http://www.mountainx.com/news/2008/immigration_raid_at_parachute_plant_nets_57
Court raids put focus on companies suspected of hiring illegal immigrantshttp://www.projo.com/news/content/immigration_raid_18_07-18-08_K3ATGON_v31.40389fd.html
In immigration cases, employers feel the pressure
http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080721/NEWS02/107766995/-1/NEWS04
Immigration, Outsourced - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/opinion/09wed1.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin











