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Politics : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (3242)	7/11/2003 1:57:50 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 10965

URL:http://www.jewishworldreview.com/toons/cox/dcox1.asp

To: calgal who wrote (3242)	7/11/2003 2:00:08 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 10965

GOPers tell Ridge Mexican ID card a threat to security jewishworldreview.com \| (KRT) The chairmen of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees voiced "increasing concern" Thursday about rising U.S. acceptance of a Mexican consular ID card that is helpful mainly to illegal immigrants who lack legitimate U.S. identification. Citing the FBI's view that the matricula consular is vulnerable to fraud and open to misuse by terrorists and criminals, the lawmakers asked Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to consider those concerns as the federal government weighs its policy toward the document. "Despite the widespread acceptance of these cards … it appears that they are neither reliable nor secure," the Republicans said in a letter to Ridge, calling the documents "a threat to homeland security." The Department of Homeland Security recently was put in charge of the interagency task force debating whether to accept foreign consular ID cards. The task force, which has been meeting for months, as yet has been unable to smooth policy differences between the State, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security departments. "The interagency task force still continues to work to determine if this is going to be a viable, acceptable document," Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Thursday. He declined comment on the letter, signed by Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.; Homeland Security Chairman Chris Cox, R-Calif.; Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., who chairs the homeland security appropriations subcommittee; and Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, chairman of a Judiciary subcommittee. The lawmakers' letter and the FBI opposition, stated at a recent House immigration subcommittee hearing, mark two rare setbacks to Mexico's campaign for wider acceptance of the matricula. Thirteen states, more than 80 cities and 900 police departments now accept the matricula. Advocates say the cards help immigrants access basic functions of daily life such as obtaining driver's licenses and opening bank accounts. They also note that the card serves a law enforcement purpose, allowing police to identify people who otherwise might travel without identification. Critics, however, say the card abets illegal immigration and undermines enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. More than 1.4 million cards have been issued since 2002 and Mexican government officials insist the ID is secure and fraud-resistant. Officials say the card allows them to keep track of the 9 million Mexicans who live here, about half of them illegally. The FBI last month became the first federal agency to publicly state a position on the matricula, expressing concern that the card is not secure in part because the Mexican government does not have a centralized database of applicants. Without such a database, there is no way of assuring that multiple cards aren't issued to the same person, said Steve McCraw, assistant director of the FBI's Office of Intelligence. Mexican officials say they are working to establish a database and are taking other steps to make the card more secure. The Mexican Embassy did not return a call Thursday regarding the lawmakers' views. In the letter, the four House members expressed particular misgivings about the Treasury Department's decision to permit financial institutions to use foreign consular cards as proof of identification. The Treasury decision "appears to subvert" sections in the USA Patriot Act designed "to make it more difficult for potential terrorists to open bank accounts," they wrote, asking the Department of Homeland Security to take a position on the matter. The Treasury Department had not seen the letter. But spokesman Taylor Griffin said, "The administration implements all laws with the intent of Congress fully in mind." The Patriot Act regulations "were designed to allow financial institutions enough flexibility to implement the rules effectively while holding those institutions responsible for the success of their customer identification program," he said

To: calgal who wrote (3242)	7/11/2003 2:11:04 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

Powell: Critics of Bush reaching By Lawrence McQuillan and John Diamond, USA TODAY PRETORIA — Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the Bush administration Thursday against intensifying criticism of the use of bogus intelligence to help make the case for war on Iraq. But he was pressed to explain how the tainted evidence made it into President Bush's State of the Union address. At a news conference intended to highlight U.S. initiatives in Africa, Powell gave the lengthiest administration defense since the White House acknowledged Monday that a key allegation against Iraq in the president's speech on Jan. 28 was false. "There was no effort or attempt on the part of the president or anyone else in the administration to mislead or to deceive the American people," Powell said. He was referring to Bush's charge that Iraq was trying to buy uranium for nuclear weapons in Africa, an allegation based on documents the White House now concedes were not authentic. Powell sought to explain how the allegation, based on a British report, got into the speech after the CIA had questioned it and why, a week later, the secretary dropped it from his own presentation to the United Nations Security Council. "There was sufficient evidence floating around at the time that such a statement was not totally outrageous," Powell said. "Subsequently, when we looked at it more thoroughly ... we did not believe that it was appropriate to use that example any more." Powell's comments came as Democrats sharpened their criticism of Bush's misstep. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean called for the resignation of any administration official who knowingly passed on false information. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who like Dean is a Democratic presidential candidate, said a thorough investigation would be needed "to re-establish the credibility of our own government." In Britain, the BBC quoted anonymous senior government officials as saying they no longer expected to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said Blair still believes the weapons will be found. Powell refused to speculate on what anonymous sources in Britain were saying and angrily dismissed the administration's critics as reaching "overdrawn, overblown, overwrought" conclusions. Powell followed an emerging White House strategy of suggesting that the CIA, which was shown Iraq-related portions of Bush's draft speech, could have objected to the inclusion of the uranium charge. A CIA spokesman declined to comment. The speech controversy comes as the White House is also facing criticism of its attempts to stabilize postwar Iraq. President Bush told reporters Thursday that the United States has "a security issue" in Iraq, but insisted troops there would "remain tough." His remarks came as the Pentagon reported that two U.S. soldiers were killed Wednesday in separate attacks. Contributing: McQuillan reported from South Africa, Diamond from Washington, D.C. URL:http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-07-10-powell-usat_x.htm