Washington, Jan 30 (IANS) Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian American community leaders have raised the issue of racial, ethnic and religious profiling at airports and the border with the Obama administration.
The issue was raised during a meeting Thursday with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called to discuss joint efforts against domestic violent extremists, according to Sikh Coalition, a community advocacy group.
Leaders from national and local organizations representing these communities welcomed commitments by Napolitano to promote meaningful, positive and authentic dialogue even as they expressed concern about profiling that has eroded the government’s trust and credibility with the communities.
According to the coalition Napolitano made several commitments to community leaders, including community participation in an anti-violent extremism task force of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
Also proposed were regular, quarterly meetings with the Secretary and education and training for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leadership to promote understanding of the Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian American communities and their concerns.
Napolitano also promised an honest and full discussion of legitimate grievances from members of these communities about DHS policies that are ineffective and have a deleterious, humiliating impact on these communities, the Sikh Coalition said.
Community leaders believe that fulfilling these commitments would be a step forward in establishing meaningful, open and authentic dialogue, the group said.
Community leaders also called for changes to DHS policies that are ineffective and discriminate based on race, ethnicity or religion.
These include rescinding a new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) directive targeting travellers from Pakistan and 12 other predominantly Muslim nations, plus Cuba and revising a TSA directive on religious headwear, such as turbans and headscarves.
The leaders also demanded limits on interrogations and searches by Customs and Border Protection agents that probe an American’s faith, politics, finances or associations, as well as cell phones, laptops and electronic devices, without any evidence of wrongdoing.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
Peshawar, Jan.30 (ANI): US drones continue to strike militant hideouts in the tribal region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, as five more extremists were reportedly killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan late Friday.
According to local government officials, the unmanned US Predator aircraft fired at least three missiles targeting a suspected militant compound in Muhammad Khel town of the province killing five extremists in the spot.
“Initial reports say at least five people were killed and there are fears the toll may go up,” The Dawn quoted an official, as saying.
The target was considered to be a centre for local Taliban and was also a base for extremists belonging to the Haqqani network.
It may be noted that the Obama administration has been pressing Pakistan to initiate strong action against the Haqqani network, which it considers as one of the major anti-US groups working in the region.
The Haqqani network has been specifically targeting US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
While Pakistan has raised objections over such strikes on a number of occasion, the Obama administration has made it clear that it would continue with its plan of targeting the extremists hiding inside Pakistan’s territory along the Afghan border.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, recently, said that the missile strikes or any ground operations inside Pakistan would affect bilateral ties with the US.
The Obama administration has made it clear that it would not hesitate to carry out strikes further inside Pakistan’s territory if it gets credible actionable intelligence.
Washington has also been pressing Islamabad to initiate more action against one of the top Afghan Al-Qaeda commanders, Sirajuddin Haqqani.
The frequency of the drone strikes has increased considerably this year (over 40 attacks), which the US believes has proved very effective in breaking the back of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
However, Pakistan has been continuously condemning the Predator hits, saying they have proven detrimental to the ‘war on terror’, and have subsequently added fuel to the massive anti-American sentiment in the region. (ANI)
Washington, Jan.30 (ANI): Reiterating Islamabad’s consistent demand of having the drone technology, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani has urged the Obama administration to provide it the technical expertise to enable it to take stern action against militants inside Pakistan’s territory .
“Pakistan would rather have the technical expertise with which it can combat militants on its border with Afghanistan than have the US fire missiles into Pakistani territory. The government of Pakistan has repeatedly said that it would like to have the capability to identify the targets on ground,” Haqqani said.
During an interview with the National Public Radio (NPR), Haqqani said the Pakistani Army has the capability to take on the extremists, but it lacks technical expertise to continue the war on terror.
He said that while the drone strikes have killed many top militant commanders, it has also resulted in huge civilian casualties, which has added fuel to the anti-US sentiment in Pakistan.
“You must also understand that when you have unmanned aerial vehicles drop missiles and kill innocents, it infuriates public opinion and then obviously the Pakistani government has to stand by Pakistani public opinion,” The Dawn quoted Haqqani, as saying.
Responding to a question concerning President Obama’s plans to gradually pull out from Afghanistan, Haqqani said he believes that the US would not abandon the war-ravaged country like it did in the 1980’s.
“My understanding from interactions with senior officials in the United States is that the Obama administration does not wish to walk away from Afghanistan and that it understands the cost of doing so. Nobody wants a Central Asian Somalia or a failed state as a legacy,” he said.
“After all, they don’t want anybody plotting and planning attacks against America sitting in Afghanistan,” he added. (ANI)
Washington, Jan 30 (DPA) US President Barack Obama Friday stepped up his commitment to nuclear energy as part of the solution to global warming, marking a shift in policy that is partly designed to end a deadlock with opposition Republicans over energy policy.
Obama tasked a new commission to make proposals within two years on how to better manage used nuclear fuel and waste. He said nuclear energy was key to weaning the US off its dependency on foreign fossil fuels.
Obama also plans to triple government loan guarantees for the nuclear industry to $54 billion when he unveils his 2011 budget next week, US media reported. The Energy Department is in the process of deciding which companies should get the first round of loan guarantees that were proposed last year.
The 15-member nuclear commission includes a mix of business, environmental and union leaders. It will be headed by Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic lawmaker who led an inquiry into the terrorist attacks of Sep 11, 2001, and Brent Scowcroft, who was national security adviser to former presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.
The US generates about one-fifth of its electricity from nuclear energy, yet the country has not granted a permit for building new commercial nuclear power plants in more than two decades.
“Expanding our nation’s capacity to generate clean nuclear energy is crucial to our ability to combat climate change, enhance energy security, and increase economic prosperity,” Obama wrote in a memorandum to his energy secretary.
Obama’s shift on an issue long championed by Republicans began Wednesday with the president’s State of the Union address before Congress. Obama told lawmakers that nuclear energy and offshore oil drilling should be part of a comprehensive energy bill that faces an uphill battle in the US Senate.
Some environmental groups have expressed concern over the new-found interest in nuclear fuel.
“This expansion of the nuclear loan guarantee program … will come at the expense of the real solutions to the climate crisis, such as efficiency and renewable sources like wind and solar power,” said Kevin Kamps of the watchdog group Beyond Nuclear.
Washington, Jan 30 (DPA) The Obama administration informed the US Congress Friday of a proposal to sell up to $6.4 billion in weapons to Taiwan, a move that could spark a diplomatic rift with China.
The package includes 60 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, 12 Harpoon anti-ship missiles and land attack missiles, 114 Patriot missile-defence systems, two mine hunting ships, and related equipment and communications and information technology, the Pentagon said.
Past US arms sales to Taiwan have angered China, which regard the island as a rogue province and has threatened to retake it by force. Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, Washington is required to support Taiwan in its defence. The law coincided with the US decision to recognise China and switch diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing.
“This is a clear demonstration of the commitment that this administration has to provide Taiwan the defensive weapons it needs,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.
The potential sale is consistent with the US one-China policy and contributes to maintaining security and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Crowley said.
The announcement comes at a sensitive time in US-Chinese relations, as the two sides remain divided over trade issues, currency policies and human rights. But US support for Taiwan has been historically the most contentious issue in relations.
China temporarily cut off military ties with the US after former president George W. Bush’s administration put forth a similar package. Those ties were later restored.
Taiwan has not yet accepted the offer. But US law requires the administration to inform Congress of any sales to Taiwan. The proposal did not include F-16 fighter jets Taiwan has requested.
Washington, Jan 29 (DPA) US President Barack Obama Friday pledged to cut US greenhouse-gas emissions 28 percent within the federal government by 2020 to help combat global warming.
As the single largest consumer of energy in the US economy, the government had “a responsibility to American citizens to reduce our energy use and become more efficient,” Obama said in a statement.
“Our goal is to lower costs, reduce pollution, and shift federal energy expenses away from oil and towards local, clean energy,” he said.
The Obama administration has pledged to cut greenhouse gases 17 percent by 2020 across the entire US economy, which did not go far enough for many countries at the Copenhagen climate summit in December.
Los Angeles, Jan 29 (IANS/EFE) The immigration reforms announced by President Barack Obama was “not the real solution” of the problems of migrant workers, Mexican immigrants have said.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) has expressed disappointment with the brief mention of immigration reform in Obama’s first State of the Union address Wednesday.
Ana Rivas, a member of Wise Up, a CHIRLA-affiliated student group, said that Obama in his speech “is not proposing real solutions to the desperate situation of immigrants”.
“I’m sick and tired of hearing him talk about dreams and hope, but he doesn’t give concrete solutions to the situation we’re living in,” she said.
Jorge Mario Cabrera, CHIRLA’s communications director, said that “the battle for immigration reform really began with this speech”, and now onwards what must be demanded from the president and the members of Congress is “that they translate those words into action”.
“We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system – to secure our borders and enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation,” Obama told a joint session of the US Congress.
–IANS/EFE
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Washington, January 29 (ANI): Bob Dylan is set to perform at the White House next month as part of a civil rights celebration.
The ‘Hurricane’ hitmaker will join John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson and Jennifer Hudson, at the ‘In Performance At The White House: A Celebration Of Music From The Civil Rights Movement show.’
President Barack Obama and the First Lady will also be present at the event, reports Contactmusic.
The show is scheduled to take place on February 10. (ANI)
Washington, Jan. 29 (ANI): President Barack Obama has clarified that he didn’t have to shift gears to adopt a more populist tone, as speculated by many, but has always been a populist.
“Some journalists have asked in recent weeks, ‘Is he trying to change his message? Is he trying to get more populist? Is this a strategy?” Fox News quoted Obama, as saying during a speech in Tampa.
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“I’ve got some news of my own here. I’ve been working for working folks my entire adult life…and fighting for people all across the United States of America,” he added.
Obama was responding to coverage such as this post here on Hotsheet, which noted that he used the word ‘fight’ or ‘fighting’ more than 20 times in a speech in Ohio Friday and that he ‘took an aggressive, populist tone’ in his rhetoric.
“The political parties and the media haven’t been helping, they’ve been making it worse,” he complained of the tone in Washington.
Obama seemed to be in a jovial mood in Tampa, where he answered several questions in support of U.S. support for Israel and gay rights.
He was joined by Vice President Joe Biden, who joked: “You answer all of the tough questions, and I will hold the coat.’ (ANI)
Washington, Jan. 29 (ANI): Investigators are probing how hackers managed to infiltrate 49 US House of Representatives web sites just hours after President Obama’s State of the Union address.
On Thursday, hackers replaced the usual pages that congressmen and committees use with an attack on President Barack Obama.
On each of the hacked sites, the usual material was replaced by a white screen and the words: ‘F— OBAMA!! Red Eye CREW !!!!! O RESTO E HACKER !!! by HADES; m4V3RiCk; T4ph0d4 — FROM BRASIL.’
While information technology experts at the Capitol are still trying to confirm the origin of the attack, they are zeroing in on the technology vendor that manages some House Web sites, Politico reports.
GovTrends, an Alexandria-based provider of web services, host sites for members of Congress, but all members are free to use outside vendors to manage and upgrade their pages.
This practice appears to have allowed third parties access to the Web sites outside of congressional firewalls.
Jeff Ventura, a spokesman for the House chief administrative officer, said that the working theory is that the penetration happened during an upgrade that GovTrends was making to its own system.
“We’re discussing our options,” Ventura said.
The Praetorian Security Group, a New York-based firm that specializes in detecting computer intrusions, has fingered the Red Eye Crew, an anonymous group that has claimed credit for defacing thousands of web sites.
It appears that the group is based in Brazil, and the same loose-knit crew also claimed credit for hacking into 453 government sites in Brazil last August. (ANI)
