Border Breach? (ABC News smuggles in Depleted Uranium)

[RamboLiberal]

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/Primetime/sept11_uranium030910.html

For a second year, U.S. government screeners have failed to detect a shipment of depleted uranium in a container sent by ABCNEWS from overseas as part of a test of security at American ports.

"I think this is a case in point which established the soft underbelly of national security and homeland defense in the United States," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who has been urging the Bush administration to do more to enhance port security.

The ABCNEWS test was criticized by officials at the Department of Homeland Security, who assigned agents in at least four cities to investigate ABC personnel and news sources involved.

"I think you're a news reporter that is trying to carry out a hoax on our inspectors," Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Asa Hutchinson told Brian Ross, ABCNEWS' chief investigative correspondent, for a report to be broadcast Thursday on World News Tonight and PrimeTime Thursday.

[arcane1]

1. but I thought DU was just a harmless condiment!?

what's wrong with bringing such a harmless item across the border?

:shrug:


(hopefully blatant sarcasm)

[Robb]

2. Joke's on them

"See how you like reportin' outta that cell at Gitmo, news boy!!"

Of course, if you're related to the "other" DU you get stopped at every checkpoint, right? :)

I love how DHS says they knew it was only DU, while the director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs says there's no way they could have.

What a pack of lyin' liars.

[Rose Siding]

3. Asa wanted to slap the cuffs on Ross SO bad

His first big terrorist collar.

[RamboLiberal]

4. And chilling how Ashcroft's thugs acted

U.S. agents also sought, without warrant or subpoena, to obtain ABCNEWS field tapes. Two agents showed up at night at the San Diego home of a freelance cameraman, Jeff Freeman, who worked on the project.

"They first identified themselves as FBI agents, which it turns out they weren't," said Freeman. "They wanted to know if I still had the tapes I had shot for ABC and if I could turn them over."

On Saturday morning, two U.S. Customs agents showed up unannounced at the Washington, D.C., home of nuclear physicist Cochran, blocking his driveway as he and his wife were about to go shopping, Cochran told ABCNEWS.

<And I like Grassley's response>

In a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft and Ridge, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said he was concerned about "a chilling effect on legitimate investigative reporting" in the ABCNEWS case.

"If my neighbor told me my barn was on fire, my first instinct would be to thank my neighbor and get some water for the fire. I worry that the government's first instinct is to pour cold water on the neighbor," Grassley wrote.

[Rose Siding]

6. *Just* today, Jr is asking for more "authority" for Justice

It's going to be a long 14 months.

edit- Grassley's response seems exceptionally sane for a repub.

[pw]

8. I thought it was a crime to impersonate an FBI agent

Or is that only if you're not working for Ashcroft?

[KamaAina]

5. Why would the terra-ists have to import DU into the U.S.?

It's a domestic product, a byproduct of the spent fuel from our nuclear reactors.

Its use as a weapon is twofold: "Let's take all of our nasty spent nuclear fuel and dump it on some brown people!!" "Cool!" </sarcasm>

[treepig]

11. yeah, there's at least a billion pounds already in the usa

the whole scheme is akin to importing anthrax (why bother when our domestic producers are #1?)

btw, DU is not a byproduct from spent fuel (it's a byproduct of the preparation of the fuel before use in nuclear reactors).

[wroberts189]

7. Another demonstration of their (bush admin) arrogance

Port security gets shown to be a joke.. what does bush admin do? ...

---------
"They pulled up and blocked my driveway so that I couldn't pull the car out," said an angered Cochran. "They didn't call me up, they didn't knock on my door, they just swooped in and stopped my exit from the driveway."
---------------------

[FlashHarry]

9. Hooray for Sen. Grassley (R-IA)!

He may be GOP, but I think he's a fairly honest guy...

<snip>
The government's response to the undercover operation by ABC prompted a strong letter from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) to Attorney General John D. Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

"I would urge that significant caution must be used by the federal government to ensure that legitimate reporting is not chilled," Grassley wrote, adding: "If my neighbor told me my barn was on fire, my first instinct would be to thank my neighbor and get some water for the fire. . . . Time and again, I find federal agencies devoting enormous time and energy to attacking whoever put the spotlight on a government mistake." ((BF mine))
</snip>

[otohara]

10. Washington Post Link

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57230-2003Sep10.html