SIGNS OF THE TIMES 03-27-2010

[Your Uncle Sam]

SIGNS

OF THE

TIMES

27 MARCH, 2010

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OBAMA’S 2^ND PICK FOR TRANSPORTATION SECURITY WITHDRAWS

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is back to square one — again — in finding a transportation security chief to shore up the nation's defenses against terrorist threats from the air, road and rail.

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Harding took himself out of the running Friday night as head of the Transportation Security Administration, another setback for Obama after his first choice withdrew in January because he faced a tough confirmation struggle in Congress. The Obama administration has called the job the most important unfilled position on Obama's team.

Harding's past as a defense contractor raised complications for his nomination.

He had extensive intelligence experience that Obama hoped to tap in fortifying security against attacks such as the Christmas bombing attempt on an airliner bound for Detroit, which was foiled by passengers. The agency's primary mission is to keep commercial aviation safe from terrorism, but its responsibilities cover threats by land and ferry as well.

Harding retired from the Army in 2001, ending a three-decade career during which he served as the Defense Department's top human intelligence officer, managing a $1 billion intelligence collection program.

He became a government consultant on human intelligence and counterintelligence, selling his company in 2009.

Questions arose after his nomination about a contract his company had with the government to provide interrogators in Iraq. After the government ended the contract early, in 2004, Harding Security Associates claimed more money from termination of the contract than the Defense Department's inspector general said it was entitled to get. The firm refunded $1.8 million of that money in a 2008 settlement with the Defense Intelligence Agency.

"I feel that the distractions caused by my work as a defense contractor would not be good for this administration nor for the Department of Homeland Security," Harding said in a late-evening statement released by the White House. The Transportation Security Administration is part of Homeland Security.

A little over two months ago, Erroll Southers withdrew his nomination to lead the TSA after it became apparent he would have trouble winning confirmation. Questions were raised about a reprimand that Southers, a top official with the Los Angeles Airport Police Department, had received for running background checks on his then-estranged wife's boyfriend two decades ago. He acknowledged giving Congress inconsistent answers on the matter.

Obama had waited eight months before nominating Southers. Now Harding's withdrawal means more delays in filling the top job in transportation security.

The announcement about Harding came late Friday, a period favored by the government for releasing uncomfortable news because the public's attention is light. There was no immediate word on finding another nominee.

"By nominating Gen. Harding, the president tapped an individual with more than 35 years of military and intelligence experience who is dedicated to improving the security of our nation," said White House spokesman Nicholas Shapiro. "The president is disappointed in this outcome but remains confident in the solid team of professionals at TSA."

MISSING MARINES IN SOUTH KOREA INCIDENT

RELATIVES DEMAND ANSWERS...GET SILENCE

PYEONGTAEK, South Korea – Relatives of marines missing after a South Korean military ship sank near the disputed sea border with North Korea are protesting over a lack of information about what caused the disaster.

About 150 family members at Pyeongtaek naval base south of Seoul pushed their way past security guards Saturday to confront military officials. Screaming "Liars!" some climbed onto the rescued captain's car as he was driving away.

The Joint Chiefs of Staffs say an explosion occurred in the rear of the ship but the cause of the blast has not been released. Fifty-eight marines were rescued but 46 others are missing.

Relatives say rescued crew members told them the ship was leaky and in need of repair.

BAENGNYEONG ISLAND, South Korea (AP) — Military divers plunged into the waters near South Korea's tense maritime border with North Korea to search for 46 missing marines from a naval ship that sank Saturday, but were hampered by fierce waves and high winds, officials said.

Hopes were fading for the missing crew after an explosion sank the ship in one of South Korea's worst naval disasters. Divers tried unsuccessfully twice to get to the wreckage, Rear Adm. Lee Ki-sik of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told lawmakers.

There was speculation the ship may have hit a wayward mine.

The explosion at the rear of the Cheonan shut down its engine, wiped out power and caused the ship to sink a little over three hours later, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

A survivor, Staff Sgt. Shin Eun-chong, 24, told relatives he was on night duty when he heard a huge boom behind him that split the ship apart. The vessel started tilting, and his glasses fell off his face as he hit the deck, relatives at a naval base in Pyeongtaek told The Associated Press.

Military planes and boats were searching the waters near South Korea's Baengnyeong Island where the 1,200-ton Cheonan had been on a routine patrol mission. Among the missing was a marine who had survived a 2002 naval skirmish with North Korea, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

"Yells and screams filled the air," witness Kim Jin-ho, a seaman who was on a local passenger ship bound for Baengnyeong, told cable news channel YTN. "Marines on deck were desperately shouting: 'Save me!'"

Despite early fears of an attack, there was no immediate indication that North Korea — which lies within sight about 10 miles (17 kilometers) from Baengnyeong — was to blame, the Joint Chiefs said. Still, troops kept a vigilant watch.

The ship went down near a disputed maritime border that has been the site of three bloody skirmishes between the two Koreas, which remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953.

President Lee Myung-bak ordered officials to quickly determine what caused the ship to sink and make all efforts to rescue the crew, spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye said.

Joint Chiefs spokesman Park Seong-woo said the military will issue a judgment on the cause of the accident after rescue teams search and salvage the vessel for analysis.

"At this point, all scenarios reported by media — missile attack, internal explosion, torpedoes — are possible causes," said 1st Lt. Baek Jae-woo, a lecturer on vessel structure and design at the Republic of Korea Naval Academy. He said it won't be clear what caused the explosion until the ship is towed.

The process could take weeks. In 2002, it took the military 17 days to salvage a 130-ton vessel struck in a surprise attack by North Korea, the Joint Chiefs said.

Only a sliver of the hull remained visible Saturday. Authorities have not confirmed any deaths but Rear Adm. Lee told lawmakers he presumed most of the missing sailors were trapped inside the vessel, Yonhap said.

Fifty-eight of the crew of 104 were rescued, with some treated for burns, broken bones and abrasions.

At the base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, wails filled the air as relatives checked a list of missing marines. One man, his brow furrowed with worry, stared blankly out a window; another wept silently, his forehead pressed up against a television screen listing the missing crew members' names.

"Where are you? Where can you be?" one mother screamed.

Many relatives waited for news, their faces buried in tissues and handkerchiefs. However, about 150 people — fed up with the lack of information — pushed their way past security to confront military officials.

Hopes for the missing were diminishing with each hour, a coast guard official said. He said humans can survive in winter waters if rescued within two hours, noting that the temperature of the Yellow Sea at the time was between 37 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit (3 and 5 degrees Celsius). He asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The sinking is one of South Korea's worst naval disasters. Local media reported that the country's worst maritime accident occurred in 1974, when a ship sank off the southeast coast in stormy weather, killing 159 sailors and coast guard personnel. In 1967, 39 sailors were killed by North Korean artillery.

The Cheonan was engaged in a skirmish with North Korea in 1999, Yonhap said.

Earlier, North Korea's military threatened "unpredictable strikes" against the U.S. and South Korea in anger over a report the two countries plan to prepare for possible instability in the totalitarian country.

However, there was no sign of unusual movement by North Korea's military, presidential spokeswoman Kim said.

"It's looking more and more like it was just an accident that happens on a ship," Carl Baker, an expert on Korean military relations at the Pacific Forum CSIS think tank in Honolulu, said by telephone. He said North Korea was unlikely to attack the far more powerful South Korean military.

TEA PARTY TARGETS REID

LAS VEGAS – Sarah Palin and thousands of tea party activists plan to descend on Sen. Harry Reid's hometown in the Nevada desert Saturday to call for the ouster of Democrats who supported the health care overhaul.

Organizers predict as many as 10,000 people could come to tiny Searchlight, the hardscrabble former mining town where the Senate Democratic leader grew up and owns a home. But a light turnout or disruptions could lead to questions about the emerging movements' credibility and direction.

Since the health care vote, "Everyone is waiting to see if the tea party movement is reinvigorated or if we've resigned ourselves to defeat," Joe Wierzbicki, a spokesman for event sponsor Tea Party Express, said in an e-mail.

The rally that's been called a conservative Woodstock takes place just days after the historic health care vote that ushered in near-universal medical coverage and divided Congress and the nation.

The vote was followed by reports of threats and vandalism aimed at some Washington lawmakers, mostly Democrats who supported the new law.

Police don't expect problems but the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is sending dozens of uniformed and plainclothes officers to patrol the crowd.

Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, is scheduled to appear after spending Friday campaigning for Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who led the 2008 ticket.

Now a Fox News analyst and potential 2012 presidential candidate, Palin faced criticism after posting a map on her Facebook page that had circles and cross hairs over 20 Democratic districts. She also sent a tweet saying, "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!"

She said Friday she was alluding to votes, not guns.

A string of polls has shown Reid is vulnerable in politically moderate Nevada after pushing President Barack Obama's agenda in Congress. His standing has also been hurt by Nevada's double-digit unemployment and record foreclosure and bankruptcy rates.

The tea party movement is a far-flung coalition of conservative groups angered by Washington spending, rising taxes and the growth and reach of government. It takes its name from the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when colonists dumped tea off English ships to protest what they considered unfair taxation by the British crown.

The rally kicks off a 42-city bus tour that ends in Washington on April 15, tax day.