Mexican Capo Guzman Behind Drug War Deaths

By Robin Emmott | Reuters

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) – One man looms behind the worst violence in a drugs war on Mexico’s U.S. border that is shaking President Felipe Calderon’s government and worrying Washington.

Joaquin Guzman, known as “Shorty” at just 5 feet tall, is Mexico’s most wanted man and set off a wave of killings in the border city of Ciudad Juarez early last year when he tried to muscle in on the territory of a local cartel.

A turf battle between Guzman’s enforcers from the Sinaloa cartel and local Ciudad Juarez drug runners has since killed more than 2,000 people here and forced the government to deploy 7,500 troops and federal police to take control of the city.

Guzman, 51, has avoided capture several times since he escaped from a high security jail in a laundry van in 2001.

Mexican anti-drug officials say he began waging war for Ciudad Juarez when the local cartel tried to charge him taxes for smuggling narcotics through the city into Texas …

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Obama Justice Dept. Will Defend Yoo

By JOSH GERSTEIN | Politico

The Obama Administration has decided to press on with the Justice Department’s defense of a civil lawsuit brought against John Yoo, a former department lawyer attorney whose controversial legal opinions have been roundly criticized by many members of Obama’s legal team.

At a court hearing Friday morning in San Francisco, government lawyers said that despite the change in administration, there has been no change in Yoo’s government-run legal defense against a suit brought by Jose Padilla, an American citizen who spent more than three years in a Navy brig after being designated as an enemy combatant.

“This administration has made no secret that we disagree with many of the previous administration’s legal policies on national security issues,” a Justice Department spokesman, Matt Miller, said after the court session. “Nevertheless, we generally defend employees or former employees of the department in litigation filed in connection with their official duties.”

As POLITICO first reported, Judge Jeffrey White issued written questions Thursday asking whether the position taken by Yoo’s defense had been “fully vetted” by the Obama administration.

A Justice Department official, who asked not to be named, said the judge was advised that Obama appointees signed off on the legal strategy. “The positions taken in the briefs have been fully vetted within the administration,” the official said …

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Amid Obama’s Change, There’s also More of the Same

By NANCY BENAC | Associated Press

WASHINGTON – For all the sweeping changes that President Barack Obama has delivered, there also has been an ample helping of more-of-the-same.

The Bush policy of imprisoning enemy combatants in Afghanistan without trial? The Obama White House is OK with that.

The Bush tax cuts for the rich that candidate Obama promised to wipe out early? President Obama will let them run their course.

The Bush team’s claim of a “state secrets” privilege to avoid releasing information? The Obama White House has agreed thrice over, even as it reviews the policy.

Across the landscape of government, there are plenty of other instances in which Obama is staying his Republican predecessor’s course — at least for now …

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How the Economic Stimulus Plan Could Affect You

By The Associated Press An examination of how the economic stimulus plan will affect Americans. Taxes: The recovery package has tax breaks for families that send a child to college, purchase a new car, buy a first home or make the ones they own more energy efficient. Millions of workers can expect to see about $13 extra in their weekly paychecks, starting around June, from a new $400 tax credit to be doled out through the rest of the year. Couples would get up to $800. In 2010, the credit would be about $7.70 a week, if it is spread over the entire year. The $1,000 child tax credit would be extended to more low-income families that don’t make enough money to pay income taxes, and poor families with three or more children will get an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit … Continue Reading

World Economic Crisis is Top Security Threat: U.S.

By Randall Mikkelsen | Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The global economic crisis has become the biggest near-term U.S. security concern, sowing instability in a quarter of the world’s countries and threatening destructive trade wars, U.S. intelligence agencies reported on Thursday.

The director of national intelligence’s annual threat assessment also said al Qaeda’s leadership had been weakened over the last year. But security in Afghanistan had deteriorated and Pakistan had to gain control over its border areas before the situation could improve.

“The financial crisis and global recession are likely to produce a wave of economic crises in emerging market nations over the next year,” said the report. A wave of “destructive protectionism” was possible as countries find they cannot export their way out of the slump.

“Time is our greatest threat. The longer it takes for the recovery to begin, the greater the likelihood of serious damage to U.S. strategic interests,” the report said.

The report represents the findings of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies and serves as a leading security reference for policymakers and Congress. Besides reviewing adversaries, it also considered this year the security impact of issues including climate change and the economy …

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