[News] Right-wing article about Israelis Contracted for US border controls
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Fri Oct 6 16:31:58 EDT 2006
The American Free Press is a successor to The Spotlight, which was
the publication of the right-wing Liberty Lobby. That being said, the
information contained in this article can be found, albeit in less
detail, from other articles in documents not intended for the general
population including a long piece on the web site of the Heritage Foundation.
<http://www.rense.com/general73/iwn.htm>http://www.rense.com/general73/iwn.htm
Israelis Win Contract
To Secure US Borders
By Christopher Bollyn
American Free Press
10-5-6
On Sept. 21, Michael Chertoff, the secretary of the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), announced that a consortium headed by the
Chicago-based Boeing Company had won a multi-billion dollar contract
to install sensors and radar along the U.S. border. The deal, the
first part of a multibillion-dollar government plan designed to
reduce illegal entry along the Canadian and Mexican borders calls for
cameras, sensors and even unmanned planes. When Chertoff was asked
why DHS had chosen the Boeing-led group he declined to comment. The
reason for Chertoff's silence, however, is telling: the Boeing team
includes an Israeli military subcontractor which will play a key role
in "securing" the U.S. border. Of interest is the fact that
Chertoff's Israeli mother played a key role in creating that country
in its infancy. The Boeing team, which will implement the DHS
program called the Secure Border Initiative (SBI) along the northern
and southern borders of the United States, includes a Merrimack,
N.H.-based surveillance technology firm called Kollsman Inc., a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd. of Haifa,
Israel. The Israeli-American team includes Unisys Corp., DRS
Technologies Inc., L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., Lucent
Technologies Inc., Perot Systems Corp. and the Israeli-owned
Kollsman, which makes the thermo-imaging cameras used to monitor
Israel's borders. As Chertoff announced the awarding of the
contract, estimated to be worth some $2.5 billion, he was giving a
very lucrative and sensitive contract to an Israeli company with
close ties to the Israeli military. The contract reportedly does not
have a set value. Payments will be announced as parts for the system
are ordered. The work will be done in phases, with the first
piece being a 28-mile stretch near Tucson, Ariz., Chertoff said. This
first phase will cost $67 million, he said. Boeing's proposal
includes some 1,800 towers along the borders with cameras developed
by Israel's Elbit Systems Ltd. which can reportedly spot people up to
9 miles away. Elbit Systems says it is "the prime contractor and
systems integrator for the Israel Police Border Control System, a
computerized system for registration and control deployed at every
Israeli border crossing. "Elbit Systems has developed and
integrated multi-layered solutions incorporating cutting-edge
biometrics, optical ID and RFID [radio frequency identification]
technologies. Our perimeter security solutions have also been adapted
for energy infrastructures and offshore installations," the company's
web site says. "We are looking at a technology that is advanced and
can pick a face in the crowd," Wayne Esser, capture team leader of
the Boeing team, told Washington Technology. Elbit provides
Israel's military with a border security surveillance system with
integrated sensors, radars, a "smart fence" and cameras. TIES TO
ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE Kollsman is not the only player on the Boeing
team with ties to Israeli military intelligence. As AFP has reported
previously, Unisys Corp., chaired by Lawrence A. Weinbach, has
integrated Israeli security software into the computer products it
sells to the U.S. government and other clients. Software from Check
Point Software Technologies of Ramat Gan, Israel, for example, is
integrated into Unisys products. Elbit Systems is directed by a
high-level board that is comprised of former Israeli major generals,
colonels, ambassadors, and former chiefs of Israel's largest banks
and companies. The company's only non-Israeli director on its board
of 18 members is Timothy Taylor, the British-born president and CEO
of Elbit Systems of America. Taylor speaks to the U.S. media for the
Israeli-owned company while the former Israeli fighter pilots and
generals run the company from Haifa. SBI is a Chertoff initiative
that is meant to be "a comprehensive plan to control our borders and
stem the flow of illegal immigration. "What we are looking to do is
build a virtual fence," Chertoff said. "We want to know when anybody
or anything is crossing the border." While the Israeli press was
quick to report that an Israeli company was part of the SBI border
security program, Chertoff failed to mention it. "Elbit System's
subsidiary Kollsman announced it would supply technology to identify
threats, deter and prevent crossings, and apprehend intruders along
U.S. borders," Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported. Huntleigh U.S.A.,
another Israeli-owned security company, provided passenger screening
at Boston's Logan Airport on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
Huntleigh, which is wholly owned by the Israeli company International
Consultants on Targeted Security (ICTS) apparently failed to
intercept the Arab terrorists who hijacked the two planes that hit
the World Trade Center, according to the government version. Now, the
same administration that failed to stop the terror attacks of 9-11 is
hiring an Israeli-owned company to help protect the entire U.S. land
border. Christopher Bollyn is a much-traveled international
journalist currently based in Chicago, serving as Midwest bureau
chief for American Free Press. He has written extensively on a wide
variety of subjects including the controversy surrounding
computerized voting systems, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the many
unanswered questions surrounding the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Lest
we forget - Israeli security companies had the contracts for the
security at the airports where the alleged 'Arab terrorists' were
allowed to pass through to board the 911 flights. -ed
The Freedom Archives
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