U.S. to Scan Incoming Air Cargo

The Homeland Security Department will put all incoming air cargo through radiation detectors at the nation's airports to try to prevent terrorists from smuggling radioactive bombs into the U.S. The new initiative aims to close what the 9/11 Commission's final report called a major security vulnerability — cargo on airplanes as a potential avenue for terrorism. Any cargo shipped on passenger planes will also be scanned. Detectors will begin checking packages this week at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. Arriving cargo — whether from Pakistan or Peoria — will be driven through giant detectors called Radiation Portal Monitors. Although every piece of cargo will be scanned, "our focus is on the international cargo," says Jayson Ahern of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection division.

The Iraq to Afghanistan Shuffle

President Bush said Thursday that falling violence levels in Iraq should allow troop withdrawals there to continue. The result would be shorter tours of duty and the potential to shift forces to Afghanistan. Attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan have increased as much as 40% compared with last year, according to NATO. Commanders there have sought more troops, and the Pentagon may send hundreds more by fall. Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that three 3,500-troop brigades are needed in Afghanistan. But those forces will only be available when more are pulled from Iraq. Progress in Iraq, while potentially reversible, has a "degree of durability," Bush said. July's total of 10 U.S. troops deaths were the war's lowest. Also, Bush said, Iraqi security forces have improved and have led successful operations against Shiite insurgents. They are also fighting al-Qaeda militants north of Baghdad.

Veteran Victims

WASHINGTON — More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hotline in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says. According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide than men who are not veterans. The VA teamed up with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to launch the hotline last July after years of criticism that the VA wasn't doing enough to help wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In April, two veterans groups sued the VA, citing long delays for processing applications and other problems in treatment for veterans at risk for suicide. The department has spent $2.9 million on the hotline thus far.

The hotline receives up to 250 calls per day. Kemp said callers are divided evenly between veterans from the Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam wars. The VA estimates that every year 6,500 veterans take their own lives. The mental health director for the VA, Ira Katz, said in an e-mail last December that of the 18 veterans who commit suicide each day, four to five of them are under VA care, and 12,000 veterans under VA care are attempting suicide each year.

Gitmo Detainees Win in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court's unprecedented ruling Thursday giving Guantanamo detainees a constitutional right to challenge their imprisonment in U.S. courts was a sweeping victory for the detainees. Yet it sows more legal uncertainty at the naval base that has held foreign detainees for more than six years and spawned international controversy. In the latest court rebuke against the Bush administration's detainee policies, the justices ruled 5-4 that a military screening process used to determine whether a prisoner is an "enemy combatant" does not protect detainees' rights. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy said the executive branch has an interest in national security but added, "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times." The decision could allow nearly 200 prisoners who have not been charged to challenge their imprisonment in regular U.S. courts. The decision does not directly affect the cases of men — including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — who are charged with Sept. 11- related crimes, although it could slow those proceedings.

Australia Withdraws from Iraq

SYDNEY, Australia — Australia, a staunch U.S. ally and one of the first countries to commit troops to the Iraq war five years ago, ended combat operations there Sunday, a Defense Department official said. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was swept into office in November largely on the promise that he would bring home the country's 550 combat troops by the middle of 2008. Rudd has said the Iraq deployment has made Australia more of a target for terrorism.

War on Terror

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of troops with new cases of post-traumatic stress disorder jumped by roughly 50% in 2007 amid the military buildup in Iraq and increased violence there and in Afghanistan. Records show roughly 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with the illness, also known as PTSD, since 2003. Officials believe that many more are likely keeping their illness a secret.

• JJ Commentary: It would seem that much of the terror is being felt by our own troops.

Port Security

WASHINGTON — A Department of Homeland Security program to strengthen port security has gaps that terrorists could exploit to smuggle weapons of mass destruction in cargo containers, congressional investigators have found. The report by the Government Accountability Office, being released Tuesday, assesses the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), a federal program established after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to deter a potential terrorist strike via cargo passing through 326 of the nation's airports, seaports and designated land borders. Under the program, roughly 8,000 importers, port authorities and air, sea and land carriers are granted benefits such as reduced scrutiny of their cargo. In exchange, the companies submit a security plan that must meet U.S. Customs and Border Protection's minimum standards and allow officials to verify their measures are being followed. A 2005 GAO report found many of the companies were receiving the reduced cargo scrutiny without the required full vetting by U.S. Customs, a division of DHS. The agency has since made some improvements, but the new report found that Customs officials still couldn't provide guarantees that companies were in compliance.

• JJ Commentary: Securing our ports and borders is a monumental task, but no matter how much we do so, there will always be cracks for the crackpots and terrorists.

War Funding Confusion

WASHINGTON — In a stunning vote that illustrated President Bush's diminished standing, the Senate on Thursday ignored his veto threat and added tens of billions of dollars for veterans and the unemployed to his Iraq war spending bill. A majority of Republicans broke ranks with Bush on a veto-proof 75-22 vote while adding more than $10 billion for various other domestic programs, including heating subsidies for the poor, wildfire fighting, road and bridge repair, and health research. Democrats crowed about their victory. But the developments meant more confusion about when the must-pass measure might actually become law and what the final version will contain. Senators voted 70-26 to approve $165 billion to fulfill Bush's request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into next spring, when Bush's successor will set war policy. Overall, the measure contains $212 billion over the coming two years -- $28 billion more than the administration sought -- plus about $50 billion more through 2017 for veterans' education benefits. Bush has promised to veto the Iraq spending if it exceeds his request. He has enough GOP support in the House to sustain a veto.