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Military DNA Registry Used in Criminal Case
bubblegoose writes "The Reading Eagle has a story about a man sought in a Reading, PA. murder who was arrested Thursday in Puerto Rico. This is the first time anyone has been apprehended in a criminal case based on DNA collected by the military. Apparently the DNA registry has a stringent set of rules that must be met for a blood sample to be released and those were satisfied." The DNA registry catalogs DNA samples from all US armed forces, ostensibly for identifying remains (although if that were the only reason, the samples would be automatically destroyed at the end of the servicemember's contract.)
fp?
Copyright (c) 2000-2003 Anton Altaparmakov
Copyright (c) 2001-2003 Richard Russon
Create an NTFS volume on a user specified (block) device.
Usage: mkntfs [options] device [number-of-sectors]
-s sector-size Specify the sector size for the device
-c cluster-size Specify the cluster size for the volume
-L volume-label Set the volume label
-z mft-zone-multiplier Set the MFT zone multiplier
On July 9, with deep sorrow, I respectfully submitted my resignation as a member of the Iraqi Reconstruction and Development Council to U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.
I did this with great sadness but, in doing so, I was able to leave Iraq with a clear conscience. If I stayed any longer, I might not be able to say that. I feared my role with the reconstruction council was sliding from what I had originally envisioned -- working with allies in a democratic fashion -- to collaborating with occupying forces.
I had returned to Baghdad in May, just a few weeks after the fall of Saddam Hussein, with much hope after 25 years in exile from my country. It was one of the most difficult decisions of my life to accept the invitation of the U.S. government to return to Iraq with more than 140 other Iraqis as part of this council to help with the post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation of ministries so that Iraq could eventually be turned over to a transitional government.
My understanding of this council, which first reported to Jay Garner, the retired United States general, and now to civil administrator Paul Bremer, was that it would work with Iraq's ministries, not as ministers but, in the background, as advisers. Its goal was to restore Iraq's badly damaged infrastructure -- the electricity, the hospitals, the water supplies and the transportation routes -- at least to its pre-war state so that the country could be turned over to a transitional government. Though we council members came from all over the world, we all are Iraqis. Many of us have been exiled for many years, but we still consider ourselves Iraqis. When you keep in touch with what is going on in your country, it is not a big deal whether you are outside.
I accepted the fact that we were a defeated country, and I had no problem working with the United States to pull my country out of a quagmire. But there seemed to be no interest on the part of the coalition in involving Iraqis as advisers on the future of their country. Our role was very limited. Even reporters who visited us took note, writing that although the reconstruction council has an office within the presidential palace, there seems to be little done there apart from members reading their e-mail -- certainly a luxury in post-war Baghdad.
There was so much euphoria when Baghdad first fell, but the Americans came in and acted with arrogance. While many Iraqis are relieved to see Saddam out of power, and accept the fact that the U.S. is the only power than can secure some semblance of order, they now see the U.S. acting as an occupier.
Sadly, the vision for a transitional government and democratic elections, put forward by Mr. Wolfowitz seems to have been forgotten in the everyday pressures of post-war Iraq. Mr. Wolfowitz is a visionary, but he has not done the work to see the concrete application of his vision. He said he wanted to help bring democracy to Iraq and many of us thought we should support him because we too want to see democracy in Iraq. In practice, however, he is just one player -- albeit a big player -- and there are many others on the ground in Iraq who do not share his vision. Many reports have noted that even the soldiers here bluntly say they take their orders from their general, not from Mr. Bremer. Bitter disputes between the defense department and the state department, which were evident even before the war began and duly reported in the U.S. press, continue to affect the situation. Even though Mr. Bremer has the formal authority within Iraq, it seems like each and every decision must go back to Washington, and we are the victims of indecision.
Iraq is now in almost total chaos. No one knows what is going on. We're not talking here about trying to achieve an ideal political system. People cannot understand why a superpower that can amass all that military might can't get the electricity turned back on. Iraqis are now contrasting Saddam's ability to bring back power after the war in 1991 to the apparent
How can you get away with this? My insurance member number *is* my SSN. Both medical and car insurance. Do you pay for everything in cash? I'd much rather *cave in* and simply pay my $15 copay, letting my company's insurance provider pick up the rest than pay full price everytime I needed medical assistance - just for the benefit of "keeping your SSN secure (*chuckle*)"
Hmm.
Although I have a long history of criticising Michael (and before that, Jon Katz until I stopped reading his articles at all) for his stupid editorial comments, I can't see anything he said this time which is particularly knee-jerk, shallow, or stupid. Not particularly insightful, but that's not a huge crime.
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
Slashdot community, please notice: I am looking for a girlfriend.
Nave H. Weiss
you're right - this speaks to a larger issue. the infraction is minor this time, but remains unnecessarily incendiary. there are many reasons the govt. would maintain that data - aside from costs, or the possiblity of drafting discharged personnel down the line. whatever the case, he has no business saying what he does. i'm not sure what his qualifications are to begin with, but i doubt they have anything to do with data security, the military, or public policy.