Comments on: Reflections: Smuggler’s Blues (I) http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/07/11/reflections-smuggler%e2%80%99s-blues-i Looking for clues at the scene of the crime Mon, 14 May 2012 13:46:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Justthisguy http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/07/11/reflections-smuggler%e2%80%99s-blues-i/comment-page-1#comment-219 Justthisguy Sun, 15 Jul 2007 03:57:08 +0000 http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/07/11/reflections-smuggler%e2%80%99s-blues-i/#comment-219 Oh, Ok, I ain't mad at ya personally, or anything, it's just that I get this feeling these days that more and more things about our country are just, well, broken, and it bothers me a lot. If you look at Sayuncle's blog, you'll see that the DEA is about to slip a regulation through which will classify iodine, A CHEMICAL EFFING ELEMENT, as a controlled substance. The meth cookers are already using lithium from cell phone batteries in a different process, instead. I remember the fun (and the fright) I had when young, making nitrogen tri-iodide. Hell, we even had realistic cap pistols when I was a kid! Grump! Grrr! Growl Oh, Ok, I ain’t mad at ya personally, or anything, it’s just that I get this feeling these days that more and more things about our country are just, well, broken, and it bothers me a lot.

If you look at Sayuncle’s blog, you’ll see that the DEA is about to slip a regulation through which will classify iodine, A CHEMICAL EFFING ELEMENT, as a controlled substance. The meth cookers are already using lithium from cell phone batteries in a different process, instead.

I remember the fun (and the fright) I had when young, making nitrogen tri-iodide. Hell, we even had realistic cap pistols when I was a kid!

Grump! Grrr! Growl

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]]> By: Steeljawscribe http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/07/11/reflections-smuggler%e2%80%99s-blues-i/comment-page-1#comment-212 Steeljawscribe Sat, 14 Jul 2007 14:42:09 +0000 http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/07/11/reflections-smuggler%e2%80%99s-blues-i/#comment-212 And given that we were not the arresting authority and provided assistance to Customs, I think that the effort was in line with mission areas as authorized under <i>posse comitatus</i>. Look, I'd be less than honest if I said at the start and for the duration of the CD effort the thought didn't cross my mind more than once and the legal parsing is enough to give one a major migraine. The fact of the matter was there were individuals and organizations that were attempting to bring in substantial quantities of illegal substances by violating US airspace and borders. We had the capabilities to assist Customs in in their interdiction - USN (and other DoD assets) did not participate in the endgame - that was all a Customs affair. Our assistance at that point entailed traffic separation to ensure they didn't fly into each other. Later (as will be seen in subsequent iterations) Customs developed their own (limited) surveillance and long-range intercept capabilities. -SJS And given that we were not the arresting authority and provided assistance to Customs, I think that the effort was in line with mission areas as authorized under posse comitatus.

Look, I’d be less than honest if I said at the start and for the duration of the CD effort the thought didn’t cross my mind more than once and the legal parsing is enough to give one a major migraine. The fact of the matter was there were individuals and organizations that were attempting to bring in substantial quantities of illegal substances by violating US airspace and borders. We had the capabilities to assist Customs in in their interdiction – USN (and other DoD assets) did not participate in the endgame – that was all a Customs affair. Our assistance at that point entailed traffic separation to ensure they didn’t fly into each other. Later (as will be seen in subsequent iterations) Customs developed their own (limited) surveillance and long-range intercept capabilities.

-SJS

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