A proposal to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to quell trafficking violence has triggered a bureaucratic standoff between the Pentagon and DHS over the military’s role in domestic affairs, The Washington Post’s Spencer S. Hsu relates. Those two federal behemoths, meanwhile, “recently hosted a teleconference for law enforcement agencies to discuss the Obama administration’s interest in using the military during “emergencies,” Jim Kouri considers in NewsWithViews.com.

Feds: Opponents of CBP’s planned redefinition of “switchblades” to block the import of common pocketknives suffered an early setback in Congress, “but they vow the Capitol Hill knife fight isn’t over,” The Washington Times’ Sara A. Miller updates. A federal judge ruled last week that ICE’s lengthy delay in responding to a petition for legally enforceable regulations at detention centers was “unreasonable as a matter of law,” The New York Times’ Nina Bernstein notes. Justice said Friday that release of a hotly anticipated 2004 CIA IG report on Bush-era terror interrogations will be delayed until shortly before the July 4 holiday weekend, the Post’s Carrie Johnson recounts.

Homies: In a five minute floor speech, Rep. John Duncan, Jr., R-Tenn., recently declared the Federal Air Marshals Service “probably the most needless, useless agency in the entire federal government,” Homeland Security Today’s Anthony L. Kimery spotlights. Construction of a massive DHS lab in Kansas for animal disease R&D could be attenuated by House appropriators’ decision to withhold construction moneys, The Associated Press’ Suzanne Gamboa leads. DHS’s Janet Napolitano last week endorsed a Senate Pass ID bill revamping the controversial Real ID Act of 2005, Federal Computer Week’s Alice Lipowicz relates.

Cyberia: The United States and Russia “are locked in a fundamental dispute over how to counter the growing threat of cyberwar attacks that could wreak havoc,” a disagreement likely to be addressed by President Obama in Moscow, the Times’ John Markoff and Andrew E. Kramer lead. Although Pentagon chief Robert Gates launched a new “U.S. Cyber Command” last week, “no one seems all that sure what this new fighting force is supposed to do, exactly,” Danger Room’s Noah Shachtman notes. The administration might ask Congress for “far-reaching” regulatory incentives to prioritize cybersecurity in the private sector, Nextgov’s Andrew Noyes notes.

State and local: “New Jersey’s proximity to two large population centers, four major international airports, three large seaports, critical highways, oil refineries and complex rail systems makes our state a prime [al Qaeda] target,” a Newark Star-Ledger op-ed observes. Boston’s mayor has testified in support of Bay State legislation that would mandate random drug and alcohol testing for all public safety personnel and EMTs, the Globe relates. “In a small town near Atlanta, the FBI and local law enforcers are looking for radical Islamist terrorists potentially trying to recruit the town’s young Somali-Americans to fight in Africa,” New American Media leads. “To help battle hate crimes and domestic terrorism,” the FBI is re-establishing an office in New London, Conn., CBS 30 News notes — while KTUU 2 News has Alaska state lawmakers being briefed last week in Anchorage about the North Korea missile threat.

Bugs ‘n bombs: Federal raids last week swooped up twin brothers tied to white supremacist groups in connection with a 2004 mail bomb that injured three employees of the Scottsdale (Ariz.) diversity office, The East Valley Tribune tells — and check Phoenix New Times for more on the Mahon boys. Swine flu has infected more than a million Americans, the CDC said Friday, and is transmitting to thousands more every week even though the annual flu season is well over, the Times relates — while Wired graphically illustrates how “a real apocalypse,” like the killer flu in Stephen King’s “The Stand,” would differ from this pandemic. When the WHO declares “the virus is now unstoppable,” those are “chilling words, but no cause for panic,” a Post editorial, similarly, reassures. The United States will not use force to inspect a North Korean ship suspected of carrying banned weapons, AP quotes a top Defense official.

Close air support: A passenger waiting to board a flight in Kansas City exited through the emergency door in a security breach that delayed flights, KSHB 41 News notes. At least six men suspected or convicted of security-related crimes retained their federal aviation licenses, despite post-9/11 laws requiring their revocation, the Times notes. A quarter million air passengers wonder what will happen to their fingerprints, Social Security Numbers, home addresses and other personal info now that the Clear registered traveler firm is out of business, AP spotlights. Airport security videos obtained by AP, again, show Gov. Mark Sanford wheeling a small suitcase though the Columbia (S.C.) air hub the day he disappeared to see his Argentinean mistress.

Coming and going: An Illinois train derailment and resulting massive ethanol explosion “highlights the struggle to prevent such disasters along the 140,000-mile U.S. rail network,” AP surveys. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad wants to know the city of Keokuk’s position on a proposed security gate at an Iowa waste water plant, The Daily Gate City says. “It seems the Denver Police Department has taken responsibility for checking for fares on the RTD light rail,” The Washington Examiner leads. The Port of Greater Baton Rouge agreed to give the port director authority to solicit bids on its planned Maritime Security Operations Center, the Advocate advises. Killings by an offshoot of the anti-immigration Minutemen movement have terrified an Arizona town near the Mexican border, the Times spotlights. “The number of illegal immigrants caught at the nation’s borders with Mexico and Canada in 2008 dropped to its lowest point in more than 30 years — except in San Diego County,” The North County Times leads.

Arrrrgggghhhh: An increase in pirate activity this spring has prompted the company providing East Africa’s first fiber optic broadband service to push its launch back to late July, Computerworld recounts. CNN, meantime, has Somali pirates releasing the crew of a Belgian ship seized 10 weeks ago upon payment of ransom — and check a Reuters enumeration of the vessels currently held by East African buccaneers. A Heritage Foundation Special Report on Somali piracy promises “solutions for improving the capacity of regional powers to protect freedom of the seas” — as a Sacramento Bee op-ed inquires: “Will the recruits training for Somalia’s new navy prove capable against threats such as piracy?” and Press TV covers an agreement allowing Iranian warships to mount counterpiracy ops in Yemeni waters.

Blind justice: The administration is considering dodging legislative conflict by issuing an executive order authorizing the prez to incarcerate some terrorism suspects indefinitely, the Times reports — as NPR posts a Brookings position paper charting the underlying specifics of the proposed legal regime, and FOX News forecasts: “The political battle over the fate of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay just got more contentious.” That document “will be read by the powers that be,” The Atlantic promises. “I was jolted when I read that President Obama did not support the prosecution of CIA [interrogators] . . . Would Obama get away with that if he was the president of South Africa today?” a Johannesburg Sunday Times columnist muses.

Over there: Two men went on trial in Frankfurt on Friday charged with links to Islamists whose alleged plans to attack U.S. targets in Germany were foiled in 2007, FOX News relays. The commander of U.S. forces in South Korea says the North would likely use roadside bombs and other insurgent or terrorist strategies if a ground war broke out on the peninsula, The Christian Science Monitor relates. The Taliban’s having largely melted away as Pakistani troops advance into the border regions suggests the Islamists are likely to resurface once official attention turns elsewhere, The New York Times handicaps. Poppy eradication efforts in Afghanistan will be abandoned, because they “have been a failure. They did not result in any damage to the Taliban, but they put farmers out of work,” a senior U.S. official tells Reuters.

Qaeda Qorner: “It does not exaggerate the stakes in Somalia to say that for the first time in its history, al Qaeda is about to have rule over an entire country,” AINA asserts — while the Post has State saying the United States has funneled some $10 million in military aid to Somalia’s embattled government. “Al Qaeda, whose dream is to create a Taliban-type super-state running from Mozambique to the north, has the potential to destabilize East Africa,” The Dar Es Salaam Citizen frets. Algeria may be winning the military battle against North Africa’s al Qaeda franchise, but it’s losing the ideological war, a Washington Examiner op-ed observes. The number of al Qaeda extremists in Iraq has plummeted and their ability to maintain a high level of attacks has been eroded, AP has U.S. intelligence suggesting.

Remember the whatever: “Explaining that her design is not necessarily war-specific, Claire Dunham has begun shopping around a rejected memorial she originally created to honor soldiers who lost their lives in the first Gulf War,” The Onion reports. “Dunham told reporters Monday that the monument is suitable for any conflict or skirmish a nation wishes to remember, and can be installed at a park or battle site anywhere in the world. ‘This is a real nice monument, and it’s just sitting here,’ Dunham said. ‘The great thing is, it’s modular. You can put these pillars as far apart as you need to in order to accommodate a lot of names, or close together to honor a few.’ Dunham went on to say that there was no reason an interested party couldn’t cross out a few words in order to make it an air disaster memorial or a Little League victory statue.” See, in The Onion, as well: “New York Times ‘Faces Of The Dead’ Editor Just Needs A Couple More To Fill Out Corner.”