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Captain Canada, Conservative in NYC, etc

I have drawn attention to this incident not as an indictment of Canada, but to draw attention to the vey weak attitudes that Canadians about this war on terrorism .

I am not saying that Canada is an 'Evil Country' - - - - - -
- - - - - just that you are to blaise about issues of third world immigration and border safety .

You have been insulated from the violence of third worlders for far too long .

You do not have Mexico and Central America to your south . .

I haven't been insulated from anything. I am an American, not a Canadian.

Arming Canadian border guards has absolutely nothing to do with U.S. border safety or the U.S.' war on terror. Canada isn't the former East Germany. Canadians would not shoot people trying to leave their country, even if they had guns. Canadian border guards simply aren't responsible for people entering the U.S. Customs doesn't work that way. It is up to American officials to screen those entering the U.S.

Canadian authorities DO share information with us about terrorism. There were more than a few terrorists arrested in the United States as a result of the very good work of the CSIS in Toronto recently. They are good allies and friends, especially now that a new sheriff is in town in Ottawa. I can't consistently say the same thing about our southern neighbors (although President Fox and President Elect Calderon are far better than any alternative).

In any event, most Canadian conservatives would agree that it is a travesty that Canadian border agents aren't armed - at a minimum, for their own protection because the Mounties can't be everywhere all the time. The current Conservative government is changing that - albeit perhaps too slowly.

If and when our border starts to look like this, you might have something to popoff about. Until then get your facts straight before you come on these threads and post nonsense.

Posted on Sun, Sep. 24, 2006
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Latest border violence is 40-minute gunbattle
By Ioan Grillo
The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - More than 50 federal agents battled alleged drug traffickers in a shootout in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, officials said Saturday, the latest incident a wave of violence that has sparked criticism from the U.S. government.

Several people were killed in the gunbattle late Friday, according to a spokeswoman with the federal attorney general's office. She could not confirm the number and requested anonymity because the agency was waiting to issue a formal statement.

Officers with the Federal Preventative Police were involved in the shootout, which lasted 40 minutes, according to an official with the agency who also requested anonymity.

On Saturday morning, federal agents in ski masks and body armor and six military Humvees packed with soldiers sealed off the scene of the shootout and refused to let journalists enter.

The soldiers refused to comment or confirm whether they had been involved in the shooting.

Residents said they had heard constant gunfire and said some shots sounded like they could have come from military-caliber weapons. Several houses on the edge of the scene were riddled with bullet holes.

Nuevo Laredo, across the Rio Grande from Laredo, has been beset with execution-style killings and shootouts as two drug cartels battle for billion-dollar smuggling routes into the U.S.

The bloodshed is part of a wave of drug violence across Mexico this year that has killed more than 1,500 people and included beheadings and the assassination of several police chiefs.

On Friday alone, there were 14 drug-related killings in the states of Baja California, Guerrero, Michoacan and Sinaloa as well as the shootout in Nuevo Laredo, Mexican news media reported.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza has urged Mexican authorities to try to bring order to the border area, and Mexican and U.S. officials met Thursday.
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