Posted on 01/05/2007 6:12:23 PM PST by Flavius
olunteers with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps are headed for the Arizona-Mexico border Friday to provide backup for National Guard troops in response to an incident near Sasabe in which the approach of armed men forced soldiers to retreat. About 11 p.m. Wednesday, soldiers with a National Guard Entry Identification Team - which provides additional eyes and ears for the U.S. Border Patrol and notifies them of suspicious activity - saw a group of armed individuals approaching them in the desert, said Mario Martinez, spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Border Patrol Office.
The individuals came within 100 yards of the National Guard post, so the troops moved to a safer location and notified Border Patrol agents, Martinez said. When agents responded minutes later, the armed individuals were gone but the agents tracked their footprints to the U.S.-Mexico border, Martinez said. The incident occurred in the west desert corridor between Nogales and Lukeville near Sasabe, which has been a busy area for marijuana seizures since last year. Still, the Border Patrol does not know who the individuals were; why they were armed; or why they were in the United States, Martinez said. There was no verbal or physical confrontation between them and the guard troops, he said. Chris Simcox, the founder and president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, said the incident shows the federal government is ineffective when it comes to protecting the border. "The fact that National Guardsmen were forced to retreat from an armed incursion," Simcox said. "It's just absurd." The volunteer border watch organization wants to send the message that National Guard troops aren't making U.S. citizens any safer. "The National Guard needs to be unhandcuffed and they need to be able to deal with these aggressive international incidents," Simcox said. The troops need to be able to apprehend and detain illegal immigrants when they encounter them, he said. The volunteers will be armed so they can defend themselves and they won't retreat if confronted by dangerous border crossers, he said. Major Paul Aguirre, a spokesman for the Arizona National Guard, said troops are armed and will defend themselves if their lives are in danger, but their role is to provide support for the Border Patrol. Martinez said the National Guard has been effective in its role. The troops provide vehicle maintenance and carry out administrative duties that previously kept agents away from their work on the border. The troops also spot illegal immigrants that otherwise would go unnoticed, Martinez said. The Border Patrol appreciates citizen involvement, but "the border is a dangerous place," Martinez said. "And we have Border Patrol agents trained specifically for that mission." Robin Hoover, the founder of Humane Borders and pastor of First Christian Church, said sending armed U.S. citizens to the border is "idiotic." "It's insane for non-trained personnel to go to the border," he said. "You're just begging for an international incident to happen." He also called into question how effective the National Guard troops were in their mission because they were unable to identify the armed individuals. He pointed out that both U.S. and Mexican military personnel inadvertently cross the border without realizing it and that could have happened in this situation. Martinez said it's important for people not to overreact to the recent incident and that the National Guard troops did exactly what they were expected to do. "We need to make sure that people know what happened out there is serious," Martinez said. "But we don't exaggerate it." Contact reporter Dale Quinn at 629-9412 or dquinn@azstarnet.com. 6 Comments on this story
OMG! I cannot, as a former fairly senior leader of the sons and daughters of a America's Army, fathom being on a post without a weapon... To what purpose does that serve??? Please write your CG person about this outrage and tell them to equip our warriors with the tools they need to accomplish their mission. Long Live The Republic (LLTR).
The only way this will get fixed is to replace the CinC.
Those guys and gals just gotta be frustrated...
As a retired military member I can tell you I would be mad as hell if I was put in a situation where I had to retreat on American soil.
Our troops retreating in our own country!!!!!!!!!
How bad does it have to get for the quiet majority to rise up and raise HELL with our elected officials!!
Why isn't the MSM talking about this?
Doesn't fit the liberal/socialist propaganda template.
Interesting that they were discussing the Mexican military.
" U.S. and Mexican military personnel inadvertently cross the border without realizing it'
This occurred seventy miles north of the border, idiot. That's not inadvertent.
Correction: It doesn't fit the globalist, elitist, liberal/socialist propaganda, of which a GREAT MANY Democrats AND Republicans routinely espouse and believe in.
BTTT!
The mexicans must be heehawing over this. Their intent was clear--they are coming and there isn't a damned thing our government will do to stop them.
Why yes. A bit Freudian, as they say!
You're just begging for an international incident to happen
One already did. Perpetrated by some guys from Mexico, who don't appear to be all that concerned about it.
But we don't exaggerate it
Note that the downplaying of the incident begins here.
Where did you get that?
Sasabe is on the border.
I have noticed!
This Country is in one big Mess. We won't protect our borders from millions of illegals and armed attacks by drug dealers or Mexican milt. Many of the Nation's sons and daughters are being killed needlessly in Iraq because we are fighting a PC type war. We now have a cut and run bunch of liberals running the House and Senate because American voters don't have the will or the guts to back up the President long enough to let our military do what needs to be done to achieve success.
And no, I don't fault President Bush for all of this. He has had his share of backstabbing RINO Senators like McCain, Spector, and Lugar. Traitors and just plain lowlifes like Kennedy, Murta, Kerry, Pelosi and Reid to contend with. They are all to blame for this mess we are in.
It really angers me that our brave troops are not armed and allowed to protect our borders or even their own lives from illegals and armed gangs. All the backstabbing Rinos should be put out of office. All the Traitors should be duly tried and hanged. All the lowlife crooks in DC should be prosecuted and jailed.
I read it in one of the articles about the incursion. Can't find it now.
"I don't fault President Bush for all of this'
Who do you blame for the NG not being armed while on the border, then?
Kiss your @ss adios folks! Hell they could have been bringing in suitcase nukes for all the border patrol knows.
Of course, I blame the President for the NG not being armed while on the boarder. He gave the orders that put them there.
Now go back and read what I typed. I said that the President was not entirely to blame for all the mess this Country was in.
Did you read all of it or are you just wanting to pick an argument?
When the one of us who sees the invasion for what it is, realizes that there is MORE than one.
When things have broken down so far, there is no other choice but to see. That is the day I await.
Because it will come.
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