John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, General Of The Armies Of The United States
Posted on 10/17/2007 3:49:51 AM PDT by Bulldawg Fan
Mexican soldiers and civilian smugglers had an armed standoff with nearly 30 U.S. law enforcement officials on the Rio Grande in Texas Monday afternoon, according to Texas police and the FBI.
Mexican military Humvees were towing what appeared to be thousands of pounds of marijuana across the border into the United States, said Chief Deputy Mike Doyal, of the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department.
Mexican Army troops had several mounted machine guns on the ground more than 200 yards inside the U.S. border -- near Neely's Crossing, about 50 miles east of El Paso -- when Border Patrol agents called for backup. Hudspeth County deputies and Texas Highway patrol officers arrived shortly afterward, Doyal said.
"It's been so bred into everyone not to start an international incident with Mexico that it's been going on for years," Doyal said. "When you're up against mounted machine guns, what can you do? Who wants to pull the trigger first? Certainly not us."
An FBI spokeswoman confirmed the incident happened at 2:15 p.m. Pacific Time.
"Bad guys in three vehicles ended up on the border," said Andrea Simmons, a spokeswoman with the FBI's El Paso office. "People with Humvees, who appeared to be with the Mexican Army, were involved with the three vehicles in getting them back across."
Simmons said the FBI was not involved and referred inquiries to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE did not return calls seeking comment.
Doyal said deputies captured one vehicle in the incident, a Cadillac Escalade reportedly stolen from El Paso, and found 1,477 pounds of marijuana inside. The Mexican soldiers set fire to one of the Humvees stuck in the river, he said.
Doyal's deputies faced a similar incident on Nov. 17, when agents from the Fort Hancock border patrol station in Texas called the sheriff's department for backup after confronting more than six fully armed men dressed in Mexican military uniforms. The men -- who were carrying machine guns and driving military vehicles -- were trying to bring more than three tons of marijuana across the Rio Grande, Doyal said.
Doyal said such incidents are common at Neely's Crossing, which is near Fort Hancock, Texas, and across from the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
"It happens quite often here," he said.
Deputies and border patrol agents are not equipped for combat, he added.
"Our government has to do something," he said. "It's not the immigrants coming over for jobs we're worried about. It's the smugglers, Mexican military and the national threat to our borders that we're worried about."
Citing a Jan. 15 story in the Daily Bulletin, Reps. David Dreier, R-Glendora, and Duncan Hunter, R-San Diego, last week asked the House Judiciary Committee, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the House Homeland Security Committee and the House International Relations Committee to investigate the incursions. The story focused on a Department of Homeland Security document reporting 216 incursions by Mexican soldiers during the past 10 years and a map with the seal of the president's Office of National Drug Control Policy, both of which were given to the newspaper.
Requests by Dreier, chairman of the House Rules Committee, and Hunter were made in jointly signed letters.
On Wednesday, Chertoff played down the reports of border incursions by the Mexican military. He suggested many of the incursions could have been mistakes, blaming bad navigation by military personnel or attributing the incursions to criminals dressed in military garb.
Mexican officials last week denied any incursions made by their military.
But border agents interviewed over the past year have discussed confrontations those they believe to be Mexican military personnel.
"We're sitting ducks," said a border agent speaking on condition of anonymity. "The government has our hands tied."
- Sara A. Carter can be reached by e-mail at sara.carter@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8552.
- Kenneth Todd Ruiz can be reached by e-mail at todd.ruiz@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8555.
I assumed it was new, but now that I look a little closer, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin very helpfully doesn’t seem to date their articles.
Can’t tell.
Bad navigation -- sure, that's possible. Now explain why they're loaded with marijuana.
Damned fool.
I am totally disgusted with President Bush on this issue.
I usually do not let any one issue cloud me on incumbents, candidates, etc, but this one has me peed off.
I cannot understand why my President is overlooking this issue, knowing, knowing that the persons such as myself that put him into office will not allow this to go unchallenged.
The conservative base is being seriously and woefully underestimated by these one-world, one-government, one-people advocating butt heads.
I am tired of it.
I'm not alone.
In the gray bar up at the top of the page, in very tiny print: "Ontario, CA, 10/17/2007."
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, General Of The Armies Of The United States
“On Wednesday, Chertoff played down the reports of border incursions by the Mexican military.”
How...under the most sick and twisted forms of mental gymnastics can ANYONE think this is something to play down. This is both disgusting and sad at the same time. A tad embarassing as an American Patriot as well.
“I’m not alone.”
You are definately not alone.
It seems like the President of the United States is more interested in One World Government than the will of the people he governs. We are supposed to be a nation of laws, but, like the Clintons, our current Administration has selective enforcement. Laws on the books supporting or enforcing borders, language, and culture are among the ones ignored, IMO.
Yes, but I’m not so sure that’s not on ever page, as today’s date, rather than the article date.
I just stumbled across it this morning. I suggest that someone post this story there and let him know what we think about his silly statements concerning this outright armed invasion by Mexican soldiers. I'm at work right now and can't do it, but the blog is there for the posting for anyone that wants to go at it...
There is a conspiracy of silence.
So - maybe a militia with deer rifles - out of range and out of sight of the machine guns?
Well, the article said that it occurred "on the Rio Grande in Texas Monday afternoon." I assumed by that they meant Monday, Oct. 15th.
I e-mailed todd.ruiz@dailybulletin.com and asked for clarification. I'll let you know if I hear back from him.
I couldn’t find recent date on it either. It sounds like the incident from a year back.
Johnny Sutton should be helping Mexico soon.
ping
This is on old article from January 24, 2006. Apparently it’s getting e-mailed around. Unfortunately, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin website doesn’t have a publication date for the article listed so when people go to post it who aren’t familiar with the story they think it is a new incident.
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