Posted on 05/21/2004 3:46:15 PM PDT by Libloather
House OKs bill to let U.S. soldiers guard border
Sergio Bustos
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- U.S. soldiers may be asked to keep undocumented immigrants and potential terrorists out of the country.
The House on Thursday passed a defense authorization bill, which includes a provision that would let U.S. troops join with U.S. Border Patrol agents in guarding the nation's borders with Canada and Mexico.
The bill authorizes Defense Department programs for the coming fiscal year, which will begin Oct. 1. The border troop amendment, championed by Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., passed the House late Wednesday by a 40-vote margin, 231-191.
The provision stands little chance of surviving beyond the House because it was not part of the Senate's version of the defense bill.
"If troops were needed, they could be of significant assistance to prevent the infiltration of terrorists, drug traffickers, and illegal aliens, and could prevent the entry of weapons of mass destruction into our country," Goode said.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, who spent 26 years with the U.S. Border Patrol and opposed the amendment, said it was "simply the wrong solution to our current problems along the border."
"This amendment will send our military personnel to our borders at a time when they are already stretched thin in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, Kosovo, Bosnia and over 100 other countries around the world," he said. "We cannot and we should not ask our military personnel to patrol our borders."
Southern Arizona lawmakers whose districts run along the U.S.-Mexico border echoed Reyes' argument.
"Border security is and continues to be a top priority for me and for the Congress as a whole," said Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Tucson.
"But the Goode amendment would militarize our border and stretch the resources of our Army."
the eventuality of this type of mission creep is warned about in Charles J.Dunlap Jr's award winning article The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012.
Stay Safe COB
Awww shucks, $200,000.00 ? Why, that is just fruit picking change, right?
Congressman Virgil Goode's website may have something:
http://www.house.gov/goode/
Here's a thread about this same subject from yesterday: Amendment calls for troops along border
Ok Kick the Aliens out and pay Seven dollars for a head of lettice--Five bucks for an Orange and three bucks for an apple. The illegal's are the only ones willing to work at these jobs. American's don't want to flip burgers or pick crops--its just that simple. Why should they? They got welfare and "safty nets."
If it got that bad, we could use the huge prison populations to pick the crops. Welfare? My bad, but I speak perfect English, which outed me. I lost my MediCal benefits thanks to some clerk at Harbor UCLA, even though I qualify. Welfare? Being a divorced white female, there are no safety nets. If you should apply for benefits, they will come to your home and steal your children.
Come back when you learn how to talk out your mouth instead of your rearend.
And since there's a Republican majority which party's holding up the process?
Mexico is another story.
Seriously, and unfortunately, you may be all too right. So when the troops are deployed, the militias should stand down and remove any excuses.
That would more or less force the military (higher ups) to account for their actions if they fail to keep the invading horde out.
The Constitutional mandate for the federal government to help the states "repel invaders" is a completely separate issue from the "use of federal troops for domestic law enforcement."
There are a lot of farmers up here who farm on both sides of the Canadian border. The regular Border Patrols (US, Canadian) hassle the bejeebers out of these guys now. They are not going to feel real good about being confronted by the Army. Maybe local National Guard, who know pretty much who is who would be a better idea.
Things may be different in say, Seattle, WA than they are in Noonan, ND or Scobey, MT, but that just indicates that a one-size fits all paradigm is not the answer, and unfortunately, what will probably be imposed.
Buenos nachos, muchachos. I could say I want the military on the border, but they're already here. Two months ago a Marine engineer platoon working on the border fence was penned down by AK-47 fire originating from Mexico. The article is already posted here on Free Republic.
The Mexican military is also here on the border, but apparently their job is to direct traffic for the human and drug smugglers and send scouts over the line to find out where our Border Patrol is deployed.
In a very real sense, our military is already here on the border. The Army's Fort Huachuca is only eight miles north of the border. It is home to the Army Intelligence Center and also the military's primary training site for UAVs. The border provides the prime example of live environment training against any sort of insurgency -- and it's free; no simulations required.
We could give this section of the border to the Intel Center as a long term project. Let the signals intelligence guys take their communications nets apart. Let the analysts prepare the battlefield with all the same products used in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let the UAV operators pass targets to the Border Patrol.
So let the military operate on the border. Do we need Abrams tanks? Not really; one of them would probably squash me hiding in the scrub. Artillery? No.
The Border Patrol is good at apprehensions -- very good. However, their post-apprehension logistics suck a big one.
Why are all these highly trained "bush apes" acting as taxi drivers and paper pushers, sticking illegal aliens back through the fence at the Port of Entry? That is a job for bus drivers and clerks, not "bush apes". If you have the real agents doing this crap, large sectors of the border go unprotected for several hours at a time. This is a system designed for failure.
So reinforce them with military hulks with balls and no sense of humor to drive buses. Let our Spanish speaking interrogators practice their skills. Give them mechanics who can fix their vehicles instead of towing them off to Tucson.
They only have a small voting base who really understand English. Once you understand the language, it is difficult at best to understand Demobabble, much less support it.
Who give a damn what they think. What are the Mexicans going to do ??? INVADE ? They are doing that already.
I'll pay it in a heartbeat without having to worry about the scum crossing the border.
First, I wouldn't put our active duty guys on this mission. Its basically patrol duty. I would give Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona a huge increase in Guard personnel. Simply give a college education (4-years) to any 18 to 25 year-old kid to join the Guard for border duty for 8 years. You make sure that they can give 3 months of duty each year and you write it into the contract that they can't be taken for Iraq duty or anywhere else overseas. We'd get 100,000 kids joining the Guard down there in two months. After I hired that group, I'd go the retired military folks and offer them a state pension deal to wear the AZ guard uniform for 10 years and collect a small state pension at 65 years old ($8k a year would be enough to entice them because they already have the regular military pension). That would give you your entire force, at the lowest cost. And they would provide the best protection at the border.
From where I sit on the border, I'd look upon it as a target-rich environment, sprout a big woodie, and start fondling my ammo magazines. At its very best, the Mexican Army is a joke.
Mildly interested. It would be no problem to take out all three pickups.
Massing on the south side of the border will probably never happen. After all, how would they EVER divide up the bribes and payola?
I like your idea.
I want to run a full company, Airborne. With 2 of those new 130J's at ready / alert parked 100 yards from the squad bays Time to Target could be measured in 10's of minuets. Spot a mass of illegals being escorted by mexican troops break across the border on foot and the blocking forces would be in place waiting before they made 2 miles from the border.
Let about 2 or 3 hundred mexican troops wind up in federal prison chopping trees with hand axes on the canadian border in January and that border escort/crossing bs would clear riiiight up.
I like your idea. Unfortunately you've come up with an excellent plan that is well thought out, and founded in common sense. Therefore our government will toss it in the circular file :-(
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