Do you think we should abandon the DMZ in Korea?
Posted on 02/21/2005 2:38:55 AM PST by ajolympian2004
By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Intent on securing the vulnerable Arizona border from illegal immigrant crossings, U.S. officials are bracing for what they call a potential new threat this spring: the Minutemen. Nearly 500 volunteers have already joined the Minuteman Project, anointing themselves civilian border patrol agents determined to stop the immigration flow that routinely, and easily, seeps past federal authorities.
They plan to patrol a 40-mile stretch of the southeast Arizona border throughout April when the tide of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border peaks.
"I felt the only way to get something done was to do it yourself," said Jim Gilchrist, a retired accountant and decorated Vietnam War veteran who is helping recruit Minutemen across the country.
"We've been repeatedly accused of being people who are taking the law into our own hands," said Gilchrist, 56, of Aliso Viejo, Calif. "That is an outright bogus statement. We are going down there to assist law enforcement."
Officials concede the 370-mile Arizona border is the most porous stretch on the U.S.-Mexico line. Moreover, recent intelligence show that al-Qaida terrorists are likely to enter the country through the Mexico border, James Loy, the deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department, said last week.
"Several al-Qaida leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico, and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons," Loy said in written testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Of the 1.1 million illegal immigrants caught by the U.S. Border Patrol last year, 52 percent crossed into the country at the Arizona border. The agency increased the number of agents in the Tucson sector, which has its largest staff, from 1,700 to 2,100 over the last 18 months.
But that number is going to grow to try to plug the remaining holes, said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner. About 10,000 federal agents now patrol the 2,000-mile southern border, he said.
Officials fear the Minuteman patrols could cause more trouble than they prevent. At least some of the volunteers plan to arm themselves during the 24-hour desert patrols. Many are untrained and have little or no experience in confronting illegal border crossings.
"Any time there are firearms and you're out in the middle of no-man's land in difficult terrain, it's a dangerous setting," said Bonner, whose agency is keeping a close eye on the Minutemen plans.
"The Border Patrol does this every day, and they are qualified and very well-trained to handle the situation," he said. "Ordinary Americans are not. So there's a danger that not just illegal migrants might get hurt, but that American citizens might get hurt in this situation."
Civilian patrols are nothing new along the southern border, where crossing the international line is sometimes as easy as stepping over a few rusty strands of barbed wire. But they usually are limited to small, informal groups, leaving organizers to believe the Minuteman Project is the largest of its kind on the southern border.
It may also prove to be a magnet for what Glenn Spencer, president of the private American Border Patrol, described as camouflage-wearing, weapons-toting hard-liners who might get a little carried away with their assignments.
"How are they going to keep the nutcases out of there? They can't control that," said Spencer, whose 40-volunteer group, based in Hereford, Ariz., has used unmanned aerial vehicles and other high-tech equipment to track and report the number of border crossings for more than two years.
"There's a storm gathering here on the border, and there are conditions ripe for some difficulty," he said.
The border agents agree.
The Minutemen "clearly have every reason to be upset with the federal government for abandoning them," said National Border Patrol Council president T.J. Bonner, no relation to the commissioner.
But "if anything goes wrong, God forbid, someone does injure an agent, this government is going to be turning both barrels on them and come after them with a vengeance," he said.
Gilchrist said the Minutemen are under strict orders to merely identify and follow illegal border crossers and alert federal agents. They should not interact with the immigrants except to offer food, water or medical care. If there's a couple of "bad apples" who turn up in the group, Gilchrist said, they will face prosecution if they step outside the law.
Something dramatic needed to be done to curb the years of crime, property damage and trash dumping caused by the border crossings, Gilchrist said.
"Things are out of control" he said. "And they've been out of control for decades."
Sorry: Should read Headline...
But now that you mentioned it, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if Stormfront, the Aryan Nation, and even the KKK were fronts funded by the DNC, NAACP, International ANSWER, Saudi Wahabbists, and every other anti-American organization hell-bent on portraying America as a nation of slavers, warmongerers, and xenophobes.
Think about Grand Wizard Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV).
Not that I'm a conspiracy-minded individual by any means, but it's something to think about, anyway.
Anyone can post to a website claiming to be from SF or any other of those groups promoting something, when in fact, they can be democrats. Here on FR, some threads that have been deleted I suspect were plants from the liberals to see if they could weed out the racists in FR and cause trouble. The groups themselves I seriously doubt are funded by the other side though. OTOH, sometimes they do work together!
Pardon my ignorance: but who/what is "Stormfront"??
Not a chance. Illegal invaders provide cheap labor to the "artificial persons" known as corporations (campaign donors), and cheap votes for the Democrats and welfare pimps.
But small time pot smokers, by golly, are the Assassins Of Youth, the Scourge Of The Innocent Little Ones, and a more deadly national threat than Al Quaida!
/sarcasm. bitter, angry sarcasm
DUH! Ya think?
But it's no longer Politically Correct to refer to big businesses (corporations) as such. They shall henceforth and forever be referred to as "Artificial Persons". Failure to do so will result in the perpetrators being prosecuted for HATE CRIME.
/sarcasm. bitter, angry sarcasm.
Do you think we should abandon the DMZ in Korea?
As a domain owner myself, I would react and have reacted to anyone who has tried to get me to change the content of my own site.
JimRob, as owner of the Free Republic domain, has the absolute right to control what content is on his site, just as I have the absolute right to control the content of my own.
If he doesn't want these "Minutemen" or those racist Stormfront pigs on here, then any users who are in league with them can either get our own sites, or get off FR.
BUMP
No I don't since it is only 72 miles long and Israel is surrounded by islamofascist fanatics who wish to blow them up, while the US's problem are for the most part peaceful Christians looking to find a job to feed their families, and the President wants to bring some sanity to the system by weeding out the bad and terroristic who wish to do harm and the anti-immigration forces are putting roadblocks in his way.
As for Korea, it is many South Koreans dream to see the wall between the Koreas come down and where their starving North Korean reletives can get out of the grip of the insane Kim.
A rather virulent racist/skinhead website.
Here ya go....
What government school did you attend?
Never heard of Citizen's Arrest?
The government and media are, as usual, rapping solid American Citizens for doing what the federal government refuses to do. Protect America.
This government gives two twits about the safety of Americans who live and own property at the border. They would do well to work with Americans who have had it with intentional government refusal to enforce American law.
If harm comes to anyone, it'll be the complete fault of government for letting this issue get to this point. Shame on them for pretending to keep our country safe from foreign criminals!!!
What government school did you attend?
Never heard of Citizen's Arrest?
The government and media are, as usual, rapping solid American Citizens for doing what the federal government refuses to do. Protect America.
This government gives two twits about the safety of Americans who live and own property at the border. They would do well to work with Americans who have had it with intentional government refusal to enforce American law.
If harm comes to anyone, it'll be the complete fault of government for letting this issue get to this point. Shame on them for pretending to keep our country safe from foreign criminals!!!
They could well be funded by the left. I paid attention to a rather boring group of individuals in Sand Point, Idaho and from I read about them their Naziism was not bringing in the loot it was all the informants supplying the cash. This is in the congressional record according to SOF magazine in an article about hearings on armed militias. Follow the money
McVeigh's buddies in Elohim City turned out to be government witnesses. My point being is always ask who funds them.
I'm all ears. What are some of your concerns?
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