Hi Gang:
I am providing you with yet another news report, this time the report appeared in the Washington Times that addresses the glacial pace at which efforts are crawling to secure our nation’s southern border. The title of the article, “Border gear slow to be deployed” may well represent the understatement of the year!
Of course if Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of DHS, the agency I refer to as the Department of Homeland Surrender, is to be believed, our southern border is already secure! If you don’t believe her, then perhaps you would be comforted by similar assertions made by Senator Chuck Schumer who chairs the Senate Immigration Subcommittee!
The problem is that our southern border is not secure. But then neither is our northern border. In fact, there is virtually no security to be found in any element of the immigration system!
If you have been following the various programs that were purportedly intended to secure our southern border then you already know that a program known by a variety of names have all failed to do what they had been advertised to do. The most recent example of such a failure was the Secure Border Initiative Network that was also known as “SBI Net” or, in its more commonly known alias, the “Virtual Fence.”
As I have noted on previous occasions, the Virtual Fence did what could have been anticipated- it stopped virtually no one!
We are continually reminded that our nation is waging a “War on Terror” and also waging a “War on Drugs.” Both of these battles would logically require our borders be made secure against the unlawful entry of aliens and of contraband that may well include narcotics as well as weapons of mass destruction. Meanwhile our borders are as secure as a sieve is water-tight!
The Virtual Fence project was cancelled last year after our nation squandered well over one billion dollars and also squandered an even more precious commodity- time!
Our “leaders” keep reminding us that in order to be successful, the terrorists only have to get it “right” once while, in order to protect our nation and our citizens, our government must get it “right” 100% of the time!
Every day thousands of illegal aliens succeed in surreptitiously entering our country.
On March 10th of this year, Senator John Cornyn questioned Secretary Napolitano about the recent GAO report that painted a truly worrisome picture about the lack of security where our nation’s southern border is concerned.
Here is an excerpt from a transcript of what Senator Cornyn had to say:
SENATOR JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good
morning,
Madame Secretary. According to the General Accountability —
the
Government Accountability Office, last fiscal year 2010 there
were
445,000 individuals detained at the Southwest border. The
Government
Accountability Office points out that of the 2,000
miles along the
southern border that 1,120 of those miles were not
yet under
operational control by the federal government.
And of the 873 miles that were under, quote, “operational
control,”
that differentiated between “controlled,”
at 15 percent of that 873,
and 85 percent which they call
“managed,” which means that basically
they are in a
position to try to detect and detain illegal aliens
within 100
miles of the border.
I raise that issue because you made the
statement, I believe,
earlier that you think the administration’s
approach is working when
it comes to border security. And you can
correct me if I’m wrong.
I would just give you one other bit
of data, and that is from
the Border Patrol, the apprehensions
during fiscal year 2009, up to
April the 30th, 2010 — that out of
the 445,000 individuals detained
at our southwestern border, there
were 45,000 detained coming from a
total of 140 different
countries. In other words, these are not just
individuals coming
from Mexico and points south.
SEC. NAPOLITANO: These are what
are known — the category
known as “other than Mexico.”
SEN. CORNYN: That’s correct.
I noted in looking at
these statistics and these numbers, which
I will in a moment ask
to be made a part of the record, that at least
four countries are
represented on this list of 140 countries that have
been
designated by the U.S. Department of State as state sponsors
of
terrorism. How can you possibly claim that the approach of
the
administration is working when it comes to border security in
light of
these statistics?
You can read the complete transcript of the exchange between Senator Cornyn and Secretary Napolitano as well as watch a video of that exchange, by going to the website below:
Pressed by
John Cornyn, Napolitano says she can’t set target date to secure the
US-Mexico border
On February 21, 2011 Fox News ran a story on its website that was entitled, “Hezbollah Working With Cartels. Here is a link to the article that they posted:
In response to that article I posted a commentary where I made a number of points. At the risk of being a bit repetitious, I am furnishing you with some of what I included in my commentary below- I have placed a line of asterisks above and below that segment so that you can easily determine what was part of my previous commentary and what I have written now:
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As I have noted in many of my commentaries, terrorist organizations require money in order to carry out their operations and will often commit a wide variety of crimes in order to secure those critically important funds. This news report addresses the fact that the Hezbollah terrorists are seeking to enter the United States by running our southern border and are believed to have done so on previous occasions over the past several years. It should be presumed that smugglers have assisted these terrorists in entering our country surreptitiously and that Hezbollah and most likely other terrorist organizations have smuggled narcotics into the United States as well as into Europe as a means of raising funds that are so vital to them.
The news report addresses the fact that terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah have been operating in the so-called “Tri-Border Region” of Brazil and have also made inroads into other Latin American countries.
WSB-TV has been doing a terrific job of reporting on how our porous borders are providing illegal aliens from so-called “Special Interest” countries- countries that are involved with state sponsored terrorism have been arrested attempting to enter our country.
Brad Stone, a producer for the Special Projects Unit of WSB-TV, the Atlanta based ABC Network affiliated station, has been spearheading these reports and has interviewed me on a number of occasions for his station’s continuing coverage of this major threat to our nation’s security.
Here is a link to one of a series of these reports that aired on his station last year:
What must be understood is that the Border Patrol only stops and arrests a percentage of the illegal aliens who seek to enter our country each and every day. It may be that one in five gets arrested, it may be that one in three gets arrested or, it may be that one in ten gets arrested- no one knows with anything resembling certainty what percentage of illegal aliens manage to evade the Border Patrol. The point is that while we know who has been arrested, what we don’t know is who did not get arrested!
When I was attending school, I used to joke that the teacher should take attendance by asking those kids who were not in class to raise their hands. This got lots of laughs from everyone, including my teachers, but this is a bit like the way that our country attempts to determine how secure our borders are- they track how many illegal aliens are arrested but really have no idea as to who did not get arrested. No one knows where they are or why they are here! While many are simply seeking unlawful employment, a significant number of those aliens who evade the Border Patrol have far more sinister objectives in mind. These are the fugitives who are wanted for crimes they committed in other countries, those who are here to commit crimes such as members of the various drug cartels from a number of countries including Mexico, those who belong to transnational gangs and criminal organizations and those whose presence in our country is to support the missions of terrorist organizations.
Something that must also be considered is the fact that it is impossible to sit across from another person and, without reliable documentation, truly know the identity of the person you rare interviewing. It is not only impossible to know the true name of that person but even to be certain as to the nationality of that person.
This is not conjecture on my part, this is what I have experienced in the course of my 30 year career with the former INS.
A person who lives for years in Latin America would be able to pass for being a native of Latin America even if he (she) was born in the Middle East, Africa, Europe or any other country. I could relate many stories about individuals who lied about their true identities and nationalities as a means of “getting over,” concealing their true identities in order to evade our efforts to uncover the criminal activities they were involved with.
The following news report details how Venezuela is apparently playing host to Iranian shock troops. Imagine how easy it would be for an Iranian soldier to immerse himself (herself) in the culture of Latin America by living in Venezuela for a number of years- perfecting his language skills and developing an extensive background in the culture of Latin America and then be given a passport from Venezuela with a brand new name so that, for example, Mohamed becomes Miguel. How easily could that individual pass himself off as a Latin American?
On April 21, 2010 the Washington Times ran a disturbing news report that was entitled:
“Iran boosts Qods shock troops in Venezuela”
Here is the link to that news report in its entirety:
The report begins with the following paragraphs that are guaranteed to get your attention:
Iran is increasing its paramilitary Qods force operatives in Venezuela while covertly continuing supplies of weapons and explosives to Taliban and other insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Pentagon’s first report to Congress on Tehran’s military.
The report on Iranian military power provides new details on the group known formally as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), the Islamist shock troops deployed around the world to advance Iranian interests. The unit is aligned with terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, North Africa and Latin America, and the report warns that U.S. forces are likely to battle the Iranian paramilitaries in the future.
The Qods force “maintains operational capabilities around the world,” the report says, adding that “it is well established in the Middle East and North Africa and recent years have witnessed an increased presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela.”
“If U.S. involvement in conflict in these regions deepens, contact with the IRGC-QF, directly or through extremist groups it supports, will be more frequent and consequential,” the report says.
The report provides the first warning in an official U.S. government report about Iranian paramilitary activities in the Western Hemisphere. It also highlights links between Iran and the anti-U.S. government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has been accused of backing Marxist terrorists in Colombia.
The report gives no details on the activities of the Iranians in Venezuela and Latin America. Iranian-backed terrorists have conducted few attacks in the region. However, U.S. intelligence officials say Qods operatives are developing networks of terrorists in the region who could be called to attack the United States in the event of a conflict over Iran’s nuclear program.
Here is the link to the report that the Pentagon provided to Congress on Tehran’s military that served as the predication for the news report:
The online edition of the British newspaper, the Daily Mail, posted a news report, last month, on January 28th that was entitled:
“Controversial Muslim cleric caught being smuggled into U.S. over Mexico border”
Here is the link to that news report:
The report noted that:
U.S. border guards got a surprise when they searched a Mexican BMW and found a hardline Muslim cleric – banned from France and Canada – curled up in the boot.
Said Jaziri, who called for the death of a Danish cartoonist that drew pictures of the prophet Mohammed, was being smuggled into California when he was arrested, along with his driver Kenneth Robert Lawler.
The 43-year-old was deported from Canada to his homeland Tunisia in 2007 after it emerged he had lied on his refugee application about having served jail time in France.
On May 26, 2010 Fox News ran a news report entitled:
Feds Issue Terror Watch for the Texas/Mexico Border
Here is the link to that worrisome report:
The report begins with the following passage:
The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com.
The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com.
The warning follows an indictment unsealed this month in Texas federal court that accuses a Somali man in Texas of running a “large-scale smuggling enterprise” responsible for bringing hundreds of Somalis from Brazil through South America and eventually across the Mexican border. Many of the illegal immigrants, who court records say were given fake IDs, are alleged to have ties to other now-defunct Somalian terror organizations that have merged with active organizations like Al Shabaab, al-Barakat and Al-Ittihad Al-Islami.
In 2008, the U.S. government designated Al Shabaab a terrorist organization. Al Shabaab has said its priority is to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, on Somalia; the group has aligned itself with Al Qaeda and has made statements about its intent to harm the United States.
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The point I was attempting to make back then and the point I am once again making today is that our borders are anything but secure and our alleged “leaders” are clearly sleep-walking while criminals and terrorists are seizing every opportunity to infiltrate our nation and set up shop in hundreds of American cities in every state, from border to border and coast to coast.
It has been said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
The point to that old adage is that it is far better to prevent a disaster than to deal with it after you failed to prevent it. If the terrorists who attacked our nation on September 11, 2001 had been prevented from entering our country, they could not have attacked us. The World Trade Center would still be standing. The thousands of killed and wounded would be alive and well today.
Even if only several of those 19 terrorists had been kept out of the United States, their horrific plans could not have been carried out.
Our leaders are now telling the citizens of our nation that it may take a decade or more to secure our southern border!
How many more criminals and terrorists will be able to saunter across our border during that decade? How many more lives will be lost in our country?
When a building catches fire, valiant fire fighters race to the scene to extinguish the flames to minimize the damage to the building and to try to prevent other buildings from catching fire. Even more importantly, they race to the fire to protect the lives of the people who may be endangered. They even race to the fire to attempt to rescue pets!
When an armed criminal commits a crime, police and federal agents race through the streets with sirens blaring to catch the suspect before he can get away and perhaps injure or kill innocent victims.
When someone is badly injured or suffers a medical emergency, ambulances and sometimes medi-vac helicopters race to the person to attempt to save that person’s life.
Yet our “leaders” expect that we the People will be mollified by the glacial approach to national security that should have been a major issue not only since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001- nearly ten years ago, but should have certainly become a priority in 1993 when our nation suffered terrorist attacks at the hands of radical Islamists who killed CIA officers and killed and injured civilians at the first attack at the World Trade Center more than 18 years ago!
Terrorist attacks have the potential to kill many thousands of victims and yet the response time is to be measured in decades and the Secretary of Homeland Surrender defends this insanity?
Every day crimes are being committed in towns and cities across our nation that are directly or indirectly related to the drug trade that depends on being able to easily move their cargos of poison across a border that offers little more protection than speed bumps! Every day citizens of our nation are dying across our nation because of our nation’s failures to secure our borders and I have to remind you that when the state of Arizona attempted to pick up the slack created by our federal government’s abject failures to secure our borders and instill even a modicum of integrity into the immigration system, that the federal government reacted by suing the state of Arizona for daring to attempt to do what the federal government has demonstrated no interest in doing!
Soon Mexican trucks will be barreling down our highways and other roads across our nation with the blessings of our President!
Our nation is being led by the “Not ready for prime time players” and this is not the least bit acceptable!
Nothing less than the survival of our nation and our citizens hang in the balance!
A country without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!
I
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our country is to survive and if our children and their children are to get their share of the “American Dream” the citizens of this nation must take their citizenship seriously!
We the People must be the best citizens we can be, citizens who are worthy of the gallantry demonstrated by our valiant men and women in the military, law enforcement and firefighters, who routinely go in harm’s way in defense of this nation and our citizens.
My goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nations many failings before more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence and ineptitude of our government.
The first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.
If you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible and encourage them to do the same. We need to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”
The practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it only begins there.
The large scale apathy demonstrated by citizens of this nation has emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups. There is much that we cannot do but there is one thing that We the People absolutely must do- we must stop sitting on the sidelines!
The collective failure of We the People to get involved in make our concerns known to our politicians have nearly made the concerns of the great majority of the citizens of this nation all but irrelevant to the politicians. I implore you to resolve this year to get involved!
I believe our nation’s is greatly benefited by the rich diversity of our people which is why I could never imagine living anywhere except New York City, arguably the most diverse city in our nation if not, in fact, the world. However, my idea of diversity most certainly does not include members of MS-13, the Mexican drug cartels or members of other transnational gangs or members of al-Qaeda!
If this situation concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional “Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation!
All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are!
We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance.
This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!
You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!
Democracy is not a spectator sport!
Lead, follow or get out of the way!
-michael cutler-
Please check out my website:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/mar/15/border-gear-slow-to-be-deployed/
Border gear slow to be deployed
By
Associated Press
6:53 p.m.,
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Technology to replace a now-defunct virtual-fence project at the
Mexican border likely won’t be fully in place for at least another
decade, maybe longer, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Richard
Stana, director of homeland security and justice issues at the GAO,
said Tuesday that the mix of cameras, radar and other sophisticated
technology will first be deployed to the border in Arizona over the next
two years. The technology mix is expected to be fully deployed in that
state by 2015 or 2016.
Mr. Stana, who testified Tuesday before a
House subcommittee on border and maritime security, said the security
project would next expand to California, New Mexico and Texas but isn’t
likely to be fully in place until at least 2021, and possibly not until
2026.
The new technology plan replaces a virtual-fence project
that cost nearly $1 billion before the Obama administration scrapped it
earlier this year after repeated delays and glitches. It will be added
to stationary cameras, underground sensors and other security
infrastructure already in place.
Rep. Michael T. McCaul, Texas
Republican, balked at the idea that the high-tech gear, which he said is
already available to the military, would take more than a decade to be
deployed.
“You are talking 10 to 15 years. It took us a decade to
put a man on the moon,” Mr. McCaul said. “I don’t understand why it
takes so long. You have a crisis going on down there. Everyone knows it.
We know how dangerous it is in Mexico, we know how dangerous it is on
the border. Why can’t we ramp up this process?”
Mark Borkowski,
Customs and Border Protection assistant commissioner for technology
innovation and acquisition, said the new equipment could be bought more
quickly if Congress allocated the money the Arizona project is expected
to have a price tag of about $755 million but where to put what
equipment has not been determined.
“The question is where do we put the first ones and why do we put them there,” Mr. Borkowski said.
He
said Homeland Security officials are putting the new equipment in
Arizona first because it is the busiest Border Patrol sector in the
country.
After the morning hearing, Mr. Borkowski said he had not
previously heard the GAO time line, but conceded that the technology
deployment is a multiyear plan. And future budgets will have a big
influence on how much gear is bought and when it is deployed.
The
virtual fence, which was officially abandoned in January, was initiated
in 2005 and was originally expected to be fully in place by this year.
Instead, only about 53 miles of operational “virtual fence” was put in
place in Arizona at a cost of about $15 million a mile.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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