Pentagon Looks At Putting National Guard On The Border

Cross-Posted From Gribbit’s Word
The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to grant Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, the authority to assign National Guard troops to patrol the Southern Border. The vote was 252 – 171 in favor of authorization.

Paul McHale, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, asked officials this week to come up with options for the use of military resources and troops — particularly the National Guard — along the border with Mexico, according to defense officials familiar with the discussions. The officials, who requested anonymity because the matter has not been made public, said there are no details yet on a defense strategy.

The request comes as some Southern lawmakers met this week with White House strategist Karl Rove for a discussion that included making greater use of National Guard troops to shore up border control. Congress is poised to pass legislation this month that would call for additional border security, a new guest worker program and provisions opening the way to eventual citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country.

Lefties all seem to think that this authorization is akin to the end of life on this planet as we know it. What do you think the primary mission of the Army was in the beginning? To secure us from invasion that’s what. And what do you call an unauthorized influx of 11 million people crossing our southern border? An invasion is what I would call it..

“The Texas delegation is very concerned about the border and are pushing urgency,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who joined other Texas Republicans in a meeting with Rove this week. He said Rove was “very forthright” about border projects that Homeland Security is starting up, its current projects and what the needs are.

Rep. Ken Marchant, R-Texas, who also attended the meeting, said the lawmakers left “very encouraged.”

Currently, the military plays a very limited role along the borders, but some armed forces have been used in the past to help battle drug traffickers. National Guard units, meanwhile, have been used at time by Southern and Western governors to provide assistance at border crossings.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said the military help “is basically what she has been asking for,” spokeswoman Jeanine L’Ecuyer said. Napolitano has been asking the Pentagon to send more National Guard troops — but not regular military — to confront illegal immigration from Mexico. About 170 National Guard troops are helping in such efforts in the state now.

Defense officials said they have been asked to map out what military resources could be made available if needed — including options for using the National Guard under either state or federal control. The strategy would also explore the legal guidelines for use of the military on domestic soil, the officials said.

The hoopla over the use of military forces on domestic soil is a bunch of crap. Here’s the thing, we can no longer accept unregulated violations of our southern border. This is both an immigration issue and a matter of national security. In a post 9/11 world, national security issues trump all other concerns. At the present time, under the present conditions, a terrorist can enter any number of countries in South or Central America and enter via our porous, largely unchecked southern border.

What would happen if a terrorist entered with a dirty bomb, made his way to Los Angeles and set it off? Millions of Americans would be contaminated without knowing and die of radiation sickness. LA would become a virtual wasteland. This is the problem of a reactionary policy as opposed to a pro-active policy.

Under the Civil War-era Posse Comitatus Act, federal troops are prohibited from performing law enforcement actions, such as making arrests, seizing property or searching people. In extreme cases, however, the president can invoke the Insurrection Act, also from the Civil War, which allows him to use active-duty or National Guard troops for law enforcement. SOURCE

I consider the wholesale invasion of the United States by Mexico an insurrection. The President should authorize not only the National Guard, but Reserve and Active Component units of the US Army, Airforce, Navy, and Marine Corps as well as the Coast Guard to increase patrols already being done and supplement the border patrol.

Members of our armed forces should be deputized under the Insurrection Act as emergency Border Patrol Agents which would authorize them to arrest and detain these foreign invaders until they can be herded back into their own country like cattle. They walked in, they can walk out like in a cattle drive. Perhaps the long walks in the desert would be enough to dissuade them from attempting crossing again in the future.

Patrols by our military along the border should continue until the Great Wall of the United States is built and armed observation stations can be established. Permanent military guards should then man those stations and the Border Patrol would be free to patrol along the wall.

The wall should be built at least 50 meters north of the actual border to allow the Border Patrol to patrol in front of the wall. Perhaps a “fence” could be erected on the actual border to create a “no man’s land” patrol area.

But before we can get to that point we need to at least slow the “bleeding” so to speak. All this talk about pathways to legalization are all moot unless we can slow or stop the “bleeding”. If we keep bringing in illegals, pathways to legalization will just encourage more illegals to cross the border. We already know that they are crafty enough to obtain forged documents so that they can work, so what is to prevent them from finding ways to forge the documentation to prove that they have been here longer than they have just to obtain the status required to qualify for these disguised amnesty programs.

But I applaud the House for their insight into this problem. I just hope that the Pentagon can see the necessity for this program to go forward.