Try this Bizarro World scenario on for size. On January 3rd, four Tennessee National Guardsmen, troops that, per the Army Creed, “Stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat,” were manning an observation post on the Arizona-Mexico border. In as much as Arizona is one of the several states, this boundary is also the U.S.-Mexico border; the porousness of which these troops were there to address.
The Guardsmen were approached by 6-8 armed men, who appeared to be wearing protective body armor. The Guardsmen, in the finest tradition of the U.S. Army, radioed the Border Patrol, apprised them of the situation and then pulled back. Pull back being another word for retreat. These soldiers retreated fromt the border in the face of armed intruders. Subsequently, the Border Patrol was unable to locate said armed intruders. They are perhaps now employed in California, picking frozen oranges.
If the facts as they have been presented are accurate, it is enough to make you want to saw your own head off with a butter knife. This is so preposterous, it is difficult to formulate any commentary. These soldiers are not responsible for this ludicrous situation; as has been reported, they were merely following orders. Perhaps an addendum should be added to the Nuremburg principle; not only is a soldier obligated to disobey an illegal order, they are also obligated to disobey a ridiculous order.
The individual most culpable in this travesty is the president. Maybe someone should inform him that his Svengali, Vicente Fox, is no longer president of Mexico and that it is permissible to enforce United States territorial boundaries. It might also be mentioned to the president that there are reasons the Right has become lukewarm in its support of the Iraq war. One reason is that Americans tend to be less than sanguine about their soldiers serving as nothing more than target dummies for rag-tag Third World barbarians. They prefer to risk their troops and treasure in the process of destroying the enemy. Conservatives also observe the little charade being played out on the border. They conclude that, in the end, the president isn’t really serious about protecting America.
What other answer is there to explain the farce that we call border security?
Cross-posted at http://www.laconicblog.blogspot.com
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