Woooosh - 1-8-2009 at 10:27 AM
Chertoff and Homeland Security finally got something right. You militarize the mexican border to protect Americans from the spillover of
narco-violence... the fencing isn't really anti-immigrant. hmmm- he may have found the right spin...
The story is front page UT. No link available yet. Someone please post the link when it is....
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The soaring level of violence in Mexico has led the United States to develop plans for a "surge" of civilian and perhaps even military law enforcement
if the bloodshed spreads across the border, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday.
Chertoff said the criminal activity in Mexico, which caused more than 5,300 deaths last year, had long troubled U.S. authorities. But it reached a
point last summer, he said, where he ordered plans to confront in this country the kind of mayhem that in Mexico has killed members of warring drug
cartels, law enforcement officials and bystanders.
"We completed a contingency plan for border violence, so if we did get a significant spillover, we have a surge - if I may use that word - capability
to bring in not only our own assets but even to work with" the Defense Department, Chertoff said in a telephone interview.
Officials of the Homeland Security Department said the plan called for Aircraft, armored vehicles and special teams to converge on border trouble
spots. Military forces would be called -upon if civilian agencies such as the Border Patrol and local law enforce- ment were overwhelmed, but the
officials said military involvement was considered unlikely.
Chertoff has expressed concern about the violence in Mexico, but the contingency plan has not been publicly debated, and the department has not
announced it. Department oficials said Chertoff had mentioned it only in passing.
Aides to members of the House Homeland Security Committee, which oversees the department and has often clashed with Chertoff over his border policies,
said yesterday that they had heard little about the plan, though they welcomed it.
"We support almost anything to secure our border," said Dena Graziano, a spokeswoman for the committee.
San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne said his agency worked for months on the plan as part of a regional task force that the FBI's San Diego
office oversees.
"We're well aware of the potential, but we have the resources in place to prevent it from spilling over the border, and if it does, we can instantly
respond," Lansdowne said last night.
[Edited on 1-8-2009 by Woooosh]
CaboRon - 1-8-2009 at 10:51 AM
This is only reasonable ...
CaboRon
surfer jim - 1-8-2009 at 11:10 AM
I hope these aren't the same guys who prepared for.....KATRINA
Bajahowodd - 1-8-2009 at 12:20 PM
Spin is the correct term. Sounds more like they're preparing for an invasion. This isn't the 38th parallel in Korea. If a half dozen SUVs carrying
drug lords blew through the border, I imagine that local, state police and the Border Patrol could handle fairly quickly. The Defense Department,
indeed.