Good "Fences" make good neighbors.
The Israelis are building a fence around their territory, separating themselves from their aggressive neighbors in the Palestinian territories. The European Union wants to build a fence between the "New Members" and non-EU Europe. The United States is building border forts and security fences in Iraq. Obviously, fences must have a valid purpose, and do a good job at something - something like keeping out unwanted, undocumented visitors?
If fences are so great, why do we have a southern border that stretches 2,200 miles, and that has holes in it large enough for George Patton's 3rd Army, Omar Bradley's 12th Army, and Field Marshall Montgommery's British Army Forces to drive through unopposed, side by side?
We have a major problem in this country. There are people around this globe that seriously hate us, and would love to do us harm. They've stated repeatedly, openly, that they intend to destroy us. Yet we haven't done a dime's worth of work to secure our southern border. It's not just people pouring across our unguarded border, but drugs, chemicals, and who knows what. Do we want to discover that the islamofascists that hate us so much have managed to smuggle in a "suitcase" nuke by it going off in Des Moines?
George Bush is a personal friend of Vincente Fox, the President of Mexico. So far, it's been a one-way friendship. John Kerry and the Democrats don't want to stop illegal immigration because every person moving across our southern border is a potential Democratic voter. Who cares if health care in this nation is going into the toilet, that we're being bankrupted by millions of illegals sucking the wealth of this nation dry, and a growing alienation developing along our border states - the big guys get theirs, and the rich and famous get their cheap help.
It can't go on. The United States needs just as secure a set of borders as Iraq, or Poland, or Israel. We have to secure both our northern and our southern border, not one or the other. Securing our southern border will only push the people that hate us the most into the north, and across the easier-to-cross border.
What do we need to secure our border? The Israel model may be a bit extreme, or too expensive. We don't know enough about the EU model to judge its effectiveness. The Iraqi border security program is incomplete. One thing can be said for sure, however: if there's a way over, under, through, or around it, the people who wish to enter this nation unlawfully will find it and exploit it, to our detriment.
I have my own ideas about border security. They're extensive, expensive, and can prove deadly for those trying to penetrate our borders under many different circumstances. On the positive side, I think they'll work, and they'll go a long way toward securing our nation from the clandestine attacks of our sworn enemies.
Here is some satellite imagery of various parts of the Israeli security fence. I love satellite imagery - in fact, all reconnaissance imagery! I made my living for more than twenty years in the Air Force looking at - and interpreting - reconnaissance imagery. The darned stuff has just so many valid uses! It does give us some ideas what the Israelis are doing. Basically, however, building a 7000-mile wall along the northern and southern mainland borders of the United States to the same standards employed by the Israelis would probably bankrupt this nation. Besides, we really don't need it.
Here's what we do need. We need guard towers in line-of-sight with one another along the full extent of both borders. These guard towers should be set back about 100 feet from the border, and built according to a plan I have on my computer. Anyone wanting a copy, feel free to email me. We need a fence - preferably a straight-up 32-strand, 8-foot high barbed wire fence on metal poles - exactly three feet inside the boundary of the United States (three feet into the Rio Grande River along the Texas border). The whole fence should be painted day-glow yellow. Four feet inside that fence should be a two-lane PAVED highway. It should be a highway with few bridges - and those bridges should be solid, reinforced concrete, with 3-inch rebar iron grates six inches apart, sunk 10 feet or more into the bottom (preferably to bedrock), whenever a bridge was absolutely essential. The area from the paved highway to the area back behind the guard towers should be cleared of everything higher than six inches, and a second, ordinary wire fence should run the length of the border. Place ground sensors (to detect tunneling) every 100 feet along the border between the road and the first fence, connected to both of the two nearest towers. Run "Predator" drones along the border at random intervals, just to make sure no one tries to damage any of the fences. Run random, armed patrols along the roads, man the guard towers (and the patrols) with active duty military, retired and/or disabled military and police veterans, and properly-trained volunteers. Mount light machine guns in the towers (synchronized with video cameras), and authorize those assigned to them to shoot to kill anything crossing between the first and second fence without authorization. Absolutely no exception. And heavily publicize - internally and internationally - every incident. Establish back-up facilities manned around the clock with Border Patrol, local law enforcement AND US military (active, guard, reserve, or any appropriate mix). Make the border so tight a gnat couldn't get past without a passport and an inspection. That's the only way this nation can truly guarantee its safety.
Increase the inspection area and inspection personnel, add new techniques, and develop new technologies to prevent seriptitious entry through our existing ports of entry. We have the technology, we have the capacity, and we have the capability. All it takes for it all to be brought to bear, and to work, is money and time - and more money, less time, is the best mix.
Start by building the towers, one every mile. Work outward on either side, building the road and the fences. Add towers to ensure every inch of border can be viewed from two points at the same time. Finish the road, the fences, and the cleared area between towers. Continue working until you can drive from Brownsville to San Diego, from Lake Superior to British Columbia, from the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic. Do the most comspicuous areas first, and keep working until it's all done. Then double check it two, three, four times a year to make sure it's been done right, and there are no holes.
Such an endeavor would be expensive. It might cost as much as $80 billion, and take ten years. But here's the tradeoff:
How much would a 300-kiloton nuclear explosion in Chicago cost this nation, and how long would it take to clean it up? That's just one of a thousand scenarios that might be prevented by the right kind of fence.
If fences are so great, why do we have a southern border that stretches 2,200 miles, and that has holes in it large enough for George Patton's 3rd Army, Omar Bradley's 12th Army, and Field Marshall Montgommery's British Army Forces to drive through unopposed, side by side?
We have a major problem in this country. There are people around this globe that seriously hate us, and would love to do us harm. They've stated repeatedly, openly, that they intend to destroy us. Yet we haven't done a dime's worth of work to secure our southern border. It's not just people pouring across our unguarded border, but drugs, chemicals, and who knows what. Do we want to discover that the islamofascists that hate us so much have managed to smuggle in a "suitcase" nuke by it going off in Des Moines?
George Bush is a personal friend of Vincente Fox, the President of Mexico. So far, it's been a one-way friendship. John Kerry and the Democrats don't want to stop illegal immigration because every person moving across our southern border is a potential Democratic voter. Who cares if health care in this nation is going into the toilet, that we're being bankrupted by millions of illegals sucking the wealth of this nation dry, and a growing alienation developing along our border states - the big guys get theirs, and the rich and famous get their cheap help.
It can't go on. The United States needs just as secure a set of borders as Iraq, or Poland, or Israel. We have to secure both our northern and our southern border, not one or the other. Securing our southern border will only push the people that hate us the most into the north, and across the easier-to-cross border.
What do we need to secure our border? The Israel model may be a bit extreme, or too expensive. We don't know enough about the EU model to judge its effectiveness. The Iraqi border security program is incomplete. One thing can be said for sure, however: if there's a way over, under, through, or around it, the people who wish to enter this nation unlawfully will find it and exploit it, to our detriment.
I have my own ideas about border security. They're extensive, expensive, and can prove deadly for those trying to penetrate our borders under many different circumstances. On the positive side, I think they'll work, and they'll go a long way toward securing our nation from the clandestine attacks of our sworn enemies.
Here is some satellite imagery of various parts of the Israeli security fence. I love satellite imagery - in fact, all reconnaissance imagery! I made my living for more than twenty years in the Air Force looking at - and interpreting - reconnaissance imagery. The darned stuff has just so many valid uses! It does give us some ideas what the Israelis are doing. Basically, however, building a 7000-mile wall along the northern and southern mainland borders of the United States to the same standards employed by the Israelis would probably bankrupt this nation. Besides, we really don't need it.
Here's what we do need. We need guard towers in line-of-sight with one another along the full extent of both borders. These guard towers should be set back about 100 feet from the border, and built according to a plan I have on my computer. Anyone wanting a copy, feel free to email me. We need a fence - preferably a straight-up 32-strand, 8-foot high barbed wire fence on metal poles - exactly three feet inside the boundary of the United States (three feet into the Rio Grande River along the Texas border). The whole fence should be painted day-glow yellow. Four feet inside that fence should be a two-lane PAVED highway. It should be a highway with few bridges - and those bridges should be solid, reinforced concrete, with 3-inch rebar iron grates six inches apart, sunk 10 feet or more into the bottom (preferably to bedrock), whenever a bridge was absolutely essential. The area from the paved highway to the area back behind the guard towers should be cleared of everything higher than six inches, and a second, ordinary wire fence should run the length of the border. Place ground sensors (to detect tunneling) every 100 feet along the border between the road and the first fence, connected to both of the two nearest towers. Run "Predator" drones along the border at random intervals, just to make sure no one tries to damage any of the fences. Run random, armed patrols along the roads, man the guard towers (and the patrols) with active duty military, retired and/or disabled military and police veterans, and properly-trained volunteers. Mount light machine guns in the towers (synchronized with video cameras), and authorize those assigned to them to shoot to kill anything crossing between the first and second fence without authorization. Absolutely no exception. And heavily publicize - internally and internationally - every incident. Establish back-up facilities manned around the clock with Border Patrol, local law enforcement AND US military (active, guard, reserve, or any appropriate mix). Make the border so tight a gnat couldn't get past without a passport and an inspection. That's the only way this nation can truly guarantee its safety.
Increase the inspection area and inspection personnel, add new techniques, and develop new technologies to prevent seriptitious entry through our existing ports of entry. We have the technology, we have the capacity, and we have the capability. All it takes for it all to be brought to bear, and to work, is money and time - and more money, less time, is the best mix.
Start by building the towers, one every mile. Work outward on either side, building the road and the fences. Add towers to ensure every inch of border can be viewed from two points at the same time. Finish the road, the fences, and the cleared area between towers. Continue working until you can drive from Brownsville to San Diego, from Lake Superior to British Columbia, from the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic. Do the most comspicuous areas first, and keep working until it's all done. Then double check it two, three, four times a year to make sure it's been done right, and there are no holes.
Such an endeavor would be expensive. It might cost as much as $80 billion, and take ten years. But here's the tradeoff:
How much would a 300-kiloton nuclear explosion in Chicago cost this nation, and how long would it take to clean it up? That's just one of a thousand scenarios that might be prevented by the right kind of fence.
posted by Old Patriot | 8:17 PM
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