Terrorists crossing our borders
Investigative reporter Todd Bensman has a myth-busting piece that counters the open-borders propaganda line that no terrorist suspects have crossed into the US across our land boundaries to the north or south. He opens with the tales of Hezbollah leader Mahmoud Kourani, Gazi Abu Mezer, and Nabil Marabh, whom I also mentioned in Invasion, and compiles a top-ten list of border-crossing terrorist plotters.
An excerpt:
FBI Director Robert Mueller, testifying before a Congressional committee in 2006, said a number of Hezbollah terrorists had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico but offered no details.
During an early 2007 swing through San Antonio, he told reporters: “We have had indications that leaders of other terrorist groups may be contemplating …having persons come across assuming identities of others, and trying to get across the border. It is intelligence that indicates there have been discussions on that.”
When pressed for details, men like Mueller and Loy have to demur, citing official secrecy rules designed to protect investigations while in play, as well as intelligence-gathering methods, confidential informants and sources so as to keep terrorist targets from figuring out how they’ve been compromised.
The bottom line: either the authorities are exaggerating the threat or the public may not be allowed to know about it yet.
The dearth of elaboration about intelligence or disclosure of arrested terror suspects fuels speculation that government officials are raising the level of fear to underwrite controversial immigration reform measures.
Yet the warnings keep coming. Often, it is about the danger of South America and the communities of Middle Easterners that reside throughout that continent.
Janice Kephart, a lawyer who served as counsel to the 9-11 Commission and co-wrote the final report, testified in March 2005 before the Senate Judiciary Committee about a classified document she’d seen while serving on the commission. She was free to discuss it publicly because it had just been declassified.
She said the document was a Border Patrol report about meetings in Spain between members of Al Qaeda and a Columbia guerilla group. A topic of discussion at the meeting, Kephart said, was the use of Mexican Islamist converts to infiltrate the U.S. across the southwest border.
“If you want to conduct another operation after 9-11 you don’t want people to know who you are,” she said. “And the best way to be anonymous is to come across the border.”
Underscoring the security threat, Bensman points to this story about three
Afghani Muslims posing as Mexicans.
But hey–at least we’re building that border fence…in Egypt.
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Categories: Homeland Security, Immigration
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before and especially after 9/11 securing our open borders should have been a top priority. duh.
Show of hands—-How many are surprised with this? I for one, am not.
L
I have a friend who regularly does business in Mexico. He has been told a number of times about terrorist training camps in Mexico and asked why the US has done so little to help eradicate them. In addition, he has been told that smugglers are paid a substantil of money to smuggle the terrorists across the border - and the amount is much larger than smuggling just a regular illegal alien across the border. My friend, however, while not an open border advocate is an advocate for having some type of program to regularize the 12 to 20 million illegals who are already here.
Which is why I think McCain is soft on security.
Why are we paying people (politicians) to do a job that they simply refuse to do? Oh wait. It’s always been this way.
They’re only doing the terrorist acts that Americans won’t do. After all, no American would do those terrorist acts for $50/hour, ya know.
There’s a common theme among most criminals, drawn from my experience in cybersecurity, that they employ the easiest methods available to exploit a system. There’s no need for complex hacking if the so-called front door is unlocked and left wide open. So too with our borders.
The idea that we can even reasonable secure the border is a freaking joke. Here’s the stats: The United States has 5525 miles of border with Canada and 1989 miles with Mexico. Our maritime border includes 95000 miles of shoreline. Tell me how anyone can secure this?
Geraldo and the rest of the Open Borders Taliban will say… it is only a small monority of bad people. Which begs the question to be asked.. at what rate or percentage will it take for them to consider “open Borders” a problem?? For the people who are/have been “Victims” I would say we are Way past that percentage now!!!!
9/11 was all I needed to wake me from my slumber of complacency. I have been on high alert ever since. When I fly my fears aren’t just about whether or not there will be some sort of engine failure while we are high above the ground or a landing gear getting stuck… No, it’s much more than that - I fear that some jihadi terrorist will board my plane and attempt to hijack it and change my family lives forever. I don’t live in fear. The Lord my God takes care of that but again - on high alert. 9/11 was just about seven years ago and our politicians refuse to see the continued threat these terrorists pose. They will not stop. And while I am very thankful that Dubya was in office when they struck and that we have taken the fight to them. I remain terribly concerned that we are allowing ourselves to remain vulnerable for all of the wrong reasons.
I know it isn’t feasible to deport millions of illegal aliens but what is the aversion to having the fence built? As a sovereign nation it makes perfect sense to have our elected officials do their damned jobs and secure our borders. Instead, they clamor to get more illegals in, entitlements for illegals and such. Yet, when the news hits of terrorists crossing the border that gets swept under the rug. When more American blood is spilt domestically whose feet will we hold to the fire? Who will step up and say that they have failed the American people? Will it be the Dems who have done everything that they can to get more illegals in this country? Who will it be?
Let’s hope it’s the latter.
Think of counter-terrorism strategy in the War on Terror as a spectrum, with offense on one side and defense on the other. Those who would forsake the offensive overseas, and have us adopt a bunker mentality at home, are like people who’d cure Malaria by issuing everyone a flyswatter while doing nothing about the swamp.
On the other hand, those who adhere too literally to the saying, “The best defense is a good offense” will watch everything they’ve tried to achieve turn to ash as soon as there’s another major attack within our borders - particularly if it is shown that the perpetrators got here by slipping across a largely unguarded border.
We have to do both. Unfortunately, since 9/11 - at least as far as one can tell from unclassified information - we’ve been banging the needle against the offensive end of the spectrum while leaving the back door open at home (how’s that for a mixed metaphor?).
Question: In the event that another significant, mass-casualty producing terrorist attack happens here, will American public opinion:
A. Declare that “Enough is enough” and embrace an even more offensive strategy overseas? Or,
B. Decide that chasing around the Middle East while the terrorists do an end-run to strike us here doesn’t work, and call for a new version of George McGovern’s, “Come Home, America” philosophy currently in vogue among the left/liberals? Or,
C. Something else?
The sheeple don’t seem to care much about anything but pocketbook issues. Freedom, war, an invasion of illegal aliens–all pale in comparison.
meatpieandtatters - With regards to the immortal words of JFK when he was first talking about going to the moon:
“It will be difficult, therefore we must not try.”
The argument goes that the Bush administration has “kept us safe from another terrorist attack.”
I say hogwash and farglesnot.
Just because they have not attacked, does not mean that they are not coming into the country to stage an attack - perhaps concerted. They are just as likely to wait until La Raza or Lulac calls for the initial attack, and then join the fun.
Happily,/sarc on/ McCain will be continuing the Bush policies? /sarc off/
#12…indeed. The problem with trying, at least from our government’s standpoint, is that they are already quite adept at exorbitant spending (i.e. education, housing, health care) without achieving any measurable benefits…
I think East Germany tried a wall and shoot-to-kill border enforcement for a while. Not sure how well this might be accepted by the voters but I’m sure there are probably more than a few border town dwellers who’d vote for it.
Ultimately, though, it’s the path of least effort that is always exploited.
JHSII…you can call me MPAT for short…No need to type all that screen name stuff
Meatpieandtatters has a point about the focus on the border. Our entire country is at risk - every city, town and hamlet must take action to stop what is an obvious invasion. Sanctuary cities need to be punished and business owners need to face both fines and prison.
In Prince William County, Virginia, the Board of Supervisors took some direct and drastic action to get the illegal alien situation under control. Illegal aliens were literally over-running the county and the cost was tremendous. Since the initiation of their action less than a year ago, some 650 English as a second language children have left the County schools. Public transportation is less crowded and fewer routes needed. Low income housing is now more available to County citizens who are legal Americans. The arrest rates have gone down. The drag on social services and medical care at hospitals is less. So far, the estimated savings is in the tens of millions of dollars - and this is for just one county.
Someday, we’ll have another terrorist attack (hopefully not, but the odds are against it). Upon investigation, the country will learn that the terrorists crossed the border from Mexico. A hue and cry will go up from everyone wondering about why the border wasn’t guarded more carefully. If that doesn’t disgust you, the Congress will start blaming everyone, even Bush, for the failure. Kennedy will call for an investigation. McCain will agree. If it’s before the election, spin doctors will work overtime with the candidates to project a strong border platform. It’s the same old scenario. Of course, people like Wright, will blame whites. It leaves us posters here, the people “in the know”, to look on nauseated and switch channels to TVLand.
MPAT - actually I use cut-and-paste for long names, that way I don’t have to show how bad a typist I really am
I don’t think a comparison with East Germany is a valid one though, they were trying to keep people in.
The real answer would be to fix the structural problems in Mexico so that they wouldn’t want to come here. As we can’t do that, I don’t see many other options than a wall and shoot-to-kill.
The BP has a name for those who cross the border: OTM (Other Than Mexican), so they know this is a problem. The “official” OTM count is increasing each year.
Meatpie #7, re: “Tell me how anyone can secure this?”
Step 1. landmines & snipers & dogs (oh my!) Ooooh & some of those killer drones too…
Step 2. Offer a bounty, I don’t know, say $200 for the ears of anyone crossing illegally… now THAT is a stimulus package.
OK, I know that sounds harsh, but watching people jumping from a burning skyscraper has left me a little jaded.
“Friends” The U.S. has no friends.
Mexico was not our “friend” when she allowed our enemies to send spies across our border during WWII. Mexico is not our “friend” now.
Mark Styne’s book _America Alone_outlines our position in the world very clearly.
To the appeasers–Have You Forgotten?-
D. Woorley’s great song.
# 20 Your list sounds good to me!
None of the three presidential candidates have any intention of securing our borders. They lie to us. We have lost control of our own country. It’s long over due for a thorough house cleaning. We can’t trust our government anymore.
Every time I hear, “we can’t deport, fill-in-a-number, illegal aliens”, I always say, “yes we can”. Perhaps we would never get EVERY SINGLE ONE deported, but we could easily begin deporting them and enforcing current laws, which would create massive self-deportation. I hate the give up, we can’t do it attitude I often hear on this.
YES WE CAN……..we just won’t.
true that.
well, I still like the idea of paying for ears…
I ask anyone posting, “what would you do to some one climbing in your window?”
Yeah, it’s like that.
Trying to compare The Berlin Wall with building a fence on either boarder is a typical liberal, open boarder retort to anything that might appear to be conservative and right for this great country. There is apples and there is oranges, in this case they don’t mix.
Jebus folks. The Berlin wall was to keep people IN, a border fence is meant to keep them OUT. Slight difference whether you know it or not.
This is ill news. You’re more likely to find a Christian in Saudi Arabia than a Muslim in Mexico, and most of the people of Middle Eastern descent in South America have converted to Christianity. Yet, there’s always a few bad apples in every barrel, I suppose, and I can’t say I’m ALL that surprised. Some circles used to point out that the IRA had training camps in the deserts of North Africa.
This is a conspiracy that just happens to be true and they are going to try and use Latin America more and more to undermine the West. I know Al Jazeera was snooping around in Ecuador trying to get people to testify against American imperialism.
All part of radical Islam’s plan to rule the world.
Fences are built - whether to keep occupante in or out - to CONTROL.
Control, I believe, is a key word here.
I think we can find that by enforcing the laws, self-deportation works.
The closer we get to the next president being sworn into office, the closer my book comes to being an historical novel.
Thanks, George W. /sarc off
Bush and those in charge should be charged with TREASON if they are covering up the border situation, terrorist infiltration, and refusing to act in order to promote their amnesty politics.
Impeach Bush now. Not for Iraq, but for failing to defend the US southern border.
Heck, you can’t get a stop sign put in an intersection until there is a fatal accident, so why would we expect politicians to do something commonsensical like seal the borders where they apparently know that terrorists are coming across?
I guess 9/11 wasn’t a big enough wake up call. I am sure our enemies will arrange something with more punch.
I keep thinking about shutting the barn door after the horses have gotten out……