February 07, 2005

Memo From The Middle East, By Allan Wall

Bush Puts Troops On The Border!

[VDARE.COM note: Allan Wall, our popular Memo From Mexico columnist, is an American citizen who had been living and working legally in Mexico with an FM-2 residency and work permit with his Mexican wife and two children. But his Texas-based Army National Guard company, composed almost entirely of Americans of Mexican ancestry, was mobilized in August. Allan Wall was scheduled to ship out for Iraq after New Year’s Day. He may be there for up to two years.

Allan Wall will be carrying out a special educational research and writing project for VDARE.COM.  If you would like to support this project, please send your tax-deductible contribution payable to the Center for American Unity.]

Newsflash: The Bush Administration has put troops on the border!

George W. Bush, the Open Borders President? How could that be?

Because I refer to the borders of Iraq, not the United States.

At the time of this writing, I find myself at an undisclosed location in the Middle East, heading to Iraq for my tour of duty with my National Guard unit.

I like to read the "Stars and Stripes" newspaper, and found a very interesting article in the January 13th, 2005 issue (Mideast Edition) entitled "Borders Closing in on Foreign Fighters", by Joseph Giordono. Here's how it begins:

"U.S. military officials in Anbar province are reporting progress in one of their most difficult missions: securing Iraq's porous borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia and turning over complete responsibility for the job to Iraqi forces.” [Electronic Edition]

What? You mean all those crossing the border into Iraq aren't just good-hearted people trying to put food on the table, searching for the Iraqi Dream and a better life?

According to Stars and Stripes:

"Over the last three months, Marines under the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit have built—or rebuilt—more than two dozen border forts and recruited more than 1,000 specially trained Iraqi border security forces."

Well, that's something, isn't it? An administration opposed to controlling our own borders is here in the Middle East, "securing Iraq's porous borders".

How about the U.S.A.'s porous borders?

The Stars and Stripes article goes on to explain that

"The effort's centerpiece is a specialized Iraqi unit dubbed the Desert Wolves, which U.S. officials say will be the heart of a revitalized and reconstituted Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement."

A Marine officer explained that "Bringing people into sections of the border where they're not from is one of the smartest things we've done....It's very important that they not be tied to the sheiks of that area, and they don't have to follow the cultural rules."

The article explains that "cultural rules" refers to "kickbacks, bribes and other forms of petty corruption and influence that U.S. officials say were rampant in the former regime and its security forces."

The front cover of "Stars and Stripes" shows a photograph of one of these desert forts, and it's pretty impressive. The Marine officer explained that "It's important the (Iraqi) security forces know this is a combined effort. It's critical they know that when things are happening, we're there to support them."

Do U.S. border and immigration officials have the support of their government?

My congratulations to the U.S. government on working to secure Iraq's borders.

Now how about our own?