In case you missed the news Tuesday:
Mexican soldiers and civilian smugglers had an armed standoff with nearly 30 U.S. law enforcement officials on the Rio Grande in Texas Monday afternoon, according to Texas police and the FBI.
Mexican military Humvees were towing what appeared to be thousands of pounds of marijuana across the border into the United States, said Chief Deputy Mike Doyal, of the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department.
Mexican Army troops had several mounted machine guns on the ground more than 200 yards inside the U.S. border -- near Neely's Crossing, about 50 miles east of El Paso -- when Border Patrol agents called for backup. Hudspeth County deputies and Texas Highway patrol officers arrived shortly afterward, Doyal said.
"It's been so bred into everyone not to start an international incident with Mexico that it's been going on for years," Doyal said. "When you're up against mounted machine guns, what can you do? Who wants to pull the trigger first? Certainly not us."
An FBI spokeswoman confirmed the incident happened at 2:15 p.m. Pacific Time.
Further investigation into the incident raised questions regarding the legitimacy of the "Mexican soldiers." The Houston Chronicle reports that In all likelihood they were smugglers disguised as regular military (but with REAL guns) in an attempt to hoodwink US Border Patrol agents.
Also Wednesday, Mexican authorities asked to meet with a West Texas sheriff to view photographs taken during the standoff, which occurred Monday about 50 miles east of El Paso near the Rio Grande international boundary.
Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said the photos show the smugglers' vehicles as well as scenes of men unloading drugs while fatigue-garbed gunmen stood guard. No shots were fired, he said.
Mexican officials denied the guards were soldiers, asserting they were impostors driving military-style vehicles and wearing uniforms that were not military-issue. Mexican soldiers are prohibited from driving within 3.2 miles of the Texas border, the officials said.
West, however, insisted that the men were Mexican soldiers.
Michelle Malkin is highlighting the Chronicle article today, noting that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) is demanding a full investigation from the Department of Taking Your Shoes Off At The Airport (ahem) Homeland Security. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) called for armed troops to begin patrolling our borders yesterday.
While I'm not in the absolutist camp of sealing our borders and immediately hauling all Mexican aliens out of the country, I am definitely concerned -- frightened really -- about incidents like this one, because they illustrate the ease with which the bad guys can con our border patrol simply by playing chicken with them.
On a more fundamental level, this incident illustrates the danger of "don't shoot" policies, and the ease with which the forces of evil can take advantage of them.
As I've pointed out numerous times, the enemy IS watching. They are taking notes on this stuff. And you can bet that there are terrorists in Mexico right now who are planning to test our border security with respect to smuggling large objects (say, MADPAD missles, or perhaps a shielded crate for weapons-grade plutonium?) into the US. That is, if they haven't done so already.
I'm not advocating that our Border Patrol agents install twin-50's on top of their Suburbans and blow anything that moves to smithereens. And I also believe that illegal Mexican immigrants in the US should be treated humanely, not abused by our system or deported like herds of cattle.
But with the dangers posed by Al Qaeda and other rogue forces of evil in today's world, there is no excuse for the lax border security that this nation has. Not one.
Now, who is going to do something substantive about it?
Related:
Mexico Halts Border Maps Handout - that's right, folks, the Mexican government was planning to hand out maps showing the easiest ways to cross the Mexico/US border.
Miguel Angel Paredes, spokesman for the federal Human Rights Commission, said the government wanted to "rethink" its plan because human rights officials in border states expressed concern that the maps would show anti-immigrant groups _ like the Minutemen civilian patrols _ where migrants likely would gather.
Gee, ya think?
2 Tons of Pot Found In Border Tunnel - not the US/Canadian border, just in case anyone might be confused.
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