Obama to send 1,200 troops to US-Mexico border

[joe817]

President Barack Obama will send 1,200 National Guard troops to boost security along the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said Tuesday, pre-empting Republican plans to try to force votes on such a deployment.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100525/ap_ ... ard_border" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I honestly don't know whether to say "Thank God!"...."It's about time! "..."Way to go! "... or "to little, to late". And he's gonna "ponder over it" until Memorial Day. *heavy sigh*. Why the delay? Tell me....why the delay?

When I went to the Tea Party Rally held at the minor league baseball park right next to Lone Star Downs in Grand Prairie a few months ago, there was one speaker....a latino lady, who called on Rick Perry to send in the Texas National Guard, to help secure our borders. Thank you nice lady who spoke there. I agree with you 100%. If this happens I pray to God, that the troops be armed AND with a full compliment of ammo. I fear it may be needed.

God bless our Men & Women in uniform who serve in our Texas National Guard!

[TxRVer]

The article states that Bush sent thousands of troops. I don't remember hearing that did anything to stem the tide. I doubt 1200 will have make any difference at all. I think it's just a show to quiet his critics.

[A-R]

Careful what we wish for ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esequiel_Hern%C3%A1ndez_Jr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mr. Hernandez was an AMERICAN CITIZEN gunned down by stealth Marines in ghillie camo on his family's property inside the US. HIs crime? He raised a .22 rifle in the general direction of the Marines, thinking he saw something move in the brush that could be stalking his goats.

Not blaming the Marines here - they did what they were trained to do: eliminate a perceived threat. The whole point is armed military patrols on US soil like this can lead to devistating consequences.

I'm all for sealing the borders tightly. But this must be done in a smart way, not just sending troops down there to appease the shouts of an angry public. This has the stinking pattern of a Clinton move

We need real solutions to this problem, not lip service and a few more military troops. What Arizona recently passed is much more effective and less potentially harmful.

[RPB]

The article states that Bush sent thousands of troops. I don't remember hearing that did anything to stem the tide. I doubt 1200 will have make any difference at all. I think it's just a show to quiet his critics.

When Bush tsent them they were assigned administrative paperwork jobs to free up time for the actual boarder patrol to patrol more, so they didn't get ammo etc.

Barry is sending them to raise his approval score in the Polls, but hasn't said if they should join hands and say "Red Rover Red Rover let Maria come over" or if they should separate and say "Red Light .... Green Light" nor if they get ammo this time due to the machine gun pirates on Lake Falcon...or if it's just more help with typing.

Land mine/mine field signs would be cheaper.
(No I'm not seriously saying place mines ... don't jump on me ... I didn't say mines ... I said signs .... you know signs work to prevent illegal activities ... look at the "Firearms Prohibited" gunbuster signs on banks and stores)

[wheelgun1958]

you know signs work to prevent illegal activities ... look at the "Firearms Prohibited" gunbuster signs on banks and stores)

Maybe we could just install some 'no mojados' signs. That'll stop-em.

[Oldgringo]

Utilization of land mines raises the question of, "Are we serious about stopping the illegal border crossings or not"? They (land mines) are certainly cheaper than troops and their presence will get your attention.

Let's give this idea some thought...

[RPB]

Utilization of land mines raises the question of, "Are we serious about stopping the illegal border crossings or not"? They (land mines) are certainly cheaper than troops and their presence will get your attention.

Let's give this idea some thought...

What would we do with all the prayer rugs and copies on the Qur'an and machine guns that get left behind?
Too dangerous to collect them and sell at flea markets to fund the cost of replacement mines, and a shame to leave them out there exposed to the weather.

[sjfcontrol]

Hang them on posts, as a warning to others... (except for the machine guns, of course!)

[bdickens]

The whole thing is a sham. It is a dog-and-pony show attempting to placate a public growing increasingly frustrated with Washington's inaction. It has a secondary purpose of trying to direct attention of the administration's dreadfuly slow non-response to the BP oil spill.

[stroo]

This is a dog and pony show. Anyone serious about sealing the border will begin with putting a fence in along the whole border, followed by loosening up the BP ROE. Until that happens, pay no attention to the man behind the curtains.

[idrathernot]

A fence eh? Brilliant! You know.... so long as we don't hire illegal immigrants to build it this time; gives them great expertise when it comes time to get around it. Also, 1200 people to secure several hundred miles of open country... I say we just adopt Mexico's immigration laws.

[Teamless]

1200 people to secure several hundred miles of open country...

I was thinking the same thing... 1200 people, can't work 24/7 and there is 2400 miles(or so) of US/Mexico border.
So 1 Guardsmen every 2 miles, but each can only work 40-60 hours a week,
So really 3 Guardsmen every 6 miles, to cover 24 hours a day..
But then again, you have weekends to cover..
So really 6 Guardsmen every 12 miles cover 1 person per shift..
But do you really want 1 Guardsman by themselves?
So pair them up...
Now you have 12 Guardsmen every 24 linear miles.

But, you need various officers in command posts, various other backup positions (armory, supply, etc), so lets just say 20% more, now you need 14 for every 33.6 miles

Now lets say they are patrolling, so since they cannot be on every part of the border at one time, lets give them a 5 mile radius from the border so now you have 12 Guardsmen, 2 at a time, patrolling 168 square miles.

Hmmm, I have lived in Counties that are laid out like this, with only 12 or 15 Sheriff's officers covering similar areas, but they are patrolling generally "safe" areas, or being called to various disturbances, not literally in a situation where virtually everyone they see are the bad guys.

While I am glad something [hopefully] gets done, I doubt, other than a bit of PR from BHO, nothing is really accomplished.
If he were serious, first, build the walls. Remember, Congress approved it 2 - 3 years ago, but did not approve the funding -- Funny how that happens.

Until it is built, you put 12,000 guardsmen on the borders (at a minimum) without limiting them to "watch and report" and "you cannot fire upon others, EVEN IF they fire upon you", and other restrictions.
If 12,000 aren't enough, get volunteers from the states. Vet them the same as we were vetted for our CHL's. Call the Minutemen.

/rant (brain is fried)

[d strokes]

[Liberty]

I was on the road this Christmas when I swung by a place near El Paso, I had been near this place on previously and there were Border patrol all around the area, on Christmas there were none to be seen. The nice thing about mine fields is that once instaled they are low maintanence, and they don't take holidays and weekends off.

[Kythas]

The Obama administration has stated the troops will NOT be used to enforce U.S. immigration law. Their purpose is to be gun and drug interdiction. Oh, yeah, they'll also be unarmed.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... uyxbdiE3mg