COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

We Spent $500 Billion In Iraq, but US Border Still Open for Who Knows What?

I know family valuse don't end at the US border, but I have a couple of questions:
  • Which Iraqis are coming into the US? Anyone care to guess?
  • If we get hit by Muslims that came from Mexico, will Congress and the Bush Administration finally protect our own US borders?
  • Will the American public hold our rulers and masters accountable for dereliction of duty?

FBI: Iraqis Being Smuggled Across the Rio Grande ABC

July 17, 2007 3:11 PM
Brian Ross Reports:


The FBI is investigating an alleged human smuggling operation based in Chaparral, N.M., that agents say is bringing "Iraqis and other Middle Eastern" individuals across the Rio Grande from Mexico.

An FBI intelligence report distributed by the Washington, D.C. Joint Terrorism Task Force, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, says the illegal ring has been bringing Iraqis across the border illegally for more than a year.

Border Patrol officials in the area said they were unaware of the specifics of the FBI's report, and federal prosecutors in New Mexico told ABCNews.com they had no current cases involving the illegal smuggling of Iraqis.

The FBI report, issued last week, says the smuggling organization "used to smuggle Mexicans, but decided to smuggle Iraqi or other Middle Eastern individuals because it was more lucrative." Each individual would be charged a fee of $20,000 to $25,000, according to the report.

The people to be smuggled would "gather at a house on the Mexican side of the border" and then cross the Rio Grande into the U.S., the report says.

"Unidentified individuals would then transport them to train stations in El Paso, Texas or Belen, New Mexico," according to the FBI document.

A spokesman in Albuquerque said the FBI had "no viable information" that could lead to a case.

Until recently, the United States has kept its doors all but shut to the estimated two million refugees fleeing the violence in Iraq. Until this year, the country had taken in fewer than 800 Iraqi refugees, according to the State Department. This May, the Bush administration pledged to resettle 7,000 Iraqi refugees here by the end of the year.


39 comments:

  1. "Al Qaeda terrorists are rebuilding their capabilities and continuing to plan mass-casualty attacks inside the United States, according to an intelligence assessment made public yesterday.

    "We assess [al Qaeda] has protected or regenerated key elements of its homeland attack capability, including a safe haven in ... Pakistan [tribal areas], operational lieutenants and its top leadership," according to the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), a consensus analysis of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies."
    more

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  2. I can't tell you how disgusted I am with Washington, D.C. Democrats and Republicans alike. The congress and the executive alike. In fact, I'm disgusted with my local spendthrift politicians right now also.

    I got a call from someone working for Newt Gingrich yesterday. Too bad I wasn't there to take it. I would like to know what he calling about. Not that I trust Newt. I think he's a brilliant man but a little too polished with an answer for everything if you know what I mean.

    Mike Huckabie seems like the best of the lot to me. Problem is, I don't know if I spelled his name correctly. If he can stay in the money though there's plenty of time for me to learn how to spell his name.

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  3. U.S. Border is still open for cheap labor, that's what; we all know that.

    Security be damned! The Scarecrow will take care of us - HA!

    BTW, we waste $500 Billion in Iraq and Gawd knows how much internationally. It builds friendships you understand (supports our enemies).

    We're still supporting our enemies as much as we pretend to fight them. Let's send another shipment to our Pals, the Palestinians, why don't we?

    - now, go have a cheery damn morn ing!

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  4. I'm Done Defending the Iraq Policy
    By Ed Koch

    I'm bailing out. I will no longer defend the policy of keeping U.S. troops in Iraq to assist the Iraqi central government in the ongoing civil war. While our men and women in the military suffer casualties daily, the Iraqi government refuses to take the major political actions required to end the civil war.


    Hell, does not Mr Koch understand that it is hot in Baghdad, times are tough and the Iraqi are doing the "hard work" of reconciliation?

    Just ask Col Pinkerton as he threatens Iraqi Army troops about to go on patrol. He needed armed US troops and gunships to keep the Iraqi Army out of the field, to have them remain in its barracks.

    The Iraqi Army is ready, the US is not.

    Col Pinkerton's episode proves the point. The Iraqi needed no advisors or trucks from US, so we sent them home, rather than let them patrol.

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  5. Had to threaten the Iraqi Army with "death from above", in the form of Apache gunships to keep them from their mission of securing Iraq.

    While the US arms the enemies of Iraqi democratic & constitutional rule of law.

    Arm the insurectionists, then call it "bottom up" reconciliation.
    Arm the rebels, while keeping the Federals locked down in the barracks.
    Call it a success, to be replicated evetywhere.

    Spread the defeat of the Iraqi government, to Basra, Kirkurk and Ramadi, then call it a pathway to success and victory.

    We have lost our way, that's for sure. No vision, no strategy beyond tomorrows headlines.

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  6. Basra, the Shia militias own the city, we claimed success.

    Ramadi, the Sunni militias own the city, we claim success.

    In Kirkurk, we've yet to abandon the Iraqi people to the militias, but there is no claim of success, there.

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  7. MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan (Associated Press) -- Suspected militants attacked security forces in northwest Pakistan Wednesday, killing 16 soldiers and wounding up to 21 others in two separate strikes against military convoys, officials said.

    The escalating violence follows the scrapping by militant leaders of a 10-month-old peace accord with the government in the Afghan frontier region of North Waziristan.

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  8. ... 50 Iraqi soldiers stormed a schoolhouse then serving as Abu Azzam's makeshift headquarters, arresting dozens of men and shoving some into the trunks of Humvees. Enraged Sunnis who live nearby charged to the scene.

    An American officer, Captain Larry Obst, arrived with 10 soldiers just as a riot threatened to break out, with more than 500 people bearing down on the Iraqi soldiers, who were "getting ready to shoot into the crowd," he said. After hours of frantic American intervention, the Iraqi soldiers left without the detainees.

    The episode hardened the mistrust between the American and Iraqi units, he said, "but it built credibility with the people."


    So when the Iraqi Army detains terrorists, the US Army forces their release.

    Catch and Release.

    When the Iraqi Army does stand up, we knock 'em down.

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  9. Ed Koch has always seemed reasonable to me, and humorous too. I like the guy. He was out campaigning for Bush by himself. "I know these democrats. They can't fight a war on terror" he said. "Vote for Bush" I did. Is Lieberman next?

    Is that your artwork Deuce, or are there such signs--danger, illegal aliens crossing? Never seen one of those. Says a lot.

    I feel we probably have a duty to bring in some Iraqi Christians. They are getting clobbered, a mostly untold story. To hell with the rest of them, I say. Let them roost and roast on their own perch. It's too cold here in America for them, even in Arizona or Nevada.

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  10. Admittedly, I'm prejudiced in favor of Christians(most of em) and Jews, and against muzzies, with good reason.

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  11. Steve Goosey keeps sayin' it's over 100 in Boise, bob, sure wish it'd cool off like that, here.

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  12. Terrorists take over a school for their operational headquarters, the Iraqi clear the school, the US forces the Iraqi to release the terrorists and return the school to their control.

    Success in Anbar, in a nutshell.

    The local population still Insurgent, all that has changed ...
    The US no longer supports the actions and decisions of the elected Iraqi Federal Government or its' Army, in Anbar.

    We surrendered, and now pay appropriate tribute to the Tribes, in an attempt to achieve stability, but not victory.

    Appeasement, plain and simple

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  13. :) When we were on the road we heard a report of 106 in Boise. It can get up there, down there in Boise. In Lewiston, which is the lowest point in Idaho, only 500 or something feet above sea level, there's always a month or more of triple digits. Nice winters, though. Over 105, I wilt. My wife wilts at 100. I don't know how our guys handle it, over there.

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  14. WASHINGTON, July 17 — President Bush’s top counterterrorism advisers acknowledged Tuesday that the strategy for fighting Osama bin Laden’s leadership of Al Qaeda in Pakistan had failed, as the White House released a grim new intelligence assessment that has forced the administration to consider more aggressive measures inside Pakistan.

    The intelligence report, the most formal assessment since the Sept. 11 attacks about the terrorist threat facing the United States, concludes that the United States is losing ground on a number of fronts in the fight against Al Qaeda, and describes the terrorist organization as having significantly strengthened over the past two years.
    ...
    But American officials make little secret of their skepticism that General Musharraf has the capability to be effective in the mountainous territory along the Afghan border, where his troops have been bloodied before by a mix of Qaeda leaders and tribes that view the territory as their own, not part of Pakistan.

    “We’ve seen in the past that he’s sent people in and they get wiped out,” said one senior official involved in the internal debate. “You can tell from the language today that we take the threat from the tribal areas incredibly seriously. It has to be dealt with. If he can deal with it, amen. But if he can’t, he’s got to build and borrow the capability.”
    ...
    Ms. Townsend declined to describe what may be alternative strategies for dealing with the Qaeda threat in Pakistan, but acknowledged frustration that Al Qaeda had succeeding in rebuilding its infrastructure and its links to affiliates, while keeping Mr. bin Laden and his top lieutenants alive for nearly six years since the Sept. 11 attacks.
    ...
    At the White House, Ms. Townsend found herself in the uncomfortable position of explaining why American military action was focused in Iraq when the report concluded that main threat of terror attacks that could be carried out in the United States emanated from the tribal areas of Pakistan.

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  15. Globalism in Vegas Maybe we need some of these guys running our Iraq policy.

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  16. FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Associated Press) -- A West Point graduate serving in Iraq is suing the Army to gain conscientious objector status, saying his religious convictions prevent him from carrying a loaded weapon or ordering his men to kill.

    Capt. Peter Brown, an officer with the 10th Mountain Division, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia after military officials twice rejected his applications for conscientious objector status.

    Brown said his conversion to a pacifist interpretation of the Bible began after he got his Army commission in 2004 and started attending a civilian religious center in the Netherlands.

    "I truly believe that I would rather give my life than to take another person's life," Brown said in court papers. He is being represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union.

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  17. "The To Hell With Them Hawks". Dovetails with much Elephant Bar thinking I would think.

    John Derbyshire's an interesting character, I'd call him an unrepetant British-Conversative tranplanted in America(see also John O'Sullivan), always worth a read.

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  18. US Says al-Qaida Leader Arrested in Iraq
    By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer

    40 minutes ago

    BAGHDAD - The U.S. command announced on Wednesday the arrest of an al-Qaida leader it said served as the link between the organization's command in Iraq and Osama bin Laden's inner circle, enabling it to wield considerable influence over the Iraqi group.

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  19. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  21. We of the EB be Doves of Peace, Cutler.

    All to impress the DoveTail.

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  22. INVASION USA WorldNetDaily Exclusive
    Feinstein to Bush:
    Free border agents

    Decides after Senate hearing to ask president to commute sentences

    Pubs can't lose in '08 running on a platform of open borders and Jailed Agents.
    Stay the Course!

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  23. U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton:

    After recounting the prosecution's view of the case, he concluded:

    "The prosecution of Compean and Ramos was about our commitment to the rule of law and about two former law enforcement officers who committed serious crimes.

    An honest reading of the facts of this case shows that Compean and Ramos deliberately shot at an unarmed man in the back without justification, destroyed evidence to cover it up, and lied about it.
    Faithfulness to the rule of law required me to bring this case.
    "

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  24. GWB and his minions:
    Ever Faithfull to the
    Rule of Law.

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  25. Petraeus tells Hewitt the 90 or so Bombers coming in from Syria is a significant concern, being that they cause inordinate mayhem in Iraq.
    Not significant enough for POTUS to take significant action to stop it, however.

    AFTER FOUR FRIGGING YEARS!
    ---
    Hewitt will replay Petraeus in hour 3.
    http://www2.krla870.com/listen/

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  26. "90 or so Bombers per month."

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  27. Syria Border Open
    CHECK
    Iran Border Open
    CHECK
    Mexican Border Open
    CHECK

    Let all trade be free, goods, human smuggling, munitions, terrorists, spies.
    MBA George at the Helm:
    Grown-ups in control.
    Enjoy the fruits of our Freedoms!

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  28. An unsung Hero News from farm country.

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  29. A more perfect union?
    The real reason behind President Bush's push for immigration reform, says author Jerome R. Corsi, is to unite the United States, Mexico and Canada by erasing borders and creating a "North American Union."

    That is the theme of Mr. Corsi's new book, "The Late Great USA: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada,"
    Mr. Corsi said a growing number of Americans think the North American Union is being forced onto Americans.

    Government officials say the idea is no more than an unjustified conspiracy theory spread through the Internet.

    Mr. Corsi said the impetus of the plan was the creation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America announced by leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada at Waco, Texas, in 2005.

    World Net Daily

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  30. Another round!

    doug's had an ephinay!

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  31. My previous articles on www.realitycheck.typepad.com explain in detail the lead up to the North American Union under the pretense of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) and the cleverly disguised methods the governments of Mexico, Canada and the United States have used and will continue to use to change the face and the future of our North American continent.

    ...

    There’s no shortage of articles on the Internet explaining the ‘life-support’ system that the U.S. economy is on. The Washington Post referred to the upcoming bust earlier this month.

    ...

    The Canadian dollar this week hit a thirty-year high and traded at $.96 American. It is expected to achieve parity with the American dollar this year.


    Connecting the Dots

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  32. I have the solution to the Waziristan problem:

    Musharraf does a back room deal with Bush.

    Makes a public statement soon afterwards declaring Waziristan independence.

    US lights Waziristan up.

    Musharraf annexes Waziristan with the green light given by Bush.

    What's wrong with that picture? I think that works, doesn't it?

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  33. Here's the Hugh Hewitt Petraeus interview at Townhall.com

    You can find an audio podcast there too.

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  34. Re: "North American Union"

    I heavily recommend a book called "The Great Deception: the Secret History of the European Union" concerning the way supranational interest groups, elites, and politicians foisted political union, incrementally, deceitfully, and undemocratically, on populations that never asked or voted for it (what they are now attempting to do again with the revised and renamed European Consitution).

    Be tougher to do anything comparable here, but considering the precedent, can't help to be wary of malignant dreamers here. The way our politicians attempted to ram the immigration disaster down our unwilling throats was reminiscent of continental politics.

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  35. Same with this Law of the Sea bullshit.

    Giving taxation powers to the UN, whatever can go wrong here.

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  36. "I believe that we are doing real harm to our military by following a failed policy in Iraq and that by blindly pursuing the president's latest strategy, we are accepting too much strategic risk," Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, said in a statement.

    Skelton said the release of the unclassified Key Judgments from the latest U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on the terrorist threats to the United States "confirms what I have feared for some time now -- that while our forces have been tied down in Iraq, al-Qaida has been rebuilding its strength in the border regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan."

    "Iraq has proven to be a distraction from the war on those who attacked us on Sept. 11, and I believe that we must move to a more limited presence in Iraq so that we can dedicate more resources towards finally eliminating al-Qaida and posturing our forces to deal with future strategic threats," the HASC chief said.


    Hurting US Military

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