Nat'l Guard Criticized For Obeying Law

By TChris, Section Other Politics
Posted on Sun Jan 28, 2007 at 06:18:26 PM EST
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"Advocates for tougher immigration enforcement" are complaining that four members of the Arizona National Guard didn't take aggressive action when they encountered six to eight armed men wearing bulletproof vests near an observation point.

The soldiers contacted Border Patrol agents and pulled back, investigators concluded. The Border Patrol tracked the armed men back to the border but could not locate them. No shots were fired.

The complainers argue that it makes the United States look weak when Guardsmen fail to engage those they suspect of crossing the border illegally. The National Guard isn't permitted to assume a law enforcement function in border security. Do "advocates for tougher immigration enforcement" expect Guard members to disobey orders and violate the law?

The support duties include monitoring border points, assisting with cargo inspection and operate surveillance cameras. "We don't apprehend," said Maj. Paul Aguirre, a spokesman for the Arizona National Guard. "We don't detain. We don't transport."
Aguirre objected to characterizations of the withdrawal as a retreat, saying the soldiers did not run from their post and were not overrun.

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Nat'l Guard Criticized For Obeying Law | 6 comments (6 topical)

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The telephone game (none / 0) (#1)
by LonewackoDotCom on Sun Jan 28, 2007 at 09:32:46 PM EST

Once again we meet facts filtered by the AP, which are then filtered by TChris and, needless to say, the conversation ends up more than a bit garbled.

There's nothing in the article quoting anyone saying that the NG should have fired on the group from Mexico. The implication is that those complaining (only one of whom is named) want the rules of engagement to be changed, not that they are complaining about what the NG did.

On the wider issue, immigration and border issues are quite complicated and are vital to the security of the nation. The "liberal" response tends towards the extraordinary weak side of things; in the viewpoint of many "liberals" an armed force from Mexico entering the U.S. with the intent to determine NG response is no big deal.

game (none / 0) (#2)
by Skyho on Mon Jan 29, 2007 at 07:16:22 AM EST

LDC,

As someone who has lived with this "border problem" nearly my entire life I take issue with your insipid, fact-free, racist comments.

Aside from that, your comment,

There's nothing in the article quoting anyone saying that the NG should have fired on the group from Mexico. The implication is that those complaining (only one of whom is named)...

seems somewhat self-contradictory.

Have you been taking "logic" lessons from the same people as Cheney/Bush?

Which law? (none / 0) (#3)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Mon Jan 29, 2007 at 11:34:15 AM EST

Which law is it that requires the National Guard not to repel and armed invasion by force?

Armed invasion...lol (none / 0) (#4)
by kdog on Mon Jan 29, 2007 at 07:39:01 PM EST

Considering the border patrol couldn't even find the "armed invaders" and all...lol.


Fair description (1.00 / 1) (#5)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 08:22:24 AM EST

"...encountered six to eight armed men wearing bulletproof vests..."

That certainly seems a fair description of armed invaders.


: No.... (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by kdog on Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 09:39:32 AM EST

that could be a description of Mexican police searching for a suspect along the border, kids with bulky vests with water pistols, drug couriers guarding a shipment....but an "armed invasion" it ain't brother. No pillaging, no plundering, no shots fired = no "armed invasion".
If you want the guard or the border patrol to shoot anyone they see at the border on sight, just say so.