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| 9/11 Commission Noticed That US Border Controls Are a Joke |
| 2004-09-11 |
| From National Review OnLine, an article by K. Lloyd Billingsley, editorial director of the Pacific Research Institute. ... 9/11 and Terrorist Travel: Staff Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States was released on August 21, a Saturday and the same day the 9/11 Commission disbanded. In a strange disclaimer, executive director Philip Zelikow says the report "does not necessarily reflect" the views of the commissioners. .... 9/11 and Terrorist Travel confirms that government ignorance, incompetence, and arrogance facilitated Islamic terrorists in their quest to murder Americans. .... All 19 of the hijacker applications were incomplete in some way, with data fields left blank and questions not fully answered. Every application should have been round-filed. Yet U.S. officials approved 22 of the 23 hijacker visa applications. Of the 15 Saudis, four got their visas after the creation of the Visa Express Program in June 2001. Eight other conspirators tried to get visas during the course of the plot. Three succeeded, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11. Mushabib al Hamlan, one of the other two, did not participate. Mohamed al Kahtani, the other, ran into an inspector with Army experience, who thought Kahtani acted like a "hit man" and refused him entry. This unnamed inspector is one of the rare heroes of this report, but readers will get the feeling that many others would have waved Kahtani through. The 9/11 crew knew how to work the ropes and beat a system so porous it doubtless reinforced their conviction that they operated under divine guidance. They received assistance from three illegal Salvadorans, who helped four 9/11 operatives use fraudulent documentation to obtain Virginia identification documents. That vignette should help dispel the notion that massive illegal immigration carries no negative consequences. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #9 San Diego area has few illegals sneaking through, especially compared to the sieve before Operation Gatekeeper. I still would like to see reforms made, but should another attack occur, and they come across from Mexico, the military will be used to shut it down completely and for a looooooong time. Mexico needs to quit using us as a pressure relief valve, and make major reforms at home. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-09-11 4:53:20 PM |
| #8 What we need is a non-profit organization with a rich sugar daddy that attacks both parties for their open-borders stands on immigration. Unfortunately, all the rich sugar daddies are working on behalf of one of the two political parties. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-09-11 4:30:01 PM |
| #7 Neither Bush nor Kerry will propose arresting and deporting illegal immigrants. The PC media and elites would tar Bush as a racist if he proposed such policy. (Given Bushâs Texas background and his Hispanic sister-in-law, Bush probably favors a soft approach.) There is little hope that an effort led from the top will succeed. Alternate approaches could work. Focus on securing the borders. In some places that means fences. In others it means sensors or air surveillance. Back up the detection with rapid response teams to apprehend trespassers. Provide information databases so that field agents can quickly verify identities or match known offenders. Provide legal resources to support the field agents. Homeland Security could do this without triggering screams of âracismâ. Focus on the worst illegal immigrant abuses. Make certain that illegal aliens convicted of crimes in the US are deported after serving their sentences. Actively deport illegals that are gangbangers. The blogosphere could play an active role by highlighting situations where the failure to enforce existing immigration laws is insane. Build grass roots support in communities that are harmed by illegal immigration. Spread the word that illegals lower the wages for US workers. Gardeners, hairdressers, painters, construction workers, etc. are making less because of illegal competition. With sufficient grass roots support make illegal immigration a local and state political issue. |
| Posted by: Anonymous5032 2004-09-11 3:45:35 PM |
| #6 Whatever Bush's policies on immigration, Kerry's would be worse. I'm not so sure of that ZF. Bush gets pretty much a pass on border control for exactly the reason you propose. Bush's supine policy toward Mexico is so bad that we might be better off on this issue with a Kerry administration that could be attacked publicly and harshly by pro sovereigntists. Nonetheless, this is not yet an issue so critical that one ought to vote for Kerry because of it. After the next domestic terorist event turns out to have been sourced in Mexico, we may think differently. On the preponderance of the issues Bush should get the vote. But on borders, as on fiscal policy, he should be severly criticized for having done nothing or worse. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-09-11 9:47:18 AM |
| #5 My understanding was that the borders were getting so tight that Illegal immigrants and smugglers were attacking border guards in hopes of getting through. I also thought that the Navy was now involved in some way. Maybe I heard completely wrong... |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-09-11 6:19:56 AM |
| #4 BAR: The question is, is GWB going to actually DO something about this problem? Or is cheap labor in the form of illegal aliens more important than national security? Lone Wacko is on a rant about how Bush deserves to lose because of his stance on immigration issues. I just don't see that. Would Kerry do better? Is there an illegal immigrant Kerry doesn't want to reward with welfare and Medicare benefits, not to mention the vote? Note also that although Bush got a bump in the polls during the convention, if he makes an issue of illegal immigration, the media will paint him as a racist, and votes will shift in the other direction. Does he really need for that to happen, at a time when the race is so close, and he's susceptible to any changes in the tempo of war in Iraq? Kerry has to be stopped. Whatever Bush's policies on immigration, Kerry's would be worse. And there is no third candidate running for office with any chance of winning who would do anything about illegal immigration, and also fight the war on terror with conviction. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-09-11 1:38:51 AM |
| #3 I believe the answers are "no" and "yes," respectively. See the links here. The first link discusses chatter about al Qaeda coming over the border, and another link has an interview with our "border czar." The border czar basically admits that the Bush administration is allowing illegal immigration to happen. |
| Posted by: The Lonewacko Blog 2004-09-11 1:12:18 AM |
| #2 This is just stupid.... |
| Posted by: Long Hair Republican 2004-09-11 1:09:08 AM |
| #1 The question is, is GWB going to actually DO something about this problem? Or is cheap labor in the form of illegal aliens more important than national security? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-09-11 1:05:44 AM |