Jihadist Smuggling At The Mexican Border Revisited

I am not much on linking back to previous posts to prove I was right about something. But this is one exception worth making--one that is imperative that we revisit, as we head deeper into this present legislative (and eventually election) cycle.

Way back when, I wrote some things about immigration that I thought was worth considering and well within the appropriate scope of the debate. One of the posts was what I think, very short and to the point. It dealt with this story, which was reported back in 2007.

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.

Most of you, especially who come here regularly, can probably guess what I said back then and I still maintain that same stance now. But it gets worse.

In the present news cycle, we see this one from the Mail Online.

Let's excerpt the following from the article:

U.S. border guards got a surprise when they searched a Mexican BMW and found a hardline Muslim cleric - banned from France and Canada - curled up in the boot.

Said Jaziri, who called for the death of a Danish cartoonist that drew pictures of the prophet Mohammed, was being smuggled into California when he was arrested, along with his driver Kenneth Robert Lawler.

Before we go any further, the title of the article indicates this guy is a "controversial" cleric. I don't know how they come up with this stuff, but he's been kicked out of France and Canada (that ought to tell you something right there). I'd say he was a bit MORE than just controversial.

But I digress....and here is what we do know:

Four years ago in the federal legislature, the Democratic party was the party in power. Congress spent 75% or more of its energies crying racism, xenophobia, and paranoia.... and they were loudest whenever we heard of things like this. They knew it all. You couldn't tell them anything. They knew what was best for us, and that (at the time) was the pressing need to end war in Iraq, and close Gitmo.

I know fully good and well, this blog was only one of many sites that warned of impending consequences of turning a blind eye to a porous and uncontrolled border, because I read countless blog posts that carried this warning. So I am not being an egotist here, just a concerned citizen.

It's even more important to note that in this the midst of all of this massive world turmoil, it is not inconsequential or unrealistic to believe this still needs to be addressed. And it needs to be done sooner, rather than later. There is no doubt in my mind that many will use the civil unrest in both Tunisia and Egypt as cover, to export some people who want to harm this country in some way.

My biggest fear is that if we do not get more people to wake up to this grave error of philosophy, this will be an issue that may cost us dearly someday (and not too far into the future). Even though, we have made some good finds along the way... some have only failed because the plan failed.

Some were caught through hard work and attention...I am certain of this. But we got lucky on a few of them... with some damned close calls along the way. And even with all of this going on, there are still plots and subplots going on 24/7/52.

It only takes one instance of success to kill innocent people. It's not a pleasant reflection to look back on with any sense of integrity and be forced to come to the conclusion that it was preventable. This is why we need to be ready to confront the same arguments that the Democrats will most certainly once again make.... once anyone with an ounce of sense begins to call attention to stories like this.

They will say this is but one time. They will undoubtedly claim that this was the exception, not the rule. And... they will surely tout the fact that this man was caught.

So there, the system worked. Shut up and listen!!!

But when they do, please understand something here: For everyone we catch, ten or more may come in undetected. It may end up being someone who has been trained in Pakistan or Yemen, somebody who has a goal of becoming a martyr for jihad purposes, and someone who may get past everything that one point in time....well after we have exhausted our hard work and unearned luck.

One time...that's all it takes to have funerals and memorial services we hadn't planned on having. One time....that's all it takes to ruin innocent lives for a lifetime, all for an evil cause. But now that we who are concerned are supposed to have some voices in Washington, we need to remind those voices of our concerns through phone calls, letters, and e-mails.

We turned over Washington once, we can do it again. And we'd prefer to not be compelled to do it after an attack has taken place. But it's not just about an election. See if you can find one country in the world that does not make every attempt to protect the integrity of its own border. Name one that is content to allow any and everyone access to its landed territory, and its services without any documentation or reasonable purpose for being there.