The President has finally decided to send troops to the border, but I’m hesitant to get all giddy quite yet. I wouldn’t be suprised if this wasn’t just a move to appease worries temporarily and then push the current bills through the Congress while the attention of the American people is diverted.
And, of course, el Presidente Fox can only whine. Never a worry about what’s best for the United States or Mexican and American relations. Oh, no. He’s worried that his drug exports might slow down or be impeded altogether for a few days.
Seriously, Fox, if the United States wanted to annex you we could have done it a long time ago. Frankly, nobody in their right mind would invade Mexico.
From the Washington Post:
President Bush tried to ease the worries of his Mexican counterpart yesterday as he prepared for a nationally televised address tonight unveiling a plan to send thousands of National Guard troops to help seal the nation’s southern border against illegal immigrants.
Mexican President Vicente Fox called to express concern over the prospect of militarization of the border, and Bush reassured him that it would be only a temporary measure to bolster overwhelmed Border Patrol agents, the White House said.
“The president made clear that the United States considers Mexico a friend and that what is being considered is not militarization of the border but support of Border Patrol capabilities on a temporary basis by National Guard personnel,” said White House spokeswoman Maria Tamburri.
Yet the idea has further stirred an already volatile debate about immigration on both sides of the border even before the president makes his prime-time speech from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. A number of Democrats and even a few key Republicans voiced skepticism or outright opposition to the reported plan yesterday, calling it a politically motivated move that will only further strain units already stretched by duty in Iraq without solving the underlying problem of illegal immigration.
“We have to be very careful here,” Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) said yesterday on ABC’s “This Week.” “That’s not the role of our military. That’s not the role of our National Guard. . . . That’s a short-term fix, and I’m not sure that’s a very wise fix.”
The White House formally insisted that no decision has been made and that Bush was still considering options yesterday. But aides left little doubt that the president intends to call for an expanded Guard deployment at the border involving several thousand troops, a significant increase from the 200 or so now there.
Read it all.
Podcasts Archive
0 Responses to “A Real Move to Protect the Border? Time Will Tell”