The Secret to Secure Borders with Mexico - Redeploy American Troops from Overseas

Dear President Trump - here is a way to strengthen the Border with Mexico!

Why not relocate US Troops to new US Bases along the Mexican border?  We could help stop the senseless killing, over 200,000 Mexican citizens while Obama was president, caught in the middle of a drug war.  At the same time, a series of a dozen or more bases stretched out along the border would move thousands of trained military into the vicinity of the human trafficking of illegal immigrants along with the drug dealers. Right now the US pays the highest costs possible to foreign governments to post our troops overseas for the purpose of defending their foreign lands.

If we had a series of military bases along the border, we would reduce foreign costs for defense, provide thousands of trained soldiers to help with immigration and drug trafficking, and be able to use the bases to monitor high-tech electronic monitoring of the border rather than build a giant wall. It would also help stimulate the local economies where the bases would be built and soldiers and families housed.

Redeployment of overseas forces

Here is what I wrote in an article June 3, 2010:

We have over 2.5 million defense soldiers and civilian employees but only 1.1 million are in the USA. Since a few thousand remain in both Iraq and Afghanistan that leaves 1.2 million DOD employees all over the rest of the world. There are over 735 American military bases outside the USA including 38 large and medium size facilities.

At the height of the British Empire in 1898 they had 36 bases spread out around the world and at the height of the Roman Empire in 117 AD they had 37 major bases. Of course they were both trying to conquer the world. We aren't supposed to be conquering the world so get rid of the excess bases.

Maybe the president should stop playing world policeman and close the majority of the overseas bases, leaving only those absolutely needed for national security, and set up a network of domestic bases along the border with Mexico. We already have the troops and are paying to keep them outside the country. Why not set up border bases in Arizona, New Mexico, a couple in Texas and maybe one more in Southern California?



Perhaps the presence of thousands of American troops might help stop the flow of illegal drugs and the human trafficking of illegal immigrants? It might even help Mexico reduce the massive death rate from the drug war along the border that has cost nearly 200,000 Mexican lives, men, women, and children, since 2007.

This is one of the darkest elements of the border traffic and is a plague to Arizona and the other states.  Here is a solution that saves money and lives while reducing costly foreign expenditures that can no longer be justified.
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The Secret to Secure Borders with Mexico - Redeploy American Troops from Overseas

Pay attention presidential candidates, - here is an alternative to the fence in Mexico!

Why not relocate US Troops to new US Bases along the Mexican border?  We could help stop the senseless killing, 160,000 Mexican citizens since Obama took office, caught in the middle of a drug war.  At the same time, a series of a dozen or more bases stretched out along the border would move thousands of trained military into the vicinity of the human trafficking of illegal immigrants along with the drug dealers. Right now the US pays the highest costs possible to foreign governments to post our troops overseas for the purpose of defending their foreign lands.

If we had a series of military bases along the border, we would reduce foreign costs for defense, provide thousands of trained soldiers to help with immigration and drug trafficking, and be able to use the bases to monitor high-tech electronic monitoring of the border rather than build a giant wall. It would also help stimulate the local economies where the bases would be built and soldiers and families housed.

Redeployment of overseas forces

Here is what I wrote in an article June 3, 2010:

We have over 2.5 million defense soldiers and civilian employees but only 1.1 million are in the USA. Since a few thousand remain in both Iraq and Afghanistan that leaves 1.2 million DOD employees all over the rest of the world. There are over 735 American military bases outside the USA including 38 large and medium size facilities.

At the height of the British Empire in 1898 they had 36 bases spread out around the world and at the height of the Roman Empire in 117 AD they had 37 major bases. Of course they were both trying to conquer the world. We aren't supposed to be conquering the world so get rid of the excess bases.

Maybe the president should stop playing world policeman and close the majority of the overseas bases, leaving only those absolutely needed for national security, and set up a network of domestic bases along the border with Mexico. We already have the troops and are paying to keep them outside the country. Why not set up border bases in Arizona, New Mexico, a couple in Texas and maybe one more in Southern California?



Perhaps the presence of thousands of American troops might help stop the flow of illegal drugs and the human trafficking of illegal immigrants? It might even help Mexico reduce the massive death rate from the drug war along the border that has cost nearly 200,000 Mexican lives, men, women, and children, since 2007.

This is one of the darkest elements of the border traffic and is a plague to Arizona and the other states.  Here is a solution that saves money and lives while reducing costly foreign expenditures that can no longer be justified.
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The Secret to Secure Borders - Redeploy American Troops from Overseas

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Pay attention presidential candidates, - here is an alternative to the fence in Mexico!

Why not relocate US Troops to new US Bases along the Mexican border?  We could help stop the senseless killing, 160,000 Mexican citizens since Obama took office, caught in the middle of a drug war.  At the same time, a series of a dozen or more bases stretched out along the border would move thousands of trained military into the vicinity of the human trafficking of illegal immigrants along with the drug dealers.  Right now the US pays the highest costs possible to foreign governments to post our troops overseas for the purpose of defending their foreign lands.

If we had a series of military bases along the border, we would reduce foreign costs for defense, provide thousands of trained soldiers to help with immigration and drug trafficking, and be able to use the bases to monitor high-tech electronic monitoring of the border rather than build a giant wall. It would also help stimulate the local economies where the bases would be built and soldiers and families housed.

Redeployment of overseas forces

Here is what I wrote in an article June 3, 2010:

We have over 2.5 million defense soldiers and civilian employees but only 1.1 million are in the USA. Since a few thousand remain in both Iraq and Afghanistan that leaves 1.2 million DOD employees all over the rest of the world. There are over 735 American military bases outside the USA including 38 large and medium size facilities.

At the height of the British Empire in 1898 they had 36 bases spread out around the world and at the height of the Roman Empire in 117 AD they had 37 major bases. Of course they were both trying to conquer the world. We aren't supposed to be conquering the world so get rid of the excess bases.

Maybe the president should stop playing world policeman and close the majority of the overseas bases, leaving only those absolutely needed for national security, and set up a network of domestic bases along the border with Mexico. We already have the troops and are paying to keep them outside the country. Why not set up border bases in Arizona, New Mexico, a couple in Texas and maybe one more in Southern California?



Perhaps the presence of thousands of American troops might help stop the flow of illegal drugs and the human trafficking of illegal immigrants? It might even help Mexico reduce the massive death rate from the drug war along the border that has cost 160,000 Mexican lives, men, women, and children, since 2007.

This is one of the darkest elements of the border traffic and is a plague to Arizona and the other states.  Here is a solution that saves money and lives while reducing costly foreign expenditures that can no longer be justified.
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The Tragedy of Tucson - A sign of the Times?

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If you listen to the news media you would think the political pundits, those on the lunatic fringe of the liberal and conservative movements, were responsible directly and indirectly, for the terrible crimes committed in Tucson.

The murder of six people, and injuring of 14 more including a critical brain injury to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), is another example of mass murder incited by the television celebrities with their endless stream of on air words of hate, according to some of the many experts we hear.

Gabrielle Giffords

Ironically the only names of the personalities mentioned in the media are conservatives, not members of both lunatic fringes.

There is no question this is a senseless act of violence that should not be tolerated. But if we are going to fix the cause of the problem then we better know the cause, and it sure isn't conservative celebrities.

Christina Taylor Greene, 9 year old victim

The shooting of our federal elected officials, presidents, senators and representatives in truth is not a very common occurrence and happens a lot less than the media would lead us to believe. Since the adoption of our Constitution on September 17, 1787, over 223 years ago, there have only been five attempts to shoot our Congressional representatives, compared to 20 attempts on our presidents.

While four presidents have been killed, three representatives and two senators have been killed. Since we have 536 people every year in those elect positions that means thousands of people have been elected and served over the years yet the total dead and injured is only around 15 in 223 years.

alleged gunman Jared Lee Loughner

In most cases mental instability was the cause, not some partisan obsession. The shooting of Gabrielle Giffords is a classic case of the mental disorder behind most attempts of this nature. Anyone who is attempting to make this into a partisan issue, or claims it is the result of partisan rhetoric, may be far more interested in promoting themselves and their cause or trashing an opposition cause like conservatives, then telling the truth.

That, of course, is the problem in America. There are all kinds of versions of events, but only one can be the truth. If our cultural obsession with violence is considered, which is far more likely than partisan politics, then much might be to blame for what happened.

Just over 50 miles from Tucson is Mexico where over 31,000 people have been killed, not injured, in the past four years in the drug wars. These mostly innocent people have been caught in the crossfire of drug lords fighting over the US drug market. That means over 21 people every day for the past four years have been killed along our border with Mexico. Our young people are being desensitized to murders because of this sea of blood flowing to our south.

Look and the video and internet games glamorizing murder and war that occupy the seemingly endless hours our youth are surfing the net. The latest research says for the first time in our history the average time Americans now spend on the Internet has equaled the time they spend watching the endless TV that also glamorizes murder and war, an astounding 13 hours a week. That means we all spend 28 days a year (at 24 hours a day) on the Internet and another 28 days watching TV. How about 15% of your life is spent on the Internet and watching TV?

By allowing our youth access to the Internet and television, not to mention the selection of movies being produced to capture the coveted teenager and young adult markets, we have desensitized an entire generation of Americans to murder and war and we wonder why some kids are mental cases?

The Giffords case is another result of a cultural deviation yet even a Second Amendment defender like myself can see the need for some common sense fixing of our deficient laws. Rapid fire ammunition clips and automatic weapons used to be banned and should be banned once again. They are not the weapons of responsible citizens but serve only to increase the rate of killing.

No mental case determined to be a threat to themselves or society should be allowed to buy or own guns yet under the current state and federal laws unless they are certified by a court as mentally incompetent they can easily buy firearms.

Schools, the military, doctors and many other groups know of people including youth that are mentally incompetent. Both the military and a college knew the guy who shot Giffords was likely nuts but no competency hearing had been held though one had been requested. Why not require the military and schools to report mental cases to law enforcement so they can be included on a national data base? If they try to buy a gun they should have to prove mental competence through the courts.

We owe our time in this matter to praying for the recovery of the 14 injured and the souls and families of the 6 murdered. Then we need to devote time and energy to fixing the laws so their ambiguity will not lead to future victims.

A final note about Arizona. Regardless of the perception of Arizona resulting from the immigration, drug wars and this shooting, the State of Arizona is a wonderful place with some of the nicest people in the nation and Tucson is a desert gem.

I went to school at the University of Arizona, was treated in the same University Medical Center as Congresswoman Giffords, befriended the elders of the Hopi nation in Arizona long ago, have been on archeological expeditions with the National Park Service around the Grand Canyon and return to Arizona every chance I get.

What has happened recently should not reflect on Arizona or the many and diverse peoples living there. Drug wars, illegal immigration and inadequate laws are all our problems, in every state.

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The Mystical and Mysterious Land of Mexico - Our Forgotten Friend and Embattled Neighbor

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As a journalist I have always been intrigued by the perceptions Americans have of our Southern neighbor the nation of Mexico. It always amazed me that so much of what Americans believed was influenced by the movies and news and so little by reality and the truth.

Though I was born and raised in Iowa I was fortunate to have relatives living by the Rio Grande River in Mission, Texas, just across the border from Mexico. My parents loved to take the family on trips and we spent many vacations down in the bottom of Texas where Mexicans always outnumbered the Americans.

Later when I went to college at the University of Arizona Tucson was less than an hour from Mexico and for those of us without a large allowance a trip across the border to Nogales or camping in Mexico on the Gulf of California was far less expensive. We even had the annual spring break ritual when tens of thousands of college students from Arizona to California schools would set out down the coast of Mexico and party until we ran out of money.

Even in those days we were warned of the dangers of banditos, the corrupt federales, and to beware of the water and food though the cheap tequila was always a much bigger threat. When you think about tens of thousands of rebellious teenagers invading the quiet villages of the Mexican coast I suspect they were warned about us as much as we were warned about them.

I even drove through Mexico from the border to Monterrey, the industrial city, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Acapulco and made it back safely. As students we drove with thousands of kids from Arizona down the Gulf of California to beach villages of Puerto Libertad, Guaymas and Mazatlan and seldom had a problem unless we caused the problems.

There were always dangers, about the same you might encounter in any metropolitan area in America if you got off the beaten path. But I was not a party animal and spent much of my time trying to learn about the Mexican people. I was fascinated by the rich and ancient history of the people and the hundreds of different Mexican Indian tribes I met along the way.

Back in Iowa most people were aware of Mexico only from the Walt Disney movie The Alamo, or the struggles for Independence by settlers from the Republic of Texas. Little was taught about the struggle of the people of Mexico against foreign invasions.

The Spanish invaded Mexico in 1519 and conquered an area from Mexico to South Carolina to San Francisco on the West Coast before they were through. Great Britain took part of Mexico in 1763 and part of Mexico was under French and part under Spanish rule in the time of Napoleon.

Through this period many European monarchs survived only because of the tons of gold they stole from the Mexican native Indians and the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Mexican natives. It was the stolen wealth of Mexico that transformed Spain from a bankrupt nation to the most powerful kingdom on Earth at the time of the Spanish Armada. By 1821 the Mexicans declared independence from the Europeans but war broke out in the Texas territory which led to the fall of the Alamo in 1836 and Texas Independence the same year.

Four more military campaigns were fought between the Mexicans and Americans from 1846-48 before Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the fighting. When the American Civil War broke out in 1861 Great Britain, Spain and France all invaded Mexico in hopes of being in position to invade the USA if Lincoln lost the war for the Union. By 1863 France gained control of Mexico, Great Britain settled for Canada, and Spain was sent packing.

During the same time the first Mexican civil war took place and ended when American troops drove the French out of Mexico in 1867 and settled claims with Mexico. This was the first time our two nations helped each other and began a series of positive steps to be good neighbors. A second Mexican Revolution took place from 1910 to 1920 and there was American intervention until the outbreak of World War I. When World War II broke out Mexico joined the Americans in fighting the Germans and Japanese.

By 1995 America again came to the aid of the Mexicans when we saved them from a banking crisis that threatened to bankrupt the nation. Throughout the development of the United States Mexican migrant workers crossing the border were always a vital and welcome contribution to the development of our vegetable and fruit crops and agricultural production. As our industrial and manufacturing industries expanded illegal immigrants crossed the border to work.

And here we are today, again faced with a dire problem in which the Mexicans are fighting a brutal war against drug cartels to stop the illegal flow of drugs into America. This is really our war, not theirs as the cartels would not be in northern Mexico if not for the American drug trade.

Make no mistake, the brutal consequence of the war is that over 28,000 Mexicans have been killed in drug battles the past couple of years along the Mexican border leaving the peaceful towns and villages in a state of war and terror. Compare that to the 5,771 American military deaths throughout the entire Iraq and Afghanistan wars. That means FIVE times as many Mexicans have been killed defending our borders from drug cartels than our military deaths fighting terrorism halfway around the world.

Our political response has been to build a wall along the border to keep the bad guys away from us, to shield us from the carnage, and to ignore the horrors and massacre being inflicted on the Mexican people for our problems. What is taking place right under our noses is a massacre that should shame the most powerful nation on earth, a bloodbath being inflicted upon an innocent people who are just trying to help us out again.

Part two of this story will provide a detailed overview on how we can correct this tragedy and rebuild the relationship with the people of Mexico that reflects our common bond throughout our history as defenders against the Europeans and others who have threatened our freedom, and how we can be partners in seeking economic and energy independence in the world.
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Sovereign State of Arizona Sued by Obama for Protecting it's Borders

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President Obama has taken his cerebral and detached attitude about Constitutional Law to new heights or depths depending on your perspective when he had the Justice Department sue the State of Arizona to block the new Arizona Immigration law.



Besieged by nearly half a million illegal immigrants with rising crime rates from the spillover of the Mexican drug cartel wars over control of drug and illegal immigrant traffic through the state, Arizona was forced to take state action because of the failure by Obama to initiate immigration reform in Congress, a campaign promise to lure Hispanic voters to back his Democratic drive to the presidency.



The lawsuit could cost millions of dollars in legal fees and be a huge waste of resources during the largest budget deficit in history. A series of inept policy, legislative and regulatory initiatives by the Obama administration, often designed to circumvent the powers of Congress or the Judiciary branch, have left people wondering what the president really thinks about states rights and the Constitutional separation of powers.

Arizona officials argue they are overrun by illegal immigrants leading to a spike in the crime rate, including drug trafficking, kidnappings and murders. The state is the major gateway into the US for illegal immigration and about 30 per cent of Arizona's population of 6.6 million are Hispanic, including 460,000 illegal immigrants.



Currently more than 60 per cent of the US population supports Arizona's new immigration law, according to a recent opinion survey. Arizona's two Republican US Senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl, have slammed the lawsuit, saying: "The American people must wonder whether the Obama administration is really committed to securing the border when it sues a state that is simply trying to protect its people by enforcing immigration law."

The suit filed by Attorney General Eric Holder names the state of Arizona as well as Gov. Jan Brewer as defendants. In it, the Justice Department claims the federal government has "preeminent authority" on immigration enforcement and that the Arizona law "disrupts" that balance. It urges the U.S. District Court in Arizona to "preliminarily and permanently" prohibit the state from enforcing the law, which is scheduled to go into effect at the end of the month.



Governor Brewer responded by accusing the Obama administration of a "massive waste of taxpayer funds." "It is wrong that our own federal government is suing the people of Arizona for helping to enforce federal immigration law. As a direct result of failed and inconsistent federal enforcement, Arizona is under attack from violent Mexican drug and immigrant smuggling cartels," she said in a written statement. "Now, Arizona is under attack in federal court from President Obama and his Department of Justice."

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The American War Machine - Is There a Way Out?

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This is the first time we have engaged in war, make that two wars, when we have already declared an end date for both wars. In Iraq, the forgotten war, this August President Obama has declared all American troops will be withdrawn from combat and security will rest solely with the Iraq forces. This is the same country that had an election four months ago and there is still no government seated.

How can a government that cannot even agree on a government ever hope to agree on a military policy when the three major factions in Iraq live in fear of each other? The Muslim Shi'ite and Sunni factions continue to undermine peace efforts with their brutal opposition to each other while the Muslims do agree that the Kurds in Northern Iraq remain a threat to stability. Three factions with decades of hatred and fear of each other are expected by Obama to bury the hatchet and make peace.



Perhaps we should review the experience in these wars. In Iraq, where we will give up a combat role in August, there have been over 4,000 American military deaths. The most any one month was 25 in the month of September 2008. During the war estimates on civilian deaths range from over 118,000 to over 1 million, not a good sign for any hope for peace between the competing forces. There are about 85,000 US troops in Iraq now and all other foreign troops in Iraq have been withdrawn.

In Afghanistan Obama has tripled the troop strength since being elected President and there are now over 100,000 in the country. He has pledged to start removing troops-in July 2011, a year from now. However, the deadliest month in terms of American military deaths was just this June 2010 when 60 Americans were killed. Afghanistan also is now the longest war in American history as it enters it's tenth year of combat.



Afghanistan has long been known as the graveyard of empires. The most powerful forces on earth including the Americans and Soviet Empire have all fought in Afghanistan where the Taliban have a long term strategy, just wait until the super powers tire of the combat and leave, then the Taliban can retake the countryside.

Even Pakistan, an emerging nuclear power and ally of America whose cooperation is critical to any success in the Afghan tribal regions, where Osama Bin Laden has been hiding for nearly a decade while waiting for the US to abandon the Afghan people yet again. Our president's declaration that we will begin to withdraw next year looms as a point of confusion for all Afghans and nations of the region in terms of the American commitment to help bring about permanent change.

So in light of these circumstances how can we pull out of both wars when the wars will most likely still be in progress? Or is the threat against Israel so strong that we must keep soldiers in the region for as long as there is a threat of war between the Israeli's and Muslims such as Iran? Perhaps that is the underlying reason why we are still fighting the twin wars.



Redeployment of overseas forces

As I said in an article last June 3:

We have over 2.5 million defense soldiers and civilian employees but only 1.1 million are in the USA. Since about 100,000 are in both Iraq and Afghanistan that leaves 1.2 million DOD employees all over the rest of the world. There are over 735 American military bases outside the USA including 38 large and medium size facilities. At the height of the British Empire in 1898 they had 36 bases spread out around the world and at the height of the Roman Empire in 117 AD they had 37 major bases. Of course they were both trying to conquer the world. We aren't supposed to be conquering the world so get rid of the excess bases.



Maybe the president should stop playing world policeman and close the majority of the overseas bases, leaving only those absolutely needed for national security, and set up a network of domestic bases along the border with Mexico. We already have the troops and are paying to keep them outside the country. Why not set up border bases in Arizona, New Mexico, a couple in Texas and maybe one more in Southern California?



Perhaps the presence of thousands of American troops might help stop the flow of illegal drugs and the human trafficking of illegal immigrants? It might even help Mexico reduce the massive death rate in the border communities, a fact that has cost over 22,000 lives in the past couple of years. This is one of the darkest elements of the border traffic and is a plague to Arizona and the other states.

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