Posted on 01/05/2007 6:12:23 PM PST by Flavius
olunteers with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps are headed for the Arizona-Mexico border Friday to provide backup for National Guard troops in response to an incident near Sasabe in which the approach of armed men forced soldiers to retreat. About 11 p.m. Wednesday, soldiers with a National Guard Entry Identification Team - which provides additional eyes and ears for the U.S. Border Patrol and notifies them of suspicious activity - saw a group of armed individuals approaching them in the desert, said Mario Martinez, spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Border Patrol Office.
The individuals came within 100 yards of the National Guard post, so the troops moved to a safer location and notified Border Patrol agents, Martinez said. When agents responded minutes later, the armed individuals were gone but the agents tracked their footprints to the U.S.-Mexico border, Martinez said. The incident occurred in the west desert corridor between Nogales and Lukeville near Sasabe, which has been a busy area for marijuana seizures since last year. Still, the Border Patrol does not know who the individuals were; why they were armed; or why they were in the United States, Martinez said. There was no verbal or physical confrontation between them and the guard troops, he said. Chris Simcox, the founder and president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, said the incident shows the federal government is ineffective when it comes to protecting the border. "The fact that National Guardsmen were forced to retreat from an armed incursion," Simcox said. "It's just absurd." The volunteer border watch organization wants to send the message that National Guard troops aren't making U.S. citizens any safer. "The National Guard needs to be unhandcuffed and they need to be able to deal with these aggressive international incidents," Simcox said. The troops need to be able to apprehend and detain illegal immigrants when they encounter them, he said. The volunteers will be armed so they can defend themselves and they won't retreat if confronted by dangerous border crossers, he said. Major Paul Aguirre, a spokesman for the Arizona National Guard, said troops are armed and will defend themselves if their lives are in danger, but their role is to provide support for the Border Patrol. Martinez said the National Guard has been effective in its role. The troops provide vehicle maintenance and carry out administrative duties that previously kept agents away from their work on the border. The troops also spot illegal immigrants that otherwise would go unnoticed, Martinez said. The Border Patrol appreciates citizen involvement, but "the border is a dangerous place," Martinez said. "And we have Border Patrol agents trained specifically for that mission." Robin Hoover, the founder of Humane Borders and pastor of First Christian Church, said sending armed U.S. citizens to the border is "idiotic." "It's insane for non-trained personnel to go to the border," he said. "You're just begging for an international incident to happen." He also called into question how effective the National Guard troops were in their mission because they were unable to identify the armed individuals. He pointed out that both U.S. and Mexican military personnel inadvertently cross the border without realizing it and that could have happened in this situation. Martinez said it's important for people not to overreact to the recent incident and that the National Guard troops did exactly what they were expected to do. "We need to make sure that people know what happened out there is serious," Martinez said. "But we don't exaggerate it." Contact reporter Dale Quinn at 629-9412 or dquinn@azstarnet.com. 6 Comments on this story
wow! Thank goodness you were there to defend the Fulda Gap!! Even if it was only with your shredder - you set the conditions for us to win the Cold War. LLTR!
Well, they can just do their little order. The minutemen have a RIGHT to be there. I support them!
I don't think the minutemen should be so dang PC either, not under the Second Amendment, anyway. But they are starting under the law..until the law is proven wrong.
And the law......is....wrong.
the Governor of the state to which the NG belong, of course.
I voted for bush twice. I trusted him. this story today is the last straw as my belief in his concerns for our country's borders has now diminished to the point where I feel betrayed by him. sorry bushbots IF your reading but thats the way it is.
"international incident"
NO!!!!
NATIONAL DEFENSE
This is the crucial question, or ONE OF the crucial questions..!!
Whos the commander in chief around here?
Wow. I am amazed to learn that President Bush actually writes and passes laws.
Thanks for clueing me in as to how government really works...
How embarrassing!! Those Guardsmen must feel like sh@@, their President let them down and prohibited them from able to protect themselves or the Country. Wow!
ping
The fact that it even had to be said should frighten this country to the bone.
Please recall that four days days, a NG chopper went down at the CA/Mexico border, and some speculated it could have been shot down. We will likely never hear the true outcome of the investigation, but all NG border helicopters have been grounded since that incident. Would this be so if it were mechanical difficulty or pilot error?
Now we have an armed incursion by land. Why were these homies armed? What were they planning to do? If NG had been enabled to react immediately, we would have found out. Now, we do not know.
Cat and mouse game.
Thanks... I'm here already! Posted before you.
ahA! Touche'
It's his job to ensure Chertoff enforces them, so evidently you remain clueless.
Actually, I'm just begging my government to stop being so politically correct and use whatever means are necessary to keep these people off United States soil. I couldn't care less if there is "an international incident" that upsets the chattering classes in Mexico, Europe, or New York. We have international incidents every day with people invading our borders. If "an international incident" is so negative, people should understand when we respond in a way that stops these incidents.
Bill
I still, however, cannot explain the unarmed issue... LLTR
Seventy miles ? Wow, puts it in a different light.
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