Iraq Experience Teaching U.S. Homeland Security

Family Security Matters ^ | Col. Kenneth Allard | Col. Kenneth Allard

[captjanaway]

Even while whispering in their most soothing don’t-wake-the-voters tones, most politicians concede that we have a problem with border security beginning roughly a hundred miles to our south. Over the summer, the Texas homeland defense director admitted that terrorists continue probing the state’s defenses. Border lawlessness is an old story, but there have been persistent reports – routinely denied – that elements of the Mexican military may be aiding the cartels in their smuggling of drugs and human cargo. Makes sense: because both drugs and undocumented illegals also imply the ticking time-bomb of undiscovered terrorists.

While it may be cold comfort, we are honing some war fighting skills in Iraq that may eventually prove useful closer to home. Major General Mark Hertling is a cavalryman, a spiritual descendant of those saber-wielding, blue-clad warriors who once brought order to the Southwestern frontier by riding from sunup to sundown. Today, Hertling commands the U.S. 1st Armored Division in northern Iraq, where the weapon of choice is the M1 Abrams tank and sundown only announces another round of the deadly night-stalker operations in which the American military excels.

[gubamyster]

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