Posted on 11/23/2007 12:15:27 PM PST by yorkie
BUFFALO, N.Y. - State Homeland Security chief Michael Balboni was leaving a meeting on northern border security with his Quebec counterpart, Jacques Dupuis, when a television news report caught the attention of both men.
It was about a government study that determined smugglers could easily carry radioactive material or other contraband across the border into the United States. Investigators testing security found they could carry in large red duffel bags undetected at unmonitored spots along the 3,987-mile border.
"We turned and said to each other, we've got to fix this," Balboni recalled.
Days later, the men were taking an aerial tour or the New York-Canadian border and touring a border facility at Lake Champlain at the state's northeastern tip.
One thing seemed consistent: Just how inconsistent the international boundary really is.
The New York-Canadian stretch is telling of the geographic and criminal gamut seen all along the country's northern frontier.
It includes 370 miles of water _ about 30 miles on the state's western edge at Buffalo and Niagara Falls and 100 miles along the St. Lawrence River on the state's northern slope, with the massive Lake Ontario situated in between. There are 80 miles of mostly forested land in the northernmost part of the state, and a 12-mile land-water blend through the St. Regis Mohawk Indian
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Thank you, A.A.
I was sure I clicked ‘excerpt’. Sorry.
There are a lot of geographical challenges to making the Canada/US border 100% secure. I remember meeting some Americans on Pelee Island who regularly beach their boat on the southern shore of the island, spend the day fishing, then return to Ohio without ever calling in at any checkpoints on either side. Given the number of unmonitored areas on the border, the fact that it runs through some towns (in some cases through buildings) and the amount of cross-border trade and tourism, the best security option would be to establish a common perimeter around both countries.
(((.)))
Even jackrabbits pack a lunch and carry a canteen...
“Given the number of unmonitored areas on the border, the fact that it runs through some towns (in some cases through buildings) and the amount of cross-border trade and tourism, the best security option would be to establish a common perimeter around both countries.”
Where I come from, people walk or boat back and forth regularly, often without observing the niceties of border control. Winter doesn’t slow things down at all, in fact, it makes it easier in many spots. My wife’s people were frostbacks, walked across the Ste. Croix from NB in the dead of winter!
ping
Good tagline.....I hope God laughs insted : )
How many taxes dollars was wasted on that moment of enlightenment?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.