As a libertarian, I'm in favor of a relatively open border. The major difference I have with the LP is that I believe we should know who is coming, and have the right of refusal. I've written that a wall wouldn't keep me out, that this is a problem only Mexico can really solve, and I maintain that position.
What surprised me the most at the other nights Democratic debate is the fact that only one candidate (Chris Dodd) raised their hand to say they opposed giving drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants.
It reminds me of what has happened to the country over the last few years.
I've come to the conclusion that its the border.....stupid.
The Afghani Border
In Afghanistan, we didn't immediately secure the border with Pakistan (or Iran for that matter), and have still been unable to achieve this objective to date. This has allowed Osama Bin Laden (who we're no longer concerned about, by the way) to skirt capture for over 6 years. Its also allowed the Taliban to, from time to time, rally and cause trouble for our undersized military force there.
I'm not a professional military strategist, but its seems, we would have secured the border first. The argument is that its virtually impossible to secure the porous mountainous border along the southern part of the country.
That dog won't hunt. If Bin Laden can get to any point on the border, our forces can as well. We just didn't send enough troops to achieve this objective.
Maybe it was never an objective.
The Iraqi Border
The invasion went without a hitch. The occupation (which our military isn't trained for) has not gone so well. We've found that its apparently easy to sneak ordinance across the border (from wherever) to use on our military men and women.
One of the principal problems that war-hawks site when selling their planned invasion of Iran is that they have funded the resistance. They have supplied the terrorists (the ones fighting the sect of Islam that actually attacked the U.S. on September 11th) with arms, IED materials, and even personnel.
Seems like this has been our military planners fault. Was Iran our ally when we invaded (we supported Saddam's side in the Iran-Iraq war of the eighties)? Did we not think that the Iranians would attempt to aid their shia brethren who had been so mistreated under the previous regime's rule?
Were we concerned that Iran, who had the most developed WMD program in the middle-east, who had (even before Akmadenijad) threatened to "destroy Israel", who had actually attacked the U.S. forces in Beirut in the eighties, might try to destabilize the region?
The U.S. border
Our government has obviously made the decision that we are not going to close our southern borders. Its also decided that it will not legalize the illegal immigrants are here, leaving them in a permanent state of purgatory. That's how the government keeps our wages down.
If we were so concerned about terrorists sneaking across the border, we'd have at least made the attempt to secure it. Of course, that would slow down the push for the NAU, which will eventually be the mother of all border situations.
This is not an indictment of the Bush Administration alone. The Democratically controlled congress has not even brought this issue up. They're too busy trying to fund state health care (I want to emphasize the word State in State Children's Healthcare Program or S-Chip) to stand up to our fearful (as in fearful of Al,Queada, Saddam Husein, Iran, Gay marriage, and evidently horses) leader on any meaningful issue.
So I am going to write my representatives, and ask them the question... The question they, the press, or up until now the American people have failed to ask........ What are you going to do about the border situation? The one in Iraq, Afghanistan, and here in The United States.
Its a shame we have to ask.
) candidates refused to take the option off the table during the most recent debate.