Thursday, November 7, 2013

One If by Land by William R. Daniel

(What every American needs to know about our border) This book was recommended to me by a good friend who is a Mexican American and a true patriot of our country. It is well written, easy to understand, well researched and documented. As a 20 year resident of Southern Arizona and an avid hiker I have hiked in all of the locations mentioned. When I started the trails and mountains were pristine. As time went on we saw more and more devastation with trash thrown everywhere. As the author points out in recent year’s signs have been posted warning us of the danger of hiking these areas. That has made me angry, warning me as a citizen to stay out of these beautiful places, in effect ceding to illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. How shameful that our government has not done their job of stopping these activities. It is clearly shown that since the nineties whether under Republican or Democrat Administrations, the process has been politicized to the point that the government only pretends to control. There are many clear cut examples of pretending to enforce our laws but merely wasting resources. With great fanfare National Guard troops were brought to the area but not allowed to serve as soldiers, only observers and paper pushers. The ranchers reported constant activity across their lands with what appears to them to be lukewarm responses. Ranchers who detain illegals have been brought to Court for threatening illegals due to the fact that they were armed. I can remember reading some years ago when after a trial the Judge took the ranch and gave it to an illegal whose “rights” had been violated. From my perspective I believe they have acted with considerable restraint having to live with the constant threat and damage to their property without compensation. The gun running projects were done during Bush and Obama’s administrations. It all began in 2004 with a program called “Gunrunner” under the ATF. This had the blessing of Governor Napolitano of Arizona and Bill Richardson of Mexico. The purpose was to locate straw purchasers. This evolved into “Operation Wide Receiver” which operated between 2006 and 2007. Altogether over 300 guns were allowed to be purchased from licensed gun dealers. This time the object was to trace the guns to leaders of Mexican drug cartels. Fast and Furious was the next program. It operated from 2009 to 2011. In this one over 2,000 semi-automatic rifles were sold to straw buyers. One of these was found at the site where Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed. This created the outrage that Congress found Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for not sharing records; President Obama supported him by claiming executive privilege. It was later confirmed that 150 Mexicans were also killed by weapons found to have been purchased under this program. Supposedly these programs no longer exist but personally I don’t trust the Federal Government on this and many other issues. I want to add the story about the murder of rancher Rob Krentz by a smuggler who fled to the border and has not been identified as of the publication of the book. It is alleged that this incident was the impetus for the Arizona legislation called SB 1070. We are all aware of being called racists for supporting. I believe I can assure you that Arizonans as a majority still approve and would vote again for similar types of legislation if given the opportunity. If you are interested in learning the facts of the border issues read these accounts from many ranchers who live South of Tucson and still strive to live normal lives with the continuing invasion of illegal immigrants and drug runners, whose activity continues unabated and will continue if we double the agents and pour $40 billion as the U.S. Senate bill would do should the House agree. An excellent, easy to read and absorb book you should read. Jack B. Walters November 7, 2013

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