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Military commander applauds National Guard border operation – JIM KOURI

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The presence of National Guard troops along the Southwest border has provided U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents with an additional resource to counter drug smuggling, human trafficking and other threats along the border, senior Guard officials said this week.
 
“With every place we’ve visited, our colleagues at Customs and Border Patrol couldn’t praise them enough with stepping up and really providing an incredible capability that gives them the operational flexibility they need, said Army Maj. Gen. Peter Aylward, special assistant to the chief of the National Guard Bureau.

 

 
“It helps us alleviate high-traffic areas,” said Mario Escalante, a Customs and Border Patrol supervisory agent. “More than anything else, they will be working as additional eyes and ears. They will be working in … [entry identification sites] giving not just situational awareness of what is going on, but also acting as a [deterrent].”
 
But critics continue to call this new operation a “political dog and pony show.”  “Seventy-two guardsmen for the entire New Mexico-Mexico border? That’s a throwback to Governor [Elliott] Richardson’s so-called state-of-emergency during the Bush Administration when he sent 54 National Guard troops to help law enforcement,” said political strategist Mike Baker.
 
The deterrence factor readily can be seen in the number of arrests made by Customs and Border Patrol agents. In the Tucson sector, daily arrests have been on a steady decline, said U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials, who attributed the drop in numbers to the Guard troops on duty in the area.

The total cost of this latest deployment has not been estimated as yet, but it’s sure to put a dent into the $250 million additional funding for border security, according to security experts. However, when Americans such as the members of the Minuteman Project volunteered to perform some of the same duties — observe and report incidents of illegal border crossings — as these guardsmen, the cost to taxpayers was zero dollars. 

“Did the U.S. government show its appreciation for the assistance? No! Even President George W. Bush denigrated the Minutemen volunteers calling them ‘vigilantes.’ And the media attempted to portray them as bigots, xenophobes and zealots,” said former NYPD detective Sid Frances. 

 

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org).  In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty. 

 

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations.  He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.   Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer and columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com.   Kouri appears regularly as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Fox News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, etc.  

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line. 

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Monday, September 20th, 2010 - 3:45 AM
Category: News/Crime/Media. RSS 2.0

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