Old Canards Die Hard
As the United States would have it, Canada's leaky border threatens American security. It is from the Canadian border that criminals, and worse - terrorists - seek entry to the United States. And so successfully, at that. The Canadian border, and Canada itself, represents the single greatest threat to American security. The answer to that dilemma is to eradicate the border. Won't work, sorry about that; Canadians treasure their sovereignty; no wish to become part of the U.S.
Well, then the border that has always been celebrated as a relatively friendly, open one, is too porous, and it must be turned from a sieve into a stone wall. Something like, ideally, the one that the State of Israel has erected to separate it from the Palestinian territories which did indeed constitute a threat to the safety and security of Israeli citizens. Something like, but not quite as solidly present.
More guard towers, electronic monitoring, more stringent perusals of official personal identification papers; passports, please. And be prepared to present them on order, and even before you're ordered to. The free flow of commerce from one country to the other now impeded, thanks to the dire need to protect Americans from Canadians - or from the incursion of unfriendlies who have infiltrated Canadian space.
Although the apprehension that the 9-11 attackers had breached the border from Canada to the United States to plan their unprecedentedly bold and brutal attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania was prevalent, a proper investigation post-attack revealed convincingly, unequivocally, that this was not so. The Islamist terrorists had entered the United States legally, by means of temporary visas.
They had enrolled themselves in flight schools, training within the United States to prepare themselves to execute their audaciously ambitious and successfully violent assault on the country they despised. Canadians died too in the World Trade Towers. Canada rushed to assist through NATO, in monitoring the skies over the U.S. Canadians embraced and took in Americans in flight, unable to land in their country.
Canada held commemoration vigils, attended ceremonies to honour the dead, declared itself as one with its partner on the continent. Its closest political, social and trade partner. Since September 11, 2001 things have never been the same. Suddenly Canada was viewed with suspicion.
Cleared of entry-guilt over the border, yet during the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton once again raised that canard of the porous border between Canada and the United States, where the 9-11 terrorists gained entry.
The Obama administration's new homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, during an interview this week repeated that canard, that terrorists routinely enter the United States through Canada. And that included, of course, the perpetrators of the aerial attacks on the United States in 2001.
Necessitating a gentle reprimand from Canada's Ambassador to the United States, to set the record straight. It never will be, unfortunately.
And there is senior U.S. security official Jane Lute repeating that the U.S. remains suspicious of Canada, of its leaky border, of the potential for terrorists to make their way through Canada to the United States. The crackdown on border security will continue, despite its cost to bilateral trade and tourism. Yet analyses of arrest and court records since 9/11 by U.S. sources indicate the absurdity of it all.
"...despite a massive injection of resources and staff to guard against terrorists crossing the Canadian border, is mostly catching ordinary illegal immigrants, creating a backlog of court cases and a flurry of protest from the public about random highway stops and bus or train inspections..." the security initiative is demonstrably non-workable and imposes an unnecessary irritant.
Border patrol agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, responsible for border and immigration enforcement have quadrupled in number. Yet a U.S. public-interest research group (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse) clearly found that only three national security and terrorism charges were filed in federal district courts along the border since 2001.
"In other words, there is scant record of northern border enforcement catching terrorists", according to the report. Still, there is a grim-faced Jane Lute, informing Ottawa that there would be no easing of border security under the new Obama administration.
Some things just never change, mostly because those who can make informed judgements cannot be bothered to admit the truth, and see no reason whatever to be reasonable when they can be offensively unreasonable.
They do it because they can.
Well, then the border that has always been celebrated as a relatively friendly, open one, is too porous, and it must be turned from a sieve into a stone wall. Something like, ideally, the one that the State of Israel has erected to separate it from the Palestinian territories which did indeed constitute a threat to the safety and security of Israeli citizens. Something like, but not quite as solidly present.
More guard towers, electronic monitoring, more stringent perusals of official personal identification papers; passports, please. And be prepared to present them on order, and even before you're ordered to. The free flow of commerce from one country to the other now impeded, thanks to the dire need to protect Americans from Canadians - or from the incursion of unfriendlies who have infiltrated Canadian space.
Although the apprehension that the 9-11 attackers had breached the border from Canada to the United States to plan their unprecedentedly bold and brutal attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania was prevalent, a proper investigation post-attack revealed convincingly, unequivocally, that this was not so. The Islamist terrorists had entered the United States legally, by means of temporary visas.
They had enrolled themselves in flight schools, training within the United States to prepare themselves to execute their audaciously ambitious and successfully violent assault on the country they despised. Canadians died too in the World Trade Towers. Canada rushed to assist through NATO, in monitoring the skies over the U.S. Canadians embraced and took in Americans in flight, unable to land in their country.
Canada held commemoration vigils, attended ceremonies to honour the dead, declared itself as one with its partner on the continent. Its closest political, social and trade partner. Since September 11, 2001 things have never been the same. Suddenly Canada was viewed with suspicion.
Cleared of entry-guilt over the border, yet during the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton once again raised that canard of the porous border between Canada and the United States, where the 9-11 terrorists gained entry.
The Obama administration's new homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, during an interview this week repeated that canard, that terrorists routinely enter the United States through Canada. And that included, of course, the perpetrators of the aerial attacks on the United States in 2001.
Necessitating a gentle reprimand from Canada's Ambassador to the United States, to set the record straight. It never will be, unfortunately.
And there is senior U.S. security official Jane Lute repeating that the U.S. remains suspicious of Canada, of its leaky border, of the potential for terrorists to make their way through Canada to the United States. The crackdown on border security will continue, despite its cost to bilateral trade and tourism. Yet analyses of arrest and court records since 9/11 by U.S. sources indicate the absurdity of it all.
"...despite a massive injection of resources and staff to guard against terrorists crossing the Canadian border, is mostly catching ordinary illegal immigrants, creating a backlog of court cases and a flurry of protest from the public about random highway stops and bus or train inspections..." the security initiative is demonstrably non-workable and imposes an unnecessary irritant.
Border patrol agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, responsible for border and immigration enforcement have quadrupled in number. Yet a U.S. public-interest research group (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse) clearly found that only three national security and terrorism charges were filed in federal district courts along the border since 2001.
"In other words, there is scant record of northern border enforcement catching terrorists", according to the report. Still, there is a grim-faced Jane Lute, informing Ottawa that there would be no easing of border security under the new Obama administration.
Some things just never change, mostly because those who can make informed judgements cannot be bothered to admit the truth, and see no reason whatever to be reasonable when they can be offensively unreasonable.
They do it because they can.
posted by Pieface | 7:41 PM
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