We're being invaded - literally

The United States was last invaded by a foreign army (in uniform - unlike 9/11) in December of 1814 when a British army and fleet, under the command of Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane, respectively, arrived from their headquarters in Barbados to try to take control of the Mississippi River at New Orleans. (Their combined forces of 11,000 to 15,000 troops and sailors were defeated in New Orleans on January 8, 1815, by Andrew Jackson's 3500 to 5000 man force.)

Wrong!

The last time the United States was invaded by a foreign army, in uniform, was 2005, and it may have happened again this year, we just don't know about it, yet. This shocking report and graphic relates that the Mexican Army has repeatedly violated our sovereignty - 9 times in 2005 and many more times in the previous years, totaling 216 incursions since 1996. These incursions into United States territory are to protect drug smugglers. These Mexican incursions have been met on more than one occasion by lightly armed US Border Patrol officers who have had to withdraw. Except when they don't choose to withdraw.

In one 2000 incident, more than 16 Mexican soldiers were arrested by border agents in a small town west of El Paso, in Santa Teresa, N.M., after Mexican soldiers fired on the agents, said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing the agents.

None of the agents was injured in the gun battle, and U.S. State Department officials forced the border agents to release the soldiers and return them to Mexico with their weapons, Bonner added.

Here are the data, directly from the Department of Homeland Security, which, of course, has little to say.. Since 1996, read them and weep:

San Diego County, 17 times

El Centro, 58

Yuma, Ariz., 24

Tucson, Ariz., 39

El Paso, Texas, 33

Marfa, Texas, eight

Del Rio, Texas, three

Laredo, Texas, six

Rio Grande Valley, Texas, 28

A more graphic example follows:



And what do the Mexicans say?

Mexican government officials said they have neither seen the report nor the map, and they dispute the findings, stating that at no time in recent years have military personnel crossed the border into the United States.

"I strongly deny any incursion by the Mexican military on United States soil," said Rafael Laveaga, spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C.

"When it comes to Mexican military on the southern side, I have no reports of them crossing into the United States. That would mean that the patrol got lost or lack of expertise and orientation. This could be smugglers with fake uniforms as a tactic to confuse the authorities."

Laveaga added that Mexico's law enforcement agencies work closely with the FBI, Office of National Drug Control Policy and other U.S. agencies to assist in the capture of drug cartel members.

Further, Laveaga contended that wealthy smugglers can afford fake uniforms and can camouflage their vehicles to resemble those of the military.

"Some incursions do occur by smugglers both on the northbound and southbound sides of the border," Laveaga said. "Whenever these incidents occur, both governments have a mechanism to communicate with each other to let each other know what's going on."

And what does our ever vigilant Department of Homeland Security say?

Kristi Clemens, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, would not confirm the number of incursions, but said Saturday the department is in ongoing discussions with the Mexican government about them.

"We -- the Department of Homeland Security and the CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) -- are determined to gain control of the border and will continue to collaborate with our partners on the border," Clemens said.

And what does Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo, say?

"It is a military problem," said Tancredo, who supports immigration reform. "We should commit the military to the border - tomorrow. I mean, with armor and weapons."

This all should not come as too great a shock. Newsmax had a big writeup on March 12, 2003, which cited:

Humvees full of troops pointing a rifle at Border Patrol agents.

Incursions by groups of six to eight armed men, possibly Mexican cops wearing black bulletproof vest and carrying machine guns.

A Chevy Suburban hit five times by gunfire and containing 22 undocumented migrants, more accurately called illegal aliens, eight of whom suffered gunshot wounds fired from a Mexican army vehicle, which then fled back across the border to Mexico.

March 2000 where soldiers in two Mexican army Humvees fired on Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas, and another in October, when 10 Mexican soldiers fired at a Border Patrol helicopter in California.

And Tancredo said at the time,

"There's no doubt Mexican military units along the border are being controlled by drug cartels, and not by Mexico City. The military units operate freely, with little or no direction, and several of them have made numerous incursions into the Unite States."

Tancredo warned that "unless we open our eyes and recognize that what's happening along the U.S.-Mexican border is real, one of our guys is going to get killed."

Google "Mexican army border". You may be in for a shock. This report should not be news to anyone.

Thanks to the Redneck Texan.

And here are some others a little upset by this: The City Troll, Bear Creek Ledger, Isn't It Rich, Walter Dimmock, The Uncooperative Blogger,

TAGS: border, Mexican army, incursions, drug trafficking