Pirate's Cove

Morning, y’all, Jebediah Murphy here on yet another White Trash Wednesday. I have to wonder, would this count as irony?

SHARM EL SHEIK — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, in a rare joint mission to the Middle East, yesterday urged Saudi Arabia and other neighbors of Iraq to adopt tougher border controls to stem the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq.

Interesting. Too bad that paragraph didn’t read

SHARM EL SHEIK — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, in a rare joint mission to Latin America, yesterday urged Mexico and other neighbors of the United States to adopt tougher border controls to stem the flow of illegal criminals across the US-Mexico border.

It is important that the borders Iraq shares with other countries be secured, but, much like our own, it is a little late in the game to be making any attempt. Not that it shouldn’t, but, first, this should have been done in 2003, and second, it should have involved a proclamation that anyone coming across the borders at any but approved checkpoints would be fired upon. Use jets and choppers to guard the out of the way areas.

But the government is not serious about securing our own border, much less Iraq’s. They can say anything they want, promise anything they want, but, the old saying – actions speak louder then words – comes to mind.

"That ‘more’ includes better border patrols," she said. Miss Rice said that follow-on working groups and "maybe even something more permanent" by Iraq’s neighbors "could really make it very hard for foreign fighters to cross those borders."

U.S. officials say the flow of fighters into Iraq has helped fuel an insurgency that has targeted both U.S. forces and the embattled government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

And in the USA, we might not have homicide bombers and foreign fighters coming across our borders, however, we sure do have gang members, sex offenders, and murderers coming across ours. Oh, wait, there have been many, many reports of Middle Eastern men coming across the southern border, so maybe there are homicide bombers and foreign fighters coming in.

The Bush administration has issued numerous calls in the past for Iraq’s neighbors to tighten their borders. Not only have those calls not been heeded in earnest, U.S. officials said in the past several weeks, but some Sunni Arab governments are thought to have sent fighters to counter increasingly powerful Shi’ite militias in Iraq.

If only they would heed the call here, as well. There has been some progress made along our borders, but nothing approaching what it needs to be. Nor has there been any progress made in doing something about those who overstay their visas, much less those who never should have been let in in the first place.

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, Rosemary’s Thoughts, DeMediacratic Nation, Adam’s Blog, Right Truth, Shadowscope, Webloggin, Cao’s Blog, Leaning Straight Up, The Amboy Times, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, Conservative Thoughts, The Pink Flamingo, Planck’s Constant, Dumb Ox Daily News, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.