"They did exactly what they were told to do,"

...said Rataczak, adding that the actions of the soldiers prevented an international incident from occurring.

The Rataczak mentioned above is a military commander. The thing to which he refers when he unconvincingly comments about preventing an international incident is the retreat of military troops when confronted by unidentified apparently heavily armed men. While you may think the above statement was made in connection with affairs in Iran, North Korea, Iraq or Afghanistan - you would be wrong. Rataczak is Major General David Rataczak, the head of the Arizona National Guard. The incident took place on the Arizona (one of the 50 United States) - Mexico (a foreign country) border. What happened, according to: National Guard General: Gunmen Likely Came Across U.S. Border Troops by Chance is that 4 Arizona (remember part of the USA) National Guardsmen were on duty, in an observation post, on the north side of the U.S./Mexican border when they were confronted by 4 to 8 unidentified fairly heavily armed men. These men have been reported as having military style firearms, possibly fully automatic, and to have been wearing dark fatigues and body armor (CNN televised report on 01/30/07).

So what did the National Guardsmen do, just what they had been ordered to do, retreat and then call in the Border Patrol. In the ensuing 15 minutes or so that it took the Border Patrol to respond, the unidentified armed men apparently walked into Mexico. We don't know who they were, what they were doing, where they were going. Neither do we know: where they had intended to go, and what they had intended to do before they were spotted. These guys were reportedly given medals for their actions, no not the unidentified gunmen, but the 4 National Guardsmen. What deserved a medal is beyond me, but that is what I heard reported on CNN today. If they deserved medals for their inaction, for their following orders to retreat in the face of a possible armed invasion of the USA, then all I can say is we have already lost the war!

Yes I mean it, we are at a point where we have hopelessly lost the war against terrorism, against illegal aliens, against illegal arms and drug smuggling, against anyone and anything if our National Guard troops cannot protect the borders of our nation from invasion or from outbound smuggling of things like high tech strategic devices (yes smuggling over our borders goes both ways, not just inbound). I have to wonder what would have happened had the scenario played out differently. What would have happened if the unidentified gunmen had instead walked north to a vehicle, gotten into that vehicle, traveled to a major U&.S. City like Phoenix, Arizona, then detonated a nuclear or dirty bomb in that city. I have to wonder what will happen if they were instead in possession of stolen military secrets that they were smuggling out to one of our enemies. I have to wonder, who in Washington, D.C., or who in the government of Arizona, gave the absolutely ridiculous order, for they who are by their name destined to guard our nation, to retreat when confronted by possible armed invaders.

Read the article above, pay close attention to the statement of the major general when he talked about the moment when one of the National Guardsmen was faced down by one of the unidentified armed men. They were reportedly 45 feet apart, both holding rifles, and there was not even a question asked of the unidentified armed man. He was not told to stop, not told to identify himself, not told to drop his weapon, not told anything by the national Guardsmen, or so it seems from the reports I have read and heard.

Of course some politicians and the major general don't see this as a problem. I though see it as a major one. The hands of the national Guardsmen have been tied despite what was reportedly said by Democratic Rep. Tom Prezelski of Tucson, who reportedly said he was certain that the troops were ready to handle the situation had it gotten worse. He also said this: ""I am a little uncomfortable with the idea that we are portraying them as helpless and having their hands tied," Prezelski said" (from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,248578,00.html). Well as I see Representative Prezelski knows not of what he speaks. If I had had an armed individual confront me in the middle of the Arizona desert, while holding what appeared to be a military assault rifle, while dressed in dark BDUs, while wearing body armor, you can bet I would have made an attempt to stop him, disarm him, identify him, and determine if he was a threat to my country - instead of retreating and letting the guy(s) walk away unchallenged. It would have taken a split second, and a small one at that, for the bad guys to have opened fire on the troops and killed them. There is no reason they should have to be fired upon first before they take appropriate actions. I have been in law enforcement for over 27 years now, and spent my first few years in the Border Patrol. What these National Guardsmen did was, through no fault of their own, a disgrace to the United States of America, and signifies we likely are being governed by out and out horses' asses in Washington who don't give a damn about the lives of those they send to patrol our borders, and who do not give a damn about our borders or our nation! All they care about is votes. You are the folks who elected them, now do something about it in the next election to get them out. Before then though, write, call, email your elected officials to demand that our borders are made secure, and that our people securing those borders are not hog-tied by ludicrous regulations enacted by stuffed shirts who do not have a clue as to the reality of national security.

All the best,
Glenn B