Southern Border Penetrated

The critical nature of the security threat posed to the US by Washington's deliberate failure to enforce the US-Mexico border was once again underscored by FBI Director Robert Mueller who, on Tuesday, told the House Committee on Appropriations that suspicious individuals had entered the US across the southern border.

'We are concerned, Homeland Security is concerned about special interest aliens entering the United States,' Mueller said, using a term for people from countries where al-Qaida is known to be active.

Under questioning from Rep. John Culberson, Republican of Texas, Mueller said he was aware of one route that takes people to Brazil, where they assume false identities, and then to Mexico before crossing the U.S. border.

He also said that in some instances people with Middle Eastern names have adopted Hispanic last names before trying to get into the United States.

Director Mueller provided no estimate of the number of such individuals. However, with more than one million people illegally crossing the US-Mexico border every year, it would probably be difficult to sort out any potential terrorists.

In recent congressional testimony, Adm. James Loy, deputy Homeland Security secretary, said al-Qaida operatives believe they can pay to get into the country through Mexico and entering illegally is 'more advantageous than legal entry.'

But Loy said there's no conclusive evidence that al-Qaida operatives have entered the country via Mexico.

Likewise, Mueller did not acknowledge that terrorists had entered the country through Mexico, only that it's believed people from countries where al-Qaida is active have done so.

U.S. authorities are investigating groups that may be smuggling people from countries with al-Qaida ties, he said.

Until the morning of September 11, 2001, there was no evidence to prove that al-Qaeda terrorists were inside the US planning an attack. There had been plenty of clues to this, of course, but a mix of political correctness, bureacratic infighting and sense of complacency caused America's security apparatus to overlook the evidence. No such excuse remains today. The US-Mexico border represents a gaping hole in American national security. Closing that hole should have been one of the administration's first priorities in the months after the attack. Instead, the administration has stubbornly refused to seal the US-Mexico border, and the Democrat opposition has barely broached the matter. Why? The GOP sees illegal immigrants as a boon for business because they drive down wages. Moreover, Bush strategists like Karl Rove believe the that strongly religious, pro-family attitudes of many Mexicans will eventually swing them toward voting republican. The Democrats see any increase in the minority population as naturally favoring them at the polls. Niether party seems particularly concerned about the damage to the nation's culture and demographic cohesion. If the US suffers another major terrorist attack from terrorists who entered the US illegally through Mexico, the administration and members of congress should be held criminally liable for malfeasance.