http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-04-13-oppose_x.htm
Posted 4/13/2005 10:59 PM <http://ad.usatoday.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.cgi/www.usatoday.com/news/opi nion/editorials/2005-04-13-oppose_x.htm/8402/Zaplet1/16537NewsZaplet/clear.g if/34303033303264323432356534643430> Amid fuss, project works By Mike McGarry Hundreds of Minuteman Project volunteers have done what the president has refused to do: They have helped to effectively halt illegal crossings in a 23-mile section of the Arizona-Mexico border. Volunteers have shown how easy it would be for the U.S. government to do the same. Consider the horrors and threats our "neighbor watch" has frustrated along that section: No longer are bandits harming and killing migrants. Illegal crossers aren't being robbed, raped and kidnapped. Deaths from exposure of illegals abandoned by "coyote" guides have stopped. Women and children destined for sex-slave dens aren't being smuggled in. Intruders from terror-sponsoring countries aren't getting through. Heavily armed drug traffickers are not now roaming the section with relative impunity. Criminals, including convicted murderers and agents of international organized crime, have been shut out. For now, relative peace has been restored to where Minutemen (some of them grandmothers in lawn chairs) are observing, reporting and avoiding contact with illegals. The outpouring of support has been profound from locals who, for the first time in years, have peace, quiet and sleep - free from the ongoing clop-clop of helicopters and the fear of endless foreign trespassers. Some Minutemen carry side arms, raising well-expressed concerns over the potential for accidents, or worse. Most of those volunteers, however, are retired police and military members who have carried weapons all of their adult lives and are intimately respectful of their potential, and of their utility at night where life-threatening wildlife - including rattlesnakes, bears and mountain lions - rule the desert's floor and arroyos. Project opponents seem brokenhearted over its successes. Last week, an off-duty volunteer happened upon a border crosser who appeared in need. He provided the man a bowl of cereal, gave him $20, a hug and a T-shirt with playful wording. The American Civil Liberties Union called that benign encounter a "potential powder keg." Apparently, the hapless legal observers equate our humanitarian aid with an extremist agenda. However, we believed it the right thing to do. Deploying civilian observers may not be the best way to guard a nation. But until the government reassumes its responsibility, expect to see more. Mike McGarry is a Minuteman Project media relations volunteer from Aspen, Colo. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
