McCain, Kyl want troops on U.S.-Mexico border - Washington Times
Some bloggers and tweeters immediately jumped on the idea--mistakenly thinking that armed, trained National Guard troops would be federalized and sent to the border to back up border patrol agents. Apparently, those people didn't read the whole Times story. Buried near the end was a recount of a similar episode in 2006, when the Bush Administration sent troops on the same mission. How'd that work out? Well:
In 2006, facing accusations from Congress that he had been lax on border security, President Bush deployed the National Guard to support the Border Patrol in the Southwest, with mixed results."Mixed results" is putting it generously. It was a huge waste of resources and resulted in no real increase in border security. The reason? The same law that face plants the stupid "special army unit" hoax perpetrated earlier this month: The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.
Some National Guard troops built infrastructure or handled clerical tasks to free up Border Patrol agents. In other instances, Border Patrol agents had to be assigned as bodyguards to protect Guard units, many of which were not allowed to carry loaded weapons. Border Patrol agents called the assignment "the nanny patrol."
The men and women of the active duty armed services and federalized National Guard troops are forbidden from taking an active role in law enforcement activities. About the only way we're going to see federal troops patrolling the border is if the United States declares war on Mexico. That's not gonna happen, boys and girls.
Nor is there gonna be any scary "special army unit" deploying within the United States to help prevent "civil unrest" before the November elections. I swear, some people really do believe in Black Helicopters...
Extra Point: Would it be too much to ask for a little intellectual consistency?
