War on the Southern Border
A PRACTICAL, OPERATIONAL PLAN TO SECURE THE BORDERS

by Maj. Gen. Paul E. Vallely
ThePostEmail.com                       

President James K. Polk advocated westward expansion and presided over the Mexican-American War following the annexation of Texas in 1845.

(Jun. 17, 2010) — Since the Mexican Independence from Spain in 1821, there has always been the question of who owned what in the West. Since invading the New World, Spain controlled a vast territory that included all of modern-day Mexico all the way through California and Utah, not to mention Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Arguments go in many directions, but the fact of the matter is that in 1846, President Polk called for the invasion of Mexico. It was a bloody war, based mostly on the principle of “Manifest Destiny,” but it was also based on the principle that Colonialism left a void of epic proportions in the West, and the areas that Spain once controlled were nothing more than a set of violent fiefdoms.

Expansion into the West by Americans and many other peoples from across the globe meant that the USA of the day was going to have take control of the lawlessness and bitter disputes over the land Spain had to give up. Spain never did recognize the Independence, and if not for a coup in Spain, Mexico might still have been part of Spain. One must remember that in those days, it was Spain that had conquered everything and pillaged all its wealth.

By the treaty of “Guadalupe-Hidalgo,” signed February 2, 1848, at the close of the Mexican War, the Republic of Mexico was compelled to abandon its claim to Texas and to cede to the United States the territory now comprising most of New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah and Nevada. The territory ceded to the United States by Mexico constituted about 200,000 square miles, or two-fifths of all her territory.

In return for this vast territory, the United States gave $15,000,000 and assumed responsibility for paying $3,000,000 in claims of American citizens against the Mexican Government. Further, in an attempt to find a better way to transport displaced Indian tribes, James Gadsden, on behalf of President Franklin Pierce, purchased a huge swath of land below the Gila River from Santa Ana, who as Dictator of Mexico was deposed soon after.

Regardless of the many claims of groups today, the territorial boundaries were set in law. The fact that the time in which all this took place was one of upheaval, bitter resentment, claims galore from all sides; it was incorporated into the present United States and is the internationally-recognized border. Therefore, it is to be protected, just as Oregon, or Massachusetts, or Maine, or any other state, each with all their claims of original ownership by some groups, especially the indigent peoples of the early days.

It is now time to enforce the rule of law, not to kowtow to special interest groups or claims by open-border believers and La Raza. The fact is, the Citizens of the USA are in danger and are being killed because the border states of Mexico are controlled by thugs. Once again, the entire area is festooned with upheaval, violence, and lawlessness as it was in 1846. The northern states in Mexico:  Baja California Norte,  Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas, are under rogue control, and the Mexican police cannot control them. Therefore, it is in the national interest of the United States to invade and restore order because of this clear and present danger to US Citizens and our economy.

If our federal government will not execute an operational plan to secure our southern borders, then the States and the people must do it. However, let me provide an executable plan of operations for the federal government to undertake with resolve and commitment to protect and secure the American people.

I do not have to take the time in this article to explain to the readers the threat and the problems on and across our southern borders of California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, as it is on the news every day. You would have to live in a perpetual and virtual cave not to know the situation. We have a war of gigantic proportions…illegal invasions, treacherous drug cartels, gangs, human trafficking, drugs (is there not a war on drugs???), smuggling, kidnappings, and corruption of officials on both sides of the borders. Now if I were the Commander-in-Chief, I would be on a war-footing and I would have my military commanders planning and executing a strategy that will defeat swiftly and decisively these cancerous enemies.

The plan is basic and advanced unconventional/conventional war planning. This combines the best use of our forces that will encompass intelligence, targeting, and structural organization to accomplish the mission, base operations, offensive and defensive operations. First, organize three (3) Border Task Force Groups (BTFGs) and position them in three operational bases:  one in Texas, one in Arizona and one in Southern California. We have existing bases in those states that can be used. There is no requirement to create any new bases. I will not name these existing bases because of operational security, but the Department of Defense can easily figure this out! The BTFGs will be organized based on joint task forces of Special Ops, Army, Air Force and Navy. Selected units and personnel will be relocated and moved to these designated bases.

There will be approximately 5,000 warriors assigned to each BTFG. The organization will be commanded by a Two-Star “Warrior,” and each of the three BTFGs will be commanded by Brigadier General. The mission for the Command will be to target and conduct offensive and defensive operations on the Mexican side of the border.  National Guard, Border Patrol, DEA, and local sheriffs’ units will conduct border security operations on the United States side of the border. This initiative does not violate any existing Posse Comitatus laws.

The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385) passed on June 18, 1878, after the end of Reconstruction, with the intention (in concert with the Insurrection Act of 1807) of substantially limiting the powers of the federal government to use the military for law enforcement. The Act prohibits most members of the federal uniformed services (today the Army, Navy, Air Force, and State National Guard forces when such are called into federal service) from exercising nominally state law enforcement, police, or peace officer powers that maintain “law and order” on non-federal property (states and their counties and municipal divisions) within the United States. The statute generally prohibits federal military personnel and units of the National Guard under federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress. The Coast Guard is exempt from the Act.

The National Guard will be the asset of the State Governors to be used as required to augment the Active Force BTFGs operations on the US side of the border. Remove the Department of Homeland Security from this action completely.

Maximum use must be made of our Special Operators, Delta Force, Special Forces, Seals, AF Special Ops, Rangers, Marine Recon and Special Ops Air Assets and augmented by Active Force regular Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force.

The concerns and anxiety of Americans, particularly in the Border States, have grown significantly in the past year. Governor Jan Brewer has had to take extraordinary legislative action to help rectify the situation, and we applaud her and others in Arizona for their initiative and courage. Changes in law enforcement operations have forced smugglers of drugs and illegal aliens into ever more isolated areas, increasing the number of deaths and the level of violence to a point where even the most hardened enforcement officials are alarmed.

The number of arrests made by Border Patrol agents is one of the few reliable measurements of the rising influx. That number dropped right after 9/11, but it has since been climbing. In fact, the cost of protecting the nation’s borders has increased 58 percent since 9/11, but in three of the four years since the attacks, the number of people nabbed by the Border Patrol still increased. In the fiscal year that ended in September, the Border Patrol reported 1.19 million arrests, compared with 932,000 in fiscal year 2003. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that the number of illegal immigrants in the United States has grown from 8.4 million in 2000 to 15 million today.

The political ferment over illegals has never been greater. Seventy-eight percent of Americans think and know that the government is not doing enough to control our borders; talk shows bristle with demands for action. Additionally, Global jihad and jihadis are a major threat as they eye the southern border as a path of least resistance to strike inside the United States.

America…We must act NOW for the welfare and security of our precious nation.

Paul E. Vallely (MG, US Army Ret.) is Chairman of Stand Up America and Co-Chairman of Veteran Defenders of America.

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