Update-Conditions on the Border

I had the opportunity to ride along with the U.S. Border Patrol recently, and I thought I’d use that opportunity to give an update to the conditions on the border from our U.S. Law Enforcement’s perspective.  This experience gave me great insight into the challenges that our policy-makers and law enforcement face in their effort to combat illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and stopping of other illicit goods and persons from crossing into our borders.

The first thing that the border patrol finds challenging is the sheer amount of land that they are responsible for.  The agent that I was with was part of a group of 5 or so other agents, each in their own supped up Chevy SUV, that were responsible for the entire border region from the Otay International Border Crossing all the way East to the city of Tecate.  This nearly twenty mile stretch of border is some of the most rugged terrain in San Diego County, and this has both its advantages and disadvantages.  First, it makes movement around the area extremely difficult.  Roads are windy, slow, and often have sheer drop offs.  For the 5 agents tasked with patrolling this area, it can make movement to back each other up time consuming.  On the flip side, those attempting to navigate this part of the border to make entry into the country have an equally difficult time moving about, but it does offer them many places to hide and evade capture.

Along with the undermanning aspect is the sheer number of people who attempt to cross, and the pressures put on border patrol agents.  Typically this area doesn’t see much in the way of overland narcotics trafficking according to the agents, but it does see its fair share of human trafficking.  This is especially concerning given the recent rise in groups like ISIS who may be attempting to make entry.  While in the past, the bulk of the illegal migrants have been just coming to the United States to find work, the worry today is that potential terrorists may slip through to cause havoc in the military heavy San Diego area.

Finally, this area is very conducive to drops of narcotics by small aircraft.  It is not unheard of for drug trafficking groups using ultralight aircraft to slip over this Otay County Open Space Preserve area and drop off drugs or other illicit goods.  Those drops will then be picked up by cartel members already in the United States, and then distributed.

Overall, I realized the absolutely monumental task that our border patrol is faced with in patrolling this relatively small section of border between the U.S. and Mexico.  I can only imagine that similarly daunting tasks face our agents all across the border, and it certainly frustrates me knowing that on the policy-making end of it, there is no relief in sight.  I believe that it will take a monumental movement through Congress to both reform immigration policy, and up CBP/DHS capabilities in order for us to truly have comprehensive change that can make a real difference in our border region.

Source:

U.S. Border Patrol Air and Marine Divison

U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector, Brown Field Station

Garland Texas Shooting Prompts Increase in Military Force Protections Levels Amidst New Wave of Actors in Transnational Terrorism.

Last week two gunmen opened fire at police security for an event in Garland, Texas that featured a contest for cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.  The two gunmen, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, were killed by police officers on duty before the gunmen reached the civilians inside the event.  The gunmen had linked themselves to ISIS through twitter, and ISIS would later claim responsibility for this attack, labeling the two men as Al Khilafa soldiers (Soldiers of the Caliphate), but there is no definitive proof they planned it.  This is a recent example of the wave of new actors in transnational terrorism, which many are calling the freelancers and cheerleaders.  This group of people can be defined as any person who develops grievances defined by feelings of alienation in western society, who are immersed in social media and embrace violence and religious extremism.

This event combined with increased ISIS-influenced activity in the past weeks has prompted the US military to raise their Force Protection Conditions to FPCON Bravo, which is its 3^rd highest level.  In response to the Texas shooting there are estimated thousands of ISIS followers online in the US (according to the FBI).  This shooting was also connected to the release of the name of a US military officer by a tweet from British-born jihadist, Junaid Hussain, which was sent out days before the attack in Texas and “appeared to encourage an attack on the address”.  This chain of events follows the publishing of a hit list containing the names of roughly 100 US service members several weeks ago through ISIS connected accounts, which is an attempt by ISIS and their followers to target US uniformed personnel and law enforcement.  3200 military sites have since increased their security protocols in response to homegrown terrorist activity, which is largely connected transnationally to ISIS.  This is a recent and notable example of the rapid transnational spread of radicalism enabled by social media resulting in homegrown terrorism.

Sources:

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/29003271/the-cheerleaders-and-the-freelancers-the-new-actors-in-international-terrorism

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/05/us/texas-police-shooting-hero/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/08/politics/isis-activity-prompts-threat-level-increase-at-bases/index.html

http://www.abc15.com/news/national/prophet-muhammad-texas-shooting-fbi-memo-wouldnt-have-changed-security-response-police-chief

http://nypost.com/2015/03/22/isis-releases-hit-list-of-100-american-military-personnel/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/isis-claims-responsibility-garland-attack-report-article-1.2210571

Syrian rebels to begin US training by the end the week

By as early as the end this week, the United States could begin training Syrian rebels in secret locations in Turkey and Jordan. The ultimate goal, as stated by the Pentagon this morning, is the have the Syrian rebels return home and defend against ISIS.

This comes right on schedule with the Pentagon, who had begun vetting potential trainees in late February in order for the training to begin by the beginning of May.

400 American military advisors and officers have already been preparing for these Syrian rebels, as they plan on training, arming, and equipping the upcoming soldiers to fight the ISIS movement. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chief’s of Staff, plans to have 300 soldiers in training per class, with an end of the year goal of over 3,500 soldiers to help defend Syria from ISIS and the current regime.

Naturally, this decision to help train and support the Syrian rebels is marred with controversy, seeing as it will be another instance of the US intervention into the Middle East.

This comes amidst months of government-authorized Syrian bombings that have devastated the country. Attacks like these including barrel bombs onto citizens have been consistent recently, though the President of Syria Bashar al-Assad continually has denied the claims.

It remains to be seen the exact number of Syrian troops that will be trained, or how much training they will indeed get. One thing is for certain, that the American instructors will indeed soon working with Syrian rebels in Turkey and in Jordan.

SOURCES:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/06/politics/khaled-khoja-free-syrian-army-u-s-support/index.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/27/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-idUSKBN0LV2K620150227

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/400-us-troops-train-syrias-moderate-opposition-fight/story?id=28273501

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324202304579051280341316034

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/02/barrel-bombs-assad-weapons-terror-150225053916146.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/05/middleeast/syria-abuses-amnesty-international/index.html

Attack outside an Anti-Islamic Cartoon Contest

On May 23, 2015 the American Freedom Defense Initiative, also known as the Stop Islamization of America group, organized an event at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. The event, called the Muhammad Art Exhibit, consisted of a contest to find the best cartoon of the prophet Muhammad. The winner of the contest would receive a $10,000 prize. Organizers of the event said that the purpose was to promote freedom of expression.

Shortly after 7 p.m. two males pulled up to the front of the Curtis Culwell Center and opened fire at a Garland Independent School District security officer. The officer was shot in the ankle and recovered soon after. The police officers that had been on the scene shot back at the two gunmen and killed both. There was suspicion that the car contained a bomb so the building was evacuated and the bomb squad was called.

One gunman was identified as Elton Simpson who was the target of a terrorist investigation just a few years ago. In 2010, Mr. Simpson was sentenced to three years probation after lying to a federal agent about his plans to travel to Somalia. Although it had not been proven that his trip entailed terrorist activities, it was suspected by federal prosecutors that the purpose of his trip was to engage in violent jihad.

The location of Sunday’s event was purposely chosen by Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative and who also runs an anti-Islamic website. She chose this site because a Muslim group supposedly used the Center for a conference after the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office in January. Security was very tight at Sunday’s event and the mayor of Garland had acknowledged the concern over the contest. In recent days there has been a lot of commotion on Twitter over whether or not this event should take place. Many Muslims have considered drawings of the prophet offensive. Past incidents including Jyllands-Posten and the Charlie Hebdo attacks have proven that creating satirical cartoons have encouraged some Muslims to use violence in order to send a message.

Bever, Lindsey, and Brian Murphy. “Suspected Militant Sympathizer Linked to Shooting outside Muhammad Cartoon Event.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 04 May 2015. Web. 04 May 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/03/gunmen-shot-dead-in-texas-after-opening-fire-outside-prophet-muhammad-cartoon-show/?hpid=z1&gt;.

“Dallas Cartoon Attack: Suspected Gunmen’s ‘home Raided'” US and Canada. BBC News. 04 May 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/32582683&gt;.

McCormack, Simon. “Garland, Texas, Shooting Suspect Identified As Elton Simpson (UPDATED).” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. 04 May 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/04/texas-shooting-suspect-elton-simpson_n_7204292.html&gt;.

Perez-Pena, Richard, and Manny Fernandez. “Official Identifies One Suspect in Attack at Texas Anti-Islam Event.” The New York Times. The New York Times. 04 May 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/us/garland-texas-shooting-muhammad-cartoons.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0.

“Two Killed outside Anti-Islam Group’s Muhammad Cartoon Event in Texas | Al Jazeera America.” Al Jazeera America. Al Jazeera. 04 May 2015. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/3/Two-killed-outside-Muhammad-cartoon-event-in-Texas.html.