McClatchy: U.S. border with Canada vulnerable to terrorists

[babylonsister]

U.S. border with Canada vulnerable to terrorists
By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007


WASHINGTON — Terrorists carrying radioactive materials could easily enter the United States from Canada undetected, government investigators said Thursday after they were able to cross the 5,000-mile border four times carrying a large, red duffel bag without being intercepted.

The crossings took place at unguarded and unmonitored sites in four northern-border states. The Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, did not disclose the sites.

"Our work shows that a determined cross-border violator would likely be able to bring radioactive materials or other contraband undetected into the United States by crossing the U.S.-Canada border at any of the locations we investigated," the report said.

Even though the northern border is more than twice as long as the U.S.-Mexico border, it has less than one-tenth as many agents patrolling it.

Lawmakers from northern states blamed the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for the lax security on the U.S.-Canada border.

"This report is just as unacceptable as it is shocking," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who along with others have sought to secure more Border Patrol agents and high-tech surveillance and communications equipment for the northern border. "We simply cannot accept this level of vulnerability."

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/20046.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. Because they aren't supposed to profile, I get the garage search at the border nearly every time.

They seem to be keeping records now because I was able to talk my way out of a garage search last time. But I've had more the past 3 years than the previous 17 and I fit the profile of no risk groups.

[rpannier]

2. Ahhh...another weak border terrorists story

Next on faux news...
Are we truly safe from terrorists?
A faux news expose shows that the US border with the Pacific Ocean could be the next spot for terrorists to attack the United States. Will they enter the US riding their pet sharks and whales?

[babylonsister]

4. I'm as cynical as you are about all

these terra stories, but reading that, it doesn't seem that there's much to prevent someone from getting something really nasty done/through if they wanted to. Realistically, I don't know that there is a solution given the sizes of all the borders.

[rpannier]

5. Agreed...

But...we could all go with the shill o'lielly plan and turn our borders into something that resembles the DMZ in Korea.
That'd excite the reich wing no end I'm sure.
I'll bet they'd agree to pay more in taxes for it too.

Better education, health care and quality of life they won't raise a penny for.
More prisons, border walls and fences and invading other countries and they'll open their wallets wide.

[babylonsister]

6. I'm with you and totally reject a US DMZ.

It's apparent issues involving our quality of life have been taking a back seat to the terror talk and suggested action. Skewed priorities! I guess there are no easy answers.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

7. You can build as many damn walls as you want...

...and it still won't stop people from getting in - certainly not people as determined to get in as terrorists (vs. your average migrant worker.) You can take reasonable precautions, but at some point you have to admit that you can't plug all of the holes and work on different methods, and even then you won't be 100% effective.

[cali]

8. I live near the Canadian border in

the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, and I've crossed the border without checking in several times on a lake an x-country skiing. You could bring anything in up here. That said, I don't want a lockdown on the border.

[Vinca]

3. I think they'd be more concerned about U.S. citizens fleeing to Canada. nt

[Canuckistanian]

9. OK then, what's the solution?

Multi-million dollar security equipment and personnel at every border crossing? There are about 22 official border crossing points with differing levels of security.

And there are countless areas where you can just park your car and walk across the border.

I've even heard there are small rural roads that cross the border with no checkpoints at all.

Not to mention lakes or rivers.

It always used to be a point of pride with both countries that we had the "longest undefended border in the world".

The point is that it comes down to trust. There's no security system in the world that can police the whole border. It's just a fact of life. Either you trust our internal system to catch people BEFORE they get to the border or you don't. It's really not a border issue.

Either work with us to reduce those risks or stop using sensational words like "vulnerable to terrorists".

Unless your border is only 3 miles long, EVERY border is "vulnerable to terrorists".

[notadmblnd]

10. Of course we know our government hasn't done one thing to protect our borders

with the exception of building a partial fence to keep the brown skinned people out. It's one of the main indicators that this constant atmosphere of fear is all a bunch of BS.

I remember when this all started, I was working for a major It services company and I worked in the building that housed over 2400 or our various Client's servers. My job was to track and distribute inventory for the project managers working with our clients. I spent a lot of time on the loading dock managing hundreds of million dollars of equipment, much of it owned by different branches of government.

After 911 the company decided to "improve security". Two of the components of this "improvement" consisted of a million dollar fence and a new rule that no one would any longer park in the spots directly in front of the building. It occurred to me then, that by not allowing employees to park close to the building, the company had cleared the way for anyone wanting to do damage; to have a clear shot directly from the parking lot into the front of the building. The erecting of the fence made no sense either. This was one of those aluminum fences that is made to look like Iron with the black bars about 8 inches apart (just wide enough for the deer to get their heads stuck in), about 10 foot tall with spikes pointing skyward. Really menacing looking but providing nothing meaningful in the way of real security. It was a bout 5 foot off the road that ran directly behind our building. The loading dock doors were the automatic "roll up" type, (so they might have been a little more than 1/3 inch thick).It sat probably 60 ft. from the fence. The question I kept asking myself was "Why isn't that a concrete fence? Why aren't those doors reinforced? People shouldn't be able to see what was going on back there from the road, besides anyone with a high powered rifle or imagine if some nut (many of which could have been disgruntled former employees) got hold of a rocket launcher. Imagine the damage they could do? It was no secret that the diesel fuel tanks for the generator house (that was probably 30 ft. from the back of our building) ran under our parking lot. It was a freaking joke!

I knew then that this was all a staged act. Done to keep us in fear and condition us to accept what we were told was dangerous times and that we must be willing to sacrifice freedom for safety.

I'm not a brain surgeon or a deep thinker, my education level is HS grand and a few community college classes; and I had the sense to figure it out early on. I guess my point is; that after all this time, only a "moran" wouldn't believe that this terrorist threat hasn't been greatly exaggerated.

on edit; I'm not saying that there is not threat from people that want to do harm, but there is no amount of security that will protect any of us from an entity that is really determined.

[SidDithers]

11. So fix it...

but how you gonna do that?

Build a wall?
Gun towers every 200 feet?
Sharks with frickin' laser beams patroling the lakes and rivers?

Good luck.

Sid