|
|
|
A key component in the horrific attacks on September 11, 2001 was the help the 19 hijackers received from the U. S. Government. Lax policies administered by a lethargic bureaucracy proved to be an open invitation to a slaughter of innocents. In the aftermath of the assault, amid the bravery and swelling patriotism of millions of Americans, one constant endures: America and its leaders still refuse to take immigration seriously as a national security issue. Our gates are open, and the barbarians are streaming through them. Invasion, the shocking new book by syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin, pierces the media blackout with unbelievable facts about what sort of people are being welcomed to our shores. There is plenty of blame to go around. The U.S. Congress, pressured by ethnicity lobbyists, big business, and open-borders activists, has lost track of foreign students and visitors overstaying their visas. State Department programs still in place months after the attacks expedited the arrival of the Los Angeles Airport gunman. But the biggest problems are with the INS itself. INS inspectors waved through the 9/11 terrorists, ignoring incomplete paperwork and previous overstays. Six months after 9/11, the INS finally got around to approving Mohamed Atta's visa. In June 2002, nine months after 9/11, the Los Angeles Times reported that a computer malfunction caused the names of 3,500 suspected criminals and/or terrorists to be dropped from lookout databases for nearly two months. As Malkin shows, these are not isolated instances. The avenues of entry into the United States are so numerous and so unguarded that it's a miracle more terrorists haven't made it into the end zone. Less than 3% of cargo containers, which are the chief means of foreign goods coming into the US, are inspected. Many universities have shown extreme hostility to any sort of oversight of foreign nationals wandering around their campuses or whether they are even attending classes. "Political asylum" requests are approved with virtually no background checks. Liberal icon Ted Kennedy spearheaded the "visa lottery" program that admitted 7000 random aliens last year from countries like Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Vicente Fox boasts that by 2025 there will be no border between the U.S. and Mexico. Meanwhile, Mexican and American big business are doing their best to erase what little border remains with a flood of trucks that drive into the U.S. each year. As the terrorists showed us on 9/11, the front lines of this war are our neighborhoods and homes. As we prepare to launch an overpowering armada on the other side of the globe, it is imperative that we secure the home front. Continuation of our current posture will lead to more tragedy and death, and further embolden our enemies. Malkin closes her book with a detailed agenda for cleaning up this dangerous mess. Unless her warning is heeded, it is inevitable that we will continue to be at the mercy of killers for whom our government has put out the welcome mat. (Regnery 2002, $27.95, 237 pages) |
Murderers, rapists and torturers have been knowingly allowed to move into our cities and towns, where they have committed more heinous crimes. Does a porous system like this stand a chance of stopping the likes of determined, ingenious suicide bombers?
