On the EDge: Let’s give our citizen soldiers a break

April 9, 2018 Utah Channel 3

OPINION — I think it’s time we gave our citizen soldiers some time off.

These young men and women have had a rather active couple of decades.

From terrorism attacks to natural disasters to activation and deployment to the Middle East, I think they have had enough.

This soldiering business is hard work requiring time, training and dedication and the members of the National Guard, no matter which state they are serving with, make sacrifices of great magnitude to fulfill the terms of their enlistment. This isn’t the stereotypical beer guzzling, weekend-warrior stuff of lore, it is real-life deployment. Whether helping their neighbors through a national disaster – earthquake, flood, etc. – or shipping off for points unknown, they are always ready to march into harm’s way, even if that includes a stateside deployment.

We are learning that about 4,000 National Guard soldiers are to soon be deployed at the U.S.-Mexican border.

You see, there is no wall, yet.

In fact, there isn’t even any money set aside to build a wall yet.

So we’ve got to do something to keep the rapists and killers and drug dealers out. And, those victims trying to caravan to the U.S. to escape persecution and death in South America? Yeah, got to keep them out, too, by God. Heaven forbid we offer succor to the oppressed.

Already, Texas and Arizona are falling all over themselves trying to be the first and best at offering up citizen soldiers to put on foot patrol along the border. So far Texas has earmarked 250 guard members and Arizona has tagged 150 for activation.

California has yet to commit any soldiers and, quite frankly, I don’t expect much cooperation between Sacramento and the White House as Gov. Jerry Brown and the president are not exactly on speaking terms and activation of warriors from the Golden State would require Brown’s cooperation.

The use of citizen soldiers along the border isn’t anything new or radical of thought. George W. Bush and Barack Obama each employed members of the guard to patrol the border back in 2006 and in 2012. The troops were used to supplement border agents enforcing drug laws, which is why the National Guard came into play. Regular Army cannot be used as a tool of law enforcement, the guard, because of its unique militia structure – you know, that group they talk about in the Second Amendment – can be part of a law enforcement group.

The actual patrol will have little to do with stemming the tide of illegal access to the United States. Those numbers are fairly inconsequential at this point anyway. Most of the undocumented immigrants came to the U.S. quite legally. They entered the U.S. with legal visas and completed paperwork. They just decided to stick around after their papers expired. The whole drama and fiction of desperately high-tailing it over some barrier of some kind is a highly dramatized account that very few undocumented immigrants actually experience.

The drug interdiction is also now a very different thing.

The cartels have pretty much given up the marijuana enterprise because gringos are growing their own and it is much cheaper and higher quality now that legalization has come to places where compassion matters. The infusion of other drugs – from cocaine to heroin – is actually a South American thing. Yes, some of those drugs come across the land borders, but Mexican nationals aren’t really involved in that trade.

Besides, here on the Baja, there is a commodity even more lucrative than drugs. The waters of The Sea of Cortes are home to more than 5,500 species, among them, the totoaba, a rather large and hearty fish that has been over-fished and exploited over the years. Besides being a hard-fighting game fish, and a tasty one at that, the totoaba also is valued by Chinese herbalists who claim the bladder of the fish has special restorative properties as an aphrodisiac fetching prices of approximately $60,000 per kilo. The totoaba fishery has been almost all but depleted even though rescue efforts are in play.

So, I’m not quite sure what we’re planning to do with 4,000 troops walking the beat on the border. I seriously doubt they’ll be looking for fish heads.

I would imagine they might help lend a hand in blocking some of the drugs entering the country. And, maybe, just maybe, they might keep a handful of eager folks from coming in without proper paperwork, but quite frankly, the Mexican nationals I have known are fairly intelligent people and most have no desire to force themselves into a place where they would feel unwelcome.

It’s just not their style.

But, it will make for good optics to see the president reviewing boots on the ground at the border.

Still, it’s lousy duty.

The desert is harsh and hot, especially coming into summer.

The terrain is hostile. Lots of snakes and other critters that like to bite and harass humans.

And, there’s really no place cool to hang out. U.S. Border Patrol already has those places staked out.

It would be nice if at least once, these citizen soldiers drew a decent duty station that isn’t under water, under suspicion or under siege.

It could be worse, of course, they could end up being assigned to the president’s big parade shindig in November.

No bad days!

Ed Kociela is an opinion columnist for St. George News. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: edkociela.mx@gmail.com

Twitter: @STGnews, @EdKociela