Emerging From the Shadow of ‘Black Hawk Down’
In early 1996, I was preparing to assume leadership of a combat engineer platoon in the Army’s 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, NY. At the time, Ft. Drum soldiers were the most frequently deployed in the Army—with the most notable of these being to Mogadishu, Somalia in an operation now referred to as “Black Hawk Down.”
The platoon I was slated to take over had recently completed several division-wide exercises to evaluate their combat readiness and—unfortunately for me—was rated among the lowest at Ft. Drum. They had a serious morale and discipline problem and lacked the confidence and faith in one another that is absolutely necessary in a combat-ready platoon. Fixing these issues would ONLY come about through solid, focused leadership and undaunted determination to succeed in making these soldiers ready for battle. My peers said it couldn’t be done. My senior officers were skeptical and had largely given up on this platoon. My subordinates were sick of making up for the deficiencies of the soldiers I was about to take over. However, in the span of 9 months, and after relieving a dangerous and non-performing platoon sergeant, promoting several other junior non-commissioned officers within the unit, instilling discipline while nurturing morale, and getting to know each one of my soldiers personally—so I could motivate each one of them individually—my platoon was re-evaluated and rated among the very top of the 10th Mountain Division. It was quite an accomplishment—and one that led to my chain of command recommending me for promotion ahead of my peers.
In reality, however, the decision to turn this platoon around was simple. Sure, there were 48 and 72 hour stints where none of us slept, and training and re-training on the rifle range, the demolition range, the gas chamber, etc., was difficult, and the extra hours of PT with the soldiers who needed it was time consuming…but really, because the task of making my platoon combat ready so they could fight and win America’s wars—and return home to their wives and kids alive—was so important, there was only one clear path to take. I had to lead, follow, or get out of the way…and I led.
The State of our Border Security: Non-Mission Capable
Putting this in perspective, the state of our nation’s borders and our illegal immigration problem right now is very similar to the platoon I took command of in 1996. In both instances, neglect and lack of focus on key issues caused problems that were exacerbated to the point that the damage was nearly irreparable. In both cases, solving the problem involved a choice with very serious consequences for our nation. In both situations, those who had the opportunity to make a difference had to lead, follow, or get out of the way…
…and in the case of illegal immigration, we’re still waiting for our elected officials to decide what they want to do. This is unacceptable.
Illegal immigration is a plague that has divided Americans and eroded American Exceptionalism. It undermines our sovereignty and heightens our national security risk. It stresses our judicial, education, and health care systems and, as a result, our economy—our nation—has paid a serious price.
We know that in order to fix this problem, we need to seal the borders, eliminate the thought of amnesty and end the anchor baby program. We have to purge incentives (like housing and tuition assistance) and punish employers who hire illegal immigrants. We need to document, tax, and fine those who are here illegally and document and deport those who are here illegally and committing crimes. Finally, we need to make it easier to immigrate legally and melt into the fabric of this great nation. These ideas aren’t new, nor are they anything that each of us doesn’t already know. The reason we’re still discussing them as “ideas” and not “the solution,” however, is because there is no will…no desire…no leadership in Washington to make this happen. In the meantime, our country continues to suffer because of it.
Will taking the steps necessary to end the problem of illegal immigration be simple? Of course not…but given the alternatives, we don’t really have a choice other than to get serious about illegal immigration. Think of it this way: when my soldiers were in Mogadishu, did they have a choice as to whether or not they should rescue the downed pilots and crew of the Black Hawks? No…Americans were in peril so they had to lead, follow, or get out of the way. They led. That’s what we expect of those who serve this country—whether it’s in uniform or public office, it doesn’t matter—the public entrusts their health and welfare to those who serve…and now more than ever, we need elected officials to lead, follow, or get out of the way…and I choose to lead.
It’s Our Time; It’s Our Duty.
In order to solve illegal immigration we first have to WANT to solve it. Unfortunately, we have a short list of action-oriented leaders who are willing to do this…and an inversely proportional long list of pro-illegal immigration advocates who are winning this battle and are tearing our country apart. What would Thomas Jefferson or John Adams or George Washington say about this? Given all that they sacrificed for us, would our Founding Fathers extend a political olive branch to a faction of society that threatened all that they fought for—all that they risked…for us? Of course not! They’d lead their beloved country through the challenge and would expect us to do the same.
There is too much at stake to settle for electing a republican just to unseat a democrat…or for sending someone to Washington who can balance a checkbook and has created jobs in the private sector but doesn’t understand that what we need now—what we owe future generations—is hard-core, serious, Constitutionally-based leadership. The kind that won’t flinch or have to consider the political fallout when a hard decision is necessary to get America back on track…the kind that doesn’t think twice about taking the harder right over the easier wrong…the kind that will not look the other way on an issue like illegal immigration and stand on the side of American citizens to save American Exceptionalism.
At West Point, I studied the greatest leaders in history…and studied with the leaders who will shape the direction our world takes in the future. In every instance, whether past, present, or future, quality leadership was defined by what it contributed—not by how hard someone tried or a great speech they gave. It was action-oriented. It was results-oriented. It was selfless and totally “big-picture” oriented. Whether it was leading a broken platoon back to excellence or standing up to defend American Exceptionalism from the scourge of illegal immigration, leadership is about weighing the consequences and making the right choice…
…and it’s time to choose now.
This is our time; it’s our duty. In solving illegal immigration—or any other issue we face as Americans—we need those we elect to office to lead, follow, or get out of the way. What has the current political class done for us on this issue? What have they contributed? How can we look at the lack of leadership on an issue like illegal immigration and possibly consider those in Washington—or those who desire to go to Washington but don’t know what it means to lead—successful? Regardless of what people have said they’ve done in the past, illegal immigration is a bigger issue now than ever. Washington has failed us. “Establishment thinking” has failed us…and Americans continue to pay the price. It’s time to send people to Washington who will unapologetically lead, inspire others to follow, and move those who only aim to obstruct out of the way.
If you’re still not sold on the idea that leadership is absolutely essential in solving the crisis of illegal immigration, consider this: illegal immigrants are currently winning the battle of sensibilities in our country. How is it possible that the elected leaders of the United States of America let illegal immigrants dictate the terms upon which they get to come to our nation, partake in the American Dream, participate in the lifestyle that our forefathers built and passed on to us then demand to fly their nation’s flag and be treated equally as legal citizens under the law? This is a direct assault on American Exceptionalism, and the ONLY antidote to this affliction is effective leadership—effective leadership that has been missing from Washington D.C. for years.
Where have all the leaders gone? What happened to the pride of being an American among our elected officials? We are a special nation and a blessed people….and when it comes to protecting this nation that I love and solving her problems (like illegal immigration), every fiber of who I am…every cell that makes me breathe…looks at all that’s at stake and unapologetically chooses to lead.
Join our efforts to bring leadership and accountability to Washington! Help us eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse! Donate to Dave Westlake for U.S. Senate by clicking here.
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My mother works in Nogales...
Aaron Gardner (Diary) Wednesday, July 7th at 4:25PM EST (link)It is a verifiable war zone down there.
This must stop.
conform and celebrate diversity….or else!!!
“We’d be much better off if We The People had desired small government enough to keep it.” acat
Follow @Aaron_RS
Sold!
namaste (Diary) Wednesday, July 7th at 4:48PM EST (link)How do we get you in office and how do we get more just like you in office? Thank you for your service and thank you for this amazing diary. Where has the courage of this great nation gone? Why have we come to a time that leadership in this country needs to be spelled out for us? Oh what so many of us have taken for granted through the years and now we are paying a price. I’ll be the first to admit that as much disappointment as I have felt with the current state of our nation, I am personally without all the answers. However, I can recognize a solution when I see it – and Dave you have sold me.
In fact, you are an easy sell, and we should all be thanking you for running in the U.S. Senate race. The determination, skill, conviction, and experience that you possess is a rare thing to find. I am honored that you have put yourself into this race to represent me. I am honored to donate to your campaign. And, I will be honored to vote for you.
It is clear that now more than ever, we need leaders in Washington.
oh yeah
simplyscott Thursday, November 25th at 12:15PM EST (link)i don’t recall ever agreeing with anything on this site because it’s usually so far right that i just can’t agree, but this time the blog hits the nail right on the head. as with 99% of everything, it’s a complex problem that must be addressed from all angles — there’s fault on all sides, but the major issue is that not one politician has the cahones to step up and take it on and lead. bravo! to this gentleman for saying exactly what should be said on this issue. one day, maybe, America will elect someone who will actually lead, not just suck up to voters in the name of re-election.
Dave you are indeed the RIGHT man to take on Feingold....
JadedByPolitics (Diary) Wednesday, July 7th at 6:33PM EST (link)if anyone thinks your type of Conservatism isn’t exactly what is needed in DC then they are NOT Conservative. What you have just laid out here is exactly what Reagan talked about “NO pale pastels”!
Unified Patriots – How-To:
Activists Taking Action
Good point Dave
handprop Wednesday, July 7th at 6:38PM EST (link)The illegals are winning, I never looked at it that way. It always seems like it’s just an issue that’s being stalled but in reality your right someone has to win and right now it’s non-U.S. citizens. The fact that they are winning the argument is a sad state af affairs.
handprop
Study: Illegal Immigration costs taxpayers $113 billion/yr.
redneck_hippie (Diary) Wednesday, July 7th at 6:49PM EST (link)h/t MarkLevinShow.com
http://www.fairus.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=23198&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl=1741
You can go to the site and find out how much I.I. costs you. In Illinois, the cost is 4.6 billion dollars. That is 2 billion dollars more than in Arizona. Perhaps because our sanctuary city has so many programs and fewer jobs than illegals.
http://www.fairus.org/images/content/pagebuilder/113529.jpg
Maywood, CA, is 97% Hispanic/illegals
renny (Diary) Wednesday, July 7th at 7:10PM EST (link)with its own all-multicultural city councit and has just declared bankruptcy, is firing all employees, and is farming out all services. It is the perfect example of sanctuary city, liberal whackoness, and federal immigration stupidity.
55555! I am angry at politicians pandering for the illegal alien vote
David123 (Diary) Wednesday, July 7th at 8:09PM EST (link)There is also a national security angle to this – some illegal aliens are terrorists. If the police find a suspicious person, like Moussaoui, who is an illegal alien, they can hold him on immigration charges even if they can’t prove he is a terrorist. So-called “comprehensive immigration reform”, amnesty, will just make it easier for the terrorists and harder for the police to stop foreign-born terrorists.
David123
This is why we must elect JD Hayworth
crassus (Diary) Thursday, July 8th at 2:23AM EST (link)I am a bit upset that RedState has completely ignored the Arizona race. This is very unfortunate as McCain certainly has a worse record than Bob Bennett, who was rightly defeated by the brilliant constitutional expert Mike Lee. John McCain is terrible, but on no issue is he worse than on immigration. No person save Ted Kennedy has done more damage to America in recent times on this. His record on amnesty is long and clear. He voted for amnesty in 2007. He also supported two smaller amnesties in 2007- the DREAM Act and AgJobs amnesty. He voted for amnesty in 2006. Aditionally, the 2006 amnesty bill, S. 2611, allowed 66 million immigrants in the next 20 years. He co-sponsored major amnesty legislation in 2004 and 2005. He voted for amnesty in 1997. He voted for amnesty in 1990, with a bill that also included the VISA process (poorly regulated) which the 9/11 attackers came on. He also voted for a major amnesty in 1986. Do you really think he has changed at all?
And JD is a nut
conservativecrusade (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 2:20AM EST (link)Most have decided that picking a guy in that race would be similar to wanting to eat and only being able to choose between cow crap and bull crap. Not much of a choice for your dinner and not much of a choice in Arizona. The only thing that the two of those can be thankful for is that most on here and most of the conservatives in Arizona live by the philosophy republican in the general or neither would get many votes.
“The America Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” — Alexis de Tocqueville
If you kill enough of them, they stop fighting. — Curtis LeMay
We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan
Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence. — George Washington
Complete McCain voting record on immigration since 1990
crassus (Diary) Thursday, July 8th at 2:25AM EST (link)http://www.numbersusa.com/content/my/congress/33/gradescoresheet#tabset-3
Who cares about NumberUSA ratings?
Neil Stevens (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 3:56AM EST (link)What radical green left group are you going to pull next? Greenpeace?
RS contributing editor, technical administrator, and “a hardy variety of crabgrass.”
Read the RedState Posting Rules
Unlikely Voter: Poll Analysis, Election Projection.
“I rejoice that America has resisted.” – William Pitt, the Elder
Mr. Westlake, I'm printing out this post and handing it
Veronica (Diary) Thursday, July 8th at 4:48PM EST (link)to our15-yr-old son, a patriot who’s a history buff-in-training on Black Hawk Down and other things historical.
We’re very proud of him. This 4th of July weekend, when he had a choice to rent Star Wars or The Pianist, he chose The Pianist, even though he had seen it years ago.
This was all him, not us. We work hard on being fair and factual informers as parents.
He wanted to enter the military .. but the tough realization of what’s in store with the Obama Administration has lead him to think about other things (he’s sorely disappointed he won’t be able to vote.. shy by a 3 months.).
This coming school year, he’ll be committing himself to CX Debate — on top of football and pre-AP studies — because of this year’s 2010-2011 resolution:
“Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce its military and/or police presence in one or more of the following: South Korea, Japan, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey.”
Reading about your service, your campaign, and your leadership will be an inspiration, I know it.
We need to plan for tomorrow with this next generation. Thank you for being a great example for our young people, too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pray as if everything depends on God, and work as if everything depends on us. – St. Augustine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is what it's all about...
Dave Westlake (Diary) Friday, July 9th at 12:04AM EST (link)…your 15 year old son, and all his friends, and all the future leaders of this nation. We need solid leadership now to solve the fundamental challenges we face today so we have something GREAT to hand off to your son’s generation later. It all boils down to leadership…
Veronica, I’d be honored if I could speak to your son about the future I think we owe him and his generation. Would you kindly drop me a note through our campaign website (www.davewestlake.org) and I’ll send you my cell phone number–you are welcome to call me anytime. I’d be honored to speak to what is clearly a very talented young man who obviously takes the future he’ll be entrusted to very seriously. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best,
Dave
Nice diary---
tapout Friday, July 9th at 1:58AM EST (link)As we’ve come to expect from you.
Keep it simple. Duty Honor Country.
It is our time to carry the torch of liberty future generations. This is our calling.
You have my support 100%.
This sounds like amnesty
jackbenimble (Diary) Friday, July 9th at 10:02AM EST (link)“We know that in order to fix this problem, we need to seal the borders, eliminate the thought of amnesty and end the anchor baby program. We have to purge incentives (like housing and tuition assistance) and punish employers who hire illegal immigrants. We need to document, tax, and fine those who are here illegally and document and deport those who are here illegally and committing crimes. Finally, we need to make it easier to immigrate legally and melt into the fabric of this great nation. These ideas Arne’t new, nor are they anything that each of us doesn’t already know. The reason we’re still discussing them as “ideas” and not “the solution,” however, is because there is no will…no desire…no leadership in Washington to make this happen. In the meantime, our country continues to suffer because of it.”
I don’t know these things!
This reads like the Chuck Schumer strategy. Chuckie is a big believer in talking tough about illegals so that the American people will know that the politicians are finally serious and then he proposes something that is fundamentally amnesty. This just sounds like amnesty to me. What exactly does it mean to “eliminate the thought of amnesty” and then “document, tax and fine” It is the typical political trick that we got from President Bush and John McCain where they said “I’m against amnesty” and then they went on to propose something that had the stench of amnesty.
If the illegals are not required to leave the country and stay out it IS AMNESTY. Proposals that require illegals to learn English, pay a token fine, pay back taxes and then undergo a background check to “earn” legal status are just amnesty proposals.
Lets think about this. Learning English is a requirement of the regular immigration process. That is not a punishment. The same is true of background and health checks. They are part of the regular immigration process. And our Immigration service is ill-equipped to conduct 10-million of these checks so you can believe they will be of an extremely cursory nature. This is not a punishment and has nothing to do with earning anything. And illegal immigrants are typically very low wage earners. “Paying back taxes” means that citizens will have the opportunity to pay them a heaping serving of the Earned Income Tax Credit. We will owe them money! (And in the future they will join the ranks of the 46% of Americans who contribute nothing to the Treasury). In what strange world is this a punishment? The only thing that actually has anything to do with a punishment is the token fine. That is a pretty cheap price to pay for crimes that include: illegal entry, tax evasion, identity theft, identity fraud, numerous violations of our employment laws and that is just the felonies and excludes the many misdemeanors like violations of driving laws. The small fine is in actuality just a huge inducement for more illegal immigration in the future.
I’m sorry, but all this false bravado talk sounds pretty lame. What we really need is enforcement of existing laws and some strengthening of existing laws. The strategy that I believe in is “Attrition through Enforcement” where we make life so unpleasant for the illegals that they leave the country voluntarily at their own expense and the reason they leave is the same reason they came: for a better life. Every time in a poll that this option is offered side by side with the “call it anything but amnesty approach” you offered above, it wins so I think a lot of Americans disagree that your approach is what we need and it is not something “we all know”.
A whole lot of American are not on board with the looser and easier legal immigration idea either. Perhaps you have missed the fact that we have record unemployment and that many economists are predicting this slow job creation is going to persist for years. I think we need a long period of low immigration to give the massive wave of new people that we have admitted since 1965 a chance to become Americans. Historically, our major waves of immigration have been followed by long lulls and this has been what has allowed the melting pot to work its magic. We are fast approaching the point where more (percentage) of our population than at any point in our history is foreign born and it is time to give it a rest.
“I repudiate the idea of voting for a Democrat
I fear I must agree.
mriggio (Diary) Saturday, July 10th at 8:58AM EST (link)The sentence should read ‘we need to deport those who are here illegally’ period. The very fact that they’re here means they’ve committed a crime; their continuing presence is a continuing crime.
For those who say such a massive deportation isn’t possible, I like Ike. Although the exact figures and methodology of Eisenhower’s ‘Operation Wetback’ have been muddied by time, political correctness and exaggeration, the threat of such enforcement would almost certainly trigger a high level of ‘voluntary repatriation’, and don’t let the door hit you on your way back out.
Cheers!
mriggio
SMSgt, USAF (Ret)
Precinct Committeeman (R)
Tazewell County, Illinois
Save the
CheerleaderParty, save the World! (Heroes, ed.)Read it again
handprop Saturday, July 10th at 10:08AM EST (link)He said: “………and deport those who are here illegally.”
The way I understand what he wrote Dave wants to deport them and ALSO put heavy fines on them along with documentation. I think this is what he meant by “purge incentives”. How did you get amnesty out of this?
handprop
You should read it again
jackbenimble (Diary) Sunday, July 11th at 3:06PM EST (link)He said:
“We need to document, tax, and fine those who are here illegally and document and deport those who are here illegally and committing crimes. ”
In other words, he wants to give amnesty (aka documents) to those illegals who are just here to work and to deport only the illegal aliens who are committing crimes. This is essentially the same formulation that barack obama uses.
Most of us call it amnesty. But amnesty would mean that after they got right with the law by leaving their country we would forgive their numerous felonies like identity theft and tax evasion. What Mr. Westlake is proposing is actually a lot worse than amnesty because he never requires them to leave the country. They pay a token fine and not only are their crimes forgiven but they are also given legal status and eventually citizenship. It is amnesty with a reward for breaking our laws. The message it sends is that anybody who respects our immigration laws is a sucker.
“I repudiate the idea of voting for a Democrat
He said
indccc Sunday, July 11th at 10:16PM EST (link)“we need to seal the borders, eliminate the thought of amnesty and end the anchor baby program. We have to purge incentives (like housing and tuition assistance) and punish employers who hire illegal immigrants. We need to document, tax, and fine those who are here illegally and document and deport those who are here illegally and committing crimes”.
In other words, no social services, no jobs, document (as in put in some sort of database so we know who is here, not give legal documents), tax and fine any one who is here illegally. Perhaps he could have been a little more specific and said exorbitant taxes and fines but he certainly never said anything about forgiving their crimes or giving them legal status or citizenship.
I don’t know how you ccould have misunderstood that essay so completely.
Actually, it's nothing like amnesty...
Dave Westlake (Diary) Sunday, July 11th at 11:38PM EST (link)First and foremost, Amnesty—which is complete forgiveness of breaking immigration laws and granting full citizenship—is totally off the list of options (hence “…eliminate the thought of amnesty….”).
Fining and taxing illegal immigrants accomplishes multiple objectives. First, when done at appropriate levels, it creates an economic disincentive for illegals to stay here and, hence, encourages them to self-repatriate. This accomplishes the goal of eliminating our illegal immigrant problem without the need to massively up-size ICE or spend a lot of money on deportation efforts. If, however, the illegal immigrants don’t leave on their own right away, we will have documented them and will be collecting taxes and fines to [more than] compensate for the services they utilize until we can force them to leave later. We have to prioritize our efforts on deporting illegals—violent criminals must go first…and the borders have to be sealed to ensure they don’t come back.
Fining and taxing accomplishes only one thing.
mbecker908 (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 12:00AM EST (link)It gives Democrats a potential 15MM new voters.
What we should be doing is finding ways to eliminate illegals ability to get jobs and housing. Requiring E-Verify for both of those things with VERY large fines levied on employers and property owners of rental housing along with a felony charge that can’t be pled down.
No jobs, no housing, no illegals, no amnesty or amnesty-like crap like you’re supporting. Fines and taxes will no eliminate the “illegal immigrant problem”. And the E-Verify solution will not take lots of new Border Agents, just some accountants. We’ll not have to arrest very many Mexicans either. Put a couple of high end restaurant owners in prison for a year, eliminate their ability to ever get a business license or a liquor license again and confiscate all their assets in fines and you won’t find a Spanish speaking clerk or bus boy or maid or lawn care person anywhere in the country. And it could be done in less than a year.
Bingo, kill the jobs, fix the problem
jackbenimble (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 9:29AM EST (link)That is the obvious solution. It is simple and cheap. A lot of Republicans refuse to embrace it because they are beholden to the Chamber of Commerce lobby.
Mr. Westlake is playing word games. He wants to “document” illegal immigrants. He claims to him that means putting them in a database. But to the Democrats and quite a few Republicans it will mean giving the undocumented immigrants a document and frankly it is impossible to imagine how that process would work if they were not given some sort of document (like a receipt) that identified them and proved that they had been documented. It will prove they are registered and it will undoubtedly give them the right to take a job. If he is not giving them the right to take a job than how is he planning to collect enough taxes from them to cover the cost of services? And it will mean that taxpayers are on the hook for educating their children and giving them free medical care just like they are now. Nothing will change except that we won’t have anything to complain about because they will be legal instead of illegal. For taxpayers it will have all the negative effects of amnesty. Mr Westlake can quibble about the semantics but for the rest of us it will have the same effects as amnesty so it makes sense to call it amnesty.
It is a joke to think that we can collect enough taxes from the illegal immigrants to cover the cost of services they consume. A typical illegal immigrant family has 3 kids. Each kid costs taxpayers $8 to $12k annually to educate in school. That is at least $24k. Mr Westlake is dreaming if he thinks he can collect enough taxes from an illegal alien earning $10 an hour to cover that kind of cost. And, the puny amount of taxes collected will mainly go to the Feds. It is unlikely that the money will be shared with the States that get stuck with most of the costs of illegal immigration.
I fear Mr. Westlake’s leadership on this issue. It is just more of the same amnesty framed in the same tired language as used by George W. Bush, Mel Martinez, Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, John McCain and barack obama. They want to give the illegals amnesty and pretend it is anything but amnesty and sadly they think we are stupid and will fall for this yet again if they frame it in langauge that sounds tough but really is weak and fails to address the real problem which is employers giving illegals jobs.
And by the way, didn’t we get our butt’s handed to us in Mogadishu? Our soldiers were amazing but our leaders talked tough and acted weak just like they do with illegal immigration.
“I repudiate the idea of voting for a Democrat
Nice attempt at a cheap shot on Mogadishu.
tapout Monday, July 12th at 11:10AM EST (link)Our soldiers were handicapped by the rules of engagement and decisions made by the Secretary of Defense and President, not individual Lieutenants who whipped the squads into shape Stateside preparing them for combat.
This last comment implying poor leadership is a personal attack and seems to veer off the topic of illegal immigration.
Bad Rules of Engagement = Bad Strategy
jackbenimble (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 12:43PM EST (link)Mr Westlake spent 1/4 of his blog talking about Mogadishu and specifically identified his leadership experiences there and leading up to it as what qualified him to lead on the immigration issue. Mr Westlake framed his essay entirely within the context of his military experience and I think it is entirely appropriate to respond within that same context.
I agree that our soldiers were handicapped by rules of engagement and poor leadership and I specifically referred to our soldiers as “amazing” and identified the problem as a leadership problem. I would say the same about our ICE Agents and Border Patrol. They do the best they can given the rules of engagement but they are being set-up to fail by political leaders who define ineffective strategies.
There is a very deliberate strategic decision by our leadership to only focus on the supply side of the illegal immigration problem and to totally ignore the demand side of the problem. We spend a huge amount of effort hassling peasants but we almost never enforce the laws against the employers who are giving them jobs. As mbecker pointed out above, the solution to the illegal immigration problem lies with employer enforcement. We have a losing strategy, and in my opinion, it is deliberately so.
Mr Westlake wants us to give him a leadership position and he offers us his success at whipping a platoon into shape as a qualification. There is more to leadership then discipline, motivation and moral. You also need the ability to identify a successful strategy and define rules of engagement that will lead to success. Mr Westlake’s strategy is “document and tax” which is the same strategy offered by George Bush and barack obama. We tried the “document and tax” strategy back in 1986 and there have been seven mini-amnesties since then. All “document and tax” gets us is more illegals and eventually more Democrats. It is a losing strategy. It will be an endless immigration Mogadishu for the poor and for middle-class taxpayers which will lead to the inevitable next amnesty at some point in the future and a declining standard of living for all but the elites.
For good measure as part of his strategy, Mr Westlake also throws in a more liberal legal immigration policy. Indeed he is correct that employers will be less motivated to hire illegal labor if there is a bountiful supply of cheap legal labor. But how is all that cheap labor going to work out for the rest of us? Are these poorly paid new citizens going to be contributing to the Treasury or are the rest of us going to have to pay for this cheap labor subsidy by picking up the tab for welfare programs and to educate and medicate their offspring? Are our current poorest citizens going to live better or are the laws of supply and demand going to function to keep them poor? I think that when we import the vast amounts of poverty that Mr Westlake contemplates with the deliberate intention of satisfying employer demands for poorly paid labor we are going to end up with poverty. It is no accident that every one of the best countries in the world to live enjoys tight labor supplies with well paid workers and that most countries in the world that suffer abundant cheap labor are crap-holes. I think Mr. Westlake’s cheap labor immigration strategy is a formula for transforming us into a crap-hole with a wealthy over-class. It has already happened in places like Los Angeles.
“I repudiate the idea of voting for a Democrat
If an illegal alien gets to stay in America its amnesty
David123 (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 12:06AM EST (link)A person who gets caught with illegal drugs doesn’t get to keep the drugs.
A person who gets caught robbing doesn’t get to keep the money.
A person who is in America illegally shouldn’t be allowed to stay in America.
If you do a crime and get caught you shouldn’t get the ill-gotten gains of that crime, and that includes illegal immigration.
David123
Charging them via a fine
conservativecrusade (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 2:10AM EST (link)will never work. There are two issues with that line of thought and here they are:
No way to collect. Now you could say, make them pay right then, but the reality is most will not have the kind of cash on them, so activist judges will either do away with the fine or give the time. Then they scurry away and no fine is ever paid, and the next town has a new illegal but with a new name.
Fines for crimes are OK for some. These would be crimes such as speeding, jaywalking, not returning rented property, etc. But a person who crosses our border illegally, assumes a name which is not theirs (usually through fraud or identity theft), pays no IRS taxes, steals our medical care via hospitals with no intent to ever pay, etc etc etc has committed numerous major crimes and needs to be locked up.
No way fines ever work, period. If you really want to end illegal immigration you do a few things:
Seal the border as you stated
Make it a major felony to transport illegals with a minimum 15 years day for day.
Put notices on the borders stating trespassers will be shot. We do it in our homes, why not our country. Are the illegals crossing our borders and dealing drugs or killing our citizens any less dangerous than a robber breaking into our homes? No!
Make being in this country illegally a felony punishable by 3 years in jail for the first offense, 10 years for each offense after that. Put up Sheriff Joe type camps all over just for illegals. Treat them no better or no worse than he does his own inmates. This alone will decrease illegal immigration by a huge portion. If they know that if they get caught here illegally they will do a 3 year stint in a hell hole, most will not come. Add on time for any other law they broke such as Identity fraud, makes them think even more about coming over.
End the practice of making children born to illegals in this country citizens. This is a large reason why a vast amount come over. They know that once their children are born and given citizenship, they will also be given a free pass to live here. End it and it removes a reason to come.
And last but not least, fire any republican who even thinks about making it easy on illegals. The reality is fines will not work, they do not halfway work for current citizens. No nonsense toughness is the answer. As is consistency. We have to stop sanctuary cities and make it cost so much for them to protect illegals, they can not afford to do it anymore. The federal government should fine these cities 1 million dollars per illegal in their city that they know about. Will not take to many before the city is bankrupt and less willing to protect them.
We can stop illegal immigration but we have to be willing to be tough and not give a crap what liberals or other countries think about our policy. But in order to even think about stopping the problem we have to fire Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Boxer and once we get some true conservatives in power, go after the illegals like hell goes after a lost soul, shut the sanctuary cities down, and stop the leaks in our borders. But fining them will produce nothing but wasted time.
“The America Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” — Alexis de Tocqueville
If you kill enough of them, they stop fighting. — Curtis LeMay
We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan
Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence. — George Washington
Got the chance to see Dave at an event
indccc Saturday, July 10th at 11:22AM EST (link)last night so I asked him about this. He said we do not have the resources to essentially round them all up and ship them out. He wants to make it so expensive (with huge fines and no social services) and so difficult to be here illegally (punish employers who hire illegals therefore no jobs) that the illegals leave here on their own. These steps will also discourage others from coming here illegally. It sounds like a very common sense solution to me.
Interesting tagging
Neil Stevens (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 3:43AM EST (link)Why is this post tagged Ron Johnson, when he doesn’t seem to be mentioned in this post?
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I'm guessing
handprop Monday, July 12th at 8:53PM EST (link)because Ron is also in the race Neil, just a hunch of course, but I’m not an expert on trivial questions like this. It might also be for the public so they can research both candidates, but again….I’m not an expert on tagging articles. This is a much better conversation than illegal immigration, lets talk about tags and how we decide to use them.
Geez…..handprop