Porous southern border endangers United States
Do we have a country (nation) or not?
Here's a definition of a country: a nation with its own government, occupying a particular territory.
And a definition of nation: a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.
In the military, one of the first things everyone is taught is to secure your perimeter. When on patrol, there is always a sentry on duty to make sure you are not surprised by a sneak attack.
Why are we, the American populus, allowing anyone, and I mean anyone, to enter our southern border? Why?
When Russians kill civilians, we call this "war crimes." When we killed civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria or Libya, we called it collateral damage. How many terrorists have we created in these foreign countries. Think about it this way: How would you feel if one of your family members, say a daughter or a son, who was not in the military was killed by a foreigner who was in your country uninvited? Would you not want revenge? I am sure the vast majority of people would. Well, this is exactly what we have done for the past 60 years starting with Vietnam, then Iraq, then Afghanistan, then back into Iraq, then Libya and then Syria, just to name the known places our government has been.
We have no idea who is coming into this country. No idea at all! The Border Patrol has captured people from all over the globe. It is not just people from Central and South America. According to the Border Patrol, there were over 300,000 people who came into the nation in just the first three months of this year who were not captured. The Border Patrol calls these people "got aways." We, the federal government, have no idea where they came from, what their objectives were for coming in the first place, etc. I am sure the vast majority came here for a better life. But what about the ones who came here for nefarious reasons? What about the drug smugglers? How many young lives are going to be lost to drugs? What about sex smugglers? Here we are worried about how slaves were treated prior to the Civil War (150 years ago) but not concerned about these young sex slaves who come across our border every single day and whose lives will be completely destroyed. Where is the outrage? Where is the demand to close our southern border?
Until the American populus starts demanding we secure our southern border, this issue will only get worse. We will become more and more vulnerable to any sort of attack from within. We will not need to worry about attacks from other countries. Our way of life is in jeopardy of being destroyed from within. Our southern border is our Trojan horse.
Mike Clifford
Bentonville
'Overpaid' UA faculty appreciated so much
I happened to see a letter to the editor in the Democrat-Gazette that decried the "overpaid, leftist professors" of higher education.
It was ironic to read that letter then later receive a notification that this week (April 11-15) is faculty appreciation week at the University of Arkansas.
Happy faculty appreciation week to my overpaid colleagues! Hope you're all enjoying your huge paychecks.
Matthew Bertucci
Fayetteville