And Our Policy Is? The National Security Advisor to the President thought for a moment after being asked how to understand what made a national policy. Invoking non-attribution, he said one couldn't tell policy by public pronouncements, wiring diagrams, or who was in what position. One had to observe what was actually happening, and what was happening was the policy. He even said that hearing things personally was better than official writing, and anecdotal evidence was the best history. Crossing the bridge from El Paso to Juarez we saw twenty men in five groups of four individuals. Each group made its way down the concrete bank to the Rio Grande and boarded a large rubber inner tube which had a plywood board fastened on top. There was enough area on each raft for four men to ride out of the water. Another man operated this ferry boat by wading across the shallow river, pulling the raft. While we walked the several hundred feet across the river on the pedestrian bridge, several groups below us also made their way across, but in the opposite direction. We stopped to watch the last two groups, thinking that we would soon see a show as the US Customs intercepted them. But nothing happened. In broad daylight, and coming up the bank on the U.S. side right next to the US Customs Motor Pool, they all quickly disappeared. The fence they crossed was about ten feet of ordinary wire. As we crossed into Mexico we saw the base of the buildings surrounded by German barbed wire. Unlike the American style wire with barbs attached, the German wire is actually a strip of stainless steel with cuts along the edge to form sharp opposing points. Having seen it on NATO maneuvers I knew that it is impossible for the ordinary person to get through it even with gloves and protective clothing. Why was it not around the border? I heard that it was banned because it was "cruel and unusual punishment" or something like that. So what is our policy? The policy is to allow anyone, who is physically fit enough to get over a 10 foot fence, into the country. "The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw �1997, William Heyman
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