"According to a captured al Qaeda document, according to what al Qaeda has made clear, their goal is to take over the Anbar province and make it their home base for Iraq," Bush explained. "That would bring them closer to their stated objective of taking down Iraq's democracy, building a radical Islamic empire, and having safe haven from which to launch attacks on the United States's citizens here at home or abroad."
In this same vein, the Bush administration has advised the public about intelligence it has gathered that indicates al Qaeda has at least considered sneaking terrorists across our southern border.
Then-Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security James Loy spelled it out in written testimony presented to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Feb. 16, 2005. "Recent information from ongoing investigations, detentions, and emerging threat streams strongly suggests that al Qaeda has considered using the Southwest border to infiltrate the United States," said Loy. "Several al Qaeda leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons."
On May 1, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff conceded that border security is above all else about stopping terrorists. "First," said Chertoff, "I have to say that allowing unrestricted, illegal immigration through uncontrolled borders in a post-Sept. 11 world is a recipe for trouble. And that's why the debate over immigration reform, particularly after 9/11, takes a special urgency. That's why we take border security very seriously."
Exactly, Mr. Chertoff. If the risk of a terrorist attack on the United States is great enough to justify sustaining 100 casualties a month to stop al Qaeda from finding sanctuary in Iraq, it is great enough to justify the non-lethal policies it would take to secure our own border and our own worksites to stop al Qaeda from finding sanctuary on our own territory.
So far, President Bush has offered the nation a quid pro quo: He will enforce our border and our immigration laws in the future as long as he can grant amnesty today to those who have already violated our border and broken our immigration laws.
If Bush persists in this line, history will remember him for the price he demanded from the American people in return for agreeing to do his simple duty as commander in chief.