Border War Here, Now - "Ain't No Time To Wait"

El Paso killing of a kid not the first of many skirmishes

"...a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones
together..." - Ecclesiastes

Weapons.

Look to your feet. The Earth is filled with them,
especially at the border areas, the rivers, the deserts, the
mountain passes, the swamps, the beaches.

Stones.

They are deadly in the hands of an adolescent human male, an
individual whose eyesight is as sharp as it will ever be,
whose upper body strength and reactions are as precisely
focused and honed as his Maker intended.

In his arsenal, he lacks only one thing - experience. His
judgment is flawed by the fact that since nothing wrong has
ever happened to him, then he assumes nothing will. His
bravery centers upon his ignorance.

If his father is far away working for the Yanqui dollar in
the Land of the Big PX, then there is no one to attenuate
his ignorance, no check upon what he will do.

There is no bar mitzvah, no great work or ceremony of
acculturation into the greater society. He is allowed to
remain in his adolescent warrior association with other
little fellows as ignorant as he.

His weapons are as free as the stones at his feet.

Sometimes, the terrain itself is a weapon.

Withdraw and go to the redoubts that you, the defender, know
so well. Let the enemy attempt to penetrate against the
tactics of retreating before conditions of thirst, of
hunger, exposure to cold, extreme heat, mosquitos, snakes.

There are vast areas enforested with stunted and thorned
trees that provide no real shade, huge clumps of cactus
impenetrable as coral reefs - and no drinking water anywhere
in sight.

The problem. Uncontrolled, illegal immigration.

How is it done? Border Patrol Agents are so overwhelmed at
choke points such as El Paso and San Diego that they are
helpless against waves of humanity, throngs of people who
dash across a river only inches deep and charge across
freeways crowded with cars and trucks after others have
created distractions further downriver by hurling stones at
agents on patrol.

After all, one must retreat in the face of a shower of fist-
sized rocks, no matter how well-armed an assault force of
armored defenders may be.

Fire into the crowd of your attackers, adolescent boys each
and every one, and suddenly, you are a murderer and not a
government agent enforcing the law.

That's when the vox populi opens its throat and roars long
and loud, galvanizing opinion and motivating people to take
a hard stand, where before they were unconcerned, oblivious,
content to be that way.

Last Monday, the ongoing conflict at El Paso Del Norte led
to confrontation between the Federales of Mexico and
American Border Patrol Agents who stood on both sides of the
river and aimed their automatic weapons at each other.

As they always said in the school yards, one was scared and
the other was glad of it.

Is this anything new?

Absolutely not. Read your Bible.

There was a time well chronicled in the holy lore of
Christianity when an occupied nation sent young boys against
an armored invader with the best and most sophisticated
weapons system available at the time.

The place was named Israel and the occupying army consisted
of the columns of the troops of the Legions of Rome.

How long did it take to subdue those Israelite boys?

Merely 80 years, give or take a decade or two.

That's all. Just a century, or so.

If the Bible does not satisfy your curiosity, then read the
Roman scribes who wrote the first edition of that particular
part of history. They will be glad to tell you what kind of
hassle it was.

Is it over?

Not on your life. It's nowhere near over. Don't take any
bets on that. The Palestinians still employ the same
tactics against the modern Israel Defense Force.

Was it the first time they fought against an occupier using
the stones to be gathered at their feet?

No.

Read up on the shepherd boy, David, who slew the giant
Philistine Goliath in single warrior combat.

You have a problem on your hands. A corrupt, drug-fueled
economy is sending rock-slinging commandos against your
professional troopers at border choke points where refugees
and illicit drugs cross your borders.

Know your enemy. He still has acne and he's growing so fast
that sometimes the bones in his legs and arms ache because
of it.

He lives on adrenaline and he doesn't know exactly what he
wants or how to go about getting it.

He just knows that you are his enemy and he wants what you
have.

He's an extremely loyal enemy.

Demonize him at your peril.

Defend yourself or he will take all you have.

Sorry about that.

And who wrote those immortal words about the stones?
Solomon, son of David, wrote the homily known as
Ecclesiastes.

He had the same problems on his hands, but the hands were
not bloody, so he was elected to build a temple using the
treasure claimed by his father, the shepherd boy with the
stones to fight the invader.

The war is here.

The time is now.

The war is always here.

The time is always now.