In our view: Safe border

June 29, 2009 08:32 pm

— There is an interesting and important debate between two powerful figures in the Obama administration.
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano wants to use the National Guard to enforce security on our southern border. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asks who will pay for the troops and who has command authority over them. This relates directly to the question of the role of our military forces in domestic law enforcement.
The noted author on matters military, Tom Clancy, once gave a speech arguing against the use of military forces for law enforcement. His subsequent book “Clear and Present Danger” emphasized his points. Simply stated he said, “Don’t do it.” We agree.
Governors have statutory authority to use the National Guard for short-term duty such as riot control. That is appropriate, and the state foots the bill in most cases. In the above case, the mission for the Guard is more open-ended (even undefined in terms of when the job would be completed), and Homeland Security wants the Department of Defense to foot the bill.
We strongly agree that border security in the south requires significant enhancement. That is the clear responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security. That department should hire and train the necessary forces to perform that mission and pay for the effort to do so.
If such security is an emergency matter requiring the short-term use of the Guard and its equipment, then Homeland Security should fund the effort. Command authority over the troops should rest with the military chain of command during the effort. This would allow time for Homeland Security to hire, train and equip its own forces for the longer mission.
Few military personnel are specifically trained in law enforcement domestically. Their mission is to fight wars, a job with entirely different skills.
Budget augmentation would obviously be required to increase border security. It is a domestic issue and should be funded accordingly. Let Homeland Security fight that budget battle in Congress. If the military funds it, fiscal accountability as well as mission success or failure accountability will be lost in the shuffle.
Gates needs to win in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He must train, equip and fund the forces to do so. Napolitano needs to win on the border. She must carry the fiscal and tactical burden of success on her own two feet.
This is reminiscent of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld trying to blame the failure in Iraq on the State Department. Let’s not go down that road again.