http://tinyurl.com/29o68dv America's Third War: Texas Strikes Back By Jennifer Griffin Published November 18, 2010 | FoxNews.com "I never thought that we'd be in this paramilitary type of engagement. It's a war on the border," said Captain Stacy Holland with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Holland leads a fleet of 16 state-of-the-art helicopters that make up the aviation assets used by the Texas DPS to fight Mexican drug cartels. In recent years, the cartels have become bolder and more ruthless. They cross the border with AK-47s on their backs, wearing military camouflage. They recruit in prisons and schools on the American side. Spotters sit in duck blinds along the Rio Grande and call out the positions of the U.S. Border Patrol. To combat the cartels, the Texas Department of Public Safety is launching a counterinsurgency. Related Links America's Third War: National Guard's New Mission <http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/15/americas-war-national-guards-new-missi on/> Tactical strike teams send field intelligence they gather to Austin to a joint operation intelligence center, or JOIC in military terminology. "It certainly is a war in a sense that we're doing what we can to protect Texans and the rest of the nation from clearly a threat that has emerged over the last several years," said Former FBI prosecutor Steve McCraw, who runs the undeclared "war." And now that there is added pressure on the cartels, the drug runners are employing new techniques, known as a splash down. When the heat is on, they attempt to return to Mexico with the drugs, often times in broad daylight. And because the Texas law enforcement's authority ends at the border -- in this case the river -- they even have time to put on their life jackets. "The cartels may be ruthless, they may be vicious, they may be cowardly ... but they're not stupid," said McCraw. "They'll adapt their tactics and recently they've adapted their tactics to utilize smaller loads, cross with rafts, stolen vehicles on our side." President Barack Obama <http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/obama-administration/barack-obama.ht m#r_src=ramp> and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano <http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/obama-administration/janet-napolitan o.htm#r_src=ramp> have recently said the Mexican border is more secure now than it has been in 20 years, but some along this border strongly disagree. "To suggest the southwest border is secure is ridiculous," said Holland. Read more: <http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/18/americas-war-texas-mounts-counterinsur gency-effort/#ixzz15ejCsDnt> http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/18/americas-war-texas-mounts-counterinsurg ency-effort/#ixzz15ejCsDnt [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
