Bean bags for Janet Napolitano

The security team protecting Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano should, from this day forward, be armed with non-lethal weapons including bean bag rounds.  If it is good enough for the elite agents of BORTAC who operate in one of the most dangerous areas on the Mexican border, in the United States and in the world for that matter, it is most certainly good enough for the Secretary of DHS.

It has been confirmed by yet another source that agent Brian Terry and one other agent were armed with shotguns with non-lethal bean bag rounds.

One agent fired bean bag rounds and when the outlaws opened up with real bullets, the agent then drew his hand gun to return fire, indicating that he did not have the standard issue M-4 rifle in addition to the non-lethal weaponry. 

The FBI and other agencies are still investigating.  And while I will never cast aspersions on the line agents and officers of any law enforcement agency, the bosses are another matter.  CYA, politics and political correctness are all factors that we have seen in the past that just makes some of us automatically assume that a cover-up, to some extent, at some level, will ensue.  Read Kimberly Dvorak's article.

Some questions that I would like to see an investigation address are:

1. Why were the agents armed with non-lethal weaponry in the first place?
2. Why are non-lethal weapons even authorized in a war zone?
3. What are the rules of engagement when our Border Patrol agents are patrolling?
4. Why are some areas in Southern Arizona “off limits” to the Border Patrol?
5. What did the supervisors who authorized Agent Terry’s BORTAC mission know about the area?
6. Are the helicopter pilots who support the ground troops experienced and properly trained to provide the best support?
7. What was the goal of this particular mission?
8. What equipment were they using; weapons, comms and protective gear?
9. Were they wearing body armor?  If so, what kind?  Were they wearing the kind of vest that police officers wear that will stop a handgun round but not a rifle bullet?
10. Why didn't they apprehend the 5th suspect when he was spotted numerous times and agents on the ground were begging, repeatedly, to be allowed to go in and get him?

Men in the field rely on three basic mission components; training, tactics and equipment.  Clearly at least two of them did not have adequate fire power which endangered them and their fellow officers.  If the plan was to capture these outlaws, what was the contingency for them not surrendering but instead deciding to fight it out?

You always have at least two plans.  One is how you plan to secure and clear the objective.  And the other is what you do if things don’t go according to the first plan.  I’ve never been in combat.  But I have been told that you have to plan extensively because anything more complicated than a can opener will break down.  It is Murphy’s Law in spades.  When it hits the fan, you should have a plan for it...in advance.

The BORTAC agents were in a hostile area known to be used by drug cartel members armed with fully automatic AK-47s, the weapon of choice.   There is body armor available that will stop an AK-47 round.  Either titanium-steel or ceramic plates will stop a high velocity round including the 7.62 x 39.  Were the agents equipped with this kind of protection?  And, if not, why not?  Have any agents in the Tucson Sector been prevented from using their own money to purchase ceramic plates for their body armor?  If so, why?

KGUN9, out of Tucson provided an excellent report on Brian Terry’s family’s response to Sec. Napolitano.  It was refreshing, actually.  This is what reporting used to be about .  Kudos to Joel Waldman.

In the report one family member can be heard saying of Napolitano, “She was pacifying us.”

The prattle that Napolitano spewed to KGUN reporter Waldman is not exactly reassuring.  In fact, whoever her public relations advisor is, they let her down.

Madam Secretary, the correct response to any and all questions about the killing of Agent Terry is this:

"We all regret the loss of Agent Terry.  The job he and the other brave men and women of the Border Patrol do is a dangerous one.  We have already sent enormous resources to the border, but we intend to add to those resources whatever equipment and technology they need to succeed in their mission, minimize their risks and prevent the killing of agents in the future." 

This is what you say, and do, if you really care about the agents on the line.  Anything less the troops aren't buying. 

The DHS Secretary could also show how much she cares about the safety of agents by proposing a gun swap with BORTAC. Send them the M-4s that her security detail has in their SUVs and receive in return the bean-bag shotguns that BORTAC has. 

I think the offer would be appreciated and I don’t think it would be turned down.

If you haven't read them yet, you may want to also read:

Rubber Bullets for Agent Terry?  and

We need a congressional investigation into the killing of BP Agent Brian Terry

UPDATE   Shooting Incident Report Time Line

http://tucsoncitizen.com/view-from-baja-arizona/2010/12/29/more-rumors-and-few-facts-regarding-the-death-of-border-patrol-agent-brian-terry/

Rick Oltman is the Founder of The Immigration Tea Party

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You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. -- Winston Churchill