Thread: New Project Targets Border

http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impr ... abla=miami

New project targets border

Mexico's oil platforms and tourist destinations are also mentioned as possible targets for terrorists.

BY JOSÉ CARREÑO/EL UNIVERSAL
May 20, 2005

WASHINGTON The U.S. and Mexican governments are quietly working on a new joint anti-terror initiative known as the "North American security perimeter" to identify vulnerable points along the nations' shared border.

The agreement came after a meeting of NAFTA leaders in Waco, Texas, last March. U.S. conservatives in recent months have been vocal in pressuring both the United States and Mexico to improve border security.

However, the perimeter project is just the most recent in a series of joint initiatives since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

"We have very good relations with Mexico," said U.S. National Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Thursday during a meeting at the Center for Strategic International Studies, referring to cooperation on security issues.

Interior Secretary Santiago Creel and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell signed an agreement in 2003 to work towards "intelligent" borders that would deter terrorism but leave trade unhindered.

A special binational committee has met at least six times in the last two years to implement the plan and analyze the nations' infrastructure and identify possible terrorist targets.

Besides border targets, Mexico has also worked to increase security for its oil platforms and refineries. Another potential scenario being analyzed by both nations is an attack on tourist resorts popular with U.S. tourists, such as Cancun or Cabo San Lucas.

However, one barrier to implementing these initiatives, according to experts, are political sensibilities. Opposition politicians in Mexico have criticized President Vicente Fox's administration for giving U.S. security forces too much authority to act on Mexican soil.

I just feel soooo safe.

RR

** Anything that has the vocabulary - HEMESPHERIC or NORTH AMERICAN should be red flagged immediately.

** After several years and so many MEETINGS, they've seemed to IGNORE the BORDER.

** Why are WE protecting THEIR OIL while they're not doing a blessed thing to imporove their poverty level? Perhaps we should go back to NAFTA & NORTH AMERICAN to formulate the big picture.
We're protecting MEXICO and leaving our border wide open?

Now, isn't that a smack upside the head