2010 -- The Year of the Border War
The photos shown here were taken on Dec. 17, 2009 on what is called the Amnesty Trail. Two people, thought to be escorts for drug toting "mules," are seen carrying rifles. Ten days after these photos were taken a U.S. Border Patrol agent was shot - presumably by someone protecting a drug load – not far from where these photos were taken.
American Border Patrol has photos of thousands of border crossers but this is the first time people have been seen carrying weapons.
Violence against Border Patrol agents is up almost 300 percent over last year. This follows a killing spree in Mexico that has claimed more than 10,000 people since 2005.
The drug war in Mexico was precipitated by the construction of new border fencing and barriers, not by Mexican President Calderon's so-called crackdown. Although fence construction has been halted there are new resources being thrown at the problem and this can only make matters worse for the cartels. It may not be long before the rule of not attacking U.S. officers is abandoned and we begin to lose agents. How many must die before the government finally seals the border? How long will politics overrule protection?
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