Marking the five year anniversary of Iraq war

Arizona needs a troop surge, too

Addressing an audience of Pentagon officials, soldiers and diplomats, he said: “The battle in Iraq is noble, it is necessary, and it is just. And, with your courage, the battle in Iraq will end in victory.”

President Bush effectively linked the Iraq war to the global battle against the al Qaida terrorists, invoking the success of last year’s troop surge, which he credited with turning the situation in Iraq around. “Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al Qaida out“, he said. “War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq, so now they argue the war costs too much.”

Although this site has often taken the president to task for his limp border policies which place the United States in harm’s way in a post-9/11 world, we support his vigilance on the global front—and urge the same commitment to national security to protect American citizens here at home.

Arizona has become the gateway for the influx of illegals into the United States. The dollar costs alone, passed on to taxpaying Arizona citizens, are skyrocketing. Four years ago, they were estimated at $1.3 billion annually.

Former Presidential candidate, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R – CA) writing for Human Events, states the threat clearly: Consider that in 2005 alone, 155,000 foreign citizens from countries other than Mexico were apprehended attempting to cross our border with Mexico. These individuals came from countries all around the world, several of which have an adversarial relationship with the United States. If it is accurate to assume that an estimated 4 out of every 10 crossing attempts are successful, as some reports suggest, then we can infer that at least 62,000 individuals from countries like China, Iran and Syria, made it into the United States.

Arizona needs a troop surge, too.