Blimps over the border
Comments (7)
Monday, September 18, 2006 | 02:00 PM ET
By Henry Champ
Recently we in the news media wrote about the American desire to build a wall along the Mexican-U.S. border.
We may have misled our readers.
The House of Representatives recently passed legislation authorizing such a project. The Senate has given it approval in principle though there are important divisions between the two bodies on the cost and timing of such an endeavour.
But we in the media kept talking about a wall or a fence, double-layered to be sure, but still a fence.
It's more than that.
The Washington Post has outlined the future for border security and it's very sophisticated, applying battlefield technology to the southern border and, some fear, to the Canadian-U.S. border down the road.
According to the Post, within a few days, perhaps even this week, the Department of Homeland Security will declare a winner in its competition for the best plan to defend the border against illegal immigration.
It's a competition that has attracted the world's top military contractors vying for a contract that will be worth billions of dollars.
Boeing would build 1,800 towers along the border, anywhere from 24 to 60 metres high and loaded with the latest in high-tech surveillance equipment.
Northrup-Grumman's system would rely heavily on unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs.
One, the Global Hawk, flies high with a panoramic view, another, the Killer Bee, flies at a much lower level. Both have "intelligence capabilities allowing them to differentiate between false alarms and real risks," said the Post. Grumman executive Bruce Walker told the paper: "It may be a herd of antelope moving over the border and we don't want to send a team to investigate that."
Lockheed will rely on its UAV, the Predator, but will also use a mix of tethered balloons, (or blimps) and agents on the ground who will be able to launch a smaller UAV, described in the Post as very much like a paper airplane.
These smaller devices would swoop over suspicious targets returning information to agents in Humvees scanning laptop computers.
Raytheon pooh-poohs the spy-in-the-sky approach, instead proposing a sensor-based system linked to agents on the ground through the company's satellite-powered Google Earth system.
The sensors, which appear in many other proposals, would be seismic, infrared and motion detectors. All combined, says Raytheon, to apprehend illegal immigrants, poachers and drug runners.
These are just a sampling of the technology that appears in many of the bids.
How soon?
All the companies target completion anywhere between two and four years.
Will these systems work?
The companies say all the technology is currently working on the battlefield.
Will the public buy it?
The Department of Homeland Security thinks so, even though it has yet to get full congressional approval. Having a wining bid in hand from the folks at homeland security can only help those running this fall on a get-tough-on-immigration ticket.
Nothing is said about applying these notions to the Canadian-U.S. border. That is presumably awaiting the results of a Congress-ordered feasibility study.
But we thought we should correct the notion of a fence or wall being built on the border.
It's much more than chain-link.
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About the Author
Henry Champ is CBC Newsworld's correspondent in Washington, D.C., delivering Canadian viewers the latest developments in the U.S. political arena. Recently, he has been a leading Canadian voice on coverage of the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq and the growing concerns over the Canada-U.S. relationship.
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Comments (7)
Moby Preek
Alberta
Concerning this wall:
This wall is very important for the survival of the US in the next few years. The people concerned are fully aware that the US is going downhill and must create jobs with Govt funding. I suspect that a high percentage of the employment that took place since 9/11 was in the guarding of the nation and peoples of this country. But, putting up walls will not ease the effects of other countries doing incrementally much better economically than the US in their own marketplace (free enterprise).Imagine, the American unemployment dropped dramatically only when their dollar started downhill simulating the economics of a third world country as we, (who think that we are better off), call them.
China fiercely entered the free marketplace only after the takeover of Hong Kong in the early 90's and is now giving the US (which is the North American seat of Free Enterprise) a good run.
As I always say, America wants a level playing field (listen to Lou Dobbs) as long as they are in the tower.
Posted September 30, 2006 09:20 PM
Dwight Williams
Ottawa
Mr. Champ's not alone in noticing some of the uglier trends. Take a look at scientist and SF writer David Brin's latest on the subject...
http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2006/09/ongoing-creep-of-new-feudalism.html
Posted September 22, 2006 07:58 PM
Steve
Halifax
Thanks Gary...I was not commenting on the war on illegal immigration, I was commenting on the state of the art wall being planned across the southwest...it was new to me, and likely to a lot of people who don't have the time to sift through the vaults of US media sources.
So now Henry is a communist, opportunist AND steals material from other sources. Keep it up Henry.
Posted September 22, 2006 06:49 AM
Gary in PDX
Henry Champ didn't make up the war on illegal immigration, it's roiling in the US Congress (Tancredeo, Sensenbrenner, King, etc.) and has created CNN's #2 show with Lou Dobbs. Myself, I'm all for security and this monitoring can be a benefit to Canada for threats from the US (gun runners, white supremacists, etc.). But the issue is being ridden on a wave of nationalism, isolationism, xenophobia and protectionism that gets out the vote and pumps up the Neilsen ratings.
Once again, Henry Champ isn't bringing up anything new. He's just highlighting an issue that's a headline in US news.
Posted September 21, 2006 12:35 PM
Jeff
Toronto
The American (and to a large degree Canadian) economy is totally dependant on the military-industrial complex. The politicians are the tools of defense contractors (or vice versa). This is simply a continuation of the war of terror being waged against western societies by their elites. Terror (muted though it may be) being the state of mind induced by the the endless, adumbrative absurdity and horror of the War On Terror.
Posted September 20, 2006 02:51 PM
Steve
Halifax
Wow...now that is scary. First the "war on drugs", then the "war on terror" and now, the US is obviously declaring "war on illegal immigration"
Henry, are you showing your agenda again?
Posted September 20, 2006 07:32 AM
Pierre Landry
BC
Thank you Henry Champ for your investigative reporting. I had previously thought that this was some far fetched idea, but apparently not. I don't know who they (the governments) think they are going to stop - coyotes perhaps, but not the billion dollar drug and people smuggling business. God help America.
Posted September 19, 2006 04:18 PM