Christ or Chaos 12 22 05.doc

            12/22/05

            The debate of whether public schools should have in their curriculum the theory of intelligent design, or, as some say, creationism, in addition to Darwinian evolution, has lost sight of the real purpose of this debate in the first place: is there a need for God; does He exist and do we human creatures want to be subject to the Creator?

            Under the cover of the so-called “separation of church and state,” there exists something that is often overlooked in this battle over rights (and responsibilities!) and what children should or should not be taught in the public school system in the United States; man’s attempt to be his own god.  

In light of this, we should look at the Darwinian folks and their notion that man (and woman) evolved from pond scum.   (What a thought!)   In any event, they – and their supporters – claim that there is no other possible explanation of how we got to be where we are today.   They will point to fossils and “missing links” and attempt to put two and two together and get five.   It just doesn’t add up.  

The creationists or intelligent designers say that the Hand of God is in all things that we see, most importantly, in man (and woman), and that without that Hand, there is chaos.   I have a feeling that they may have hit on something here.

A good number of years ago, there was a brave Catholic Bishop by the name of Cuthbert M. O’Gara, Bishop of Yuanling, China.   Prior to that, the good Bishop served for four years as Prefect Apostolic of Schenchow, being appointed there by Pope Pius XI.

He was arrested, not once, but twice, first by the Japanese in 1941, then by the Communist Chinese in 1951.  

The Communists subjected Bishop O’Gara to “severe psychological torture in solitary confinement, vermin-infested beds, meager rations of watered rice and being under constant, 24-hour guard.”  

Prior to his arrest, the propaganda corps of the “People’s Army of Liberation” herded the local people into indoctrination centers for “re-education” in the ways of Big Brother.  

As Bishop O’Gara relates, the first lesson given to the indoctrinees was not some utopian drivel from Marx, Lenin or Stalin, no, the very first fundamental lesson was man’s descent from the apes – Darwinism!   Purpose?   To fulfill the mandate that all religion must be destroyed.  

Isn’t that what we see happening in these United States and other “civilized,” westernized countries?  

Just think, our children are being indoctrinated in the Darwinian evolutionary (revolutionary, I say!) theory that we came from pond scum or an ape that swung from a tree.

And along with Darwinism, there is the explicit denial of Original Sin, in other words, denying our fallen natures and the need for repentance, to amend our lives, to do good works, to pray, and to be subject to Him in Christ’s one, true Church, the Catholic Church.

There is no need for prison cells or 24-hour guards or incessant propaganda blaring through loud speakers, no, the “separation of church and state” advocates and the courts are doing the devil’s dirty work, just fine, thank you.  

Can anyone spot the bad guys in this scenario?

E. De Lalla

A postmortum for Alfie Evans

4/28/18

A post-mortem for little, 23-month-old Alfie Evans…

On April 28, 2018, little Alfie Evans lost his fight for life, after his parents were denied numerous times, by the various judges in the U.K., to take their toddler out of the Alder Hey hospital. 

Their own flesh and blood was held hostage under the guise of concern for the “best interests of the child.”

In this horrendous case, there was no choice.  The courts spoke: you parents do not have custody of your child, the state does.

Let us remember, “it takes a village”, right?

This is what socialized medicine looks like: euthanasia, assisted suicide, choice, call it what you will, we are seeing the culture of death right before our eyes.

And while the mainstream media celebrated the birth of William and Kate’s new baby, not one single paragraph; not one single sentence; not one single word was mentioned about little Alfie Evans; not one!

May God Almighty have mercy – not on little Alfie Evans, he needs none – on those who perpetrated this godless act.  

Eugene R. DeLalla

To serve or not to serve 12 29 16

12/29/16

To Serve or not to serve. 

Recently, a good friend asked my opinion pertaining to military service for her son.  I, being a veteran of two branches of the military, have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of wearing the uniform of the country.  So, I felt I had some useful knowledge that might be helpful especially for one particular branch of the service.

Of course, the idea of service to the land of our birth is a good and noble one.  Having said that, most folks have seen or heard how the military has been used and abused by those in charge over the last several decades, e.g.; spreading our form of “democracy,” or regime change in those countries that we feel are hostile to the United States.

The blowback to such excursions into other sovereign nations has also become apparent: the rise of anti-American sentiment and actual attacks on those entities that are allied with the U.S., and our citizens, both here and abroad.

Over the last eight years the ineptness of president Obama and his former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has proven disastrous in the form of numerous failed states in the Middle East, resulting in millions of refugees deserting their homelands in search of peace and security.  This, in addition to uncountable deaths through persecution and starvation.  The Christian population of those failed states are now but a fraction of what they used to be.

Most of us have seen our troops involved in continuous wars, resulting in the shedding of blood, and the loss of treasure.  Not to mention the tole of broken military families as well as suicides among returning soldiers and Marines.

But the members of the Air Force and Navy are also susceptible to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 

For instance, Air Force personnel that operate out of secure facilities, mostly stateside, are partly responsible for monitoring and launching killer drones at targets thousands of miles from their consoles.  These are not video games, but actions that take out the perceived enemies of our country; killing from afar, not up close and personal. 

Still, the taking of lives is an action that few have known or will know.  The consequences of such actions can lead to the questioning of one’s faith, not to mention the effect on the psyche.

Whether just or unjust, war, as we know, should be the last of all options to redress grave wrongs perpetrated against a nation.

We hold our elected officials to the duties of their office to make the right decisions when it comes to the deployment of our military personnel and resources.  With the four branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, coming under the authority of the Department of Defense.

There is one branch of the service that comes under the Department of Homeland Security: The Coast Guard.

I will write briefly of that unique branch; a branch that I served in during the years from April 1974, to the end of my tour, April 1978.  

I was trained to be a search and rescue (SAR) communications specialist; technical name: Radioman. 

After completing radio school, located in Petaluma, California, I was granted my “wish-list” billet: Boston, Massachusetts. 

And where did I get stationed?  Right smack in the middle of the Italian North End, surrounded by old Italian restaurants and delicatessens!

Three-and-a-half of those years operating out of the Coast Guard Base on Atlantic Avenue, just a stone’s throw from the First District Headquarters housing the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) and the old facility of the Boston Celtics basketball team.  

While on duty in the communications center, I was involved in numerous rescues using my voice and prioritizing skills to help save lives as well as vessels in distress.

The Coast Guard was, and still is, responsible for search and rescue of those mariners in danger while on the high seas.  In addition, the protection of the water borders of the United States falls on the shoulders of the Coast Guard. 

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of law enforcement is the interdiction of illicit drugs and those transporting them via high-speed craft.  There is danger here, but the “coasties” are well-trained and well-armed to meet the challenge. 

Some other interesting duties are pollution control (oil spills and the like), fisheries enforcement to help protect the population of certain types of North Atlantic species, and, if necessary, impounding those ships – usually mother ships of foreign countries that violate our fishing laws and regulations.

As a radioman, my primary duty was to communicate with captains of boats and ships in distress, but I also announced weather alerts to mariners as well as “security” broadcasts to vessels regarding the transport of liquid petroleum tankers entering the inner harbor to unload their highly flammable and explosive cargo.

I have also witnessed first-hand, those foreigners, mostly from behind the Iron Curtain, that sought asylum and freedom from their Communist homelands.   The yearning to be free transcended the gut-wrenching decision to leave behind, in many cases, family members, to face the consequences of their actions, can only be imagined. 

This is but a short list of the duties and responsibilities of those men and women who make up that small, but highly trained and effective branch of the military service: The Coast Guard. 

In comparison to the other services, the Coast Guard has about 40,000 full-time, uniformed members, just about 5,000 more personnel than that of the New York City police department.

The Coast Guard has good technical schools as well as the post-9/11 G.I Bill, allowing honorably discharged personnel to seek higher education in colleges of their choice, while receiving financial assistance for living expenses as well as tuition. 

Would I recommend the Coast Guard to my friend’s son to serve his country?  Yes, with the caveats of God first, country second.

The reality of any military service is that a Catholic will face an amoral atmosphere at the very least, but also an opportunity to set an example of how a practicing Catholic lives his life in the world, but not of the world.

E. DeLalla

 

  

Touting Tolerance baloney 5 2 08.doc

   May 2, 2008

         

          The radical, scandalizing, homosexual agenda has reared its ugly head once again (what else is new?), but this time it is using the confused and disoriented youngsters at the Fall Mountain Regional High School.

(Come to think of it, public high schools have been used by the enablers of the “lifestyle” that cries to Heaven for vengeance for far too long, along with sympathetic “educators” spouting revisionist history and “homophobic” fear mongering.)  

          “Touting tolerance”, written by Sarah Palermo of the Sentinel Staff, May 1, 2008, “featured” interviewee Jared P. Goodell.  The young Goodell championed his “gayness” -- homosexuality -- in a transparent, in-your-face manner as if this is absolutely and positively normal.

          The phony “issue” of “tolerance” and “diversity” sounds -- and feels -- so warm and fuzzy, and after all, isn’t this all about feelings?   Well, sort of, but in reality, it is about the silencing of any opposition by those who attempt to be loyal to Christ and Biblical teachings.   Just read the stories, almost on a daily basis, how Christians are “tolerated” when they stand up for what is right in the face of this attack on moral absolutes.

          The inroads made by those of the homosexual “victim class”, are astounding.   However, these inroads are in conjunction with the weakening of solid Catholic Church teachings and the watering down of its core dogmas.  

          The ripple effect from the disastrous post-Vatican Two days has been felt, not only in present day “Catholic” schools, but also throughout the public school system itself, when previously, the very topic or mention of homosexuality in positive terms would be anathema to any right-thinking man or woman, boy or girl.  

          Adding insult to injury, Ms. Palermo let Master Goodell have his way with her.   How?   Simple.   She flung fluff balls at him; not one single “hard ball” question or challenge to his adoption of this flagrant violation of the Natural Law!

          Another question that I have to ask: where are the parents of this youngster?   Where are the parents of all the youngsters in the throws of confusion (and acceptance?) over the devastating choice of males being with males and females being with females?

          Those who dare attach the handle of “Christian” to themselves, must stand up and be counted to stop -- dead in its tracks -- this runaway train before it crashes headlong into what is left of the family unit. 

          I pray that those imprisoned by this moral turpitude may return to the natural state that God intended.

E. DeLalla

  

                 

           

           

  

         

         

Shooting in Texas 5 18 18

5/18/18

Another rampage, this time at Santa Fe high school in Texas, leaves another nine students and one teacher dead. 

Horrible.

The former student responsible for this tragedy was heavily into satanism, communism, and who knows what else.  I would bet, though, that this murderous punk was on some type of psychotropic drug.  If so, that would add to the already proven fact that the majority of these mass-shooting creeps were on a drug or coming down from a drug.

Now, the venerable “assault weapon,” the AR-15 was not used in this slaughter.  No.  It was a shotgun and a .38 caliber revolver.

Already, the radical left and the anti-Second Amendment folks are using this disaster for their very own political gain. 

Who was it that said: never let a tragedy go to waste.  Or some similar words… Was it Eric Holder?   But you get the picture.  Sad.

And in this case, use it to continue the assault – and that is what it is, an assault – on law abiding citizens and their ability to defend themselves and the lives of their families and other innocents.

This right of self-defense is built into all human beings as enshrined in the Natural Law.  To deny this right, just opens up more opportunities for the deranged to massacre more innocents.

Remember, the outlaw does not obey strict gun laws.  That is why they are outlaws, gangsters.  The law-abiding citizen suffers from the restrictions to protect themselves, because they obey the law.  See the difference?

One way to stem the number of these destructive incidents, is to use the death penalty where applicable.  In those states where the death penalty is no longer enforced, re-instate it, and quickly!  

If a mass-murderer knows that he can spend the rest of his miserable life in prison getting three-square meals a day, what kind of deterrence is that? 

It seems we can’t always depend on the sheriffs or other cops to do their job and take out the bad guy, so at least give the kids a chance to survive an attack by some crazed loony by arming qualified teachers to carry concealed.

Eugene R. DeLalla.

Talk on Vietnam that will change your views on Vietnam; I have added "real heroes" to the story; please read.

5/5/18

Talk on Vietnam for Tom’s class…

First, I would like to thank Tom D. for inviting me and Miss N. for allowing me to speak to the class. I take it as an important responsibility, and I will do my best... 

War, as opposed to what is portrayed in the movies or TV, is not glorious, is not glamorous, it is not exciting.  Quite the contrary.  Good men die; families are left without their fathers; sons; uncles, brothers, cousins… you get the picture… War is a punishment for grave and continuous sin against God Almighty. 

I guess you can say we get what we deserve, as individuals and as a nation.

Having said that, it is important to point out that even in conflicts or wars, whether just or unjust, there are those who can be considered real heroes.  What comes to mind, are the selfless medics, corpsmen and clergy that brought aid and comfort to those on the battle field, helping to bind up physical, as well as spiritual wounds.  In doing so, many lost their very lives in fulfillment of their duties, above and beyond the call.  In fact, there were at least sixteen clergy, mostly Catholic priests, that were killed along with their charges, in many cases, as they were providing the Last Rites of the Church.  There names are also on the Wall in Washington, DC. 

And when it came to “my war,” Vietnam, I admit that I injected myself into it because I believed I had to do my part in preventing the Communists from taking over South Vietnam from the invading hordes from the North.  

Communism is a terrible ideology.  It betrays all the freedoms that you and I enjoy in our country; our fatherland. 

Could you imagine not being able to get to Mass; not being able to learn about our precious Catholic Faith; being told what to believe; not being able to travel where and when you wanted?

The South Vietnamese people wanted to enjoy their freedoms too, but sinister and evil forces wanted to enslave them; the state was to be their god.

I don’t know if you realize this, but many South Vietnamese people were Catholic – including the president of South Vietnam -- from the influence of the French occupation and missionaries that brought the Catholic Faith to that region of Indo-China and South East Asia.  

Today, after much reflection and study, many people in our country believe that the 58 thousand-plus-American lives, plus several thousand allied troops that were lost fighting that long, “unwinnable” war was a waste of blood, sweat, tears and treasure. 

I disagree…

(As an aside, some say that we were tricked into that war with phony evidence to goat us into sending the first troops way back in 1959, not long after the French forces were driven out in 1954.  The general-in-charge of the North Vietnamese forces, Gen. Giap, was the same general that fought the American and the South Vietnamese forces.)

In any event, the names of those fighting men: Marines, Army, Airman, Navy and Coast Guardsmen can be seen on the Wall in Washington, D.C.  

I have not visited the Wall in DC, but I did visit a moveable or mobile Wall many years ago in Concord, NH and, more recently, again in Winchendon, MA.  I tried to remember some of the names of my high school buddies and search for them on the Wall, but I couldn’t locate any of them; I am grateful for that, if you know what I mean. 

However, on that Wall, are the names of one hundred and eleven U.S. Air Force Security Policeman, my brothers-in-arms, all killed in action, also known as KIA.  There are also many missing in action, also known as MIA, and some say there were or still are prisoners of war, known as POWs.  You may have noticed on some flagpoles, especially at various post offices, the MIA/POW flag flying just below the American flag.  In my Jeep, I have a small MIA/POW poster, so I never forget… I remember them all in my prayers every day along with their families.

Can you imagine not knowing what happened to your loved one, or if your loved one is still alive?   How are they being treated?  Will you ever see them again?  

All the stories that I write, are dedicated to those one hundred and eleven Air Force Security Police, perimeter defenders, par excellence… may they rest in peace…

I will say this: when I first came home just before Christmas of 1968, (a nice Christmas present for my parents, friends and relatives, right?) I didn’t really want the general public to know that I was a Vietnam veteran.  I remember saying to my Dad not to mention that in casual conversation with anyone.

I feel very different now. 

As I go along, I’ll explain some of my duties, and note that my job was different from those very same Marines, Army, and Navy personnel.  It was not my job to go into the jungles and rice paddies to fight a sometimes-unseen enemy; no, my job was to defend the perimeter of the two air bases that I was assigned to from enemy attack and attempted penetration to destroy the aircraft and personnel on the base.

Keep in mind that the jet aircraft, mostly F-100s left over from the tail end of the Korean War, as well as F-4s, tormented the enemy forces that were attacking our troops out in the field, fighting for their lives in horrendous battles.    

The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces hated the fact that we had air superiority over any Russian Migs that engaged our well-trained pilots and wanted to knock out our ability to bomb and strafe them as well. 

I am not ashamed to tell you, however, that there were many nights on the perimeter that I was scared.  Very scared!  In some cases, not knowing for sure if I would see the sun rise on another day after a very long and tense night on the perimeter. 

I have relayed some of those fears in three books that I wrote – Tom has read two of the books; he can attest to some of my first-hand experiences of near life and death on the perimeter.

But I’m not here to tell “war stories,” no, I’ll let others do that, but I just wanted you all to see and hear someone that was in Vietnam; to see that the men that fought there are getting older, and, hopefully, wiser.

Here’s a fact you may not know: 97 percent of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharged, and a survey taken some years back, indicated that most veterans of that war would do it over again if necessary.  Amazing!

Some of my Vietnam brothers have passed away from something that was called Agent Orange.  This chemical was used to defoliate the forest with the intention of uncovering the hiding places of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers, so we were told.

The only time that I can say that I might – might – have been exposed to Agent Orange, was a time that we did a sweep, or as some might say, a search and destroy, through a defoliated patch of land near the huge American and allied base that was known by the name: Cam Ranh Bay (I was transferred to that base just about half-way through my one-year tour.  My initial assigned base went by the name of Tuy Hoa, named after the city a few miles from the base).  So far, I haven’t seen or felt any effects of that one-time sweep through that defoliated, burnt-out area.  I do know a former Marine that has shown some of the effects of that chemical, not only on himself, but also an ailment that seems to have been passed down to at least one of his male children.

Then, there was the weather… Have you ever heard of the Monsoons?   The Monsoons were torrential rains that were common to parts of Asia during certain times of the year.  They, along with cyclonic storms would roll in from the South China Sea, or sometimes would come in from the interior with massive bolts of lightning, silhouetting huge mountains.   Strong winds, heavy rain, and huge waves pounded the beach-side of the perimeter of the air base.  

In fact, I clearly remember being on post in an observation tower – we called them Oscar towers, the walls of which were filled with sand, creating a three-foot-thick barrier to help protect against enemy small arms and machine-gun fire.  Being on the beach-side, when one of those monster storms hit the coast and central highlands of Vietnam was quite an experience.  One of my worries, was that those big waves would simply wash the foundation of the tower out from under me, causing the tower to fall like a house of cards, and wash me and the tower out to sea, losing my life to an enemy provided by Mother Nature, not the Viet Cong guerillas.  

The only protection I had for myself was a “poncho”.  Sort of a floppy rain coat that did little to keep out the wind-driven rain hitting the tower as the sides of the tower were open – there were no windows.  So, I decided to use my poncho to cover my machine-gun and keep the rain and blowing sand out of the firing mechanism hoping that big gun would fire if needed and not jam.  There were times I was assigned to a machine-gun bunker at ground level; some of those bunkers were completely exposed to the elements; there was no place for cover; no place to hide, especially when things got a little dicey near the perimeter from enemy activity.  

As you can see, there were enemy soldiers to fight; chemicals to fight; insects to fight; snakes to fight; rats to fight (in some places, there were so many rats that we actually had a “rat patrol”, usually a supervisor and his aid patrolling around in a Jeep with a pump shotgun picking off some of the bigger critters); weather to fight, as well as loneliness to fight.

Some of my other duties included escorting the Vietnamese national workers back to their home city after they finished their work on base.  Usually, this occurred at night.  I was the machine-gunner in the Jeep; we could have easily been ambushed and picked-off, but fortunately, things were usually quiet.

BEFORE Tet, that is.  Tet was the Vietnamese New Year.  And if you have done any studying regarding the Tet Offensive, you know there were some tremendous battles that took place throughout the South.

Myself and some of my buddies would provide security for the convoy of supply trucks transporting goods from one base to another.  Again, easy pickings from the surrounding hills if “Charlie” decided to hit us… I didn’t mention this earlier, but “Charlie” was another name for the VC.

A little more about that demon loneliness… remember, there were no computers, no cell phones, no smart phones, no Skype, no internet, nothing.  There was however, something called the MARS station.  It was a small on-base radio station that was run by ham radio operators both in Vietnam and back in “the world.”  

By the way, we Vietnam vets referred to the U.S. as “the world.” 

It was difficult to get a time to try to “patch” a phone call over 12,000 miles away to family members.  So, I really didn’t try; I just wrote letters and waited for letters from home.   Sometimes, mail didn’t come for weeks on end; that hurt.

At this point, I would like to touch upon what I did as a Catholic while in Vietnam.

Believe it or not, I was a faithful Mass attendant and, in fact, helped, along with my friend from California, set up the altar for Mass for our Irish priest.  That same chapel was also used for the Protestant services as well as any Jewish services as there was only one building for all of us to use.

I think you might be interested in knowing that very same chapel was also used for a memorial service for the assassinated civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; he was killed in April of 1968.  By the way, I turned 21 years old in July of 1968.  The average age of troops in Vietnam was 19!

When news of Dr. King’s death hit the base, there was quite a bit a tension among the black brothers, not only on the base, but also from those stationed at surrounding bases, outposts and firebases. 

I had asked my black brother if I could attend the service with him.  He was happy that I asked him and wanted me to come to pay homage to Dr. King.  When we entered the chapel, all heads turned around to see this “white man” come in; all those heads were of black brothers.  The only “white men” in the chapel were the priest, minister, rabbi, and me! 

I think that if I wasn’t with my friend, Tom, from Houston, Tx, I might have been “in a little bit of trouble”?  Maybe??

I thought highly of Dr. King, and, in fact, I did my high school term paper on Dr. King back in 1963; and that was before the assassination of President John Kennedy.

Sadly, just two months later, we got news that Robert Kennedy – Pres. Kennedy’s brother – was assassinated in a hotel after giving a campaign speech; if I remember correctly, he was running for the Democratic nomination for the upcoming presidential election… But there was no memorial service for him….

I want to get back a little bit to what I did being a Catholic… Remember I said that my friend and I helped the priest set up for Mass; we also served at Mass.  But there is something more that I wanted to mention… when in Vietnam, I stayed on the straight and narrow, in other words, I stayed a faithful Catholic.  I did not get drunk; use drugs or take part in activities that were surely displeasing to God.  Unfortunately, I saw many of my brothers, some of whom were married, disgrace themselves before God and men.

Some of the good things that I and some other brothers did on our time off, was to convoy to the surrounding towns to gather whatever building materials we could find to help build up the walls of the local orphanage.  Some of us also volunteered to provide nighttime security for the engineers drilling water wells out in the boondocks, many miles from the relative security of the base.

It was extremely important to be in a state of grace.  

Why?

Because I didn’t know if our base was going to be hit – that’s another term for being under attack – and if I was going to be KIA, I wanted to be ready to meet my Judge..

Ironically, it was the time after I came home that I started to lose my Faith.  I drank heavily; went night clubbing; I was big into drag racing, and most detrimental to my soul, I stopped going to Mass; I was lost.   Really lost…

Have you ever heard the term: but for the grace of God, go I.

I could have ended up a wasted human being; either dead or in jail, who knows??

Slowly, gradually, painfully, I came back.  I know for sure that there were folks praying for me… I fought it though, because I wanted to live my way, not the right way; not God’s way.

Just a few more things… when the day came to leave Vietnam, myself and about 150 brothers from all the services, were waiting at the Cam Ranh Bay air terminal.  And did we wait… about 12 hours later, the commercial airliner arrived.  

We boarded the jet; sat down in our seats; and again, we waited.  The plane taxied down the runway, but there was no shouting or clapping or yelling; there was dead silence.  It wasn’t until the captain made the announcement that we were out of range of surface to air missiles, did it get really loud in that plane…

The return flight to the states took about 14 hours.

I remember coming down the steps of the airliner; got down on my knees and kissed the ground: I was home – or nearly home.  One more flight to New Jersey would come the next day after I separated from the service at McCord AFB, Washington state.

The rest is history…

In conclusion, I would encourage you all to take your Faith seriously; never give an inch to the evil one.  If you do, it gets easier to commit those big, mortal sins over and over again...  Believe me I know.  But if you should happen to fall, always remember you can get back in the good graces that God provides to all those who knock and ask.

Use your free will to do good; observe the First great Commandment to love God, and the second great Commandment: love they neighbor as thyself for the love of God.  

If you faithfully observe these two Commandments, you will be on the straight and narrow road that leads to the finish line and claim the crown of eternal life (St. Paul).

Thank you.

E. DeLalla

Losing the drug war 11 1 07.doc

When will we learn?   Seven policemen and two civilians kidnapped; outside of the town, they shot and killed four of the policemen.   The remaining police of the town deserted their posts.   In other words, the town was left to the criminals and their cronies to do with as they pleased.   

Is this report “just” another episode in the mess that is Iraq or Afghanistan?   No.   This terrible incident occurred in the town of Cananea.   Where is Cananea?   It is in the Mexican state of Sonora.   The nearest larger town is Nogales -- ARIZONA!   The next largest city is Tucson.   

Who are the criminals doing the dirty work here?   They are the Mexican drug cartels vying for the control of the best drug smuggling routes into the U.S.   And, according to the GAO (Government Accountability Office), "Mexico is the conduit for most of the cocaine reaching the United States, the source for much of the heroin consumed in the United States and the largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the U.S. market."   This testimony was given to the House Foreign Relations Committee only a couple of weeks ago.

“In 2005 alone, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, people using cocaine visited emergency rooms 448,481 times, while people using heroin visited emergency rooms 164,572 times. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that in 2002, Americans paid $180.9 billion to cover the negative consequences of drug use, which includes health costs, criminal justice costs, disability and death-related costs, and the cost of lost productivity.”   Source: CNSNews.com, 10/31/07.

So, when the U.S. sends our precious military to fight the “terrorists” in Iraq and Afghanistan (with military presence in over 100 other countries), the Congress, Senate, and, most importantly, the President (Obama) do not see the REAL threat to our beloved country: south of the border.  

Yet when we attempt to build a border fence, or attempt to round up the criminal aliens for prosecution for some of the most heinous crimes -- many against women, or when we attempt to deport the illegals, we are called “racists”, “bigots”, or worse.

So be it.   But the total cost of the war in Iraq alone is over $464 billion so far, with this president “asking” for another $200 billion, this does not include the most important cost of all: the human cost.   Our military has lost nearly 3,900 dead (that’s the official tally), not to mention those wounded, as well as the civilian Iraqi population decimated and displaced from their homes and livelihoods.  

Just think what could have been done with a mere fraction of the $465 billion used instead, to secure our southern (and northern) borders!   

Isn’t it always true that we get what we deserve?   Is the next president going to give us more of the same -- whether Republican or Democrat?   

If we read the Declaration of Independence, we the people have the right to throw the bums out and start over again.   The time to do so is long overdue.  

E. DeLalla