Napolitano border talk irks Canadians
by Laurie Roberts - Apr. 25, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Our own Janet Napolitano made quite the impression on our neighbors to the north this week.

This, after making quite an impression on veterans last week, for a Homeland Security- issued warning that some soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan may pose a threat.

Somebody needs to tell her that she's not in Arizona anymore - though she may be soon, if she keeps tripping over her Size 9s.
It tends to look bad, after all, when the person responsible for securing the homeland makes remarks that leave people wondering whether she knows how the terrorists responsible for the deadliest attack ever on U.S. soil got here.

Canadians have been grinding their teeth for a month now, ever since Napolitano said the Canadian border must have the same level of security as the Mexican border. "One of the things that we need to be sensitive to is the very real feelings among southern border states and in Mexico that if things are being done on the Mexican border, they should also be done on the Canadian border," she told a Canada-U.S. border conference in late March.

Canadians - evidently not having heard that Minnesota is now the kidnapping capital of the world, second only to Saskatchewan - were not amused. So naturally, the topic was front and center on Monday when the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interviewed Napolitano. The reporter asked why there was a need for the same treatment given that the two borders have "drastically different realities."

"Yes," Napolitano replied, "Canada is not Mexico; it doesn't have a drug war going on. It didn't have 6,000 homicides that were drug-related last year. Nonetheless, to the extent that terrorists have come into our country or suspected or known terrorists have entered our country across a border, it's been across the Canadian border."

Asked if she was referring to the 9/11 hijackers, Napolitano replied: "Not just those, but others as well."

The Canadians went crazy, and rightfully so, given that that urban legend was debunked way back in 2004 by the 9/11 Commission. In fact, every one of the Sept. 11 hijackers flew into the U.S. from overseas with U.S.-issued paperwork.

"Janet Napolitano needs to check her facts," said a headline in Thursday's Globe and Mail.

"U.S. security boss is guilty of borderline stupidity," said Thursday's Montreal Gazette.

"Can someone please tell us how U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano got her job?" the National Post asked. "She appears to be about as knowledgeable about border issues as a late-night radio call-in yahoo."

Napolitano's comments prompted no less than a rebuke from the Canadian ambassador to U.S., leaving me to wonder whether she's longing for the good-old-days in Phoenix when her biggest problems were a $3 billion hole in the budget and Russell Pearce (and, oh yeah, Sheriff Joe).

Napolitano's people went into full damage-control mode on Tuesday, issuing a statement that, of course, she knows the 9/11 hijackers hadn't come through Canada. "There are other instances, however, when suspected terrorists have attempted to enter our country from Canada to the United States," the statement said, pointing to the Millennium Bomber and others she can't tell us about "due to security reasons."

Don't you just love it when our leaders trot out the need for secrecy when what they really need is cover? It's clear that the Canadians weren't buying Napolitano's explanation.

"When challenged on her concerns, she insisted still-secret data, undoubtedly buried with the aliens at Roswell, justifies her concern," a Post columnist wrote. "She surely must know that only 12 of the 48 al-Qaida operatives caught between 1993 and 2001 were illegal immigrants and none of those came from Canada."

She also must know that Ahmed Ressam, who wanted to blow up Los Angeles International Airport at the start of the millennium, was caught by an alert customs agent as he tried to enter the U.S.

Meaning existing border controls - the ones Napolitano says must be beefed up lest we irritate Mexico - worked.

Gosh, and hurricane season hasn't even begun.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/04/24/20090424roberts0425.html