THE BORDER REPORT

Four conscripts of the Mexican Army got the drop on a U.S. Border Patrol agent out towards Lukeville early Sunday morning, holding him at gunpoint for four minutes. And as a reader of this Web site notes, what the hell was the agent thinking? First, when they're not on foot, the Mexican soldiers in that area are patrolling in Humvees and deuce and a halfs. Border Patrol agents are in Chevy Tahoes, retrofitted Hummers, and quad-runners. There is no logical reason the agent couldn't move away from them fast enough, unless he was A) sleeping B) lost C) soft. But apparently it wasn't even that exciting. According to the Tucson Sector's Border Patrol union, the soldiers were on foot when they snuck up on the agent. Again, this is Sonoyta we're talking about here, as desolate a stretch of the Sonoran Desert as you're ever going to find. He couldn't hear them coming? I asked retired Border Patrol agent Dave Stoddard about the incident and he says no. "Keep in mind that these agents are looking on the ground for tracks. It takes concentration  when you're cutting sign, it's easy to focus in on the ground and lose track of what's happening around you," he says. "What irks me about it is that anytime Mexico gets an incursion, there's a big investigation conducted by the Mexicans and the Mexican Congress starts firing off diplomatic letters of protest. But when the Mexicans do things like this, the United States steps back, winks its eye and just kind of says, 'oh well, these  things happen when the border's not clearly marked.'" Now, that's also true. Can you imagine the reaction if U.S. agents crossed into Mexico? It was about a year ago or so that the U.S. Army suffered its biggest defeat since the Alamo when a group of National Guardsmen ran away from a group of drug mules carrying rifles near Sasabe. The guardsmen were given medals for having the valor not to escalate the situation. Using that logic, this agent should soon be expecting a first class flight out to Washington for his award.

-- Michel Marizco