Civilians Patrolling the Border

Tombstone, Ariz., is where Wyatt Earp became a legend. It took just 30 seconds in a blazing gunfight for three no-good cowboys to die with their boots on. They were sent to the Boothill Graveyard from the infamous shootout at the O.K. Corral, forever synonymous with vigilante justice. Today, more than 120 years after the cloud of spent gunpowder settled on the dead, trouble again is brewing in these parts and all eyes are focused on vigilante justice in Tombstone, "the town too tough to die." **** "It was after 9/11," explains Simcox, "that I became aware of the problem of illegal entry over our border. I spent several weeks vacationing out here in our national parks. We were being told by the president that we had to be vigilant, be more aware of what was going on around us. But while I was camping, in the span of two weeks I ran across five paramilitary groups trucking drugs across the border." Simcox shakes his head. "These were highly organized groups; three vehicles, with the camouflage-wearing troops escorting the vehicles on both sides in columns and carrying automatic weapons -- AKs, mini-14s, the whole works." The outrage is apparent on his face and in his voice as he says, "These troops are so sophisticated that they're covering themselves with camouflage military netting and they're driving right across Organ Pipe National Monument, one of the most pristine cactus reserves in the country, which is right on the border. In fact, just a few weeks ago, the Park Service listed Organ Pipe as the most dangerous national park in the country because of the drug smugglers coming through it." The publisher's voice rises as he says, "I saw this criminal activity in broad daylight, and these guys aren't the average migrants; these are real troops. Given what had just happened on 9/11, I hoped they were running drugs and not something even worse. When I told the Border Patrol what I saw they said, 'Yeah, we know, but there's nothing we can do about it.' I said, 'You've got to be kidding. We were just attacked and the president is telling everyone to be vigilant and our Border Patrol can't do anything about this?' That was when I realized something was really wrong. We're under attack but we leave the borders wide open. People are coming across in thousands, even as organized military units, and there's nothing we can do about it -- there's no way of knowing if these people illegally crossing our borders are terrorists? That's when it occurred to me that I own a paper, and I thought, 'Wow, if the rest of the country won't print what is going on out here, at least I can.'" *** Kelly Patricia O Meara - Reporter A former House chief of staff, Kelly has become so tough a reporter that government officials are wont to attack her in rival news organizations because of her uncompromising and relentless digging for the facts. A savvy congressional watcher with longtime Washington political experience, she can tackle the toughest stories and deliver time after time. Using a vast network of sources in Congress and around the country, she tracked and plotted censured radar charts involving TWA Flight 800 that the National Transportation Safety Board said didn't exist -- but they did, secretly, and she raised questions as to why the public didn't know. Her investigative reports on child vaccines have generated congressional hearings, as has her work on medicating children with mind-altering drugs. Kelly's insight into the legislative process is priceless as federal policy is developed because many times she is on the firing line to say that just enforcing the laws on the books ought to be enough to deal with problems at hand without passing yet more bills that taxpayers foot. Kelly is a member of the congressional press galleries and a frequent guest on national talk radio and often can be seen on the national television talk shows. Source and complete story