`Wider border' fallacious

In Ben Taylor's July 23 Viewpoints letter ("Border activity not
hostile"), he comments that military law allows for defense "if
attacked," but states that the military are under orders not to
initiate any sort of hostile action. I think we can identify one
Marine patrol that either ignored that directive or had a very
loose interpretation of it. If we continue to put individuals
trained as military personnel into a position of law enforcement
personnel, we will probably see more incidents such as this.

Taylor's suggested "wide swath of land along the border" might
upset some of the people who live and own land there. And from
what I have seen and read, drug traffickers are very enterprising
and would probably just find a new way and place to cross.

There is one clear way to tell a free country from a
dictatorship: In a free country, the military acts outside of the
country's borders and in a dictatorship, the military acts within
the country's borders. I think the Constitution is pretty clear
on which we are dedicated to preserving.

Janice Hartgrove Freile,
Spring