"Virtual fence" delayed

Prepare to yell out loud.

The Bush administration has scaled back plans to quickly build a "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexico border, delaying completion of the first phase of the project by at least three years and shifting away from a network of tower-mounted sensors and surveillance gear, federal officials said yesterday. ...

The announcement marked a major setback for what President Bush in May 2006 called "the most technologically advanced border security initiative in American history." The virtual fence was to be a key component of his proposed overhaul of U.S. immigration policies, which died last year in the Senate.

Investigators for the Government Accountability Office had earlier warned that the effort was beset by both expected and unplanned difficulties. But yesterday, they disclosed new troubles that will require a redesign and said the first phase will not be completed until near the end of the next president's first term.

Those problems included Boeing's use of inappropriate commercial software, designed for use by police dispatchers, to integrate data related to illicit border-crossings. Boeing has already been paid $20.6 million for the pilot project, and in December, the DHS gave the firm another $65 million to replace the software with military-style, battle management software. ...

Boeing has said that the initial effort, while flawed, still has helped Homeland Security apprehend 2,000 illegal immigrants since September. It estimated in 2006 that it would spend $7.6 billion through 2011 to secure the entire 2,000-mile southern border, an ambition that was meant to win support from conservatives for legislation creating a guest-worker program and a path to legalization for 12 million illegal immigrants. ...

And then there's this:

The virtual fence was to complement a physical fence that the administration now says will include 370 miles of pedestrian fencing and 300 miles of vehicle barriers to be completed by the end of this year. The GAO said this portion of the project may also be delayed and that its total cost cannot be determined. The president's 2009 budget does not propose funds to add fencing beyond the 700 or so miles meant to be completed this year.

Well, as Gomer Pyle would say, "Surprise!, Surprise!, Surprise!". We're just shocked. You see folks, that's why conservatives don't want to hear ANY talk about amensty, or special visas, or guest-worker blah-blah-blah...not until you demonstrate that you can, will, and then DO secure the border.

For crying out loud, this is the United States of America. We put a man on the moon with computers that pale in comparison with today's pocket calculators, but we can't do something that countries have been doing since, well, since we learned how to stack rocks on top of one another.

The Chinese did it...

The Romans did it...

And now the Israeli's are doing it...

It's NOT complicated. This is NOT something that absolutely requires space-age technology and software programs that may or may not work. It's a fence. It keeps people out. Build it!