Be A “Liberty Shield” – Report Illegals!

Michelle Malkin
March 18, 2003, 9:00 am

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Now is the time for all
good American men and women on the homefront to come to
the aid of their country.

As war with Iraq looms,
our government warns that foreign terrorists may conduct
retaliatory suicide bombing attacks on U.S. soil. "We`ll
never be immune,"

asserted Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge last
week. "(T)hat lone wolf, that isolated suicide bomber
might be the most difficult to protect against."
President Bush reiterated the warning in his Monday
night address to the nation.

So, what is to be done?
Ridge

unveiled a national plan this week called

"Operation Liberty Shield" to protect us all with
temporarily beefed-up patrols at the borders, airports,
seaports and critical infrastructure sites. He promises
to increase security

"while maintaining the free flow of goods and people
across our border." Not reassuring coming from a
homeland security department that can`t even keep a

crazed farmer from driving his tractor across the
borders of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Instead of calling on
Americans to "prepare for the inevitability" of
suicide attacks, the homeland security chief should be
issuing a citizens`

call to arms.

Each and every American
can and must serve as an individual liberty shield
against revenge-seeking radical Islamists. There are
plenty of things ordinary citizens can do to help thwart
and disrupt hostile forces at home:

1. Know your enemy. Be
sure to check out the FBI`s photo gallery of most wanted
terrorists on the Internet (http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/fugitives.htm),
as well as the photos accompanying the FBI`s "seeking
information alerts" on suspected terrorists (http://www.fbi.gov/terrorinfo/terrorismsi.htm).
Several of these suspects were last seen in the U.S. or
Canada.

"(W)e`re looking for
you 24 hours a day,"

promises the FBI. But the bureau needs all the help
it can get. It was

alert citizens, after all, who recognized Elizabeth
Smart`s abductor last week from photos publicized in the
press. It was alert citizens who spotted the vehicle of
accused snipers

John Muhammad and Lee Malvo last fall.

Law enforcement officials rely on civilians to look
out for criminal suspects all the time. More than ever,
they could use the services of citizen sentinels on
guard against fugitive terrorists and sleeper suicide
bombers.

2. Report illegal aliens.
More than 115,000 people from Iraq and other Middle
Eastern countries are

here illegally among a total population of some 7 to
11 million illegal aliens. Some 6,000 Middle Eastern men
who have defied deportation orders remain on the loose.
There are roughly 300 agents assigned to apprehend such
absconders, plus an additional 5,000 FBI agents newly
assigned to investigate foreign terrorist threats.

Again, these outnumbered
agents and investigators could use all the help they can
get. If you know or suspect an illegal alien, fugitive
deportee or other criminal alien, call the feds. An
anonymous Justice Department official who writes under
the pseudonym

Juan Mann has published an enormously helpful
reference guide to reporting illegal aliens at Peter
Brimelow`s VDARE.com. (See

/articles/how-to-report-illegal-aliens-updated-dhs-version).

As Mann notes, it`s
possible your call may not be acted upon, but "you
are performing a vital public service by doing this.
Officers in these divisions are obligated by law to make
a written record of your report. . . . The government
will know about it — and will know we know it knows
about it. The Chinese

say a journey of a thousand miles must start with
one step. Americans can start regaining control of their
borders — and of their nation`s destiny — with one
phone call."

3. Watch the campuses. If
you study or work at a college or university, be alert.
We know al Qaeda operatives — from the Middle East,
Southeast Asia and Africa — have been training in the
American

ivory tower for

decades. Be especially on guard against suspicious
behavior if you are in the

computer or engineering fields. Don`t let

political correctness paralyze you from reporting
unusual activity. And don`t rest easy if your school is
in a small town. Recently arrested terror suspects have
gone to school in tiny

Murfreesboro, Tenn.;

Muncie, Ind.; and

Moscow, Idaho. The tentacles of terror reach across
the heartland.

4. Be always prepared.
Take nothing for granted in your daily life: your trips
to the mall, your commute across the bridge, your stop
at the library or Home Depot. Sharpen your powers of
observation. Take note that the Islamists abroad are
recruiting women suicide bombers. If you are

trained and

licensed to carry a concealed weapon, don`t leave
home without it. Remember that it was armed private
guards, along with a private citizen, who tackled and
killed the last

"lone wolf" terrorist on American soil, Hesham
Hadayet, at

Los Angeles International Airport last July 4th.