Blog: Beginning Iraq War

by Michael Webster
NWS Columnist

Many reports are coming in that U.S. Military units are being seen on and near the U.S. Mexican border close to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge and the Tohono D' O'dham Indian Reservation. They are all along the southern side of I-8, between Casa Grande and Gila Bend and they are equipped with Stryker armored fighting vehicles.

An Arizona Citizen Militia (ACM) spokesman only known as “HammerDown,” said “We are going to hunt the Zetas and destroy them like the vermin that they are. This won't be just War, this will be Extermination.”

Recently published in the U.S. Border Fire report, was a threat by a Mexican national who claimed to be an Los Zetas Mexican Drug cartel officer, who told this reporter the following; “I now believe my men were shot by crazed American vigilante cowards, who ambushed my solders at night, shot them from a great distance using high powered American rifles. Then our load of drugs were stolen.”

The Zetas say that attacks like this one is occurring frequently along the U.S. Mexican Border, and he said a Zetas patrol was ambushed by a large contingent of American vigilantes, killing two of his solders and wounding three others.

The following communication from the Pima County Arizona Citizens Militia group took place around the same time frame, and may bear out the Zetas commander’s claims:
"0545 hours MST - 13 Jul 2010 - approx. 7 miles west of Ruby, AZ - six enemy, in uniform, carrying AK and SKS rifles – the enemy was engaged by ACM forces as they tried to cross the international fence - two enemy KIA confirmed, unknown number of enemy WIA, no friendly casualties."

The Zetas officer said, “This is a warning to those type groups that his men have been instructed to shoot and kill any Americans who are seen armed and roaming the deserts.” He went on to say that the murder of his men has not been properly investigated by the sheriff of Pinal County.

According to the ACM Commander, his message to the Commander of the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas is as follows:

"God may show them mercy…we will not. These Zetas are not Soldiers, not Partisans, and not Militia. Under the Law of Land Warfare and the Geneva and Hague Conventions, they are brigands, terrorists, and marauders, no different from pirates. They are going to be dealt with as such. When our forces engage these war criminals, we will show them no mercy, we will neither ask for, nor offer them any quarter, and we will take no prisoners. We are going to hunt the Zetas and destroy them like the vermin that they are. This won't be just War, this will be Extermination. Tell the Zetas' Commander that like Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, all that he has done, is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve. We are coming for them, and Hell will be following right behind us."

Just today, reports have started coming in about what appear to be U.S. Military units that are being seen on and near the U.S. Mexican border, close to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge and the Tohono D' O'dham Indian Reservation, and all along the southern side of I-8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend. And there are reports that they are equipped with Stryker armored fighting vehicles.

This Stryker vehicle, formerly known as the Interim Armored Vehicle, the Stryker Light Armored Vehicle III [LAV III] is at the center of the Army's Interim Brigade Combat Teams. The IBCT’s are lighter and more mobile, yet offer firepower no enemy can hope to match, including the Mexican Army regulars and the para-military of the Mexican drug cartels.

The Stryker vehicle and U.S. troops that many believe are being deployed to the southern border to support an action involving the U.S. Army, Homeland Security, U.S. Border Patrol and other federal agencies.

According to one federal employee who is not authorized to talk about it, was over heard saying that he believes this action is designed at curtailing the Mexican drug cartels drug smuggling capabilities in the area. He says that he and others believe this is what last weeks warning to federal employees was all about when they were warned to stay away from the U.S. Mexican Border by the Border Patrol.

Here is a copy of that statement the federal employee refers to: ...I am a federal employee…who often does field work near the border. Last week we were told not to travel to field sites within 5 miles of the border, between Buenos Aires Nat Wildlife Refuge and Douglas (i.e. basically the entire SE Arizona border). This decision was apparently based on communications with the Border Patrol and is supposed to be a temporary situation. I have no other information and don’t know if any other agencies are issuing similar warnings. But, this leads me to believe that some U.S. operation is planned, or the Border Patrol is anticipating something from across the border....

American Militia organizations and other groups of this nature are popping up all over America, and in large numbers in states on the southern border with Mexico, according to a federal law enforcement agent. Arizona is leading the pack in shear numbers of new groups and some of the largest numbers of man power. One such group is the Arizona Citizens Militia, believed to be the largest in Arizona according to one Arizona news TV station. One law enforcement agency has found 50 new militia training groups, some of them made up of former police officers and U.S. soldiers.

During my recent e-mail and phone interview with HammerDown, who claims to be an Arizona Citizens Militia Unit Coordinator, told me about the ACM in general terms and said that the following information was cleared by ACM HQ: “We here at the U.S. Border Fire Report felt that this information would be interesting to our readers and pertinent to the violence on and not so near the U.S. Border with Mexico.”

The ACM State Headquarters is composed of the State Commander, his Executive Officer (XO, Second in Command), and the Commander's Staff. Below that are our separate and independent County Units, each with its own Command Structure. Size and composition of the County Units will vary, as will their Mission. ACM County Units will assemble occasionally for joint Field Training Exercises (FTX's) or for joint Tactical missions along our southern border. Only during those assemblies will ACM Headquarters exercise direct Command and Control over our County Units.

The rest of the time, our County Units operate almost completely independently. ACM HQ establishes standards for training, online training references, and commonality of uniforms and communications equipment. Our HQ manages our website at: www.arizonamilitia.com and deals with the news media.

ACM members must agree not to divulge their identities and affiliation with the ACM publicly, and are not authorized to identify themselves as members of the ACM to the news media.

County Unit leaders are known by name only to their unit members. Members and leaders from one unit, rarely know the names of other Unit Leaders or members. We know each other by our radio ‘call signs’ only. Not even our Commander knows the names of our County Unit members, nor even the County Unit Leaders.

The ACM is structured this way so that if one unit is compromised or infiltrated, no other units will be at risk.

Some of our county units train and prepare to resist any attempt to impose tyranny or Martial Law on our people, by any entity. Some Units focus on the border security mission….others do both.

The ACM County Units, supported by Militia groups from outside of Arizona, will conduct Operation Defiant Sentinel this fall. Our Mission will be to search and destroy the Zetas and other armed, uniformed foreign military forces, and drive them out of Arizona.

HammerDown says, "Qui Desiderat Pacem Preparaet Bellum" - Let him who desires peace, prepare for war.

A federal law enforcement agent who wants to remain anonymous, has told the U.S. Border Fire Report that if and when militia groups do commit crimes on any federal lands, it will be investigated by the FBI.

When asked if his agency was investigating any of the alleged killings by American militias of Mexican nationals on federal lands, he replied, “Yes.”

When this same agent was asked if his agency was investigating an alleged cover-up by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, as claimed by an alleged Zetas officer. The allegation was in regard to the two now believed Mexican drug smugglers found dead in the desert recently and the two Zetas solders that allegedly were killed by American militia and the three Zetas that were allegedly wounded near Ruby Arizona, he said, “No comment.”

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu has made headlines for his tough stance against the powerful Mexican drug cartels who smuggle drugs and humans through his county every day.

Recently on KPHO 5 News, he took a stand against a different group.

"Not only do we not encourage, we did not invite, and we do not want this group or other groups to come into our county," Babeu said, referring to militias and other known groups like the one led by J.T. Ready, allegedly a reputed neo-Nazi. According to Ready, he has been leading armed vigilantes into areas of the Pinal County desert where drug activity is frequent.

"This is an extreme group that does not represent me, does not represent Arizona, and does not represent the private citizens who do want legitimate action to be taken," Babeu said.

Ready's group may have gotten the attention of the Los Zetas drug cartel in Mexico.

"They attribute a vigilante group, much like this, to having killed the members of their cartel and we're a part of it which is false and is something would never happen," Babeu said.

Babeu still believes a rival cartel was behind the deadly showdown in his desert, and said the threat will not intimidate his department.

Babeu admits, with groups like Ready's patrolling the desert, the likelihood of a war erupting between citizens and heavily armed drug cartels may be eminent.

"We cannot have groups go out there, believing they have the authority of law enforcement and taking actions into their own hands," Babeu said.

He said his department will prosecute anyone who takes the law into their own hands.


Michael Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. July 20, 2010 at 5:00 PM PDT.

Imagine if the government required automobile drivers to purchase liability insurance against the Worst Case Accident: totalling a 2010 Maybach Laundalet with four newly-minted orthopedic surgeons aboard. Worst case liability: $50 million or so.

With a $50 million liability insurance requirement, who would drive? Only the wealthy.

The Deepwater Horizon incident pointed up the inadequacy of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990’s $75 million economic liability limit for operations involving high pressure, high-volume deepwater oil.

Some Congressional Democrats would like the liability cap to be set at $20 billion; some want no cap at all. They don’t even acknowledge the fact that shallow water operations are orders of magnitude less risky than deepwater oil; to them, an offshore well is an offshore well.

Independents, small to large, will have no way to insure against a liability of this magnitude. Without insurance, they will cease operations, leaving the Gulf to the only companies with sufficient assets to self-insure. That group would include Exxon, Shell, Chevron and BP among the private companies, plus the National Oil Companies of Brazil, China, Spain and others.

Study outlines economic impact of independents in gulf

WASHINGTON, DC, July 23 — Excluding independent producers from the deepwater Gulf of Mexico would eliminate 265,000 jobs and $106 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue by 2020, a new study by IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., concluded. If independents left the gulf completely, 300,000 jobs and $147 billion in taxes in the region would be lost over 10 years, it added.

According to the IHS study, in 2009, independent companies drilled 122 wells on the “Shelf” (shallow water); the majors drilled only 8, as they are no longer interested in the Shelf. The average cost of a Shelf well was $6.5 million in 2009. In deepwater, independents drilled 62 of 143 wells that cost on average $77 million. Right now, remember, we have an open-ended deepwater drilling moratorium in place, so who knows when Obama and Salazar will let the deepwater boys start drilling again.

If the Dems get their way, Gulf of Mexico drilling will cease.

The Gulf supplies 30% of domestic oil and 11% of natural gas. The only way to sustain that supply is to continue to drill new wells.

If we don’t drill new wells, the Gulf will dry up and become a boneyard. Of course this affects me, my community, and my state.

It affects every one of you, too.

The Democratic strategy will cripple the domestic industry and its reserve and production base. That necessarily means higher prices for the consumer, and increased imports. Permanently. Think $8 per gallon gasoline.

Some might think rising energy prices are fine, in that they will stimulate the demand for alternatives. If that’s the plan, I will flatly predict that there are no alternative technologies that have the capacity or the ability to take up the slack for oil and gas.

You can’t suck this much industrial activity out of the economy without a cascade of unanticipated effects. We’ve heard that Red Wing Shoes, a Minnesota-based company, has already felt the impact of the moratorium in declining demand for its steel-toed work boots, the offshore workers’ preferred brand. And that’s just one example among thousands.

The next two weeks are critical, not just to the future of the offshore oil and gas industry and to Louisiana, but to the future of the American economy. Your future prosperity. And you can do something about it.

The House breaks for August recess this Friday, the Senate a week later. Before breaking for recess, both chambers plan energy bills that will address spill liability, among other things. Call your Senator and your Congressman — this week! — to let them know that offshore oil and gas matter to you.

Cross-posted at VladEnBlog.