Driving home at 2am and not quite awake enough for the usual rock radio, I turned the dial to a local AM station. On it I was surprised to hear a live talk radio show at this hour of the night. I caught the tail end of the discussion with the guest, Scott Gulbransen, who seemed to be an educated guy, talking about the what he called a "schizophrenic" national security/counter-terrorism policy the U.S. is currently engaging.
He brought up an interesting point at the end of the show about how the Russian high-tech mafia was making a killing by selling leftover stockpile nuclear goodies after the break-up of the U.S.S.R. on the black market to interested terrorists throughout the nineties. Suitcase nukes are not that difficult to acquire these days, so it was a valid assertion.
Being the fan of checking credentials that I am, I discovered Mr. Gulbransen has a colorful resume for an author of a book on terrorists crossing the border.
Upon learning of his impressive background as a Manager of Corporate Communications with the TurboTax software company and as a Media Relations Assistant/Marketing Manager for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, athletic department for 4 years, I figured this guy had to know what he was talking about...especially since he also mentioned he's conferred with numerous friends from the FBI, CIA, Border Patrol (etc. etc.) on these issues as well.
In fact, three of the four people who read his book praised it as a wonderful piece of fiction...er...non-fiction. One reader read both the first and second editions.
But enough debasing of the poor guy. After all, he's probably just trying to make a buck in the private sector by playing on the insecurities of America, right?
The way this guy was dropping references on the show left and right about all of the acquaintances/contacts from the Feds he's spoken with on the matters really had me convinced he was some long time former 20-year veteran with the FBI spilling what he was cleared to say about how screwed we are:
" I shudder to think of what will happen when I am proved right and our nation gets off its collective ass and does something about it."After hearing of how once Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge retires/resigns and enters the private sector, perhaps as a security consultant for some large corporation, he will be making boku bucks (literally, in the millions), I figured this guy was playing the same hand. Did I mention he's a former radio play-by-play sports broadcaster for UNLV b-ball, football and baseball?
However, to be fair, he did have some rather valid comments and assertions regarding the rise of Leftism in Latin America and its impact on the U.S.
The following are excerpts from an interview with Ryan Mauro of http://www.worldthreats.com/ :
WRM: What are the implications of the common trend among US companies of hiring immigrants from countries, some of us see as potential enemies, like China, the former Soviet republics and Russia, etc?SG: The ramifications of moving all of our manufacturing jobs overseas are unknown but, in my view, it cannot be good. If an international war or incident broke out, we wouldn't be able to produce enough goods and services at home to compensate for the loss of overseas resources. In reality, we're all giving up economic freedom so we can buy items at Wal-Mart for less than we can elsewhere. We're selling our souls to save a few bucks.
WRM: How do you respond to the allegations that "sightings" of Asians in Mexican military uniforms may just be soldiers of the Indian population usually found in the southern portion of Mexico?
SG: I think the allegations that many make of the Asians being Native Mexicans is a smoke screen. If you're going to sit there and tell me that Border Patrol agents and Customs officers don't know the difference between those Mexicans and Asians, I'll say your nuts. These men and women deal with Mexican Indians all the time, they know the difference. These are not sightings by tourists or unqualified people. They are on the border every day and round up illegal immigrants all the time. To say they are mistaken questions their intelligence and is just another way to ignore the possibility that this is really happening.
WRM: Are these foreign units possibly helping the Marxist, anti-American rebel movements in Mexico (particularly in the south) such as the Zapatistas, or are being used to assist officials seen as "favorable" by governments seeking to undermine American power?
SG: Absolutely. These Marxist elements are on the rise in Mexico AND America. The recent peace protests over the Iraq War was a clear sign that Communism is back strong in the Western Hemisphere and they are making inroads. We are being undermined internally daily and Mexico and its revolutionaries are aiding and abetting.
Whoaa now...hold up. I HARDLY think a small, isolated, indigenous insurgency fighting for self-autonomy in the depths of Chiapas, Mexico, are playing a significant part (if any at all) in "aiding and abetting" a communist effort to undermine American national security. As a self-professed Latin Americanist who has studied individuals/groups like Subcomandante Marcos and the EZLN throughout my college career, again, I hardly consider them a threat to the States...masked guerrillas hiding in the highlands with obsolete weapons and all.
It would be far too extensive a discussion to explain the rise of socialist/Marxist populism throughout several Latin American nations like Brazil, Venezuela and Ecuador here. Its implications to American security are by far more accurately described as a long and steady growing negative socio-political reaction to the economic oppression of neo-liberal free trade market reforms imposed...er....implemented in the early 1980s (and beyond).
And on the assertion that "the recent peace protests over the Iraq War was a clear sign that Communism is back strong in the Western Hemisphere"...c'mon..give me a break.
"communist" insurgent protester