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February 4, 2010
Virtual Fence Fail
Posted by The MaryHunter at February 4, 2010 8:45 AM
After technical errors, delays, and glitches bordering on Three Stooges comical, Homeland (In-)Security has finally admitted that the virtual fence project for the U.S.-Mexico border is basically a bust. In many ways, the planning and execution resembled a failing grade-school science fair project. Originally, its designers seemed to think that the hi-tech, multi-billion-dollar fence could be cobbled together from off-the-shelf components that were not necessarily designed to work together. Not so.
The system was supposed to let a small number of dispatchers watch the border on a computer monitor, zoom in with cameras to see people crossing, and decide whether to send Border Patrol agents to the scene. Although there are sensors, cameras and radar at many points along the border, they are not connected to cover large expanses.
Among other things, the radar system had trouble distinguishing between vegetation and people when it was windy. Also, the satellite communication system took too long to relay information in the field to a command center. By the time an operator moved a camera to take a closer look at a spot, whatever had raised suspicion was gone.
The Homeland Security Department and Boeing said the early problems were fixed, but other glitches keep popping up. The latest: A software bug that causes video recording devices to lock on to the wrong cameras, hindering agents trying to collect evidence against illegal border crossers.
President Obama just proposed cutting $189 million from this boondoggle. Could this be one of the most sensible decisions Dear Leader has made? Yet another big boner can be chalked up for U.S.-Mexican border security, this one spanning two administrations, spawning untold government bureaucracy, and spraining taxpayers' wallets to the tune of billions of dollars. Meanwhile, our rear remains "virtually" unguarded from illegal aliens of both the economic and terrorist variety.
