Intelligence chief sees border as terrorist entryway

From the El Paso Times:

The nation's top intelligence official is concerned that terrorist groups such as al-Qaida, in the midst of regrouping and marshaling new recruits, are paying more attention to the Southwest border as they look for ways to enter the United States -- where their goal is to cause "mass casualties."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has intercepted 178 Iraqis seeking asylum by crossing the Southwestern border so far this year, nearly triple the 60 captured in 2006, according to figures from the office of National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell. None of those Iraqis have been linked to terrorist organizations.

McConnell, the member of the president's Cabinet who oversees all 16 of the nation's intelligence agencies, points to the recent declassified intelligence summary stating that al-Qaida is regrouping in the mountainous border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"You've got committed leadership. You've got a place to train. They've got trainers, and they've got recruits," McConnell said last week in an exclusive interview with the El Paso Times after his talk at the Border Security Conference.

Huh? Why is it, again, we're not working around the clock on a fence?