The United States is a country where we constantly balance security and liberty. During my youth, we were taught to believe that a large nuclear weapons arsenal, with a triad of land-based missiles, aircraft-dropped gravity bombs, and submarines would deter the Soviet Union from attacking us. When the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 happened, we shifted to a concern that a small group of terrorists had brought havoc on the country by bombing three locations with hijacked aircraft and could do it again. We subsequently gave unprecedented authority to the President to manage our security.

While it seems unlikely that one of the nuclear armed states would initiate an attack with nuclear weapons in the sort term future, the reality of ease a terrorist group has of constructing a single nuclear weapon with fissile materials collected from across the globe is as present as ever. Osama Bin Laden notably consulted with nuclear engineers at his last residence in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Terrorists have said they would use nuclear weapons if they could get the materials to make them and likely would. In the United States, we are free as long as we defend against this possibility.

What are Iowans doing to protect us? On Monday, Aug. 21, the governor’s office issued a press release saying Governor Kim Reynolds had joined four other governors at Eagle Pass, Texas to “ban together to secure border. The typo/misspelling aside, Reynolds had serious intent:

Texas is ground zero, front and center of the border crisis,” said Governor Reynolds… “On day 1 of the Biden Administration, they reversed policies that protect the sovereignty of this country and its citizens. Iowa is located at the intersection of two major interstates, and it is a pathway for Mexican cartels and humans traffickers in the Midwest.

Governors Reynolds, Abbott, Pillen, Stitt and Noem Ban Together To Secure Border, Office of the Iowa Governor, Aug. 21, 2023.

During this brief moment of grandstanding, the Republican governors seem to have forgotten the Biden administration has been working on the causes of illegal immigration, almost since day one. Vice President Harris has been charged with determining what can be done with the governments of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and others as people in those countries, including children and families, fled in record numbers. Migration from the region has spiked due to a web of factors, including poverty, corruption, racism, disease, natural disasters and gang violence, according to the Los Angeles Times. Governor Reynolds didn’t mention or acknowledge what the administration is doing because her trip was more about winning the 2024 election by scaring the electorate.

Let’s not forget that drug dealers won’t be stopped by improved security across the southern border. They have the resources, staffing, and technology to create innovative solutions to deliver their wares to the United States, including submersible ocean-going vessels, and aircraft that don’t touch land until they arrive in country. Republicans belied the complexity of dealing with threats from Mexico and Central America at their Eagle Pass photo opportunity. They distract us from other, more realistic threats to our security and liberty. They are going to have to do something other than point an accusing finger at the president to be credible.

Among our biggest threats to security are proliferation of assault-style weapons. There are droughts, derechos, tornadoes and heat waves made worse by climate change. The threat of terrorists securing enough fissile material to make a nuclear bomb, continues to be an issue. What about all these threats to our security? The governors did not mention them at Eagle Pass and more’s the pity. It is time to band together with fellow Democrats to ouster the governor when she is up for reelection in 2026.

In the meanwhile, to get involved with Iowa Democrats, click on this link.