In reaction to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, former leader of Pakistan, Mike Huckabee said that the United States is under specific threat from Pakistani terrorists who are sneaking across the borders of the United States to try to kill us all. It’s the threat from Pakistani evildoers, Huckabee suggested, that makes closing off American borders so important. “The fact is the immigration issue is not so much about people coming across the border to pick lettuce or make beds, it’s about people who can come with a shoulder fired missile and can do serious damage and harm us,” Huckabee said.

This claim from the Huckabee for President campaign can be met with a series of practical questions: How many Pakistanis carrying shoulder-fired missiles have actually been caught trying to catch the border? How many people in the United States have been killed by Pakistanis carrying shoulder-fired missiles? When was the last time you saw a Pakistani in the United States carrying a shoulder-fired missile?

The answers to these questions are clear: Zero, zero and you haven’t.

Mike Huckabee might as well be talking about a threat from angry goblins crossing American borders as ranting on about Pakistanis in the United States with shoulder-fired missiles. Both are equally imaginary.

(Source: PRNewswire, December 28, 2007)