Dispatches from Home – Walls Do Work.

Greetings! I found this Letter To The Editor in Sunday’s fish wrapper of interest. The last paragraph is thought-provoking. Later Concerned Gaters!

“Walls do work.

The author from Carriere asserts that walls fail – Maginot Line, Hadrian’s Wall, and the Great Wall of China – is without factual merit (Jan. 6 letter: Instead of a wall, use technology).

The Maginot Line did not fail — the German armored blitzkrieg that overwhelmed France in 1940 did not directly breach the Maginot Line but outflanked the Line by going through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium to invade France where the Line had not yet been built.

Hadrian’s Wall was a successful barrier from 128 A.D. until 410 A.D. when the Romans, who built the wall, abruptly abandoned the wall and withdrew Roman forces from Britannia — under Roman control, there were no major breaches by the Picts.

The Great Wall of China was a successful barrier from the 8th Century into the 17th Century — Mongol raiders in the early 1400s did breach the barrier, but no invasion of substance or conquest occurred. Only the Manchu invasion which began in 1600, finally got through the wall some 44 years later in 1644, but only by means of treachery by a Ming general who opened the gates at a critical pass.

History tells us that walls do work, but if incomplete, abandoned or treachery happens, then serious consequences are likely. Walls are not just barriers but also serve to channel the flow of people across borders to more safely manage the flow of people and commerce. History also tells us that walls are but a single tool and never intended to be the sole solution.

STEPHEN GRIMES

GAUTIER”

(Originally posted January 16, 2019)