American authorities are helpless, as usual, to block this strategic smuggling operation on our southwest border. America is helpless because President Clinton will not support improved border controls, and he won't get tough with the Mexican government. Clinton's immigration policy can be characterized as appeasement of the Mexicans, appeasement of the Chinese and a "who cares?" attitude.

But why should Americans worry about large Chinese smuggling operations on our southwest border? After all, it's probably only drugs and illegal immigrants. And if people want to destroy their lives with heroin or cocaine, why waste money trying to stop them? And if immigrants want to come here, why not welcome them?

Setting aside the issue of dangerous drugs and illegal immigration, the reason we should worry about drug and alien smuggling into this country, and the reason that no effort should be spared in making our borders impenetrable, is because nuclear and biological weapons can be smuggled into the country by the same routes that illegal narcotics are smuggled. According to Colonel Stanislav Lunev, highest ranking defector from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff, narcotics trafficking is a way of establishing secure pathways into the United States. If there is a hole in our border due to corruption by drug traffickers, that hole can be used to ship more than narcotics. It can be used to ship suitcase nuclear bombs.

With illegal immigration there is an additional concern. The Russian and Chinese general staffs have long been fascinated by Hitler's invasion of Norway. In that invasion German combat units entered Norway disguised as civilians. Once on Norwegian soil they deployed to sites where uniforms and weapons were waiting. Entire German combat units were able to invade Norway without having to fight their way up beaches. The country was penetrated in depth at the outset.

Laugh if you like, but the United States is not invincible. If an alliance of relatively weak countries intended to defeat the United States in a war, they would have to take advantage of every potential avenue of attack. The open U.S. border to the south is an obvious weak point. In a typical war scenario, after a general nuclear exchange, thousands of Chinese soldiers pre-deployed to Mexico could move across the border and grab key points. Therefore, Chinese and Mexican warships escorting Chinese shipments to Baja California should raise a red flag.

OK, perhaps it is only narcotics trafficking today. But some day it could be turned into something more. And that fact makes the problem absolutely intolerable from a national security standpoint.

Ironically, Clinton has declared a state of national emergency because of the threat of nuclear and biological terrorism on American soil. Executive Order 12938 was issued on Nov. 14, 1994. Unfortunately this laughable "state of emergency" -- which hardly anyone knows about -- cannot do much as long as our borders are easily penetrated.

A few years ago I happened to interview a Mexican gun runner. He bragged about his contacts in the Mexican underworld. With a loaded gun lying on the table, he philosophized in broad Marxist generalities, hinting at the liberation of Mexico, the liberation of the poor and downtrodden peoples of the Southwest. He also mentioned his Cuban "friends" and contacts. He spoke of the day when suburban America would be exterminated. "These people are living in a dream world," he told me. He laughed at America's politicians and bureaucrats.

There is a pattern in all of this. Gun running and drug smuggling along America's southern border is not merely criminal. There is a political and ideological component which has long been ignored. There should be little doubt: when terrorism overtakes us, drug traffickers and gun runners will have played a key role.

From a strategic standpoint, Mexico sits at our soft underbelly. Any country waging war with the United States would covet a secret alliance with Mexico. Such an alliance would open an avenue of attack. For this reason alone the participation of Mexican warships in Chinese smuggling operations should put us on guard. But the president will not do anything. He will not act.

Meanwhile, China is actively attempting to secure control of the Panama Canal. According to Admiral Thomas Moorer, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "If we proceed along our present course, by the end of this year, on December 31st, Communist China will become the de facto new owners and rulers of the Panama Canal."

They are weeping with laughter in Beijing at our shopping mall society and its flabby reflexes. One can only guess the jokes that pass between officials of the People's Liberation Army. The Americans are pathetic. They are weak. They are decadent. Ha, ha, ha.

Why has there been no reaction in Congress? Why hasn't anybody launched a campaign to force the government to defend the national security?

As President Coolidge once said, "The business of America is business." Behind our Congress there exists huge financial interests. And the People's Republic of China (PRC) and its agents of influence have neutralized our national security by directly appealing to American big business. According to the Cox Report: "The PRC's massive consumer market is the key factor behind the willingness of some U.S. businesses to risk and tolerate technology transfers."

The logic of this applies to both our big corporations and the national government in Washington. The linkages are clear. According to the Cox report, "The People's Republic of China (PRC) has stolen classified information on all of the United States' most advanced thermonuclear warheads."

This is no lucky hit. The methods for penetrating U.S. institutions have been well worked about by the Chinese. They have found a way into us. They merely exploit our greed.