To the editor:

So much is being made today about whether Donald Trump can build a wall along our Mexican border. His opponents say that it is impossible. This border stretches for 1,989 miles in length. This is quite a rather long distance. Does this distance make it an insurmountable task or is it merely another problem to be conquered by Donald Trump?

Walls that were created throughout history were built for longer distances and for purposes of defense and control of the territory within. In short, they are nothing new.

Some of the most noted walls historically are:

– The Sumerians’ Amorite Wall, which was built during the 21st century B.C. and was over a hundred miles in length between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is present day Iraq. There were no railroads or motorways but the wall was erected. Did the population say at that time that it was impossible? Perhaps, but the wall was still built.

– Around 461 B.C., the Athenians built a huge wall around their city for protection. The Athenians sought to protect their connection to the sea by constructing walls to connect the city center to the vital harbors of Piraeus and Phalerum. Was this considered to be an impossible task at that time? Perhaps, but regardless if it was, the wall was still built.

– The “Great Wall of Gorgon” was a 121-mile rampart that extended from the southern coast of the Caspian Sea to the Elburz Mountains in what is now Iran. This is a very long ride on a four-legged animal.

– We are all familiar with Hadrian’s Wall, a 73-mile rampart that stretched from the Solway Firth on the western coast to the mouth of the River Tyne in the east, in northern England. This is not unusual as we are used to large undertakings by the Romans.

– The Great Wall of China is 13,170 miles long. The length of this wall was debatable until most recently when this was the distance agreed upon. Read the numbers again – 13,170 miles. I wonder what the rickshaw trip would cost. Impossible to build, not so, the construction started in 500 B.C. It was built!

And we can round out by listing The Walls of Constantinople or the infamous Berlin Wall.

However interesting this review of protected borders, we are missing the point. Should we be speaking about building a wall on a border we share with a “friendly” neighbor? Perhaps we should encourage by other means to convince our southern neighbor that being a good neighbor need not entail the construction of a long and costly wall.

Surely there are measures that Mexico would undertake to please its neighbor. A reasonable answer would include the Mexican government to take responsibility on their side of the border and prevent the illegal entry of their citizens into the United States. Is this an unreasonable request? We can exert great economic pressure on the Mexican government to be proactive in addressing this problem.

And when it comes to the business of economics Donald Trump could show them the art of the deal.

Joseph L. Kibitlewski

Cape Coral