[ad_1]
WASHINGTON – More than 5,000 active-duty military troops will deploy to the southern border of the United States, Defense Department officials said on Monday, an escalation of a midterm election show of force against a caravan of Central American migrants that President Trump has characterized as an "invasion of our country."
The mbading of American troops comes as Mr. Trump has gotten off to a political conclusion in the middle of the month, warning darkly – and without evidence – that "Middle Eastern" people are part of a dangerous mob of migrants threatening to surge into communities here.
But the caravan, which has shrunk from 7,000 people to less than 3,500, is still reaching away from the United States. The rare use of the active-duty military to bolster Mr. Trump's campaign message has intensified criticism that the president is using the military for political gain.
"This is using the troops as props," said Jason Dempsey, who served as an Army Infantry Officer in Iraq and is now an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. "We're using a bunch of people to waste their time while they backstop the Border Patrol."
The military buildup is the culmination of Mr. Trump's efforts in recent weeks to appeal to his most ardent supporters and to focus the nation's attention on the migrant caravan.
"Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed in the Caravan heading to our Southern Border," the president wrote Monday on Twitter. "Please go back, you will be admitted to the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our country and our military is waiting for you! "
Mr. Trump has repeatedly cited reports from the United States, but some commentators on Mr. Trump's favorite television network have called for the issue of such an aggressive military response to the caravan.
"Tomorrow is one week before the election, which is what is all about," Shepard Smith, a Fox News anchor, said Monday on his show. "There is no invasion. No one is coming to get you. There is nothing at all to worry about. "
He added: "We're America. We can handle it. "
Kevin Appleby, of the Center for Migration Studies, criticized Mr. Trump's decision to send troops, saying it shows weakness instead of strength.
"The president's deployment of the world's strongest military officers is embarrbading," Mr. Appleby said.
But the president's tweet on Monday and the subsequent troop announcement made it clear that the White House would not be deterred from targeting the caravan, even after the suspect in the killing of 11 Jews in Pittsburgh invaders "who would kill his people.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, The White House Press Secretary, angrily rejected on Monday killings on Saturday at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, a community in Pittsburgh.
"The very first thing the president did was condemn these heinous acts," she said. "The very first thing the media did not blame the president."
Mr. Trump has been considering options for several months, and is looking forward to taking action. The active-duty military units will join Border Patrol Officers and National Guard troops in Texas, Arizona and California.
Military and border officials said that an initial group of 800 soldiers is already heading to Texas from Fort Campbell and Fort Knox as part of what the Pentagon is calling Operation Faithful Patriot. Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, the commander of the United States Northern Command, said that the United States would be joined by the United States.
"The president has made it clear that border security is national security," General O'Shaughnessy said.
If the caravan follows the pattern of previous groups of migrants, it is likely to shrink even more substantially in the coming weeks, leaving it dwarfed by the gathering of armed soldiers.
Military and border officials insisted that they had a serious threat, and that there were signs that more migrant groups were forming.
"We've gotten to be prepared for the potential arrival of a very large group," said Kevin K. McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. "We will not allow a large group to enter the United States in an unsafe and unlawful manner."
Mr. McAleenan described surge in Border Patrol resources in recent days, with more than 1,000 officers flowing to the area, including those with tactical experience in countering riots. He said the Border Patrol has deployed Black Hawk helicopters and other equipment to respond quickly to the arrival of the migrants.
But he said the active-duty military is being deployed because of the Border Patrol Agents, supported by about 2,000 National Guard troops, might not be enough to repel men, women and children marching to the United States.
Once fully deployed, the active-duty badistants can badist those who are in the business of providing services. There will also be helicopter and plane transport agents, personal support and planning teams that will help coordinate the influx of forces.
General O'Shaughnessy said the new forces will be operating under the same authority as the National Guard troops already on the border.
The Mexican-American war in the mid-1800s has huge numbers of troops to the border, and the military has a presence there for decades. For more than 60 years, the United States has been maintaining its position along the border with Mexico, according to a military history of the border published by the Combat Studies Institute Press at Fort Leavenworth.
Mr. Trump's decision to send military forces to the border is a rare use of the armed forces in the past four decades. In the late 1980s, the Defense Department felt active-duty military and reserve troops to the border as part of an effort to counter the flow of illegal drugs from Mexico. The military provided similar services during that mission.
Since then, Mr. Trump's predecessors have largely relied on national governors to call the National Guard in response to the growth of immigrants, guns and drugs from Mexico to the United States.
Mr. Trump is poised to behave as a leader in the power of the police and to show the force of deterrence and a real-world amplification of the Border Patrol.
In a tweet last week – one of several months he has embraced the military 's power – Mr. Trump blamed Democrats for failing to support tougher border laws. He is a serious threat to the United States.
"Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council is right when he says on @foxandfriends that the Democrat inspires laws make it tough for us to stop people at the Border, " the speaker wrote.
In the meantime, he added: "I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency. They will be stopped! "
[ad_2]
Source link
