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Trump's Mexico border mission may approach last year's peak size


webfact

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Trump's Mexico border mission may approach last year's peak size

 

2019-01-31T223313Z_1_LYNXNPEF0U2BN_RTROPTP_4_USA-IMMIGRATION-PENTAGON-(1).jpg

FILE PHOTO: The U.S. and Mexico border fence is seen in Tijuana, Mexico, Jan. 27, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is set to deploy 3,500 troops to its mission at the border with Mexico, U.S. officials said on Thursday, bringing the politically charged deployment back to near its peak level of about 5,900 in November, if only briefly.

 

The figure was disclosed by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, who slammed senior Pentagon officials for failing to disclose that information during a hearing before his committee in Congress on the issue on Tuesday.

 

"This was at best an error in judgment, and at worst flat-out dishonesty," Smith said, adding he had spoken with acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan about it.

 

Shanahan told reporters the same day as the hearing that thousands more troops were headed to the border but the 3,500 figure was only disclosed on Thursday. There are currently about 2,350 troops involved in the border mission.

 

"I have followed up on that hearing with a phone call to Secretary Shanahan, and he has provided more details on the increase. I appreciate his willingness to discuss it with me, but a phone call is not a substitute for transparency before Congress and public candour," Smith said.

 

The Pentagon says the U.S. military will operate mobile surveillance cameras in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, a mission that is scheduled to run through Sept. 30. Some of the additional troops will also string up 150 more miles of concertina wire by March 31.

 

The Pentagon first approved the high-profile deployment of active-duty U.S. troops to the Mexico border in October, ahead of U.S. midterm congressional elections. It was embraced by Trump's supporters, including Republicans in Congress.

 

However, critics have assailed the deployment as a political stunt and scoffed at Trump's comparisons of caravans of Central American migrants, including women and children, to an "invasion."

 

(Reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish)

 

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-01
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4 hours ago, webfact said:

This was at best an error in judgment, and at worst flat-out dishonesty," Smith said, adding he had spoken with acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan about it.

It’s the trump White House, so let’s face it, “flat-out dishonesty” is the reason it wasn’t disclosed earlier. 

Edited by Bluespunk
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3 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Seems some of Trump's advisors have seen one of the flaws in Trumop's threat of invoking a national emergency in building the wall - where are the troops on the ground that should be protecting America 24/7 against the alleged waves of Latino invasions until the wall is built?

Yet, the troop surge doesn't negate the fact that it is the Border Patrol's mission to detect and deter illegal crossings and Trump has done nothing to surge the levels of BP personnel.

Lol.... no new funding for any border security employment program until Nancy gives it the ????

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7 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

Instead of a wall, how about a moat? just dig a big ditch and get a bunch of the nuisance gators in Florida...

Ever heard of the Rio Grande (sorry, no gators) :whistling:

Edited by Dap
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I never used to believe that a few people would post lies. 

Now a liar has been caught out. But really, is that going to change the mind of trumpeteers.

I remember an old army saying. 

Stick your head in the ground and wait for the  bang.

 And even when the bang is heard, it is fake news.

 

Why on a simple supposedly informative post like this, would you want to post moronic slander like this.

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