Jun 30 9:35 PM US/Eastern
Posted on 06/30/2006 7:15:57 PM PDT by EternalVigilance
| Only 483 Guard Working on Mexican Border Jun 30 9:35 PM US/Eastern
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By AARON C. DAVIS
Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
On the deadline to have 2,500 troops along the Mexican border, the National Guard said Friday that only 483 were in position and working with the U.S. Border Patrol as the Bush administration had directed.
But Guard officials said more than 2,000 others were somewhere inside the four southwestern border states, training or helping plan the deployment. He and Bush administration officials argued Friday that the presence of troops in those states spelled success in the first stage of the mission.
Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, an arm of the Pentagon, had promised June 1 that by the end of the month 2,500 Guard troops would be working "on the border."
"As defined by the operation, the National Guard has met and exceeded its goal of deploying 2,500 soldiers and airmen to the four Southwest border states," said White House spokesman Blain Rethmeier. "Progress to date is real and the Guard's efforts are making a positive difference in this national effort."
As evidence, he said the early arrival of troops had allowed the Border Patrol to send 125 agents "back to the front lines," and helped the Border Patrol catch nearly 200 illegal immigrants, seize 123 pounds of marijuana, 18 pounds of cocaine and seven vehicles.
Through initial pay requests filed with the Air Guard and orders filed with the Army Guard, the Guard bureau verified 2,547 troops were in the four border states for the mission, said Daniel Donohue, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau.
Only 483 were physically on the border, he conceded.
The remaining forces _ 1,816 _ are in training somewhere in the four states; 248 are assigned to headquarters and planning roles, Donohue said.
Asked to clarify, Blum spokesman Mark Allen responded by e-mail that the general had never specifically promised to deliver troops to a "geographically defined latitude and longitude."
Still, there were signs the deployment was picking up speed.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said 1,000 Army and Air National Guardsmen were either on the border or "on their way," adding 500 to totals released Thursday. But his office said the additional troops didn't actually reach the border, but were considered deployed when they left Friday for two weeks of training.
Several states whose Guard leaders and governors had been contacted by the National Guard Bureau in the last 48 hours also made announcements Friday that they would send troops.
Gov. Mike Easley of North Carolina said he would reluctantly deploy 300 troops to the border in mid-July.
"I would prefer not to have any of the North Carolina National Guard deployed to other states at this time," he said. "However, the Guard units in the western states are spread thin as they battle raging wildfires. We must all step up and do our part to keep our country safe."
Kentucky announced it would send up to 650 National Guard troops. Arkansas also said it would send 200. New Jersey also said it would send up to 650 for three-week assignments.
Damon Foreman, senior patrol agent and spokesman for the Border Patrol in San Diego, said agents there eagerly await the Guard's help.
"We would welcome all the help we could get. We could absorb them as fast as we could give them instructions on what to do," Foreman said, adding that the delayed deployment, however, had not affected operations.
"We've been doing a considerably effective job for a long time now, we'll keep doing our job whether the whole number of Guard show up tomorrow, a week from tomorrow, or a month from now."
Bush's plan for stemming illegal immigration by using National Guardsmen in a support role called for 2,500 troops to be on the border by June 30, and 6,000 by the end of July.
Bush had said the mission would free up thousands of officers now on other duties to actively patrol the border. Guardsmen are expected to build fences, conduct routine surveillance and take care of other administrative duties for the border patrol.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Bush is not a xenophobe, as you appear to be. No one is forced to fly, so a bit of inconvenience at the airport is just part of the process.
I am looking forward to a political bloodbath in November when these pro illegal whores in DC get their walking papers.
Like who? The Senate is safe, and, the more the Democrats hang themselves in the area of national security, the more it appears that the House will remain in GOP hands as well.
Immigration will not be the decisive factor in the election, as you hope it will. National security and Iraq will be, as it was in 2004.
You keep splitting the National Security from illegal immigration, just like Bush does. This is not intelligent.
Ugh Oh.. A democrat cliche snuk out..
i.e. what exactly is wrong with being an extremeist?..
As the vast majority of voters do.
You, OTOH, have to link National Security to immigration to get any traction.
Immigration is a separate issue to voters. And immigration is nowhere near as important an issue, to voters, as national security.
We shall see who is right in November.
Beautiful post.
And sinkspur's response???.......
*crickets*
Good morning!
I had never seen our troops sporting hard hats before, nor blue ones.
They resemble the U.N. "blue helmets," although as EV rightly pointed out, they're hard hats, appropriate for Engineers.
Would like to know more about this.
BTW, "The War Tapes" opened in San Francisco yesterday. Don't know when it will come to L.A.
Good morning : )
National Guard: Doing The Job That American Presidents Don't Want To Do.
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