CNN reports:
President Donald Trump has ordered more military personnel to the US southwest than he has serving in some of the world’s most contentious combat zones. Senior military officers have defended the deployment on national security grounds, but the mission — dubbed Operation Faithful Patriot — raises a slew of questions, with former officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations and some veterans condemning it as a political stunt by a President eager to fire up his political base just days away from the midterm elections.
“A military strained by 17 years of war and sequestration doesn’t need this,” tweeted David Lapan, a former Homeland Security spokesman for the Trump administration and a former Marine. “Service members who have repeatedly spent long periods of time away from home don’t need this. And the US doesn’t need its military to ‘defend’ against a group of unarmed migrants, inc. many women & kids.” Former officials and veterans point to the unknown cost to taxpayers, given that much smaller deployments of National Guard to the border have cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
“You don’t need a constitutional amendment for birthright citizenship,” says President Trump: “If president Obama can get DACA approved… We can do this by executive order.” https://t.co/w5dEhwdW25 pic.twitter.com/yyXu3KH6I8
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) October 31, 2018
BREAKING: Trump says number of military troops deployed to US-Mexican border could go as high as 15,000.
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 31, 2018
JUST IN: President Trump says number of US troops sent to US-Mexico border could rise to “anywhere between 10,000 and 15,000 military personnel” – a range that would be similar to the number of US troops deployed in Afghanistan.
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 31, 2018
Keep in mind: If President Trump orders 15,000 US troops to the border, there will be three times as many forces responding to the migrant caravan as are deployed to Iraq to fight ISIS & stabilize the country.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) October 31, 2018