Donald Trump's Election Invasion Special
by Tom Sullivan
Drama and conflict and migrants, oh my! It's Donald Trump's Election Invasion Special.
Leaked military planning documents show the sitting president's plan to deploy troops to the southern border to repel refugees is "a waste of time" for which there is no evidence of need, Newsweek reporter James LaPorta told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Thursday night. Pentagon sources agree the move to deploy as many as 15,000 troops is a pre-election political stunt.
Unclassified documents obtained from two Defense Department officials support that conclusion:
The U.S. intelligence community assessed that the “most likely course of action” was a dwindling of migrants as it reached the U.S. southern border, with limited transcontinental criminal organizations exploiting the group and “no terrorist infiltration,” an assessment that runs counter to past statements made by the president.That stunt is estimated to cost perhaps $50 million, a Pentagon official told Newsweek. Late Wednesday, Trump pledged to erect "a wall of people” to fend off women and children on foot. Needed, of course, because the physical wall he pledged in 2016 Mexico would pay to build does not exist.
Trump insisted the media is underestimating the caravans. “You have caravans coming up that look a lot larger than it’s reported actually. I’m pretty good at estimating crowd size. And I’ll tell you they look a lot bigger than people would think,” he told ABC.
The biggest border threat the military anticipates is from armed "patriot" groups claiming to be there in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents:
“Estimated 200 unregulated armed militia members currently operating along the southwest border. Reported incidents of unregulated militias stealing National Guard equipment during deployments. They operate under the guise of citizen patrols supporting CBP [Customs and Border Protection] primarily between POEs [Points of Entry],” according to the documents.So, while Republican gubernatorial candidates Brian Kemp (GA) and Kris Kobach (KS) are watching like hawks for black and brown people "stealing votes" by voting, the military is more worried about armed crackpots stealing its stuff than women and children stealing into the country.