Deployed Inside the United States: The Military Waits for the Migrant Caravan - Polidicks

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/10/us/deployed-inside-the-united-states-the-military-waits-for-the-migrant-caravan.html Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Micek, a platoon sergeant with the 89th Military Police Brigade, tore open the brown packaging of his M.R.E. on Thursday. It was a chicken and noodle dish, one of the more sought-after rations because it came with Skittles. But from the cot outside his platoon’s tent at the Army’s latest forward operating base, Sergeant Micek could almost see the bright orange and white roof of Whataburger, a fast-food utopia eight miles away but off limits under current Army rules. The desert tan flatbed trucks at the base are for hauling concertina wire, not food runs. Such is life on the latest front where American soldiers are deployed. The midterm elections are over, along with President Trump’s rafter-shaking rallies warning that an approaching migrant caravan of Central Americans amounts to a foreign “invasion” that warrants deploying up to 15,000 active-duty military troops to the border states of Texas, Arizona and California. But the 5,600 American troops who rushed to the brown, dry scrub along the southwest border are still going through the motions of an elaborate mission that appeared to be set into action by a commander in chief determined to get his supporters to the polls, and a Pentagon leadership unable to convince him of its perils. Instead of football with their families on this Veterans Day weekend, soldiers with the 19th Engineer Battalion, fresh from Fort Knox, Ky., were painstakingly webbing concertina wire on the banks of the Rio Grande, just beneath the McAllen-Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge. Nearby, troops from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State were making sure a sick call tent was properly set up next to their aid station. And a few miles away, Staff Sgt. Juan Mendoza was directing traffic as his engineer support company from Fort Bragg, N.C., unloaded military vehicles. Come Thanksgiving, they most likely will still be here. Two thousand miles away, at the Pentagon, officials privately derided the deployment as an expensive waste of time and resources, and a morale killer to boot.

Now i want to trebuchet them some whataburger what a waste of time for everyone involved

Using soldiers as pawns to demonstratively jerk-off conservatives, who would have thought.

This would be an Onion article about Modern Warfare 4 if Trump wasn't president.

What exactly is the point of this operation? Does Trump think that the military will gun down refugees on sight or???

Probably just a 'show of force' for the media to show that big daddy orange is very strong against those dirty muslim terrorist immigrants. (Hopefully) the soldiers themselves know that they aren't a real danger to justify killing them.

it's not about the migrants or the border at all. It was a publicity stunt for the midterms to trick morons into thinking this is "real action" against the migrant caravan, which most likely is going to make it to the US border without much event. It's all for show

Nice. Instead of allowing these soldiers to come back to their families for Thanksgiving and relax, they're now rushed to a place with bare bones infrastructure, shit weather, and low morale, just to "threaten" a damn migrant caravan.

so glad we raised the already inflated defense budget so we could stand idle at the border to defend ourselves from a migrant caravan that may or may not even show up so glad this country's really got its priorities straight. /s

I wish the Generals at the Pentagon just flat out refused those orders due to how fucking stupid they are. Even they know nothing good will come of it.

"Cruel commander-in-chief forces soldiers away from their families over fear-mongering campaign." You know it's true.

Imagine the national embarrassment (for Trump) when they're required to let them in anyway.

This is essentially The Wall, pre-alpha version. Does anyone seriously believe this will do anything? It's not like these soldiers are standing along the entire border, guns in hands just a few feet apart from each other across all the varied terrain. There's gonna be huge gaps.

Mattis: https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/864/859/47c.jpg I have no idea how he puts up with Trump.

"You by have to go after their families"

having worked in a band in a little bar in st louis, i think i understand how you gain the patience to deal with someone like that yes im comparing trump to beligerant drunk people short answer is: very carefully

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/483735746667347979/508471781380849674/image0.jpg "We gotta be shooting the OTHER brown people"

Jesus Christ I wonder what BS the generals had to come up with to give an official summary of the operation. They're gonna wait there until whoever's left gets to the border, then the people that we already have to handle asylum seekers will deal with it and they'll go home.

I hope this is remembered next time there's a group of"Troops for Trump" he's using the troops as political theatre now. I wish these guys the best though, its not likely their fault but this is again another case of shooting yourself in the foot because the other option to vote for was scary.

"We have the troops stationed at the border, sir." "Tremendous. Look at them all. The best. The ver-where are their guns? What...are they carrying blankets? And water? ARE THEY HUGGING THE IMMIGRANTS?!" "We were instructed to station troops at the border to support border patrol operations. This is what the normal day to day operation of border patrol looks like." "THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO TACKLE THEM AND CART THEM OFF IN TRUCKS." "You're thinking of ICE."

Here's hoping he gets mad when this inevitably happens. Otherwise, he might try and spin it as being the intention all along, and before we know it we'll have permanent troop deployments on the border because it adds 1% to his approval rating.

Trump needs to go to jail for denying the inalienable right of anyone currently living in Texas, access to Whataburger.

So those soldiers.. they're currently just waiting? They're here, doing nothing?

You just summed up 85% of military activity.

"Join the Navy! See the world*!" *The world is 70% water