Mattis On The Border Security Mission

The UK government is falling apart with 6 cabinet resignations as I type this, but since it's a fast developing story, I'll just note it for now. I did want to record a link I ran across about the situation along the U.S.-Mexican border, since that's one of the purposes of this blog. Buzzfeed News, of all outlets, actually did a good article recording Defense Secretary James Mattis' remarks to the new troops deployed along the border in response to the immigrant caravans snaking their way through Mexico from Central America. There was even a live stream of the event, which I've been looking for.

Having laid down my fair share of razor wire, I could appreciate this question.

“Sir, I have a question. The wire obstacles that we've implanted along the border... Are we going to be taking those out when we leave?" one of them asked, drawing a few smirks from those around him. The most visible role US troops have served since they began arriving on Oct. 29 has been stringing up concertina wire, a razor wire that is notoriously hard to remove.

"We'll see what the secretary says, okay?" he answered, pointing to Nielsen standing next to him. “Right now, the mission is put them in. ... We’ll let you know.”

And yeah, this is a fair question.

US Northern Command says that troops have deployed with 22 miles of the wire so far, with 150 more available. The US–Mexico border is 1,950 miles long. Most members of the migrant caravan are heading toward Tijuana, which lies some 1,300 northwest of the border camp in Texas.

“What are the short and the long-term plans of this operation, sir?” asked another young soldier.

"Short term right now, you get the obstacles in so the border patrolmen can do what they gotta do,” Mattis responded.

“Longer term, it's somewhat to be determined,” he said, adding that “if we were in war right now, you'd be asking the same question” and that the mission was a “dynamic, unpredictable kind of thing.”