Not Since Pancho Villa...

From the Associated Press:

National Guard troops not allowed to apprehend illegal border crossers

TUCSON, Ariz. - National Guard troops at an observation post near the Mexico border were forced to flee a group of armed people, who later ran into Mexico, authorities said.

The troops, who are not allowed to apprehend illegal border crossers, withdrew safely and no one was injured, said National Guard Sgt. Edward Balaban.

U.S. Border Patrol officials are investigating the 11 p.m. Wednesday incident and trying to determine who the armed people were and why they approached the post near Sasabe, in the desert corridor between Nogales and Lukeville. Balaban said the troops didn’t know how many people were involved because it was so dark.

What the hell? Why do we have troops stationed on the border if they can't engage armed hostiles, apprehend illegal border crossers and aren't equipped to do the task anyway? Why don't they have night-vision goggles and the authority to apprehend?

The National Guard abandoned territory to armed thugs, most likely agents of some narco-boss. That is the bottom line.

This situation must be addressed and the parameters and guidelines the National Guard forces we station on our border must be updated and new policies enacted. The Guard has been stood up at the border as window dressing, to make it look like something is being done; when in reality, they (the politicians) are beholden to business interests that are served just fine by the status quo.

Time for some real accountability, before some druglord puts a bounty on the heads of Guardsmen.

Back to Iraq

Happy Veteran's Day, Guardsmen. Now back to battle with you.

Stretched thin by the troop requirements of fighting two wars, the Pentagon is preparing to redeploy entire brigades to combat in Iraq. This will require scrapping the regulation that National Guard troops be limited to combat tours of no more than 24 months total out of each five year period.

Smaller units and individual Guardsmen have redeployed for longer than the proscribed 24 months, but this represents a departure from established policy. The news was announced by Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum (pictured) who commands the Guard, in an Associated Press interview this week.

How did this announcement on Wednesday get short shrift? Of course the answer to that question is "There was an election, stupid" and the timing of the announcement was cynical. I've been around the military long enough to recognize manipulation of the news cycle by timing announcements, thanks.

Yes, I know the uniforms say "United States Army" but these guardsmen did not join the regular Army. They joined the National Guard. Most National Guard troops join for local reasons. To fight wildfires in the western states, clean up after hurricanes and tornados, blizzard relief... The understanding is that the National Guard will guard the nation, meaning this nation.

This president and this Department of Defense have used and abused the military in general and the Guard in specific, and that we the citizens of this nation allow it speaks very poorly of us. We owe these quintesential citizen soldiers more than they are getting from us, that is for damned sure. They do as they are asked, mostly without complaint.

We, on the other hand have not only the right to complain on their behalf, we have the responsibility to do so.