Gunmen Attack National Guard Border Patrol Site in Arizona - Guard Retreats!!!

[KeithPA]

I wish this was a joke, but it isn't..... We send the guard, who are more armed than the border patrol (which doesn't have the firepower to fight) and the National Guard cannot engage.


Gunmen Attack National Guard Border Patrol Site in Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. — National Guard troops working at an observatory post near the Mexican border were forced to flee after being approached by a group of armed individuals, authorities said.

The event occurred about 11 p.m. Wednesday at one of the National Guard entrance identification team posts near Sasabe, said National Guard Sgt. Edward Balaban.

He said the troops withdrew safely, no shots were fired and no one suffered injuries.

U.S. Border Patrol officials are investigating the incident and trying to determine who the armed people were, what they were doing and why they approached the post before retreating to Mexico.

The incident occurred in the west desert corridor between Nogales and Lukeville in the vicinity of Sasabe, Balaban said.

"We don't know exactly how many because obviously it took place in the dark," Balaban said. "Nobody was able to get an accurate count."

The Guard troops are not allowed to apprehend illegal entrants.

"We don't know if this was a matter of somebody coming up accidentally on the individuals, coming up intentionally on the individuals, or some sort of a diversion," said Rob Daniels, spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector.

The west desert corridor has been the busiest in the Tucson Sector for marijuana seizures since last year.

Agents have seized 124,000 pounds of marijuana there since Oct. 1, Daniels said.

With more Border Patrol agents and National Guard troops patrolling the Arizona section of the U.S.-Mexican border, it has become more difficult to smuggle drugs and people across and "that heightened frustration may have been connected to what took place last night," Daniels said.

Officials will make a decision following the investigation about whether changes need to be made in regard to the entrance identification teams, Balaban said.

Since arriving in mid-June, the Guard has assisted the Border Patrol by manning control rooms, doing vehicle and helicopter maintenance, repairing roads and fences, constructing vehicle barriers and fences and spotting and reporting illegal entrants in entrance identification teams.

There are dozens of National Guard entrance identification teams along the Mexican border, including east and west of both Nogales and Sasabe and on the Tohono O'odham Nation.

The troops stand post on hilltops next to army-green tents and serve as extra eyes and ears for the Border Patrol.

[knight0334]

thats messed up.. they should have full power to protect our borders. ....ain't that what they are supposed to do??? Too bad they didn't have a couple M1-A1's sitting around to respond with.

[jdlv4_0]

This is un-freaking-believable...

[LorDiego01]

I support for the guard patrol to fire on any armed invididuals coming at the border.

On the other hand...

gee...

124.000 pounds of marihuana captured.. I wonder how much gets through. Maybe somebody higher up the chain is making sweet deals on the DL?

You cant expect people making 40K-60K a year not to be bought off by the drug cartels, if you could make two years salary to look the other way for 15 mins, would you??

The corruption along the borders (on both sides) is pretty well known and that is the problem.

[ChamberedRound]

This makes me sad and angry at the same time.

Sad because they "were forced to flee"? What? A bunch of armed illegals scared off the National Guard?

Angry because we're treating this just like we're treating Iraq. We're not giving our troops the resources to do their jobs. More importantly, we're not giving them the latitude to do their jobs. If we decide to commit armed resources to something, we should commit COMPLETELY. If, as a country, we make a decision to defend our borders, attack an enemy in defense of national interest, etc. we should put everything we have into into it and SPARE NO QUARTER. The best way to defeat an enemy is to demoralize them and take away their desire to fight or assault our sovereignty.

"The Guard troops are not allowed to apprehend illegal entrants." Are you kidding me? IMHO no only should we be apprehending them, we should be able to shoot and, if need be, kill them. I know this might sound cruel to some, but in the spirit of the above statement, if we drop a few of them, maybe the rest will think twice about illegal border crossings. In most places around the globe, national borders and fortified and guarded, and one is considered lucky to simply be apprehended. Our borders should be no different.

I know the following statement is cliche, but appropriate: freedom isn't free. We shouldn't allow it to be stolen away by a bunch of thieves who scheme to cross a line in the sand for the purpose of availing themselves of the benefits that we, our fathers, and our grandfathers have worked for.

[KeithPA]

I'd agree in general terms on that one.... I've seen several movies (including Basic) and a couple Law and Order episodes .mil people either looking the other way or actively moving drugs using their powers. I can't say I've seen it happen in real life though.


But in this case I'd have to say no. Their orders are not to engage. They made a big deal about that when Bush originally ordered the guard there. Bush pointed out how he was not sending them there as "troops" but as "support" to help out the Border Patrol.

[phillyd2]

Anybody want to bet that the NG did not even have ammo issued to them?

[KeithPA]

Anybody want to bet that the NG did not even have ammo issued to them?

Not 100% sure, but I don't think they were even issued weapons for the mission.

[ChamberedRound]

Not 100% sure, but I don't think they were even issued weapons for the mission.

What's the point of deploying the NG without weapons?!?!? AAARRRRGGGHHH!!! Sorry for the emotion, but this just makes no sense to me...

[phillyd2]

What's the point of deploying the NG without weapons?!?!? AAARRRRGGGHHH!!! Sorry for the emotion, but this just makes no sense to me...

Come on CR, try to stay with the program. If they carried guns and ammo then somebody may get shot Duh. These poor guys are not invading the USA but only trying to feed their families.