NY Times: No Power, Hot Food Or Thanksgiving For US Troops At Mexican Border

The New York Times has published a devastating depiction of the 5,600 US troops sent to the US/Mexican border.

Even though the migrant caravan isn't expected to reach the border for weeks, and the Border Patrol & National Guard were more than equipped to handle the situation, the soldiers were deployed as part of Donald Trump's explosive midterm election campaign promises.

But it turns out reality isn't nearly as winning as a stump speech at a campaign rally.

There's little electricity, no hot food, showers were only recently constructed, and most of the soldiers will miss not only Veterans Day with their families, but most probably Thanksgiving as well.

All so Donald Trump could whip up his followers.

From The New York Times:

The military’s morale issue is almost as worrisome. The deployment orders last until Dec. 15, meaning the troops will be on the border over Thanksgiving. They will have little to do beyond providing logistical support, unless Mr. Trump declares martial law. The troops will not be enforcing United States immigration law — that would run afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, unless a special exception is made.

“When you give a soldier a real mission, you have less of a morale problem, even if it’s Christmas or Thanksgiving,” said Representative Anthony G. Brown, Democrat of Maryland and a former Army helicopter pilot who served in the Iraq war. “But when you send a soldier on a dubious mission, with no military value, over Thanksgiving, it doesn’t help morale at all.”

As it was at the bases in those early war zones, electricity at Base Camp Donna is scarce except to power lights and communications gear. In the last several days, the soldiers installed a small shower tent. Men and women have set hours for bathing. Permitted shower length: seven minutes.

There is no mess hall, just the brown, prepackaged M.R.E.’s. Military police officers patrol the perimeter at night, armed with handguns. The tents sleep 20 soldiers and have no electricity or air-conditioning. Phone charging is relegated to a few generators that power the spotlights around the living area.

Military experts estimate the deployment could cost as much as $200 million.

NYT reports that instead of watching football with their families this Veterans Day weekend, the troops sent by Trump to the border are webbing wire on the banks of the Rio Grande. Whattaburger runs are off limits, so they eat chicken & noodle rations. https://t.co/7mj8mJ4vyw

— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) November 11, 2018