Thread: Guard troops will be armed in Tx., NM

Guard troops will be armed in Texas, NM

By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
El Paso Times

AUSTIN _ More National Guard troops in Texas and New Mexico will likely be armed than troops helping to secure the U.S.-Mexico border in California and Arizona, state officials said.
“The governor certainly wants to make sure our men and women in the National Guard are able to protect themselves if their assignments are in areas that will put them in danger,” said Kathy Walt, spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

An agreement all four states signed with the federal government outlines general guidelines for use of force under Operation Jump Start, but each state's National Guard leader and governor set specific protocols that determine the level to which soldiers will be armed.

Officials in Texas and New Mexico said troops there will be armed if their assignment could put them in harm's way. A spokeswoman for Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said most of the troops in that state would not be armed. And an Arizona National Guard official said an “extreme minority” of troops there would carry weapons.

“The mission sets we're working out with law enforcement agencies won't require it,” said Arizona guard spokesman Paul Aguirre.

Read the full story in tomorrow's El Paso Times.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/portlet/arti ... le=3914584

And they should be.
Good. Hope this news really ticks off Vicente Fox.

Yes they should. Otherwise they are sitting ducks for the drug cartels.

No one should complain about that! After 9-11, they were in the airports armed. Also, I know that Texas and Arizona are license to carry states, so the citizens are packing heat, why not the National Guard.

Dixie

Last Thursday, a General was on Lou Dobbs and told Lou that there would be 200 National Guard Troops on the ground the very next day (June 2nd) 8 days later....they have yet to arrive at the border.

He also said that by the end of June 3000 troops would arrive,and by early August all 6000 will be there.

All we get from Bush and his administration is bunch of lies