Thread: Official states Guardsmen were not overrun by gunmen

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/ar ... ON-CP.html -

Guard wasn't overrun by gunmen, official says

Matthew Benson
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 5, 2007 07:42 PM


National Guard unit stormed while patroling the border
Border attack raises security concerns Men who came across border to confront guardsmen dressed like paramilitary fighters

A Border Patrol official says National Guard troops acted appropriately this week when they abandoned their post near the border southwest of Tucson as four gunmen approached from Mexico.

It's the nearest that Guard members have come to an armed conflict on the border since spring when President Bush pledged up to 6,000 troops to help slow illegal immigration along the United States' 1,950-mile southern border. advertisement




No shots were fired in the incident and no one was injured. Border Patrol spokesman Mario Martinez stressed that "there was no attack."

But he added, "It's a serious situation. We're not trying to say it wasn't a serious situation. We've never had an incident where there were gunmen this close to a post."

It also raises questions in the eyes of critics who say the border mission has placed Guard troops in an awkward position. Guardsmen are strictly in a backup role along the border. That means performing administrative functions, building roads and fences - even conducting surveillance in some cases, such as with the team near Tucson.

But they're never to confront or attempt to apprehend border crossers.

"What are we paying our National Guard to do (along the border)? That is the question," said Don Goldwater , who led a failed campaign for governor last year on his promise to crack down on illegal immigration. "We're putting the National Guard down in harm's way along the border with no intention to allow them to protect themselves."

Goldwater is the nephew of former Arizona Senator and presidential candidate Barry Goldwater.

The armed confrontation occurred around 11 p.m. Wednesday near Sasabe , about a quarter-mile north of the border. A team of four or five Guard troops, armed with M-16s , were watching for border crossers at an observation post when they spotted four men carrying what appeared to be rifles, Martinez said.

As the men came closer, the Guard troops left their post and called for the Border Patrol.

"In order to not be detected, they moved to a safer location," Martinez said. "That's exactly what we want them to do.

"They're armed for their protection. Once they are afraid for their lives, they can defend themselves.

"That was not the case."

Border Patrol agents responded within minutes and scoured the area by helicopter and on the ground, but the gunmen were not located. Their tracks showed that they had arrived near the observation post after crossing into the United States from Mexico.

Armed individuals crossing remote areas of the border typically are smuggling drugs, Martinez said, though it's unknown who the gunmen were in this incident. It's also uncertain whether the men were scouting the observation post, testing National Guard response, or merely stumbled upon the troops.

Martinez wouldn't say whether troops have since returned to the observation post, but noted that "we're still monitoring the area. We'll probably be monitoring the area closely for a while."

Gov. Janet Napolitano's staff was briefed about the incident by the Arizona National Guard, but deferred comment to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. A spokesman from that office did not respond to a phone message left by the Arizona Republic.

Barrett Marson , a spokesman for state House Speaker Jim Weiers , said "legislative leaders have not been briefed on the situation, but would like some information."

State Sen. Chuck Gray , a Republican and retired Mesa police officer, was surprised that Guard members would run in the face of an armed threat - unless they were seeking protective cover.

"I can tell you, as a police officer of 10 years, there was never a policy to flee," he said. "If they're running for cover, that's different than running away."

Illegal immigration moved to the forefront of American politics in the last few years. Polling consistently has shown it as one of the top issues in the minds of Arizonans, and Napolitano and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson declared border emergencies for their respective states in August 2005.

Nearly one year ago to the day, Napolitano used her State of the State address to call for the federal government to pay for the deployment of the National Guard to the border. In the spring, she got her wish with President Bush's announcement of Operation Jump Start - a plan to use thousands of Guard members to tighten the border until new Border Patrol agents can be hired and trained.

Roughly 5,700 Guard members now are stationed along the border, more than a quarter of whom are in Arizona. It is hoped that they can be pulled back by 2008.

Initial reports indicate the program has reduced illegal crossings. Apprehensions in the four border states were down 11.4 percent in Arizona from 2005 to 2006, and down 8.5 percent for the four border states.

You know what this tells me! Want to enter America illegally in front of and under the noses of the National Guard then carry a gun.

This is stupid on so many levels! It's easier to cross the border than it is to get a 5 finger discount, at the corner store.

Dixie

I love the new spin, spin, spin...trying to tell us there were only 4 gunmen now.

If they 'd been able to catch or arrest them, they'd also know by now who they were dealing with rather than continuously stating they don't know who they were.

I loved this comment: Gov. Janet Napolitano's staff was briefed about the incident by the Arizona National Guard, but deferred comment to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. A spokesman from that office did not respond to a phone message left by the Arizona Republic.

So there's still no comment from the Governor.

I believe this was a major test to see how the Guardsmen would react. We're not taking this seriously enough. If the authorities had had their way, they would have liked this incident to never have reached the media and we still wouldn't have known about it!

Originally Posted by mapwife

I believe this was a major test to see how the Guardsmen would react. We're not taking this seriously enough. If the authorities had had their way, they would have liked this incident to never have reached the media and we still wouldn't have known about it!

I once read a rumor on the web that said that George Bush will go ahead with a 'guest worker' program even if it is turned down in congress by simply ordering it to go ahead.

This makes the corruption of the Nixon watergate scandal seem almost non-existence.

I believe that we are seeing the beginning stages of an outright invasion of the US as it is being orchestrated by Bush and that there is alot of covering up going on.

Let the hearings begin! I hope IMPEACHMENT IS AROUND THE CORNER!!

We need the United States army on the border. If necessary we should put them in fox holes every ten feet all across the southern border. But Bush wouldn't authorize that because it would stop the illegals from coming in.

We don't really need the army. The BP is trained and so is the Nat. Gruard they just need the proper orders. It's not the men on the ground that are the problem, it's the idiots in office jerking the stings of the officers in charge. This is exactly why Homeland Security should not be a cabinet position.

Dixie

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/163321

Armed group forces Guard to flee post near Sasabe
By Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.05.2007

National Guard troops working at an observatory post near Sasabe were approached by a group of armed individuals late Wednesday night and forced to flee, said Border Patrol and National Guard officials Thursday.

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. The troops withdrew safely. No shots were fired and no one suffered injuries, he 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."

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

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, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman. "We just don't know and that's why everything's got to be looked into."

Border Patrol officials say the armed group returned to Mexico, Daniels said.

The west desert corridor — where the incident occurred — 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, said Rob Daniels, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman. Sector wide, marijuana seizures are up 28 percent this fiscal year, according to agency figures.

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, Daniels said.

"That heightened frustration may have been connected to what took place last night," Daniels said.

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

"Having any of them breached could have been very, very unsafe," Daniels said. "Not just for the National Guardsman, but for any of our personnel in the area as well."

● Contact Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com

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