Operation Jade Helm
BY Herschel Smith
9 years, 7 months ago
The Pentagon has a message for Texas: chill.
Defense officials Monday dismissed as “wild speculation” an Internet-fueled claim that a massive summertime exercise called Jade Helm 15 for special operations commandos is a covert operation by President Barack Obama to take over Texas.
That claim was given legitimacy by Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott’s order last week for the Texas State Guard to monitor the exercises.
“Operation Jade Helm poses no threat to any American’s civil liberties,” Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said Monday. “Operation Jade Helm is being conducted by Americans – by, specifically, American special forces personnel.”
Jade Helm 15 will be one of the biggest peacetime military exercises in six decades. Starting July 15 and lasting two months, thousands of Army Rangers, Green Berets, Navy SEALS and other special operations forces will simulate war missions in mainly remote areas of Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas and Utah.
Jade Helm 15 will take place on tracts of both public and private land in the seven states.
“In every case, extensive coordination has been completed with whoever’s responsible for that land,” Warren said. “In the case of private land, we’ve spoken and made detailed coordination with the patriotic Americans who have volunteered their land for the use of this important training.”
The Texas State Guard said Monday it would follow Abbot’s order. Asked by McClatchy whether it felt compelled to mobilize troops in order to monitor the exercises, Lt. Col. Joanne MacGregor, the unit’s public affairs officer, responded: “The Texas State Guard stands ready to support the governor of Texas when called upon to serve.”
Leaders of the Texas State Guard “are in the process of examining the best way to meet the governor’s intent,” MacGregor said. She said they are working with the U.S. Special Operations Command “in order to alleviate any possible public concerns.”
At the Pentagon, Warren said: “This is training that we’ve coordinated in great detail with both state and local officials in the various states that we’ll be conducting it.”
Abbott’s order infuriated some fellow Republicans. Former state Rep. Todd Smith, a GOP lawyer from Euless who served in the Texas legislature for 16 years, posted online Saturday what he termed an “open letter” to Abbott.
“As one of the remaining Republicans who actually believes in making decisions based on facts and evidence – you used to be a judge? – I am appalled that you would give credence to the nonsense mouthed by those who instead make decisions based on Internet or radio- or shock-jock-driven hysteria,” Smith wrote. “Is there ANYBODY who is going to stand up to this radical nonsense that is a cancer on our State and Party?”
Democrats, too, expressed dismay.
“The first thing the governor should have done when he heard about concerns with U.S. military training is to support our troops and reassure the public that our U.S. military poses absolutely no threat to Texans,” said Manny Garcia, executive director of the Texas Democratic Party. “Instead, he gave credence to conspiracy theorists by ordering the Texas State Guard to monitor U.S. military operations.”
The interesting thing about the report above is the reaction of the Texas democratic party. Support the troops, she says. So when is the last time you heard a democrat urge support for the troops? And while democrats will oppose virtually every engagement not on American soil by American troops, where is the one place they seem to support it? That’s right. American soil. This is not a coincidence or an accident.
As if on cue, collectivist Joe Manchin weighs in begging the *.gov to rape his state.
“Please come to West Virginia,” he said. “We’ll welcome you with open arms. We’re not afraid of you, we embrace you, we want you to be part of us.”
He can’t understand why everyone isn’t as collectivist as he is.
On May 7, 2015 at 6:42 am, Roger V. Tranfaglia said:
Suresh!.
All this time I thought they were in CA. Already……….
On May 7, 2015 at 9:04 am, MattBracken said:
How about we demand that all JH-15 participants wear clearly identifiable armbands? The military has already stated they would do so, but this must be extended to cover all participating FLEAs, LEOs, “contract role players” and “contract operators.” If they are taking part in JH-15 on public land, they must be clearly identifiable to the public that pays their salary. Not only that, there is the safety issue. We would not want anybody shot dead because a civilian believed a terrorist attack was going down. There are a lot of legal scoped rifles in the Southwest. It would not be healthy for a “role player” to be mistaken for a jihadist by an armed civilian.
On May 7, 2015 at 9:05 am, MattBracken said:
Here is a meme on the subject of armbands.
https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/19586_966337390052368_3373551937738654839_n.jpg?oh=b1b36fb50d5ef06879ebc27f33021b02&oe=55C03695
On May 7, 2015 at 10:17 am, Ned Weatherby said:
So now it’s: ‘I’m from the government, I’m here to help you, and you can trust me. Really. This is for your own benefit. We need to be trained, and all.”
On May 7, 2015 at 12:48 pm, brightlight said:
‘They have no business whatsoever using American soil for anything (other than immediately on military bases, otherwise considered U.S. reservations)’
So you’re also against the Special Forces ‘Robin Sage’ exercises as well?
On May 7, 2015 at 3:40 pm, Miles said:
Or the culmination exercises for certain Special Mission Units that have done the same for 37+ years as well?
Read Ranger Haney’s book. Yes, he’s been PNG’d but his accounts were pretty accurate at the time he wrote them.
Oh yes, and I’ll divulge a little secret here. After 9/11 and until the new tower was completed (so now it doesn’t matter who might know). At the last moment, when the students were seconds away from completing their training course, they were taken to ground zero to make the point that THIS is what it’s all about and the job is to do the best they can to not let it happen again.
We seem to still be here in something far less than the feared totalitarian police state that was formed after a military coup.