And will episode embolden armed drug smugglers?
By Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.17.2007
advertisement
Questions still linger about what really happened two weeks ago when
a National Guard observation team was forced by four armed men to
retreat from its post east of Sasabe.
Federal lawmakers have joined their state counterparts in demanding
answers about the Jan. 3 incident. House Homeland Security Committee
Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., sent a letter to Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff asking what the agency has learned and how
it will handle future hostile confrontations.
Last week, Arizona lawmakers asked for an explanation as to why
National Guard troops fled their observation post. Rep. Warde
Nichols, R-Gilbert, who chairs the House Committee on Property Rights
and Homeland Security, has scheduled a Jan. 29 meeting at which the
committee will question Maj. Gen. David Rataczak, the state Guard
commander.
"I've heard two or three different stories of what happened at the
border," Nichols said . "We want to get to the bottom of what
happened and not stay in the realm of 'he said, she said.' "
Among the questions that loom is whether the Guard troops had
ammunition in their rifles, who the armed men were and what the Guard
is allowed to do when confronted, he said.
Border Patrol officials have scoffed at reports that the troops
didn't have ammunition in their rifles. The only National Guard
troops without loaded weapons are those working in administrative
positions and helping with construction of fences and vehicle
barriers, and repairing roads, said Gustavo Soto, Border Patrol
Tucson Sector spokesman.
"They've had rifles and ammunition since day one," Soto said.
Reports that the National Guard Entrance Identification Team was
forced to flee or abandon its post don't accurately describe the
incident, Soto said.
Some of the confusion can be traced to the agency's own statements in
the days after the incident. On Jan. 4, the next day, a Border Patrol
Tucson Sector spokesman said the National Guard team was forced to
flee its post after it had been compromised and deemed the episode a
significant incident.
The following day, Tucson Sector spokesmen were forwarding all
inquiries to headquarters in Washington.
Border Patrol headquarters spokesman Mario Martinez said troops moved
to a safer location after an armed group came within 100 yards of
their post, and notified Border Patrol agents. When agents arrived
minutes later, the armed individuals were gone, but the agents
tracked their footprints to the U.S.-Mexican border, he said.
"The entrance-identification team acted appropriately and did what
they were expected to do," Martinez said.
Officials in the Tucson Sector say there will be no changes in
protocol and that the observation posts are staffed and operational.
Both headquarters and sector spokesmen said Guard troops have the
green light to use their weapons if necessary.
"If they see armed individuals coming toward them, they are going to
move to a safer position and defend themselves," Soto said. "If they
were fired upon, they would return fire."
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.
Thompson's letter, also signed by Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif.,
requests information on how many illegal entries involved armed
suspects in 2006, how sightings of armed entrants are handled, and
the rules of engagement and force for the National Guard.
"This situation highlights a potential operational gap between the
National Guard and the Border Patrol that must be filled immediately
to ensure that this type of incident is not repeated," Thompson said
in an e-mail Tuesday.
Nichols remains dissatisfied with the answers. Nichols has received
calls from National Guard members who say the troops didn't have
ammunition in their rifles, he said. He plans to question Rataczak
about that in the hearing.
His greatest concern is that the armed men — who many believe could
have been drug smugglers — were testing the Guard troops to find out
what they could do in future showdowns.
"I believe that those people in the National Guard are more at risk
today than they were two weeks ago because if those illegals are
testing them, now they know that when they come across with weapons
that we are going to retreat," Nichols said.
As it becomes more difficult for smugglers to get their goods across
the border, frustration will increase, Soto said.
Violence is a constant companion for any agent or officer working the
border, but no more so now than it was a month ago, national Border
Patrol spokesman Martinez said.
"The Border Patrol isn't just out there watching the sunset and the
sunrise," Martinez said. "There are criminals out there committing
criminal acts and there is an inherent level of risk."
The incident took place in the busiest stretch of the Tucson Sector
for marijuana seizures. From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, seizures were up 28
percent over the same time the previous fiscal year. Marijuana
seizures are up 26 percent across the Southwest border.
Apprehensions, meanwhile, are down by 8 percent in the Tucson Sector
and by 26 percent across the Southwest border.
The incident and murky details about what happened have raised
concerns and questions among those who follow military or border
issues in Tucson, said Bill Langeman, a business consultant in Tucson.
He contacted the offices of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Jon Kyl,
R-Ariz., and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. He heard back only from
Kyl's office, where someone read him the official statement on the
incident. He has heard secondhand that National Guard members had
guns but no bullets.
"I'm furious that this happened and I can't get a straight answer
about how it happened," said Langeman, 53. "This just sounds like the
usual federal cover-up."
The Border Patrol continues to investigate the confrontation and has
asked Mexican authorities to do the same, Martinez said.
"I can tell you we are going to be monitoring that area a lot
closer," Martinez said.
● Contact Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com
No comments:
Post a Comment