Mattis Tells Army Troops On Border: Ignore Media Hype Over The Mission, "You'll Go Nuts"

On Wednesday Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen visited soldiers at the border in Texas, sent by Trump to bolster US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents ahead of waves of migrants expected to come as part of the much hyped caravan, in numbers totaling nearly 6,000 active duty troops, according to the Washington Post.

During televised comments Mattis avoided identifying either the short or long term mission of the border deployment, but said "we'll let you know" when one soldier asked whether the Army would be removing the miles of concertina wire troops have been erecting on border choke points considered weak or previously easy to breach. Another soldier bluntly asked Mattis precisely about official goals of the non-conventional mission, to which which he responded:

"Short term, get the obstacles in. Longer term…it is somewhat to be determined."

And another soldier was quoted by Washington Post journalists as scoffing to his friend while working on positioning the wire: “I bet you five bucks we have to take all this down in a few weeks,” the soldier said.

Mattis' talk was focused on keeping the troops motivated for what he admitted is "certainly non-traditional" in terms of a military mission or deployment. "The eyes of the world are on you" he said, and added that the mission is "certainly non-traditional…generally we do homeland security overseas."

Perhaps the most interesting moment came when the defense secretary addressed the explosive media controversy and coverage generated by the Trump-ordered deployment. Mattis urged the troops to ignore the flood of news coverage questioning the mission:

"There’s all sorts of stuff in the news…If you read all that stuff, you’ll go nuts, you know what I mean?"

Ironically one could just as easily apply these words to America's "endless war" in Afghanistan — a quagmire that Pentagon officials have recently dubbed unwinnable.

One US Marine combat veteran of the Afghan war and current New York Times reporter commented:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-14/mattis-tells-army-troops-border-ignore-media-hype-over-mission-youll-go-nuts