TODAYS TOP HEADLINES
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Thursday, November 15, 2018 3A
MARCO UGARTE I Associated Press
Migrants traveling with a caravan hoping to reach the
U.S. border, wait to board a bus in La Concha, Mexico,
Wednesday, Nov. 14.
Mattis defends
military use at
Mexico border
Troops search for more
dead in aftermath of fire
i
JOHN LOCHER I Associated Press
Members of the California Army National Guard search a property for human remains at the
Camp fire, Wednesday, Nov. 14.
BY ROBERT BURNS
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -
Defense Secretary Jim Mat
tis on Wednesday defended
the use of active duty troops
on the U.S.-Mexican border,
saying that in some ways it
provides good training for
war. He argued that it’s
analogous to a 1916 deploy
ment to counter the Mexi
can revolutionary Gen.
Francisco “Pancho” Villa.
Speaking to reporters on
his way to visit U.S. troops
along the border in south
Texas, Mattis declined to
provide an estimate of how
much the mission will cost.
He said cost figures he has
received thus far are “not
anywhere near right.” He
added that he believes,
“very quickly we’ll know
the real cost. So we’ll keep
you posted as the real costs
come in.”
In his most extensive
remarks about the hastily
arranged border mission,
Mattis argued that it fits a
historical pattern dating to
early in the 20th century.
He noted that President
Woodrow Wilson deployed
tens of thousands of
National Guard and active
duty troops to the border in
1916 in response to a Mexi
can military raid into the
U.S.
“That’s over a century
ago, and the threat then
was Pancho Villa’s troops
— revolutionary raiding
across the border into the
United States,” he said. He
noted that more recently,
National Guard troops
were used in border mis
sions ordered by Presi
dent George W. Bush and
President Barack Obama,
although not on the cusp of
a midterm election.
The Pentagon chief said
that within a week to 10
days the 5,800 troops cur
rently deployed for the
border mission will have
accomplished all the tasks
initially requested by Cus
toms and Border Protec
tion, although additional
tasks are now being worked
out between the Pentagon
and the Department of
Homeland Security. Mattis
did not say how soon the
mission might end; current
deployments are scheduled
to last until Dec. 15, but that
could change.
In addition to the 5,800
active duty troops in the
border area, about 2,100
National Guard troops have
been providing border sup
port since April.
Critics have questioned
the wisdom of using the mil
itary on the border where
there is no discernible
security threat, although
President Donald Trump
has said that a caravan of
Central American migrants
traveling northward
through Mexico amounts
to an “invasion.” Since the
election, Trump has said
little about the matter, and
no border threat has yet
materialized.
Asked whether he
believes there is a secu
rity threat at the border
that justifies the use of the
active duty military, Mattis
said he defers to the judg
ment of Homeland Security
Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen,
who joined him at the bor
der Wednesday.
Nielsen and Mattis spoke
with senior U.S. command
ers and addressed rank-
and-file troops. Mattis told
the troops their mission is
to “back up” Customs and
Border Protection. “Right
now that’s our role and
that’s all our role is,” he
said.
“The eyes of the world
right now — certainly all
of the Americans — are
on you,” Mattis told the
soldiers, adding that they
are part of a “non-tradi-
tional” mission. “We’re
here because of the num
ber of illegals who say
they are going to illegally
try to cross into our coun
try,” he said, apparently
referring to the several
thousand migrants mov
ing north through Mexico.
One soldier asked Mat
tis what are the short- and
long-term plans for the
military mission.
Mattis said the short
term objective is to get
sufficient numbers of
wire and other barriers in
place along the border as
requested by Customs and
Border Protection. The
longer-term objective, he
said, is “somewhat to be
determined.”
“When you’re in some
thing like this,” Mattis
said, “it’s dynamic, it’s
unpredictable. We’ll have
to see.”
BY KATHLEEN R0NAYNE
AND ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
PARADISE, Calif. -
With scores of people still
missing, National Guard
troops searched Wednes
day through charred
debris for more victims of
California’s deadliest wild
fire as top federal and state
officials toured the ruins of
a community completely
destroyed by the flames.
Interior Secretary Ryan
Zinke joined Gov. Jerry
Brown on a visit to the
leveled town of Paradise,
telling reporters it was the
worst fire devastation he
had ever seen.
“Now is not the time to
point fingers,” Zinke said.
“There are lots of reasons
these catastrophic fires
are happening.”
Brown, a frequent
critic of President Donald
Trump’s policies, said he
spoke with Trump, who
pledged federal assistance.
“This is so devastating
that I don’t
really have
the words to
describe it,”
Brown said,
saying officials
would need
to learn how
to better pre
vent fires from
becoming so
deadly.
About 7,700
homes were
destroyed
when flames
hit Paradise,
a former gold
mining camp
popular with
retirees, on Nov. 8, kill
ing at least 48 people in
California’s deadliest
wildfire. There were also
three fatalities from sepa
rate blazes in Southern
California.
It will take years to
rebuild the town of 27,000,
if people decide that’s
what should be done, said
Brock Long, administrator
of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. The
town in the foothills of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains
looks like a wasteland.
“The infrastructure is
basically a total rebuild
at this point,” Long said.
“You’re not going to be able
to rebuild Para
dise the way it
was.”
Temporary
schools and hos
pitals will be
brought in, Long
said. Officials
are also look
ing to bring in
mobile homes
for thousands
of people left
homeless.
Debris
removal in Para
dise and outly
ing communities
will have to wait
until the search
for victims finishes, he said.
That grim search contin
ued Wednesday.
On one street, ash and
dust flew up as roughly 20
National Guard members
wearing white jumpsuits,
helmets and breathing
masks lifted giant heaps
of bent and burned metal,
in what was left of a home.
Pink and blue chalk draw
ings of a cat and a flower
remained on the driveway,
near a scorched toy truck.
The soldiers targeted
homes of the missing. If
anything resembling human
remains is found, a coroner
takes over.
After the soldiers finished
at the site, a chaplain hud
dled with them in prayer.
The number of missing
is “fluctuating every day”
as people are located or
remains are found, said
Steve Collins, a deputy with
the Butte County Sheriff’s
Department.
Authorities on Wednes
day released the names
of about 100 people who
are still missing, including
many in their 80s and 90s,
and dozens more could still
be unaccounted for. Sher
iff’s department spokes
woman Megan McMann
said the list was incomplete
because detectives were
concerned they would be
overwhelmed with calls
from relatives if the entire
list were released.
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FOR YOUR FAVORITES
10.29.18 - 11.30.18
‘You’re
not going
to be able
to rebuild
Paradise the
way it was.’
Brock Long
Administrator of the
Federal Emergency
Management
Agency
