U.S. and Mexico Military Play Increasing Role in Border Operations

Our team at Salem-News, and also Narco News, were the first to report on the activities of this joint task force.

Early image used for the JTF by Narcosphere

(SALEM) - Robert Plumlee and I enjoy watching the national media play catch-up with our reports from years ago. The game is on again as information about the U.S./Mexican military Joint Task Force continues to emerge. We've patiently waited since publishing our report about this project, US Special Forces are Operating in Mexico.

A new article by By Diana Washington Valdez in the El Paso Times titled, 'Fort Bliss troops help in border support role' illustrates the reason that officials from both countries have been hesitant to confirm the existence of this military border group; it is the 1997 shooting death of a young Mexican national by a U.S. Marine. It turned out that the Mexican was in possession of a .22 rifle to guard his goat herd, the U.S. government paid the man's family for his unwarranted death.

This left an obvious black eye and U.S. military forces were pulled from the border in reaction to the shooting death.

Mexico itself was so anxious to dismiss our story two years ago about the joint task force, that their Embassy Spokesman in Washington D.C., Ricardo Alday, wrote a letter to Salem-News.com (below) that blatantly declared we were liars. We were not. In fact, Mr. Plumlee was initially approached by members of this task because they believed someone in the U.S. federal government was undermining their efforts, placing calls to cartels and thwarting operations. They asked for exposure, we provided it.

The Joint Task Force is a US covert 'undercover' military unit, working a joint venture with the Mexican Navy's Marines also known as, 'Marinos'.

When our team at Salem-News, and also Bill Conroy with Narco News, were privileged to obtain the facts behind the story, it was in the summer of 2010. In September, we reported and published our findings. At this point, the joint American Mexico military team had been working our southern borders out of Ft Bliss Terxas for more than a year. The article came with mixed reviews and lack luster interest, if any, by Mainstream Media (MSM).

If only MSM and federal officials had paid attention to Mr. Plumlee and the joint Task Force's groundbreaking work, these investigative committees of today would be farther ahead and the lives of at least two federal agents 's (Jamie Zapata and Brian Terry)would of perhaps been saved.

The US Border Patrol had previously made numerous field reports to proper officials in Washington DC; concerning these allegations made by Plumlee and others at the time, but the information fell upon deaf ears and was lost in the hollowed halls of the US Congress, The Senate, their oversight committees, and the White House".

This excerpt from Fort Bliss troops help in border support role by Diana Washington Valdez with the El Paso Times, clearly references the JTF:

“

Active-duty soldiers were deployed this week from Fort Bliss to assist the Border Patrol in Arizona and New Mexico, officials said Thursday. Customs and Border Protection officials said the soldiers will function in a support role only. Although the Joint Task Force-North/Northern Command generally handles such deployments, JTF-North spokesman Armando Carrasco said the Border Patrol alone was authorized to release details on what unit is involved and what the soldiers will do on the border. Border Patrol officials in the Tucson sector were unavailable for comment late Thursday. Recent concerns over drug-related violence in Mexico and the potential for spillover violence have prompted U.S. border governors to petition the federal government for military support. Last year, Arizona sued the federal government for allegedly "failing to gain operational control of the border," according to a statement by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's office. Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson both asked for military support because of the threats posed by drug cartels, which are armed with military-grade weapons and equipment. U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said he does not agree with using the military to do the work of civilian law enforcement.

”

In fact as the article explains, the program has plenty of opponents and most are simply against all use of military forces on the border. What all of this means, is that the problems we described before were true and that the related issues have only worsened since then. Honesty and transparency are incredible tools, it is unfortunate the concepts seem to have lost their popularity in this important fight.

This is our first report that revealed that the United States military was working with the Mexican military:

Click to read the whole story: US Special Forces are Operating in Mexico Salem-News.com

After carrying this report, we were contacted by Mr. Ricardo Alday with the Mexican embassy in Washington D.C. who was clearly unhappy with our revelation of this information.

Click to read: Mexico Denies US Special Forces Presence South of the Border Salem-News.com

Mr. Alday sent a letter reprimanding us for our report, calling it "flimsy and single sided" and "patently false". It is entirely possibly that Mr. Alday did not know about the operation and was critical of our article, in earnest. Of course we forgive Mr. Alday for not knowing we are in Oregon.

Mexico Denies US Special Forces Presence South of the Border Salem-News.com

Learn more, visit Salem-News Reported U.S.-Mexico Inter-Military Task Force in 2010

Mr. Plumlee used official channels to report both the U.S. federal gunwalking operation we now know as 'Fast and Furious', and human remains located in the desert, to the proper federal agencies. It was shocking to learn that the federal agencies ignored the information even though the reports were made through official channels. Plumlee had photographed the human bones lying above ground and included a GPS shot the make sure the officers or deputies could locate the sites.

It makes one wonder if the committees currently investigating 'Fast and Furious' know that Homeland Security and The State Department, as well as Justice and ATF were all notified- via proper protocol - about narco graves on the US side of the border and, 'ongoing,' gun running operations in the southern parts of New Mexico, namely Columbus New Mexico. These activities took place between 2009 and 2011 and were duly noted by border officials. There are numerous field reports accounting for each episode since 2010, as confirmed by the US Task Force. The Border Patrol has also made many reports to Homeland Security concerning these "alleged" activities.

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Tim King, summer 2008, covering the Iraq War

Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

Tim King has more than twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim is a former U.S. Marine.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Silver Spoke Award by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (2011), Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim was a member of the National Press Photographer's Association for several years and is a current member of the Orange County Press Club.

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