Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

How paranoid is Texas? So much so that the gov. wants the U.S. military monitored

The governor of Texas has ordered the state’s volunteer militia to monitor a U.S. military exercise in the state, apparently out of fear that the U.S. gummint might occupy Texas.

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
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casquette_a_helice-2

Best Defense is in summer reruns. This item originally appeared on April 29, 2015.

Best Defense is in summer reruns. This item originally appeared on April 29, 2015.

The governor of Texas has ordered the state’s volunteer militia to monitor a U.S. military exercise in the state, apparently out of fear that the U.S. gummint might occupy Texas. As far as I know, no warning order for occupation has been issued to the 1st Cav, and no tanks are rolling south on I-35. (However, the Killeen Daily Herald was suspiciously quiet about the whole thing.)

The Houston Chronicle, one of the best edited papers in the country, reports that the governor stated that he was doing to “to address concerns of Texas citizens.” The governor said in a letter that, “During the training operation, it is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property right and civil liberties will not be infringed.”

As one commenter wrote, “Thanks for protecting Texas from all those Liberal Navy Seals & Green Berets who can’t wait to invade Texas when BO tells ’em to.”

Once more I wonder: Should Texas be expelled from the Union?

The governor ended his letter by saying he is a big supporter of the U.S. military, “utmost respect,” “deep patriotism,” etc. Just doesn’t trust them, apparently.

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Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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