So apparently Jade Helm 15 is a thing. Actually it’s more than a thing, it’s a very large military exercise that, from what I understand, Alex Jones’s website Infowars helped turn into a conspiracy theory to take over the state of Texas or something.
Here’s a CNN report on it today:
Greg Abbott defended his use of the State Guard yesterday to reporters. Here is what he said:
STATESMAN – “Listen, what’s going on here is really very simple,” Abbott told reporters. “What we’re doing is serving as a communication facilitator between the Special Operations Forces and the people of the state of Texas and nothing more than that.”
Greg Abbott said the Texas State Guard would serve as a “communication facilitator between the Special Operations Forces and the people of the state of Texas.”
“We are playing a pivotal role of government and that is to provide information for people who have questions,” Abbott said. “It is clear that people in Bastrop had questions, it’s clear from the questions I have received in my office that people have questions about it, and as governor and as government, I think we have an obligation to answer questions of citizens. And, by us working with the Special Operations Forces, we are able to provide information to citizens who were concerned about it.”
“I’ve seen nothing to worry about what’s going on,” Abbott continued. “We have been provided assurance by the Special Operations Forces that there is nothing for the public to worry about. This is consistent with past operations. Texas has a long tradition of supporting our troops and I don’t think this will be any different. I think there was frankly an overreaction to the simple fact that someone has to be in charge with gathering and disseminating information and we stepped in to play that role, which is a role to be applauded, and I think that by gathering and disseminating information, it will allay concerns that people have about what’s going on.”
“We’ve talked to the leaders of the Special Operations as well as the county judge in Bastrop County, they’re both thankful and grateful and appreciative of what we did and they applaud what we did,” Abbott said.
Ted Cruz was asked about it this weekend and empathized with the concerns of citizens in Texas, even though he said he doesn’t believe anything more than training is occurring:
Rick Perry, however, come out today criticizing Abbott for questioning the military:
Former Gov. Rick Perry suggested Tuesday that successor Greg Abbott went too far last week in raising questions about U.S. military exercises in Texas.
“It’s OK to question your government. I do it on a regular basis. But the military is something else,” said Perry, an Air Force veteran, as he prepared to speak to the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth. “Our military is quite trustworthy. The civilian leadership, you can always question that, but not the men and women in uniform.”
If you want to read Abbott’s letter deploying the State Guard, you can read it here.