Chuck Norris needs no introduction. A resident of Texas for the last 20 years, the legendary action star’s politics are conservative, candidates seek his endorsement, and he’s made multiple trips overseas with the USO to visit our troops in the Middle East. His latest posting for World Net Daily (WND) nevertheless caught us by surprise.
Norris published an editorial in WND which addressed Operation Jade Helm 15, the military special-operations training exercise covering Texas and 6 other states, which is slated to begin in mid-July and run through September. He brought it up in the context of having dinner with Gov. Greg Abbott and First Lady Cecelia at a dinner in Houston last week, to benefit the Norris charity KickStart Kids.
“Last week, I laughed as some progressives in the mainstream media tried to mock Gov. Abbott for telling the Texas State Guard to monitor the Pentagon’s Jade Helm 15 military ops that are occurring this summer in seven states, including California and Texas,” Norris wrote.
“If you haven’t heard about Jade Helm 15, you need to,” he continued. “It is multi-state training mission for special operations soldiers scheduled over an eight-week period in July and August, with most of the activity happening on private property but some public, too. The official website press release from March 24 admits: ‘While multi-state training exercises such as these are not unique to the military, the size and scope of Jade Helm sets this one apart.'”
Norris said Governor Abbott was right to send a letter to Maj. Gen. Gerald Betty, commander of the Texas State Guard, and demand regular updates on the progress and safety of Jade Helm. “During the training operation, it is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed,” Gov. Abbott’s letter declared.
Norris doesn’t question the bravery or patriotism of the troops involved in the exercise, but he does have some questions for the commanders, and the politicians in Washington who write their orders.
“I have an idea: If the government insists on running expanded military ops across seven Southwest states, why doesn’t it move all that ‘military training’ south and protect our borders at the same time?!” Norris asked.
“Whatever Jade Helm 15 actually is, I think it is more than coincidental that the FBI director just confessed in February that the presence of ISIS can be felt in all 50 states of the U.S. and that the Pentagon is suddenly running its biggest military training exercise with every branch of the military across seven Southwestern states. Whether deterrence, display of power or something more covert or devious, let’s not come with any patronizing nonsense of impotence and simplicity when its origin is in Washington,” Norris suggested.
“I’m glad Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is asking the tough questions of the Pentagon about Jade Helm 15, particularly because its “exercises” come too near to my ranch’s backdoor as well, at least according to the map,” he noted. “It’s pretty sad and bad when major military ops are ordered in a large, fiery state like Texas and not even the governor or its senators know the specifics.”
“It’s neither over-reactionary nor conspiratorial to call into question or ask for transparency about Jade Helm 15 or any other government activity,” Norris concluded. “To those who merely think we should check our brains at the door of the White House and trust what the government does, I would reiterate to you the words of one of our government’s primary founders, Benjamin Franklin, who said, ‘Distrust and caution are the parents of security.’ Again, he also said, ‘Security without liberty is called prison.’ But then again, I’m sure some today would accuse Franklin of being conspiratorial, too!”
Breitbart Texas spoke with the Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on Tuesday morning. They spoke of growing interest in the Jade Helm story, from all over the country.
We also reached out to Mr. Norris through mutual friends, and have not received a call back.
Rob Milford is a news contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Facebook.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.