Dorian Near the Causarina Bridge in Land Defense and Global Security
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NFL MIDEAST FACES Reviews of pass US-led patrols in Missy Elliott interference calls Persian Gulf raise relishes her set to steal show stakes with Iran VMA moment Back page Page 7 Page 18 Afghan government raises new concerns about US-Taliban deal » Page 6 stripes.com Volume 78, No. 101 ©SS 2019 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas Pentagon OKs diversion of funds for border wall BY COREY DICKSTEIN AND ROSE L. THAYER Stars and Stripes WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tues- day approved the transfer of $3.6 billion of Pentagon money meant for military construction proj- ects around the world to pay for 11 barrier construction and im- provement projects on the U.S. southern border with Mexico. The funds would build 175 miles of bar- rier on land owned by the Defense Department, other federal agencies and private prop- erty, senior defense of- ficials said Tuesday. Most of that Esper new barrier would replace either existing wall or so-called vehicu- lar barriers, areas along the bor- der where military vehicles have been set up as obstacles, said PHOTOS BY RAMON ESPINOSA/AP Kenneth Rapuano, the assistant secretary of defense for home- Volunteers rescue several families that arrived on small boats from the rising waters of Hurricane Dorian near the Causarina Bridge in land defense and global security. Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, on Tuesday . The decision means the Pen- tagon can pull funding from as many as 127 planned construc- tion projects that had been ap- proved by Congress for bases in the United States and abroad to fund instead the new border projects under President Donald Trump’s February emergency DORIAN declaration, said Elaine McCusk- er, the Pentagon’s comptroller. Contracts to build the affected projects have not yet been award- DEVASTATION ed and construction on them was not planned to start in fiscal year 2020, which begins Oct. 1, she said. Rescuers in Bahamas face blasted The $3.6 billion includes two roughly equal pools of funds landscape in hurricane’s wake — overseas construction projects A boat thrown onshore by the hurricane lies stranded on a and projects planned for bases Page 8 submerged highway near Freeport . SEE FUNDS ON PAGE 2 PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Thursday, September 5, 2019 MILITARY Funds: Pentagon defends delay of public release of defunded projects FROM FRONT PAGE future presidents will make similar end- inside the United States and its territories. runs to try and tap defense dollars for any- McCusker said the Pentagon would pull thing a president wants to label a ‘national funding first from those planned overseas emergency.’ ” projects, which total $1.8 billion. Hoffman argued the decision was neces- Pentagon officials on Tuesday declined sary to support the roughly 5,000 Ameri- to release publicly the list of projects can troops — about 3,000 active-duty and that would be affected by the decision. 2,000 National Guard — now serving on Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief the southern border in support of Customs spokesman, told reporters that the list and Border Patrol officers. He said Esper could be released as early as Wednesday, approved the funding transfers on the ad- once lawmakers and foreign embassies are vice of Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the provided copies. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, after McCusker said the list is based on the the Defense Department determined that original criteria that defense officials said building the barrier would be “appropriate they would consider when choosing from and legal,” because it would directly sup- which projects to transfer funding. That port military troops who perform duties in- criteria included not taking funds from cluding surveillance, vehicle maintenance, projects for military housing, barracks or ferrying CBP officers around the border dormitories and any project contracted for and bus ing migrants to CBP stations. construction before the end of fiscal year Construction could begin within about 2019, which is Sept. 30. 100 days and would likely start with bar- She said projects that lose funding could rier wall on the Barry M. Goldwater Air still move forward if Congress approves Force Range in Arizona, McCusker said. TIM TUCCIARONE/U.S. Customs and Border Protection them again, a refrain defense officials have The 11 projects span all four of the states Crews work on border wall construction in San Ysidro, Calif., on Aug. 9. been adamant about since Trump first an- along the U.S.-Mexico border. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has directed the transfer of $3.6 billion nounced he would move Pentagon funding Hoffman on Tuesday defended the designated for military projects to be used instead on the border wall. to pay for border barrier construction. Pentagon’s decision to delay providing the public with the list of projects that would “If Congress were to back fill the requests Nearly 80% of the Army National Guard’s as an additional $3.6 billion marked for none (of the projects ) would be delayed,” be defunded by the plan, saying the De- $574 million in construction funding on the potential new construction at the southern McCusker said. “They are definitely not fense Department was “trying to be very list is in that U.S. territory. Those projects border. The House and Senate have passed being cancel ed.” respectful of Congress.” include a maneuver area training equip- Democrats on Capitol Hill blasted the In March, the Defense Department re- defense budgets, but need to reconcile their ment site, a readiness center and a power move as using funds needed for troops to leased a 21-page list of more than 400 proj- differences during the fall session to draft aid a Trump political goal. Sen. Jack Reed, ects that could be targeted for defunding to substation at Camp Santiago. There are a compromise on the spending plan. of Rhode Island, said Trump was attempt- pay for border wall construction. The proj- similar projects at risk in the U.S. Virgin The Defense Department is already pay- ing to take power away from Congress by ects’ values totaled about $12.9 billion. Islands. ing $2.5 billion for about 150 miles of bor- moving Pentagon funds to pay for parts of However, only about half of the projects The entire process has angered lawmak- der wall through a drug interdiction fund, the border wall — the building of which listed met the criteria that Defense De- ers, who initially hounded the Defense De- authorized earlier this year by then-act- has been a central theme of his campaign partment officials said they were consider- partment for a list of projects. Once they ing Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan. The and presidency. ing for funding. received the list, they argued it was con- Army Corps of Engineers ha s awarded all “Clearly, this administration is trying Examples of projects at risk included fusing to release a list where half the proj- but 20 miles worth of those construction to circumvent congressional authority a child development center at Joint Base ects were irrelevant to the discussion. contracts because those final miles were and this ill-advised attempt should be le- Andrews in Maryland, a middle school at The White House’s proposed $718 billion approved by Esper last week. gally challenged and struck down by the Fort Campbell in Kentucky and an addi- Defense Department budget for fiscal year [email protected] courts,” Reed, the ranking Democrat on tion to the ambulatory care center at Camp 2020 included $3.6 billion in an emergency Twitter: @CDicksteinDC the Senate Armed Services Committee, Lejeune in North Carolina. fund to backfill money taken from 2019 [email protected] said Tuesday in a statement. “If it stands, Puerto Rico is especially vulnerable. construction projects for the wall as well Twitter: @Rose_Lori T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ............ 17 Business .......................... 21 Classified ................... 19, 23 Comics ............................. 22 Crossword ........................ 22 Faces ............................... 18 Opinion ............................ 20 Sports .........................24-32 Weather ........................... 21 Thursday, September 5, 2019 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 MILITARY Report urges greater intel-sharing with allies BY JOHN VANDIVER larly valuable if an unconventional Rus- mixed picture regarding support for de- — could increase the risks that some allies Stars and Stripes sian attack seems likely,” the report said. fending fellow members. may balk, the report said. NATO observers are concerned that al- In 2017, a poll by the Pew Foundation President Donald Trump, a frequent STUTTGART, Germany — The U.S. lies would fail to agree on who is at fault found that 60% of German, 55% of British critic of NATO, has sent mixed signals should share more intelligence with allies or how to respond to unconventional Rus- and 54% of Spanish respondents opposed about alliance’s relevance and questioned about mischief-making during peacetime sian attacks, which could include meddling the use of military force to defend an ally. defending allies who he says “don’t pay by Moscow if it wants NATO to be unified in elections, cyberattacks or even stirring At the same time, allies like the U.S., Po- their fair share” on defense. in a crisis, according to a report that ex- civil unrest among Russian populations in land and the Baltic states expressed a much “Clear and consistent U.S. messaging amines risks to the alliance during a hypo- the Baltics. stronger willingness to defend partners. about alliance value would be particularly thetical conflict with Russia. Public intelligence releases would raise Public opinion would factor into the critical during a crisis, when Russian in- Differences among allies about the na- awareness of what Russia is doing and political decision-making process about formation campaigns would be likely to be ture of the threat posed by Moscow and could promote unity, the report said.