Los Angeles Times

Some vets say Trump is politicizing military by sending troops to border days before election

WASHINGTON - After President Donald Trump ordered more than 5,000 U.S. troops to the southwest border days before the midterm election to intercept what he called an "invasion" of migrants, retired Marine Col. David Lapan decided he could not stay silent.

"The idea that a group of poor people from Central America, most of whom are women and children, pose some kind of threat to the national security of the United States is ridiculous," Lapan said in an interview. "It's a misuse of active duty forces."

Lapan held senior jobs at the Pentagon while in the Marines and then served in the Trump administration as a Department of

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