Tuesday, May 16, 2006

I just hope no one gets hurt

In a nationally televised speech last night President Bush announced plans to deploy the military on the US-Mexico border. It is natural that the people of Mexico would be concerned about such plans. Usually when one country masses it troops on its border with another country it is a provocative act, signally aggressive, hostile intentions. Mexican president Vicente Fox sought to reassure the Mexican people, telling them that this was a logistical and administrative effort, rather than a military one.

I guess I would call it a psychological maneuver rather than one actually intended or likely to accomplish anything. Over the last 20 years or so the US has continually beefed up security on the border without slowing down illegal immigration in the slightest. The only effect of increasing security at the places where the most people were crossing has been to force the illegals to cross elsewhere.

Hopefully our national guard troops will understand their role and not actually do anything of a military nature while stationed on the border. The only people they will be encountering on the border are civilians (all the terrorists who enter our country by driving across the border invariably pick the more lightly defended Canadian border) and if they act in a military rather than a symbolic manner someone may get hurt.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well we certainly wouldn't want to hold Senor Fox accountable for the "reforms" he promised when he was elected. Nor should we expect him to initiate policies that would actually benefit the Mexican people and grow their economy so they could stay home. Nah!

Much easier to let your malcontents and poor flood Yanquiland to burden the rich and liberal gringos.

But by all means, Presidente Fox, rather than do the hard work of governing your people, engage in feckless hand-wringing that taps into the international meme that George Bush is evil and just wants to hurt/kill people.

It's so much easier than doing the hard work of governing your own nation.

BTW, what IS Senor Fox doing to keep his people out of our country? Isn't it interesting that no one is asking that question? It's all about Bush, isn't it? So much easier to blame the gringo Bush than do the hard work Fox was "elected" to do.

Anonymous said...

Paladin's right wing reaction could be more critical. He could blame the peasants for their failures to retain their land and ggrow their crops. He could blame the peasants for getting in the way of land reform, so that's why the military in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicarauga and Panama have to kill them.
The refugees are not all Mexican. If anyone should be blamed for a top down economy it is the US consumers and not the poorest of the poor Mexicans.
Paladin visit a Food Pantry and see how many Mexicans come for food. Go to a homeless shelter and see how many Mexicans are living there.
Check out the list of casualties in Iraq war and see that Latinos and Hispanics lead the list of minority dead (some becaame citizens posthumously).
Yes, why can't Mexicans behave like Canadians and stay at home?
Hope you don't eat meat or any fruit or vegetable that is picked by hand in California.

Anonymous said...

The National Guard is trained to shoot. You cannot put guns in people's hands and expect them not to fire them. Kent State U is an example when you send nervous gun toting "guards".
I guess we need a border incident and then we invade Mexico again. It would be best if it were another colony like Puerto Rico and later like Hawaii, it could become another state. No more illegals!

Anonymous said...

anon@2:30pm---while your hyperbole is entertaining, you didn't answer my question about why the president of Mexico, V. Fox, shouldn't be held accountable for the condition of his people. Why should the USA be responsible for people from countries that refuse to do the difficult stuff required to give their people a good life and a thriving economy? Are we supposed to support the people of all the failed states in the world? You seem to think we are.