Several posters in Free for All Friday want to tee up the issue of our friends to the South, and whether Mexico comprises a national security threat.
I thought about doing a entry just before the Inauguration in which I speculated as to the national security matters that the incoming administration was probably paying insufficient attention to...and Mexico would have been number 1. I see this for a couple of reasons:
1. Geography. They share a border. This by itself, makes a country worth watching. This includes Canada...but as we'll see, Canada doesn't trip any of the other wires.
2. Illegal immigration. A function of #1. If poor, desperate Mexicans can easily cross our border, so can well-financed, well armed jihadis.
3. Economic disparity. A primary driver of #2. Mexico is a country of incredible economic disparity and a middle class insufficiently sized to act as a stabilizing inluence.
4. Political instability. Driven by #3. With much of Central and South America beginning to show a backlash against capitalism (see Venezuela, Nicaragua, Peru), leftist, socialist candidates are sure to gain in popularity in Mexico.
5. Drug and Crime. Both are not only increasing facets of everyday life in Mexico, but also large and growing parts of the economy. A nation whose economic health is propped up by the profits of crime cannot long be a helpful ally.
Yes, Mexico causes me concern. You know what causes me even more concern? President Obama's desire to "review" NAFTA. NAFTA is one of the few bright spots in our relationship with Mexico, and it has helped with the economic incentives to illegally immigrate (when you have a job in Mexico, less reason to swim the Rio Grande). Start to walk away from NAFTA and we'll see the process of deteriorization in Mexico accelerate.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
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6 comments:
This from Newt http://www.newmajority.com/ShowScroll.aspx?ID=d591695e-4a73-45d7-adab-44e4973d07cf
I think Mexico may have more to worry about having a failed state like the US on *its* border if we keep going on this spending trajectory. Las cucarachas entran, pero no pueden salir.
I suspect Newt covers this and will read thsntht's link shortly, but I also see another threat, or at least factor, that perhaps amplifies the likelihood of the threats you mention. Demography of the US. As more and more immigrate from Mexico (biased toward illegally, I believe), our voting population becomes considerably more likely to lean toward complacency with respect to the threats you mentioned. More insidious is the accompanying self-flaggelation legitimate (United States of) Americans will do to prove to some unknown astral judge that "I am not a racist". So we will turn a blind eye to the threats and denounce those who attempt to address them through policy or even through discourse.
Simple solution. Create a 10 mile buffer within our entire border with Mexico and turn the buffer into a military weapons firing/bombing training range. Announce it to the whole world that this is a highly dangerous live weapons training area. Show it off. Post signs every 5 feet that say, "El Boomo" or whatever. Point direct fire weapons south and keep indirect fire and bombing runs along the middle of the buffer. Fort Hood and Fort Bliss need additional live-fire areas, as do our Marines and Navy in and around San Diego. This idea is a bit like the Inner-German Border (IGB) of yesteryear, except that we're keeping the riff-raff out, not in.
Dan - And I guess we should just write off the Sonoran Desert Toad as we blast his habitat to bloody hell. And don't EVEN get me started on the moth larvae inside the Mexican jumping beans in this same habitat you want to turn into a corridor of hot lead. Thank God we have laws that will protect these species before we wipe them off the face of the earth.
McCaffrey can be a blowhard at times but this analysis from Michael Yon's site makes for interesting reading.
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