March 27, 2003
Memo From Mexico, By
Allan Wall
Why Is Mexico Meddling In Our Military?
Mexican President Vicente Fox, George W. Bush’s
“amigo”, has made it clear that he opposes the U.S.
military operation against Saddam Hussein. (See my March
21 Frontpage.com article “Mexico
Sticks It To The ‘Yankee’ War.”)
But that doesn’t mean the Mexican government is not
interested in the war. It is interested enough to be
taking a census of all American military personnel of
Mexican birth – and of Mexican descent!
The Mexican government’s activities have passed
completely unnoticed in the U.S.,
as usual. You heard it first on VDARE.COM.
Here in Mexico, the Iraq war is being closely
followed. The two Mexican television channels,
“Azteca” and “Televisa” are both going
all-out in their coverage, with correspondents in the
Middle East and slickly-produced news reports. But their
editorial comments are not favorable to the U.S.
military action.
The Mexican media has also put great emphasis on
Mexican and Mexican-American soldiers serving in the
Iraq theater - including those who, tragically, have
already been killed, and those who are missing and
captured.
Edgar Hernandez, an American-born U.S. soldier of
Mexican descent, has been
captured by the forces of Saddam Hussein and
displayed with other prisoners on television.
Ruben Estrella Soto, a Mexican-born U.S. soldier,
citizenship unspecified, is
missing in action.
Jose Garibay, a legal resident and a U.S. Marine,
was the
first Mexican to die in the war.
Another fallen Marine, Corporal Jose Gonzalez, was an
American citizen of Mexican descent. But upon his death,
the
headline in Mexico City’s El Universal read “Second
Mexican Dies in Iraq...” Gonzalez’
mother learned of his death when she unexpectedly saw
his corpse on television.
The
Mexican media puts an anti-American spin on the
presence of these soldiers of Mexican heritage. It’s
commonly asserted in Mexico that the U.S. military uses
minorities, including Hispanics, as cannon fodder. The
governor of the Mexican state of Zacatecas recently made
the astounding declaration that 70% of the U.S. military
is black and Hispanic - with 40% being of Mexican
origin.
In reality, all soldiers of
Hispanic origin comprise 9% of the
military’s ranks - lower than their percentage in
the U.S. population. And the total percentage of
Mexican-descended personnel in the U.S. military is
3.9%. And recent research indicates that
whites are
disproportionately represented in combat slots,
especially the most dangerous.
This is the perspective in which to view Mexico’s
recently-announced plan.
On March 25th, 2003, El Universal
ran a very interesting headline: “
Soldiers ask support from the Fox government”.
This article was not about soldiers in the
Mexican army - who could certainly use support from
Fox. It was about soldiers in the American army,
serving in the Middle East, who are reportedly seeking
support from Fox – the leader of a foreign county. The
article asserted that
“The director of
Consular Protection, Roberto Rodriguez, reported that
soldiers of Mexican ancestry stationed in Kuwait request
support from the government of Mexico to communicate
with their relatives in Mexico.”
Some soldiers had allegedly contacted the Mexican
embassy in Lebanon to deliver letters to relatives in
Mexico. As a result, the article explained, the Mexican
government is conducting
“....a census of
persons of Mexican ancestry who belong to the armed
forces of the United States and who are stationed in the
war zone...”
This census, now being carried out, is to identify
U.S. military personnel who belong to three categories:
1. American citizens of
Mexican ancestry (who form the majority)
2. Mexican citizens who
are legal residents of the U.S.
3.
Dual nationals
of the U.S. and Mexico
In other words, the Fox administration is now
embarked on a program to identify all U.S. military
personnel of Mexican heritage - regardless of
citizenship, if they are immigrants, and even
regardless of whether they are American-born.
It figures. Vicente Fox has made it clear that he
claims jurisdiction over all
Mexican-descended individuals in the U.S.A.
But this is harmless, isn’t it? He’s just helping
them mail letters?
Bunk. There are already reliable ways for U.S.
soldiers to communicate with relatives in Mexico. There
is the military’s own mail system, the U.S. postal
service and the Mexican postal service. There are
telephones, calling cards (some designed specifically
for calling Mexico) and cell phones. And there is the
Internet.
The conclusion is inescapable: the Mexican government
is compiling this database for political purposes. It
refuses to support the U.S. military. It has refused to
honor these Mexicans and Mexican-Americans as American
fighting men. But it wants to exploit their situation in
the Iraq war, to score political points at home and –
how can it be doubted? – to gain their loyalty.
I serve six weeks a year with the Texas Army National
Guard,in a unit
composed almost entirely of Americans of Mexican
ancestry. I believe we should honor the sacrifices of
all soldiers, regardless of
ancestry or citizenship, who have died serving our
nation. And Americans of Mexican ancestry do have a
great record of defending our nation. (To read of only
one example, click
here, scroll down and read about the astounding
above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty heroism of Roy P.
Benavidez in the Vietnam War.)
But the wartime patriotism of Americans of Mexican
descent owes nothing to the meddling of the Mexican
government.
Vicente Fox has made clear he
doesn’t support this war. He can’t be trusted to be
the guardian of those who are fighting it.
American citizen Allan Wall lives and
works legally in Mexico, where he holds an FM-2
residency and work permit, but spends a total of about
six weeks a year in the state of Texas, where he drills
with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM
articles are archived
here; his
FRONTPAGEMAG.COM articles are archived
here; his
website is
here. Readers
can contact Allan Wall at
allan39@prodigy.net.mx.
