Oppose U.S. Plans for Use of Military Force Against Mexico
Opposition to Trump's policies on immigration, New York City, November 9, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump, Congressman Mike Waltz, slated to become Trump's national security advisor, and Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas who currently chairs the House of Representatives' Task Force to Combat Mexican Drug Cartels, have all been promoting use of military force against Mexico. They have been joined by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who calls for drone strikes against Mexican cartels, and Senator Tom Cotton, who wants Special Forces used. All of this is done in the name of combating the Mexican (not U.S.) drug cartels and imposing massive deportations of people, many who have lived in the U.S. for decades.
Threats to use military force are accompanied by threats from Trump to also instigate trade wars to serve the same purpose of fully integrating the U.S. and Mexico into a single war economy serving the U.S. war government.
Already the U.S. military's Southern Command (Southcom) is engaging in joint operations that include Mexico. Fuerzas Comando 2024, for example, sponsored by Southcom, brought military, law enforcement and civilian personnel together to promote interoperability of the various forces and military-to-military relationships.
Trump has repeatedly spoken of his plans to use the military at the border and across it as well. On his social media, he recirculated a recent post by Tom Fitton, the president of conservative organization Judicial Watch, saying Trump's incoming administration will declare an immigration national emergency and use military assets to support his mass deportation pledge. Trump called the claim "TRUE!!!" He has also said he will designate Mexican cartels as "foreign terrorist organizations" and order the Pentagon "to make appropriate use of Special Forces" to attack cartel leadership and infrastructure. He has called for deploying the U.S. Navy to enforce a blockade against the Mexican cartels who are said to be importing ingredients needed to make fentanyl from China.
In Congress, Crenshaw is working to secure support for a bill that provides Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Mexico and expands presidential police powers. He and Waltz submitted a bill in January 2023 and Crenshaw plans to submit a similar one in the new 2025 Congress.
"The reality is that the cartels are running rampant at our border, threatening American lives, and pushing violence into our communities. This bill gives the president the green light to go after these criminal organizations with the full force of the American military machine. It's time to draw a hard line," Crenshaw said in September 2023 and has repeated since.
The bill calls "To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for trafficking fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance into the United States or carrying out other related activities that cause regional destabilization in the Western Hemisphere." It is so broad as to be used by the president for military intervention not only against Mexico but throughout the "Western Hemisphere." A Naval blockade could also be used to provoke China, using U.S. claims that China is transporting "fentanyl-related" substances into Mexico.
Now, as part of getting such a bill passed, Crenshaw is also proposing that the House establish a select committee on combating Mexican drug cartels. Such a committee could more readily get the bill to the floor for a vote.
"The cartels are the greatest near-term threat. Full stop. President Trump agrees," Crenshaw stated on social media on November 11. He may also change some of the language to focus on two cartels and on the military first providing intelligence, surveillance, and cyber capabilities. It is well known, however, that any such authorization for use of force will be used to justify the use of the military by the president however he sees fit. This was certainly true of the AUMF passed by Congress in 2001 to target those responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attack against the U.S. It was used for war against Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and the worldwide "war on terror."
For Mexico, U.S. military intervention may take the form of "joint operations," as occurred in Colombia when the U.S. waged war and armed Colombian paramilitary forces against organized resistance, also in the name of the "war on drugs." Crenshaw has said he expects the military intervention against Mexico to fall somewhere between the war against Iraq and that in Colombia.
Given the failure of the war on drugs, now the language is for a war on drug cartels -- those said to be foreign -- while the existence of the U.S. cartels is not even recognized. As Crenshaw said, his AUMF is "to put us at war with the cartels." The U.S. drug cartels and massive provision of arms and funds, including from the CIA and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are not included. The effort is also aimed at directing the great anger people in the U.S. have concerning deaths from drug overdoses, and their demand for the needed health care and support, into support for war against Mexico.
In making these plans for military intervention against Mexico, the U.S. hopes to unite its military and policing forces in what they expect would be an "easy" win. As is always the case, they leave out the role of the peoples in Mexico, the U.S., Canada and throughout "the Western Hemisphere" standing against war and for the rights of all. The peoples are organizing for fraternal relations of friendship and mutual benefit and respect and will not be silent on these issues vital to their interests and drive for peace, democracy, and freedom.
This article was published in
Friday, November 29, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/ITN2024/Articles/TI54592.HTM
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