Border chess

By Jack Perry

ARIZONA - As the world has seen, President Trump is sending 15,000 troops to the border with Mexico to stop what the news calls the "migrant caravan". The so-called "migrant caravan" are actually Hondurans on a pilgrimage for justice from the United States, whose policies have oppressed and impoverished people throughout Latin America for over a century. And typical of the United States to see an oppressed people as an enemy to be feared. 

Now Trump has just told the military to treat anyone throwing rocks as an armed enemy. Basically saying shoot them. Gosh, I wonder where he got that idea? Could it be from Benjamin Netanyahu? After all, who has been shooting people and defending it by saying those people were throwing rocks? Israel, of course, for decades now. That is to say, in between shooting paramedics and children without any excuse whatsoever. But here in the United States, there are a couple problems with this.

First, U.S. law forbids using the military in a law enforcement capacity. The specific law is the Posse Comitatus Act. Immigration is a civilian law matter, not a military concern, as is border security. Not that following the law is especially a strong trait of Donald Trump. But also, it bears mentioning that troops have not been moved like this to secure a border since the Civil War. And that was to secure the de facto border between the Union and Confederate states. 

Second, giving troops the illegal order to shoot unarmed civilians is the tacit order to commit a massacre. One wonders if Trump has been watching the news from Gaza with admiration for the disgraceful actions of the Israelis. There is simply too much similarity for it to be coincidence. But there is also a very deadly wild card in that deck. A military firing across a border is an act of war. Mexico would have the legal right to retaliate. Mexico would also have the legal right to seek allies to help defend their country. Now, who knows who might answer that call? But if it was China, the United States will have stuck its hand into the hornet's nest up to the shoulder once again.

Conceivably, if the United States fired across the border, Mexico could appeal to the United Nations for peacekeeping troops, turning the border into a Demilitarized Zone akin to that which existed between North and South Korea. In this case, basically a Demilitarized Zone between North and South America. The United States is already trying to build a replica of the same wall the Israelis have built. It bears mentioning one of the contractors bidding to build the United States border wall is an Israeli corporation. 

However, there is a very eerie parallel to what the United States is doing sending so many heavily-armed troops down to the border to stop a couple thousand starving and ill-equipped civilians. This is nearly identical to what Germany did in trying to provoke a war with Poland in 1939 so they'd have a justifiable reason to invade Poland. But when Poland didn't rise to the bait, Germany manufactured the pretext by creating fictitious "attacks" on Germany by Poland. Then Germany invaded Poland and World War Two began.

It is more than possible that the United States might be trying to provoke Mexico into doing something that might give the U.S. a reason to invade. Or, failing that, the U.S. itself might fake a few "border clashes" with the usual methods it does so. Like the bogus "chemical weapons attacks" Assad supposedly did in Syria which the entire world now knows were false flags. The fact is, the U.S. has enough military bases near the border that it really doesn't have to move too many military assets down there to begin an invasion. They would only need the troops moving down to the border now to spearhead an invasion as the advance force after the border clash is provoked. Mexico would probably collapse fairly quickly. Of course, the U.S. will lose the occupation as it did in Iraq. That goes without saying. 

The U.S. always assumes its forces will be welcomed like they were in World War Two. It doesn't realize its troops are now seen as the Wehrmacht was in World War Two, not the U.S. military of 1944 and 1945. Mexico is a big country with a lot of open terrain. And bordering the United States, a guerilla army could visit retaliation direct on United States cities and towns, just as Pancho Villa did. And, by the way, Pancho Villa is a pretty big folk hero to this day. The United States always assumes if it can defeat the military of a nation, the civilians will all hail them as conquering heroes and not imperialist invaders. That those civilians won't defend their country. And as we saw in Iraq, the United States always underestimates the resolve of an occupied people. But, again, there is yet another wild card in play.

Say the U.S. troops are ordered to fire on those civilians and they don't. It is when the troops refuse to fire that governments collapse. If troops refuse to fire, it could create a cascade reaction with widespread disobedience to the Trump regime and general strikes. Calls for not just him but his entire administration to step down from power. Quite possibly, he might be arrested for having given the orders and put on trial. Now, I don't have a lot of faith in that happening but it is one possibility.

The sad fact is that the United States is a hostile power as aggressive and belligerent as the Third Reich. That's one problem with the military here: They follow orders, even orders obviously wrong and illegal, just as the military of the Third Reich did. How else does it happen that it commits war crimes, tortures people, and then gets away with it? Because there is no unconditional surrender of the United States by which the victorious nation can put the United States on trial for them, as was done to Germany and Japan in 1945. 

Yes, the entire thing on the border is showboating, grandstanding, and a supreme farce. But it is a farce with 15,000 heavily armed soldiers only one misunderstanding away from starting a war. Or, rather, it's 15,000 unwitting pawns who'll be moved to the center of the board to draw out the other side. Then out comes the knights and bishops to begin capturing pieces. We all know in chess that white moves first. This is what is happening now with the border. A pawn to the center. But we shall see who checkmates who.