US AT WAR WITH MEXICO
Without a single shot being fired Donald Trump went to war with Mexico. Now I realize no tanks or armaments have been used and we have not started deploying troops to our neighbor south of the US. But we are at war just the same.
What is war? Tony Benn describes it best. “All war represents a failure of diplomacy.” and Donald Trump has no prior experience in foreign relations or diplomacy. And to make things worse he has not surrounded himself with people with experience in these areas. So the result is a failure in diplomacy with Mexico. He made no effort or as he would put it "Negotiate the deal" with
Now Donald Trump has said the following regarding building a wall along our southern border.
So to my knowledge as of my blogging today Donald Trump has not provided the American people an estimate of the cost of building the wall. The president of Mexico time and time again has said, Mexico has no plans now or in the future of paying for the wall. Donald Trump has now changed his campaign pledge that the United States will pay for the wall but that Mexico will reimburse the United States, something that the president of Mexico has rejected. Some have put the estimate to 400 billion to build a wall along the 1900 miles of border. Others have said that is a conservative estimate. And Congress has not approved the first dollar of the wall construction. Donald Trump signed an executive order to proceed with the building of the wall yet experts have said the wall will be ineffective and the cost to the American People to great.
So are we at war with Mexico. It certainly feels like it. There is as far as I can tell zero amount of diplomacy going on. And now Donald Trump has started gearing up his war machine by having ICE Police sweeping the country deporting as many Mexicans as they can find. And reports of Mexicans with as little as a traffic violation being deported as criminals. Donald Trump is furthering the already bad tensions between the United States and Mexico by suggesting the breakup of families attempting to enter the US illegally.
These actions go beyond the law. It is an attempt to use the law for Donald Trump to further his prejudice against the Mexican people. And to use the power of the presidency to further his personal agenda of purging the United States of all who have Mexican heritage. Donald Trump displays a personality of paranoia toward both the Mexican people and those of Middle Eastern Heritage.
So back to the war. Mexico represents 1/3 of the United States foreign trade at 531 Billion Dollars. This trade is not only good for America but also good for Mexico. Common since would suggest that there would be on going negotiations to improve fair trade with our southern partners but that is not going on. What is happening it appears is Donald Trump is attempting to strong arm the Mexican people. By intimidation and threats. It would appear that he feels that America would be better off as an isolationist country in a word economy market. Something most understand would not benefit America.
Now I agree that the North American Trade Agreement may not be fair and in need of repair. But war on a country is not a good way to bring them to the negotiation table. Not when a great many American companies depends on trade with Mexico. And if Donald Trump feels that he can negotiate a trade deal that improves American benefits and at the same time have Mexico pay for a 400 billion dollar wall and have the United States kicking out the Mexican people. Then Donald Trump would certainly be the master of the deal. But I feel that is unrealistic and that such a deal is impossible.
So where does it end? That could be the question in many wars. Does it escalate to the point that Mexico tosses out the American companies and stops all trade with America? They could do this and simply trade with other countries and many of the goods they manufacture would end up back in America just by routes through the other countries. Could this escalate to a war with weapons? This is unlikely as Mexico is no match with American military but that has not stopped other countries from trying.
The result of the war with Mexico will most likely be played out as the following in my opinion. If Donald Trump is able to hold onto his presidency and that is in question then the American people will end up paying for some form of wall. Will it stretch the full 1900 miles? That is unlikely. Will it cost the American people 400 billion to build? It is highly unlikely that congress would approve such an expense. Will something be built? Yes American will throw some money at it and some parts will have a wall but that is like plugging a single hole in a submarine when it is riddled in holes. Will Donald Trump be able to negotiate at better trade deal with Mexico? This is unlikely under the current relations with Mexico and its president. And since both sides have equal to loose it is unlikely that there will be significant change in the trade relations. Could this escalate to get far worse? That will have to be seen.
What is war? Tony Benn describes it best. “All war represents a failure of diplomacy.” and Donald Trump has no prior experience in foreign relations or diplomacy. And to make things worse he has not surrounded himself with people with experience in these areas. So the result is a failure in diplomacy with Mexico. He made no effort or as he would put it "Negotiate the deal" with
Enrique Peña Nieto the president of Mexico. But instead started by making the following remarks. I am quoting here his exact words.
* Donald Trump kicked off his campaign on June 16, 2015 with a speech in which he labeled immigrants from Mexico "rapists" and criminals. "When Mexico sends it people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people," he said
* A few weeks later, he accused Mexican immigrants of being "killers," too. "You have people come in and I'm not just saying Mexicans, I'm talking about people that are from all over, that are killers and rapists and they're coming to this country," he told CNN in June 2015.
*Just months later, he went even further, claiming that Mexican officials actually "send the bad ones" to the U.S. "The Mexican government is much smarter, much sharper, much more cunning. They send the bad ones over because they don't want to pay for them. They don't want to take care of them," he said in August 2015.
* In August 2015, he retweeted a crude remark aimed at then-presidential candidate Jeb Bush, whose wife is Mexican-American and who is fluent in Spanish. "So true. Jeb Bush is crazy, who cares that he speaks Mexican, this is America, English !!" the retweeted remarks said.
* The same month, Trump booted from a press conference prominent Mexican-American journalist Jorge Ramos. During a Iowa press conference, Ramos was asking Trump about his immigration platform when the GOP nominee barked: "Sit down. Sit down ... Go back to Univision!" A suited security guard then marched him out of the room.
* Trump rang in Cinco de Mayo this year by tweeting a cringeworthy remark in which he claimed the best Mexican food was made in Trump Tower. "Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!" Trump declared in a tweet that also featured a photo of him grinning over his meal.
* In June 2016, Trump suggested that a federal judge presiding over a fraud cases against Trump University wouldn't be able be fair because of his "Mexican heritage." "He's a Mexican," Trump told CNN of U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel. "We're building a wall between here and Mexico. The answer is, he is giving us very unfair rulings — rulings that people can't even believe." "I'm building a wall," Trump said. "It's an inherent conflict of interest." Curiel, who was born in Indiana, refused to dismiss a pair of civil lawsuits that allege Trump University tricked students into paying tens of thousands of dollars to learn the secrets of the real-estate mogul's success.
Crowds at his rallies, for the last 16 months have chanted "Build the Wall," a rallying cry of thinly veiled racism.
Now Donald Trump has said the following regarding building a wall along our southern border.
During his candidacy announcement speech in June 2015, Donald Trump first proposed the idea of building a wall along America's southern border, adding that, due to his real estate experience, he was uniquely qualified for the job:
"I will build a great wall -- and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me --and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words."
So to my knowledge as of my blogging today Donald Trump has not provided the American people an estimate of the cost of building the wall. The president of Mexico time and time again has said, Mexico has no plans now or in the future of paying for the wall. Donald Trump has now changed his campaign pledge that the United States will pay for the wall but that Mexico will reimburse the United States, something that the president of Mexico has rejected. Some have put the estimate to 400 billion to build a wall along the 1900 miles of border. Others have said that is a conservative estimate. And Congress has not approved the first dollar of the wall construction. Donald Trump signed an executive order to proceed with the building of the wall yet experts have said the wall will be ineffective and the cost to the American People to great.
So are we at war with Mexico. It certainly feels like it. There is as far as I can tell zero amount of diplomacy going on. And now Donald Trump has started gearing up his war machine by having ICE Police sweeping the country deporting as many Mexicans as they can find. And reports of Mexicans with as little as a traffic violation being deported as criminals. Donald Trump is furthering the already bad tensions between the United States and Mexico by suggesting the breakup of families attempting to enter the US illegally.
These actions go beyond the law. It is an attempt to use the law for Donald Trump to further his prejudice against the Mexican people. And to use the power of the presidency to further his personal agenda of purging the United States of all who have Mexican heritage. Donald Trump displays a personality of paranoia toward both the Mexican people and those of Middle Eastern Heritage.
So back to the war. Mexico represents 1/3 of the United States foreign trade at 531 Billion Dollars. This trade is not only good for America but also good for Mexico. Common since would suggest that there would be on going negotiations to improve fair trade with our southern partners but that is not going on. What is happening it appears is Donald Trump is attempting to strong arm the Mexican people. By intimidation and threats. It would appear that he feels that America would be better off as an isolationist country in a word economy market. Something most understand would not benefit America.
Now I agree that the North American Trade Agreement may not be fair and in need of repair. But war on a country is not a good way to bring them to the negotiation table. Not when a great many American companies depends on trade with Mexico. And if Donald Trump feels that he can negotiate a trade deal that improves American benefits and at the same time have Mexico pay for a 400 billion dollar wall and have the United States kicking out the Mexican people. Then Donald Trump would certainly be the master of the deal. But I feel that is unrealistic and that such a deal is impossible.
So where does it end? That could be the question in many wars. Does it escalate to the point that Mexico tosses out the American companies and stops all trade with America? They could do this and simply trade with other countries and many of the goods they manufacture would end up back in America just by routes through the other countries. Could this escalate to a war with weapons? This is unlikely as Mexico is no match with American military but that has not stopped other countries from trying.
The result of the war with Mexico will most likely be played out as the following in my opinion. If Donald Trump is able to hold onto his presidency and that is in question then the American people will end up paying for some form of wall. Will it stretch the full 1900 miles? That is unlikely. Will it cost the American people 400 billion to build? It is highly unlikely that congress would approve such an expense. Will something be built? Yes American will throw some money at it and some parts will have a wall but that is like plugging a single hole in a submarine when it is riddled in holes. Will Donald Trump be able to negotiate at better trade deal with Mexico? This is unlikely under the current relations with Mexico and its president. And since both sides have equal to loose it is unlikely that there will be significant change in the trade relations. Could this escalate to get far worse? That will have to be seen.
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