No. of Recommendations: 4
...with Mexico.
The starkest example involves repeated calls by Republican presidential candidates to bomb Mexico or unilaterally send troops there to stop the illegal drug trade, which would be an act of war.
Trump led the way: He asked defense officials about striking Mexico with missiles while he was president, and during the 2024 presidential campaign he has supported military action. Ron DeSantis has called for using deadly force and a naval blockade of Mexican ports to stop drug traffickers. More moderate candidates, like Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, have also backed using the military against drug cartels in Mexico.https://reason.com/2023/05/24/the-republican-prima...Ži_id=96954166&segment_id=140706&te=1&user_id=e6affdf52fe9bfcd78f41474fda15788
I spoke to half a dozen drug policy and counterterrorism experts across the political spectrum. All of them criticized the approach as extreme, ineffective and self-destructive. 'In 35 years, this takes the prize as the stupidest idea I have ever heard,' said Jonathan Caulkins at Carnegie Mellon University.Well, yeah, stupid is what the Republican Party does. Anything that fires up the low info base.
I suspect very few Republican politicians really think this is a good idea, but they do know how to manipulate the cult.
No. of Recommendations: 2
All the nations of the world are so interconnected by high speed travel and communications that side effects of a US/Mex war will be like nothing we have ever experienced; an enemy on our border who would be justified in seeking aid just as we are aiding Ukraine.
Attacking Mex would also have an interesting impact on the 1.6 MILLION Americans who live and work there. gringos retired there, and the tens of thousands of gringos from other nations who are retired and vacation there.
"Formal immigration to Mexico from the United States is at a record high, federal government data shows, while many more Americans are living and working here while on tourist visas.
Data published in an Interior Ministry migration report shows that 8,412 U.S. citizens were issued temporary resident visas in the first nine months of the year, an 85% increase compared to the same period of 2019
The number of U.S. citizens who were granted permanent residency in the first nine months of 2022 also increased significantly, rising 48% from 2019 levels to 5,418.
The aforementioned residency figures don't take into account the large number of Americans who entered the country as tourists but are living here for all intents and purposes. Such people include a growing number of digital nomads ' many of whom were able to settle here due to new remote work policies introduced by their employers during the pandemic ' as well as older, retired Americans, some of whom have been spending part of their time in Mexico for years.
My grandmother moved to Mexico in the early 1960s, so we made regular junkets by car and plane to enjoy the mild winter weather. Of course, no gringos stayed for the summer swelter...same as snowbirds who flee Florida's hurricane season.
