Review: Matt M. Matthews, The US Army on the Mexican Border: A Historical Perspective, 2007

It is almost too much to hope that our own border can be protected by American troops. - Washington Post, 15 April 1915

This short, 100 page monograph was published by the US Army's Combat Studies Institute that is located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Army has made it available at no cost here on PDF format. As the title indicates, this work is mainly a historical review of the US military on the border from 1829 to the present. The bulk of the narrative covers the period from the Mexican-American War to the 1920s. The author makes clear that the change from frontier to border did not occur until well into the twentieth century. 

The book begins with the first peaceful and amicable meeting between American and Mexican troops on the Santa Fe Trail in 1829. It continues with a lucid and well-constructed account of the Mexican-American War. It concludes with a brief account of the military's recent support efforts on the border to interdict drugs. 

The bulk of the narrative deals with the cross border violence that was endemic from the 1840s until after the First World War. During much of the nineteenth century, one of the US Army's main efforts on the frontier were attempts to stop Indian raiders who used Mexican territory as sanctuary. The opposite was also true with Indians in American territory crossing over into Mexico to launch raids. With the final suppression of Geronimo's band in 1886, this mission was complete. 

Most of the book deals with the US Army's attempt to deal with violence that spilled north due to Mexico's chronic political instability and lawlessness. One thing made clear in this work is that only forceful action by the US military has ever prompted the governments in Mexico City to take action against their own criminal border-crossing element. 

[Porfirio] Diaz was mortified and discomfited by the continual American [military] border crossings [in hot pursuit of bandits]. Fearing further damage to his political standing, Diaz was force to act. The Mexican President sent one of his best generals to the border and ordered his army to take aggressive action against raiders and criminal elements in Mexico. By the close of 1878, raids from Mexico into the United States had been greatly reduced. (pg. 53). 

With the death of Diaz in 1911, Mexico was again plunged into political chaos. The violence quickly spread north of the border with an able assist by a meddling President Woodrow Wilson. The vicious attack upon Columbus, New Mexico by Pancho Villa in March 1916 led to General John Pershing's famous Punitive Expedition deep into Mexico. Villa made good his escape. By the 1920s peace had return to the border region. It was during this period that the Army turned over border patrol duties to civilian law enforcement agencies. 

Since the 1960s, lawlessness, violence and massive illegal invasion has become the norm again on America's southern border. As with terrorism, the "law enforcement" model has largely failed. One major reason for both failures is the refusal of Washington to acknowledge the nature of the problem. The main source of the massive border problem is both the Mexican government's and American elite's contempt for American national sovereignty and rights. For example, while the media obsesses about alleged Russian influence on the last election, the government of Mexico openly interferes in American politics - including during the election. And nobody cares; it is reported as business as usual. 

Take the time to read this short work in order to gain a more complete understanding of America's current border crisis.