ARE MEXICAN TERRORISTS NEXT?
By Robert Klein Engler (06/25/05)
CHICAGO (16 June '05)--The United States has two border problems. One border problem is in Iraq, where the inability to control who comes into that country from neighboring Syria contributes significantly to insurgents and terrorist activity. This continued insurgency could mean a setback for American policies in the region.
The other border problem the U. S. has is with its neighbor Mexico. Will the inability to control that border lead to insurgents entering the U. S. and an increase in terrorist activities, first in U. S. southern cities, and then across the nation?
All the social and structural conditions for terrorism to emerge are present in the relationship between Mexico and the U. S. There is a porous border between the two countries with a high level of illegal immigration. There are significant cultural, linguistic and religious differences between the U. S. and Mexico, as well. With Mexican and Latino gangs already controlling much of the drug traffic in the U. S., there is money and a social infrastructure that may be used to plan and communicate terrorist activities. Finally, there is a growing ideology of resentment over a perceived foreign occupation that may inspire young and alienated Latino insurgents.
Everyone knows the border between the U. S. and Mexico is wide open. There is an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U. S. and about half of them are Mexicans. Besides these Mexicans, there are illegal Asians, Middle Easterners and South Americans who cross daily into the U. S. from Mexico. Of these millions, it is safe to say there may be hundreds who could be recruited to a terrorist cause.
Unlike Islamic terrorists, who may prefer suicide in service of their cause, Mexican terrorist may not take this route. Nevertheless, their effect on U. S. society may be the same as suicide attacks. Just the cost alone of maintaining 11 million illegal immigrants in the country is a slow and dispersed type of terrorism.
Mexico and the U. S. do not share a common culture. The border between the U. S. and Mexico is what Samuel P. Huntington calls a fault line between cultures. It is Huntington's contention that future conflicts will develop along cultural fault lines. Current political events seem to support this prediction.
The religious, linguistic and cultural differences between Mexico and the U. S. parallel the differences between Muslims and Jews. Where the differences between cultures are great and the national borders close, as between Islam and Judaism, so also may be incidents of terrorism, especially if there are political tensions present.
For terrorists to gain their political objectives, they need a human infrastructure. There must be a social network to transport ideas, material and insurgents. All those are present in Iraq with al-Qaeda. So far in the U. S., al-Qaeda has remained underground.
Mexican and South American street gangs have not remained so hidden. Although it has Salvadorian roots, the MS 13 gang has the human infrastructure to garner millions of dollars annually in the drug trade. Like al-Qaeda, the Mara Salvatrucha gang also uses beheadings as a way of terrorizing populations into conformity. MS 13 is an international gang with branches in many U. S. cities.
Mexican gangs like the Mexican Mafia/Surenos also have money and are well organized. They have moved this organization from prison to the streets very easily. The 18th Street gang is another example of a Mexican gang that continues to spread to cities across the U. S. This gang also counts many illegal immigrants as members.
Some members of the 18th Street gang have become involved in making fraudulent immigration and naturalization cards along with counterfeit food stamps. The gang has close relationships with Mexican and Colombian drug cartels. The social networks of all these gangs may be turned very easily into a terrorist network given the right motivation.
Such motivation may not be lacking. There is a growing ideology of resentment about the so-called foreign occupation in the Southwest U. S. that now inspires many young and alienated Latino men. When this writer gets an e-mail that states, "I'm also part of the plan to take the land of Aztlan back for Mexico. So, travel to the Southwest of America whilst it's still under WHITE control, except for Los Angeles of course with Mayor Villarraigosa," then we know an ideology of resentment is in play.
There are thousands of Latino youth who feel the same resentment. Many of them drop out of high school and have little prospects for social mobility or assimilation. Their minds are hypnotized by the rhythms of rap and all they need is a cause to follow. Many of these young men maintain, "that the WHITES are the ones that stole our land, killed and raped our people, destroyed our civilization, and made us ignorant to what we really are."
These alienated Latino youth view the American southwest as a lost part of Mexico the same way some Palestinians view Israel as a stolen part of Palestine. This ideology may be harnessed by anti-U. S. insurgents to promote terror here the same way it is harnessed to promote terror in Israel. The political object of this terrorism will be to make the U. S. southwest part of Mexico in the same way that terror is used politically to gain territory and diminish the size of Israel.
If a small, outside force brings all the conditions for terrorism together, then it can ferment violence, the same way a small amount of yeast can make a bowl of dough rise. al-Qaeda could be that yeast. Given the deteriorating conditions along the Mexican/U. S. border, along with the other social and structural preconditions for terrorism, it seems just a matter of time before the U. S. suffers terrorist attacks from Mexico. All the more reason to secure the U. S. borders now, rather than later.
Robert Klein Engler lives in Chicago. He is an adjunct professor at Roosevelt University. His book, A WINTER OF WORDS, about the ethnic cleansing at Daley College, is available from amazon.com.
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