UN hurricane aid: are UN "peacekeepers" far behind?

"For the first time in history, the United Nations has joined a disaster relief effort in the United States," reported Little Rock, Arkansas' KATV in a September 10 broadcast on the UN relief operation, which is based at Little Rock Air Force Base. UN agencies involved in the relief effort included the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Program, the World Health Organization, the UN Children's Fund, the UN High Commission for Refugees, the Human Settlements Program, and the Food and Agriculture Organization. "All in all we expect the U.N. involvement to grow as we expect there to be a very considerable increase in the number of international relief flights to the United States from many parts of the world," UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland said in a September 9 Associated Press interview. (While hurricane victims will, no doubt, appreciate any assistance, from whatever source, it is worth noting that much of the UN aid actually has been paid for by U.S. taxpayers, since we provide the lion's share of funding for the UN and its various agencies.)

With America's military forces spread thin in garrisons and conflicts across the globe, will the U.S. be induced to accept UN "peacekeepers" and other foreign troops to "restore order" after the next natural disaster or terrorist attack? This is not far off from present reality. On September 8, a Mexican army convoy of 45 olive-green vehicles and some 200 troops crossed the Rio Grande into the United States at Nuevo Laredo and continued on to San Antonio, Texas. It was the first Mexican military operation on U.S. soil since revolutionary bandit general Pancho Villa invaded New Mexico in 1916. The convoy was loaded with food, water, and medicine for victims of Hurricane Katrina, and was greeted--on both sides of the border--by Mexicans waving Mexican flags and shouting "Viva Mexico!" "This is the first time that the United States has accepted a military mission from Mexico" for such work, noted Javier Ibarrola, a Mexican newspaper columnist who covers military affairs. "This is something that's never happened before."

Whatever good the Mexican aid convoy might provide to Katrina's tragic victims, there is a symbolic significance to the operation that is pregnant with ominous political meaning. The welcoming of Mexican troops onto U.S. soil--this time for disaster relief--sets a precedent and provides support for the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership, the sovereignty-destroying program launched by President George Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox, and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin to merge our three nations into one country called, simply, "North America." (See article on page 23.)