“CONFUSION” BETWEEN US AND MEXICAN TROOPS ON THE  BORDER? YA…RIGHT!  

            Well, the story goes, once again, there was “confusion” between US forces and Mexican SEDENA forces on the US border with Mexico in Texas. You see, there is this area that is nothing more than a thick brush and a small amount of water and as such, the  members of SEDENA were, “confused”. Let me take a moment here to toss the BS flag onto to field! Let me go over a few issues that made he reach for my BS flag.

1.     Calling the river, a small body of water with some brush during an event that took place during daylight. Well, whoever is trying to tone this story down, you have to do better than that.

2.     Does any Member of the Mexican military not understand the area they are working in?

3.     Do any of them not know a small river is the boundary between the two nations?

4.      Do any of the Mexican military members not recognize the uniform of the US military?

5.     Is there not a deconfliction Rep at NORTHCOM to make sure such events don’t take place?

Okay, I could go on and on, but here is my analysis of what took place and I will tell you, my thoughts are based on a, “Been there…..done that” environment on the Texas, Mexico Border.

Corruption at every level:

1.     Are there members of SEDENA who are corrupt? Yes.

2.     Are there units of SEDENA that are corrupt? Yes.

3.     Are there Unit Commanders who are corrupt? Yes.

4.     Are there senior leaders in SEDENA who are corrupt? Yes.

5.     Are there senior, political leaders in Mexico who are corrupt? Yes.

6.     Does this raise the possibility this was not just some “confused” event? Yes.

7.     Would NORTHCOM, the US Military Command for the US, do everything in its power to tone down and even make this event go away? Oh you bet they would….. Not the first time.

What Happened:

            “ The US service members reported they did not see any identifiable seals or symbols on the individual’s vehicles and couldn’t identify any patches or name tapes on the uniforms except for the Mexican flag.

1.     Mexican Special Ops working the border area in a “sanitized Ops? BS!

2.     Without deconfliction at NORTHCOM? BS!

3.      No vehicle markings, what unit’s motor pool did they come from?

Right about now, anyone who has ever worked an operational mission is reading this and saying, BS! Who isn’t saying BS? Why, the US government. Interesting.

Not my First Rodeo:

            I’ve talked about this before but let me go over it again so you get a better feeling where I’m coming from. Several years ago, I was part of a CODEL, Congressional Junket, that took place in West Texas. In that CODEL, civilian Law Enforcement members gave statements about an event with shots fired along the “river”, where what seemed to be a Mexican military unit appeared to be assisting a drug movement recover a load of drugs from a sunk vehicle in the river. You know….that little bitty river with brush all around it. Unit flashes were seen on the front of the SEDENA vehicles and a whip antenna was seen next to a person who looked to be giving orders over a radio. Well….when the dust settled….the answer became, it was a drug cartel dressed to look like SEDENA, to even include the proper vehicles and markings. Yes…..BS…..complete BS…not “Confusion”. But then, the whole event just went away. Does this story have some commonality to what took place on April 13^th of this year? Could This Sanitized team have been providing route security for a major drug movement? Let me ask you something. When you hear of a large surge along the border, do you ever stop to think that “surge” is preplanned? Is it designed to draw the attention of the US assets in the area in order to move a “load” across somewhere else? Just ask any civilian Law Enforcement or Border Patrol member who works the Texas / Mexico border and see how many stories you immediately get back.

Look. This was not “confusion” but, “confusion” is the easiest answer to the political leaders who are always trying to dance around the issue of the corruption in Mexico. Is the entire Mexican military corrupt? No. Is it nearly impossible to distinguish who is and who is not? Yes. I remember when a good friend from the DEA told me, “If the Op includes SEDENA, be careful”.

What took place on April 13^th? I think most of us who have worked that area know. Is it the first time? No. Will it be the last? No.

            SIDE NOTE:

                        US forces being armed with a side arm? Someone needs to be fired over that decision.