If we steal all their water who can blame them for coming here for a cool drink?

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/779635,020608water.article

Texas-Mexico water war continues

Texas farmers to ask Canadian judge to impose sanctions on Mexico for taking Rio Grande water

February 6, 2008
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

WESLACO, Texas---- More than 40 Texas farmers, ranchers and irrigation districts are gearing up to take their long-standing water war with Mexico to the next level, which in this case is a Canadian judge.

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs came to the Rio Grande Valley for a pep talk Tuesday, to reinvigorate farmers who have been fighting for three years and running up legal bills of almost $500,000.

''You roll over now and you won't be in good shape,'' Combs told a room full of farmers and ranchers.

In 2004, the farmers and ranchers sued Mexico for $500 million, arguing that their southern neighbor had shorted them on Rio Grande water from 1992 to 2002 in violation of a 1944 treaty.

[Hugabear]

1. So they're basically taking what was originally theirs to begin with

We go in and take Texas from Mexico by force, and then do everything in our power to turn Mexico into a third-world country. After all, we don't want to take a chance of our neighbors to the south getting uppity again, do we? And now we act surprised when they take the water that was originally theirs in order to survive.

[amandabeech]

3. A small correction. Mexico allowed U.S. citizens to settle in what is now Texas

if those settlers would convert to the Catholic faith and live in peace.

The U.S. settlers and some U.S. historians contend that because of a change in government in Mexico (Santa Ana), the actual experience of the settlers changed for the worse. The Mexicans claim that nothing changed.

In the end, the U.S. settlers rebelled against the Mexican government, and Texas became a republic on its own. Later, of course, Texas joined the union.

While it was U.S. citizens that fought Mexico, the U.S. army was not involved.

Several years later, of course, the U.S. army defeated the Mexican army and secured what is now the Southwest for the U.S. The U.S. made a payment of, what, $20,000,000 for what was then pretty much mountains and desert, and paid another similar sum for a small amount of territory south of AZ and NM for use as a railroad right-of-way.

That the U.S. army was not involved in Texas's secession from Mexico is a small point, obviously, but worth pointing out.

[NNN0LHI]

4. It was called "Manifest Destiny" and US troops sure as hell were involved

http://www.historyguy.com/Mexican-American_War.html

The U.S.-Mexican War—(1846-1848):

The Mexican-American War was the first major conflict driven by the idea of "Manifest Destiny"; the belief that America had a God-given right, or destiny, to expand the country's borders from 'sea to shining sea'. This belief would eventually cause a great deal of suffering for many Mexicans, Native Americans and United States citizens. Following the earlier Texas War of Independence from Mexico, tensions between the two largest independent nations on the North American continent grew as Texas eventually became a U.S. state. Disputes over the border lines sparked military confrontation, helped by the fact that President Polk eagerly sought a war in order to seize large tracts of land from Mexico.

CAUSES OF CONFLICT:

The war between the United States and Mexico had two basic causes. First, the desire of the U.S. to expand across the North American continent to the Pacific Ocean caused conflict with all of its neighbors; from the British in Canada and Oregon to the Mexicans in the southwest and, of course, with the Native Americans. Ever since President Jefferson's acquisition of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, Americans migrated westward in ever increasing numbers, often into lands not belonging to the United States. By the time President Polk came to office in 1845, an idea called "Manifest Destiny" had taken root among the American people, and the new occupant of the White House was a firm believer in the idea of expansion. The belief that the U.S. basically had a God-given right to occupy and "civilize" the whole continent gained favor as more and more Americans settled the western lands. The fact that most of those areas already had people living upon them was usually ignored, with the attitude that democratic English-speaking America, with its high ideals and Protestant Christian ethics, would do a better job of running things than the Native Americans or Spanish-speaking Catholic Mexicans. Manifest Destiny did not necessarily call for violent expansion. In both 1835 and 1845, the United States offered to purchase California from Mexico, for $5 million and $25 million, respectively. The Mexican government refused the opportunity to sell half of its country to Mexico's most dangerous neighbor.

The second basic cause of the war was the Texas War of Independence and the subsequent annexation of that area to the United States. Not all American westward migration was unwelcome. In the 1820's and 1830's, Mexico, newly independent from Spain, needed settlers in the underpopulated northern parts of the country. An invitation was issued for people who would take an oath of allegiance to Mexico and convert to Catholicism, the state religion. Thousands of Americans took up the offer and moved, often with slaves, to the Mexican province of Texas. Soon however, many of the new "Texicans" or "Texians" were unhappy with the way the government in Mexico City tried to run the province. In 1835, Texas revolted, and after several bloody battles, the Mexican President, Santa Anna, was forced to sign the Treaty of Velasco in 1836 . This treaty gave Texas its independence, but many Mexicans refused to accept the legality of this document, as Santa Anna was a prisoner of the Texans at the time. The Republic of Texas and Mexico continued to engage in border fights and many people in the United States openly sympathized with the U.S.-born Texans in this conflict. As a result of the savage frontier fighting, the American public developed a very negative stereotype against the Mexican people and government. Partly due to the continued hostilities with Mexico, Texas decided to join with the United States, and on July 4, 1845, the annexation gained approval from the U.S. Congress.

Mexico of course did not like the idea of its breakaway province becoming an American state, and the undefined and contested border now became a major international issue. Texas, and now the United States, claimed the border at the Rio Grande River. Mexico claimed territory as far north as the Nueces River. Both nations sent troops to enforce the competing claims, and a tense standoff ensued. On April 25, 1846, a clash occurred between Mexican and American troops on soil claimed by both countries. The war had begun.

[midnight]

2. I guess I know how this is going to work out. Texas will win.