Mexican border incursions redux: In 1916, Wilson sent in the Army

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

Reports of armed Mexican outlaws crossing the border to clash with U.S. forces led to demands that the president send troops to protect American lives.

It sounds like a story ripped from this week's headlines, when Texas sheriff's deputies pursued marijuana smugglers protected by machine-gun wielding men in Mexican military uniforms.

So far, the White House is speaking of its "concern about the reports" of Monday's border crossing, which a spokesman described as "an incident that is under investigation." Yet in 1916, when Pancho Villa's bandits raided Columbus, N.M., a Democratic president didn't hesitate.

President Woodrow Wilson sent Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing to lead an expedition into Mexico. A $5,000 bounty was offered for Villa's capture, and Army posters invoked "The Flag, Old Glory" in calling for 25,000 recruits: "Come on, boys, be ready to shoulder the trusty Springfield."

There are important differences between the border situation that Wilson faced in 1916 and the situation facing President Bush this year, said Philip E. Koerper, professor of history at Jacksonville State University in Alabama.

"Pancho Villa -- it was in the midst of a revolution," he said. "This is just plain old smuggling."

Though he sees no comparison to the 1916 Villa raid, Mr. Koerper said, that doesn't mean the current border situation is not a threat to U.S. security.

"As long as you can have smugglers and refugees both crossing your border illegally, anybody could cross illegally, including al Qaeda," he said.

Concerns about terrorists' crossing the border indicate one parallel between this year and 1916 when, during World War I, many Americans suspected Mexico of harboring German agents and saboteurs. Indeed, an intercepted German message, the infamous "Zimmerman telegram," proposing a German-Mexican alliance helped prompt Wilson to take the United States into war in 1917 -- with its Army commanded by the general who had led the pursuit of Villa.

Yet the historic situation during Villa's day was much different, said James Carafano, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation.