Tuesday, July 11, 2006

“I just want people to wake up and realize what’s about to happen to America.”

Good-bye USA, hello North American Union?

7/11/06

Andy Hogue
Gainesville Register
Copyright 2006

The North American Union, an “economic and security community” similar to the European Union, was proposed by the independent Council on Foreign Relations in the Spring of 2005 before summit in which President George W. Bush proposed a guest worker visa with which to reform U.S. immigration policy.

Since then, the proposal of the union — which some say includes a new flag, a common currency, increased travel between borders and a parliament and court system to oversee Canada, Mexico and the U.S. — has been the subject of some radio talks shows and political publications and much hype.

Word of the proposal is spreading quickly at meetings regarding the Trans-Texas Corridor. The Trans-Texas Corridor is suspected to be a part of a movement to make Interstate Highway 35 a major artery between Canada and Mexico.

William Baldwin, a Gainesville area farmer and one of a growing number of county residents questioning the plan, distributed CD recordings of an opinion talk show interview on Israel National News discussing the proposed North American Union at recent meetings about the Trans-Texas Corridor.

“I think it’s all linked together with this road,” Baldwin said Friday. “I just want people to wake up and realize what’s about to happen to America.”

How likely the proposal will become political reality would be determined by the powers-that-be.

Baldwin said he has discussed the matter with many lawmakers and government officials, and most are unaware of the proposal. Maybe that’s because the proposal itself was made by former government officials — not current leaders.

According to a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) press release, three former high-ranking government officials from Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. called for a North American economic and security community by 2010 “to address shared security threats, challenges to competitiveness, and interest in broad-based development across the three countries.”

Former Governor of Massachusetts and Assistant U.S. Attorney General William Weld, former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance John P. Manley and former Finance Minister of Mexico Pedro Aspe made the recommendation of forming the North American Union in “the Chairmen’s Statement of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America,” which may be downloaded on the CFR’s Web site.

Weld was unavailable for comment by press time, as he recently withdrew from the race for New York governor and is on vacation.

The report was sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in association with Mexican and a Canadian business advocacy organizations.

The CFR was founded in 1921 and makes policy recommendations. It is not a government agency, but was a major cheerleader for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which led to the North American Super Corridor Organization (NASCO) recommendation to build a superhighway between Mexico and Canada.

The goals listed in the CFR’s task force report, according to its Web site, are to:

• Create a common tariff to be shared between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. to compete with the European Union.

• Build a tighter security perimeter around North America.

• Host summit meetings between the three countries and create the North American Advisory Council to help implement summit decisions.

• Develop a border pass for all North Americans to facilitate easier travel.

• Adopt a shared border patrolling plan and implement improved intelligence gathering tactics to enforce immigration laws.

• Foster cooperation between the three nations’ military forces and the establishment of a North American Aerospace Defense Command.

• Spur Mexican economic development through increased trade.

• Develop a natural resource conservation strategy and form a North American alternative to the Kyoto Protocol which laid out environmental protection standards via a treaty (which the U.S. never signed onto).

• Establish an educational scholarship and exchange network to develop cultural unity between the three countries.

A plan discussed but not proposed was the creation of a common currency, which could be called “the Amero” (as opposed to the Euro).

It did not call for the abandonment of the United States of America, or the Republic of Mexico or the Dominion of Canada for that matter.

On the CD Baldwin distributed, Tamar Yona, a radio talk show host on Israel National Network, interviewed Dr. Jerome Corsi, a regular contributor to the conservative WorldNetDaily.com and the co-author of a soon-to-be released book about the Minuteman movement.

Yona has in the past noted the North American Union in her broadcasts. One caller on a recent show identified himself as being from “San Francisco, N.A.U.,” to which she replied, “Cute.”

In the interview, dated June 13, Corsi said, “I fear. I fear what’s happening to them (Americans).”

Corsi said when investigating the reasons why conservative Republican president Bush would not favor stricter border control policies, his findings surprised him.

Corsi alluded to the Security and Prosperity Partnership plan (which may be found at www.spp.gov), which is intended to facilitate cooperation between the executive branches of the U.S., Canada and Mexico on such matters as avian flu prevention and anti-terrorism.

Corsi said a goal is to create increased trade through the U.S. via a superhighway, which would begin in Texas. He said a customs port would be based in Kansas City, Mo., which he considered a security risk.

Corsi said it would “import a huge underclass” from Mexico, which would offset any economic benefit to the U.S. He said the Mexican government is influenced by criminal cartels, which he said would negatively affect the U.S.

Sheila Cox, an opponent of the Trans-Texas Corridor, said she has concern — not alarm — regarding the North American Union proposal.

“I think more than cause for alarm is cause for concern,” she said. “Even reading on the SPP.gov Web site it talks about this agreement, but does not use the term ‘North American Union.’ But if you read that with the understanding of a trilateral agreement, and what we’re seeing in a lack of border protection from our president, you can start connecting the dots.”

The CFR didn’t propose the first such plan to unify countries with the U.S. or loosen border restrictions to increase trade. Other movements have come and gone to increase international cooperation — to varying degrees.

The Republican Party of Texas Platform called for a rescinding of the Texas Legislature’s petition to the federal government calling for a new Constitutional Convention (or “Con-Con”) during the ’70s. The convention was called to make the U.S. Constitution more compatible with the United Nations, among other goals.

Lech Walesa, the former prime minister of Poland, has called for an end to “nationalism” for many years speaking at American universities, including a 2002 address at the University of North Texas in Denton.

The Trilateral Commission has for years promoted lesser tariffs and trade restrictions between the U.S., Europe and Japan.

Global government is a concept of many religions. The Baha’i Faith, which has few adherents in Cooke County, promotes world government as a step toward peace.

Many “premillenialist” Christians predict a world government would be ushered in by an antichrist figure who would go on to challenge Jesus Christ at the Battle of Armageddon after several years of rule. Some who subscribe to that belief feel a global government is inevitable and not worth fighting. Others “sound the trumpet” frequently.

For now, the call for global government — let alone joining forces with Canada and Mexico — is a far cry in Cooke County.

Ron Melugin, Democratic Party chairman of Cooke County, did not lend any credibility to the seriousness of the concept of a three-way government in North America.

“I’ve never heard of it,” Melugin said. “I don’t think it deserves any comment on my part.”

Republican Party Chairman Frank Rust could not be reached for comment by press time.

Cox recommended contacting government representatives at all levels as a preventative measure.

“I see even this as losing hold of sovereignty for the United States,” she said. “And if we lose control of the sovereignty of the U.S., it stands to reason we may lose the freedoms we Americans hold near and dear.”

On the Net:

Security and Prosperity Partnership of America: www.spp.gov

Council on Foreign Relations: www.cfr.org

North America’s Super Corridor Organization: www.nascocorridor.org

Reporter Andy Hogue may be contacted at andyhoguegdr@ntin.net


© 2006 The Gainesville Register: www.gainesvilleregister.com

pigicon