Are you a domestic terrorist?

[Occhidiangela]

Okay. So, the US fought a war against a weak opponent that added large slices of land to its direct or indirect control. It had tragic effects for the local populations.

The relative power imbalance between the US and Mexico, circa 1848, wasn't what it is today. The core weakness in Mexico was then, as it is now, cultural and conceptual, which is why Scott's campaign from a port to the inland capital with such a small force was a success. He was able to make deals with some of the locals in his rear.

Santa Anna was no fool, on the battle field nor in politics, but he was a typical example of the deeply corrupt hacendado culture that remains Mexico's core failing as a nation, and a so called culture. The current rise of the crime families of Mexico, the narco lords, is a logical extention of the cultural weakness. it is a modern version of Southern Italy's (gee, Latins and Papists again, who would have seen that coming?) immensely powerful and successful crime families -- La Cosa Nostra (Mafia), Comorra, Ndrangheti, Corona, with a the usual similarities in roots, and a corrupt, feudal style of society and government from which to work. The root cause is the inherently feudal nature of the society.

DR