President Bush cut in half his plans for 12,000 National Guard troops on the Mexican border in 2006 after Mexican President Vicente Fox told him the deployment would hurt the conservative National Action Party's re-election chances in Mexico, according to congressional aides.
The aides, who attended meetings to discuss the deployment, say Mr. Fox was concerned an influx of National Guard soldiers would be used against his party's conservative candidate, Felipe Calderon, by leftist opposition leader Manuel Lopez Obrador, a member of the socialist Democratic Revolution Party.
Critics had claimed during the hotly-contested Mexican presidential race that Mr. Calderon -- who won a razor-thin victory in July -- was too close to President Bush, who is unpopular in Mexico despite pledges he made in 2001 to strengthen U.S. ties with Mexico. Many Mexicans oppose tough U.S. border enforcement policies and were disappointed in the U.S. Senate's failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation that called for amnesty for Mexicans now in the United States.
According to the aides, the Bush administration was concerned that Mr. Lopez Obrador, if elected, would become part of Latin America's new, anti-U.S. left.
The National Guard numbers were discussed during private conversations between the White House and several members of Congress, including the late Rep. Charlie Norwood, according to staff members familiar with the talks. John E. Stone, a former top advisor to Mr. Norwood who now serves as director of the U.S. Freedom Foundation, says the talks came after the Georgia Republican proposed the deployment of 36,000 Guard troops or state militia on the southern border to help stop a rising number of illegal aliens and drugs into America.
"The discussions got to a point where the administration wanted to look tough on enforcement but wasn't willing to deploy 36,000 troops on the border," Mr. Stone said. "Josh Bolton called Mr. Norwood and said the president was willing to send 12,000 National Guard troops to the border, but later called back and said the White House had heard from Mr. Fox and couldn't do more than 6,000," Mr. Stone said.
"He said they might add 6,000 after the (Mexican) elections -- but Mr. Norwood never thought that would really happen."
At the time, Mr. Bolton served as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. He was named as White House chief of staff in March 2006.
-- Jerry Seper, national reporter, The Washington Times
