The US should sponsor a referendum in Texas (and make a secret pact with Mexico at the same time).

But if you ask England, they'd call it a civil war and an act of treason. " Very true, indeed the highly-esteemed British historian, Professor Richard Holmes, made exactly this point when he wrote "The War of Independence plays such an important part in American popular ideology that references to it are especially prone to exaggeration and oversimplification. And two uncomfortable truths about it - the fact that it was a civil war (perhaps 100,000 loyalists fled abroad at its end), and that it was also a world war (the Americans could scarcely have won without French help) - are often forgotten. " The United Nations didn't exist back then but if it did then Britain would have had no complaint if the proto-Americans wanted to break away. That's because the United Nations Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights General Comment 12 - The right to self-determination of peoples states: 1. In accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognizes that all peoples have the right of self-determination; 2. Article 1 enshrines an inalienable right of all peoples as described in its paragraphs 1 and 2. By virtue of that right they freely "determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development". The article imposes on all States parties corresponding obligations. This also means that, regardless of what is written in the American Constitution, if the people of Texas vote to succeed from the United States, then they are absolutely entitled to do so under international law. If the United States refused to recognise the will of the people of Texas to succeed then America would be deemed to be illegally occupying Texan land, which would attract worldwide condemnation and make the United States position as a permanent member of the Security Council untenable. Argument B - Civil Revolt ----------------------------- They say 'Don't mess with Texas' possibly because Texan citizens are notoriously keen on owning guns and always seem to be looking for an excuse to use them, but if the US sold Texas to Mexico, who would they fight and what would their demands be? Would they attack American interest over the border in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana demanding that they be allowed back into the Union? That would make no sense at all since they voted to leave in the first place, and, anyway, killing Americans would hardly endear them to their former compatriots. Or would they attack their fellow Mexicans to the south demanding that they be allowed independence? This would make more sense, but since over a third of the residents of present-day Texas are of Mexican dissent, the Hispanic Texans would side with their cousins in the mother country, and any Caucasian and black Texan insurgents would soon be overwhelmed, with the last remaining die-hards likely ending up in some Waco-style siege on an isolated ranch - that sounds like quite a good plot for a movie, doesn't it? Argument C - Repatriation of Civil and Military Infrastructure --------------------------------------------------------------------- The United States has, indeed, invested heavily in Texas, though it should be noted that Texans contribute more tax dollars to the Federal coffers than almost any other state. Nevertheless, prior to handing Texas over to the Mexicans, it would be reasonable for the US to remove any military hardware that wasn't actually nailed down. Everything else would be factored into the price that the US charges Mexico for the state. Conclusion ------------ Most American states are loyal to the Union and know that they better off in than out. Although there is a small separatist movement in Alaska it doesn't enjoy much popular support with the citizens of Alaska and the only state where there is any real prospect of the inhabitants voting to break away is Texas. My argument is that the people of that sate should be given the opportunity to vote on the matter. If they choose to remain, fine, the issue is settled - at least for another couple of generations. If they choose to leave, however, the United States should put her own interests first and foremost and make sure they do not suffer financially by selling Texas to the Mexicans before they have the chance to declare themselves an independent sovereign nation. Thank you. Sources --------- American Revolutionary War: . http://www.bbc.co.uk... UN Office of the Commisionner for Human Rights: . http://www.unhchr.ch...