I find it curious and remarkable, how our popular history books have rewritten  the past to turn Woodrow Wilson into a Good Guy. We even have high schools named after him. Our popular image of Wilson is that he tried to prevent war, supported the League of Nations, and was responsible for numerous progressive reforms. The reality was quite different. The reality is that most of America's major problems of the last century could be laid at Wilson's door.
 

Wilson got to the White House in a manner similar to G.W. Bush's route. Bush ran against Al Gore in an extremely close election. Also in the race was a third party, the Greens, with Ralph Nader as candidate. After the fact, there were many claims that Nader drew enough votes away from the Democrats in Florida to cost Gore the election. Bush did not receive a majority of the popular vote. Neither did Wilson. In 1912, Wilson was the Democrat running against William Howard Taft, Republican. Ever since Lincoln, Republicans had been considered the liberal, progressive party, while the Democrats were reactionaries dominated by Southern White racists and by big-time bankers. Theodore Roosevelt thought Taft was too conservative. Roosevelt tried and failed to get the Republican nomination, so he walked out to form his own third party, the Progressive Party, often referred to as the Bull Moose Party. T.R. received a great deal of financial support from friends of J.P. Morgan, who wanted Wilson elected. Wilson was a friend of Morgan, and had been part of the banking community for years. Wilson won the election with fewer popular votes than the other two candidates combined, but with a majority of electoral votes. The United States would never be the same again.
 

That was in November of 1912. Madero was deposed in February of the following year. The underlying issues were land and oil. Mexicans wanted the large estates broken up and distributed to small family farmers. They also wanted Mexico's vast petroleum reserves secured for Mexico:  in other words, nationalized.  Pancho Villa, along with Zapata and others, went to war again.
 

Huerta opposed nationalization, so Wilson might have been willing to recognize his government. However, it was clear that this would result in further civil strife. No one wants to conduct business in the middle of a civil war. Wilson gave out the impression that he was reluctant to recognize Huerta because Wilson was opposed to dictatorship. Regardless of the true reasons, President Wilson chose to support Huerta's opposition, which included Francisco Villa, among others. Here is where the fate lines of Francisco Villa, Osama bin Laden, Wilson and Bush begin to converge.
 

Villa and bin Laden are revolutionary folk heroes, fighting oppression against great odds. Both are supported and encouraged by the United States. Villa continues to support the U.S. even when Wilson invades Mexico. Many Americans are still surprised to learn that Woodrow Wilson invaded Mexico. Many of Wilson's biographers claim that he stood for morality, peace, and self-determination for small countries. George W. Bush's critics have accused him of advocating a national policy of perpetual warfare. If this is true, at least Bush has not attempted to conceal the fact. Wilson, on the other hand, had perfected the art of claiming one thing and doing the opposite.
 

Wilson had got himself elected with a promise to keep America out of war. Here is a list of countries invaded by the U.S. during Wilson's administration:
 

 1. Mexico-- 1914.

 2. Haiti --1915

 3. Dominican Republic --1916

 4. Mexico --1916, and an additional nine times.

 5. Cuba--1917

 6. Panama--1918

 7. Russia--1918
 

This was all in addition to sending American forces to Europe during World War I. It was also in addition to a continuous occupation of Nicaragua. I maintain it was this period of history which set the stage for a majority of problems encountered by America during the following century.
 

During the conference of the Treaty of Versailles, a youthful Ho Chi Minh approached Wilson and pleaded for independence for Vietnam. Wilson refused to listen. Wilson's was a fundamentally imperialist viewpoint. It was Wilson's policy which led ultimately to the Vietnam War. One can as well make a plausible case that it was Wilson's invasion of Russia which led to the Cold War. After all, why would the Russians trust the U.S.? It was our intervention which strengthened the hands of men like Stalin, in opposition to moderates like Trotsky.
 

Another accusation leveled against Bush is that he has sought to restrict Civil Liberties and that he threatens the Bill of Rights. If this is true, he still has a long way to go to match Wilson's record. It was Wilson's policies which enabled the infamous Palmer Raids that rounded up aliens and political dissidents with no pretense of due process.
 

Bush, at least, has not yet been proven racist or sexist. Wilson introduced segregation of the Federal Government, which had been fully integrated since the Civil War. He also opposed voting rights for women as long as he could get away with it. Wilson managed to set race relations back in America at least fifty years.

All this is only background to an understanding of the relationships between Woodrow Wilson, Pancho Villa, G.W. Bush, and Osama bin Laden. It is more complex than a war of Good against Evil, though both of those elements play a part. In 1914, Wilson sent the U.S. Navy to occupy the port of Veracruz. His stated reason was to cut off Huerta's supply of arms. More likely, it was an attempt to find out how easy it would be to assert U.S. control over Mexico's politics, as he had already done in Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti. But Mexico was not so easy. Both sides strenuously denounced the American occupation. That is, except for Francisco Villa. Villa was still under the illusion that Wilson was a friend of his, and that he could count on American support. He was soon to be disillusioned.

This essay is not intended to be a reprise of Mexican history; those interested may investigate a wealth of source material, too numerous to mention here. However, the incident referred to above-- the American occupation of Veracruz--provides an insight into history which I believe has been largely overlooked by most writers. This episode lends support to my claim that Wilson, Bush, Villa and Osama have all been fighting in the same war. To make this clear, we must go back two years, to Villa's activities in 1912.
 

For a long time, I was puzzled about exactly when and for what reason Wilson?s government decided to back the leadership of General Carranza and to oppose Villa. Villa had after all been loyal to the United States until being defeated by Carranza, who turned out to be well-armed with American weapons. Villa did not start out hating Americans. There were even yanqui soldiers of fortune fighting on Villa's side and under his command. What really happened at Veracruz?

This seems to be a classic case of historical cover-up. Wilson's stated reason for sending the U.S. Navy bluejackets to Mexico was to prevent Huerta from obtaining weapons. "Because America is opposed to dictatorship."  What weapons was he referring to? There was a German transport ship in the harbor, loaded with German weapons and munitions. The U.S. Navy prevented her from unloading her cargo. When, two years later Carranza defeated Villa in the field, Mexicans generally believed he had obtained the weapons from a stockpile left by Americans at Veracruz.
 

Personally, I believe this story is probably true, but I don't think it an accident. I don't believe the U.S. Navy would have left that much weaponry behind by mistake. I believe that Wilson thought it preferable that Mexican revolutionaries get their supplies from the U.S. than from Germany. Francisco Villa, in fact, was personally offered assistance by the German ambassador, but chose to decline. Later, it was an offer by Germany to support Mexico in a war against the U.S. that finally led to America entering the World War. (Look up "the Zimmerman Telegram," of 1917.)

But it gets even more complicated. In 1912, Francisco Villa was de facto Governor of the State of Chihuahua. This was the high point of his career. Northern Mexico, however, was in a terrible economic condition. As a result of previous banking policies, there was a shortage of monetary currency. (Villa, by the way, hated bankers, making it a practice to hang all bankers in newly captured towns.) Many people were hiding any gold or silver money they might possess, as well as pesos issued by the official government. As a result, farmers could not sell their produce because there was no money to buy it with. Famine in the midst of plenty raised its head. Villa had a simple and creative solution. "If all they need is money,"  he declared, "let's print some!"  Which is what he proceeded to do.
 

Villa issued his own currency and put forth a decree forcing people to accept it. His solution worked; commerce resumed, people began to buy and sell again. Starvation was averted and the local economy began to boom. Later, this paper currency came to be known as "Pancho Villa money." Some of it still exists and is a collector's item. In my opinion, this episode was Villa's original sin in the eyes of President Wilson. It was Wilson, remember, who was later to set up the Federal Reserve. Every president before him had been opposed to the creation of a central bank.
 

The majority of historical authors mention the "Fed" as one of Wilson?s great, positive accomplishments. I find this baffling. The Fed has resulted in enormous national debt to the World Bank and the World Monetary Fund, an organization which has brought economic disaster to every nation coerced into joining it. Historically, there have been only two U.S. Presidents who took the step of issuing "fiat currency," that is, a currency not indebted to the international banking system. These were Lincoln and J.F. Kennedy. Look what happened to them.  Look what happened to Villa.
 

There should by now be some apparent similarities between Villa and Osama. Although they came from totally different backgrounds, they followed similar paths. Each stood for nationalism and independence. It is no secret that the United States, through the CIA, provided financial and political support to bin Laden when he was fighting the Russians in Afghanistan. The U.S. also supported Villa in his early days; General Pershing in fact was on friendly terms with Villa and they were often photographed together.
 

Osama turned against America when he decided the U.S. should get out of his native country, Saudi Arabia. Villa of course wanted America out of Mexico. Also of interest are the similar manners in which Wilson and Bush were elected to office. Remember that Wilson gained the White House because of a third party candidate who split the Republican vote. Bush was elected in part as the result of a third party candidate --Ralph Nader--who split the Democrat vote in Florida. No doubt coincidence, but interesting.
 

Villa's raid on Columbus, N.M. produced a profound reaction in the American public. If it is true that Wilson orchestrated the entire event, then in this respect the raid could be deemed a success, if such a reaction was the desired outcome. But from Villa's viewpoint it was a failure. Although his troops fired and devastated the town, only 17 Americans were killed. Villa lost over 200 men. Although caught by surprise, the American army reacted quickly and effectively.
 

One theory about this raid is that Villa was really looking for a particular individual, an American swindler who had sold him a large quantity of movie blank bullets in lieu of genuine ammunition. If true, this was also a failure, since that gentleman was not in town that day. Perhaps this surprise attack was an example of "intelligence failure" on the part of the U.S. In any case, Pershing never caught up with Villa, but he did get a chance to test his new equipment and to train his men.
 

The U.S. hasn't caught bin Laden yet, but the military is certainly getting a lot of training and experience. Finally, I want to put forth one final link between these two historical persons, between Pancho Villa and George W. Bush: This is an item for conspiracy buffs. I am embarrassed to mention this--but I can't resist. I believe it is well known that G.W. Bush, like his father, was a member of the Skull and Bones Society while at Yale. This is a secret society often suspected of being in league with the Illuminati and other such esoteric organizations.
 

Be that as it may, it was not long ago that an independent investigator succeeded in videotaping the "Skull's" secret initiation ritual. In part of this rite, the initiate is made to kiss a human skull. What is the significance of this fact in the present context? Only this: According to a widely believed legend, a member of the Skull and Bones Society at in 1926 traveled to Mexico, opened Villa's tomb, and stole his skull. Villa's skull is said to be on permanent display in the secret headquarters of Skull and Bones. Was it Pancho Villa's skull that the future President G.W. Bush kissed? I would like to think so. I believe Pancho Villa would like to think so too.
 

References:
 

Lies My Teacher Told me, James W. Loewen, Touchstone 1996.

Rule by Secrecy, Jim Marrs, Harper Collins, 2000

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa

About.com: http://history1900s.about.com/cs/panchovilla/p/panchovilla.htm