Given the fact that so many troops from countries originally aligned with the U.S. on the Iraq invasion have pulled out, the U.S. government is looking south to find soldiers who want to help solve “infrastructure problems” in Iraq and Afghanistan. I mean, they are our neighbors, right?

The United States is pressing some Latin American countries to send troops to Afghanistan and Iraq for non-combat missions as the Pentagon struggles to transition those operations from war to reconstruction.

U.S. Gen. John Craddock, who heads the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, said discussions were under way at a meeting of nearly all the Western Hemisphere’s defense ministers on how Latin American experiences might be applicable in both war zones.

Colombia, for example, may send military personnel to Iraq to help secure some infrastructure, such as oil pipelines, Craddock said. Nicaraguan Army Gen. Moises Omar Halleslevens said his country may send a team to Afghanistan to remove mines.

Craddock said Latin American countries “may see a chance to help other countries overcome a problem they have faced in the past.”

The move comes as violence in both Afghanistan and Iraq has kept infrastructure improvements in many areas from progressing. Those improvements are seen as vital to bringing the combat phase of operations to an end and returning the countries to some level of relative calm, U.S. military officials say.

According to Reuters, the deployment of Latin American troops will also help send American troops home in time for November elections. Because American lives mean more than lives south of the border?

Via / Reuters