The face of the US military on the Texas-Mexico border?

No, it's not Cousin Itt.

I ran across this on the photo gallery at the website of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas commemorating Ezequiel Hernandez, the shepherd and American citizen killed in 1997 by US marines on the border hunting for drug traffickers.

This image depicts the camouflage used by marines who stalked and shot Hernandez. That seems pretty outrageous. Does anybody know if the US troops are using similar stealth tactics today along the banks of the Rio Grande?

Hernandez' killing caused US troops to be removed from their posts stationed along the Rio Grande at that time. Now President Bush promises he won't "militarize" the border, but what does that mean? Thousands of National Guard troops - many having come straight from Iraq or Afghanistan, are stationed there now.

As the German philosopher Hegel observed, history teaches us that man learns nothing from history. Given that the Hernandez killing happened on George Bush's watch as Texas Governor, it's troubling he and his advisors can't see that it's only a matter of time before the tragedy that befell Ezequiel Hernandez and his family repeats itself.