Topic: Finally: Someone acknowledges war-torn Mexico as threat to U.S.

[IronDioPriest]

To my knowledge, the state of war and terrorism in Mexico being discussed as a national security threat to the United States has not happened in any meaningful way. We've discussed it here to a great extent. I've seen it noted in passing elsewhere, in the broader context of the drug war, and straight-up news reports of the ghoulish terrorism.

But while we are dealing with our own existential threat from within, there is a threat far greater than anything from al Qaeda, and it sits right across our porous Southern border.

Mexico: America's Number One Threat

Those worried about tens of thousands of innocent civilian deaths in Syria might better focus their time, energy and resources on helping a nation where tens of thousands have also died, but whose fate directly and immediately affects U.S. and Canadian security.

That nation is Mexico.

Since 2008, the seven main drug cartels have emerged as an existential threat to Mexico’s future. Cartels like Los Zetas, which recruit members from Mexico’s Special Forces and federal police, behave like organized paramilitaries, not ordinary criminals. They generate perhaps $30 to $40 billion a year in illicit profits. And the price has been horrendous. Between 2007 and 2012, around 47,000 Mexicans were killed in the drug war. Some estimate that the true toll is over 60,000.

When we think of torture, beheadings and assassination, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia come to mind. Many Americans and Canadians would be surprised to learn that these are commonplace in Mexico, a country many associate with beaches and margaritas. Yet the situation in Mexico has deteriorated so badly that one Juarez mayor and a newspaper publisher took up residence in Texas, while one journalist took refuge in Canada.

As neighbors, we should be concerned. But there’s even more to it than that: The drug cartels pose a direct threat to American and Canadian security.

American media reports indicate that the cartels have a presence in Texas high schools and have even hired U.S. soldiers as hitmen. The U.S. Justice Department has indicated that the cartels have a presence in at least 230 American cities. Texas governor Rick Perry and Arizona governor Jan Brewer have long complained that violent criminals from Mexico are crossing the border and threatening American families...

More at Link...

[Pandora]

Yay!  Someone finally acknowledges the obvious!

Too bad their prescriptions are not only obtuse, but stupid.  The US should "forge closer ties" with Mexico by "helping Mexico developing viable alternatives for its citizens. People need hope. The government needs to be seen as serving the collective interest, including security. Political institutions need reform. Public institutions need to provide health and education. The economy needs security and jobs. If this sounds familiar, it is. Good governance is a universal right and responsibility"?

Other than money, which is what this paragraph spells, what else in the form of us meddling there can one former-sovereign nation do in another without the use of force?

And these:  "Iowa has been a center for cartel-controlled methamphetamine" and "The U.S. Justice Department has indicated that the cartels have a presence in at least 230 American cities." 

Where they're hiding among, and using, their illegal brethren.  So, nothing about closing the border (and we know they know how to shut things) or deporting illegals.

And this: "Mexican leaders remain angry that President George W. Bush retreated from his pledge to continue the ban on assault weapons. The cartels exploited the lapse to purchase AK-47s and heavy arms and adapt them into even more deadly weapons."

"Assault weapons", unh hunh; they're referring to the semi-autos for sale here, like the cartel doesn't get bulk arms shipments of real assault weapons from further on south of Mexico, and tsk tsk on Bush for not infringing on OUR Second Amendment rights because Mexico is out of control.

And finally:  "The United States is unlikely to abandon the emphasis its places on Second Amendment rights, but it could do a lot more to crack down on already illegal sales of weapons that are smuggled across the Rio Grande into Mexico."

Got three words:  Fast and Furious.

[IronDioPriest]

That all musta been on page 2. I didn't do my due diligence.
 
 

[Pandora]

Pardon my acerbic scoffing; it was directed at you or your effort.

[IronDioPriest]

Pardon my acerbic scoffing; it was directed at you or your effort.

I know it was.   

[Pandora]

Pardon my acerbic scoffing; it was directed at you or your effort.

I know it was.   

Aw geez.   

Shaddap.

[Libertas]

OK youz siblings...   

Pan nailed it at the end of her recap - F&F!

And Mexican authorities can take a giant leap into a firery volcano!  Close ties my arse!  We should treat Mexico the way Israel treats Syria!