Did the Mexican government say the Obama administration committed an ‘act of war’?

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(Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg)
“The people of Mexico, their government called it an act of war and quite frankly, if you deliberately and knowingly let weapons go into a country that prohibits guns and where gun violence is the number one thing killing their federal agents, they’re pretty close to right.”
— Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), April 20, 2011

Earlier this week, talk radio host Rick Amato posted quotes from a May 12 interview he had with Rep. Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, in which he quoted him as saying this about the Mexican reaction to a controversial Justice Department program to track guns into Mexico: “The Mexican government has called this ‘an act of war’.”

That’s pretty strong stuff, given that Mexico is one of the closest trading and diplomatic partners of the United States.

When we inquired with Issa’s office about this quote Tuesday, spokeswoman Becca Glover Watkins came back to say she had listened to a tape of the interview and Issa did not say that at all.

Instead, she rendered the quote as thus: “In many ways, we have to put confidence back in the system on both sides of the border, that law enforcement doesn’t let weapons walk, doesn’t contribute to a situation the Mexican government has called an active war.” (In other words, she explained, he was referring to the war on drugs.)

Watkins added: “We’re working with Rick to clear up any confusion on Mr. Issa’s exact statement as well.”

You can listen to the tape as well, if you click here and go to Hour 1, at the 19:00 mark. We listened to it a few times and it certainly sounds like “act of war” to us — otherwise the quote makes little sense — but others may disagree. (Amato, after being contacted by Issa’s staff Tuesday and listening to the tape again, edited his web posting to change the phrase to “active war.”)

Nevertheless, Issa also called it an “act of war” a few weeks ago on the Rick Roberts show. (Go to the 15:38 mark). The phrase is pretty clear there.

So, has the Mexican government called this an “act of war”?

Read more:
Did the Mexican government say the Obama administration committed an ‘act of war’? - The Fact Checker - The Washington Post

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But letting millions of Mexicans sneak into the US to steal from Americans is perfectly OK with the Obama men??

 

[blastoff]

Okay, Mexico, it's an act of war. Tell us when you're ready and where we should send our 3-4 Girl Scout troops to kick your ass.

Buenos dias.