Pentagon: Central America 'deadliest' non-war zone in the world

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American consumers of narcotics support the genocide and infiltration of the cartel drug war across our border...

April 11, 2011 Washington - Thousands die each year in a struggle between the US 'War on Drugs' and the drug cartels, who are financed and armed by American narcotics consumers, Pentagon officials testified last week.

The drug war has grown to rival the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, as the scale of violence, spending, and weapons in Mexico and Central America have made it one of the most dangerous areas in the world, say US military officials. Even as the Pentagon struggles with how best to help the Mexican government, US drug users are funding the cartels, senior US commanders told the Senate Armed Services Committee, enabling narcotics gangs to build mini-submarines that they use to transport millions of dollars worth of drugs with every trip.

American consumers of narcotics drive the drug trade, and US weapons arm narco-criminals, says Andres Martinez, a fellow with the New America Foundation think tank. US drug users contribute roughly $40 billion a year to Latin American cartels, Admiral James Winnefeld, head of the US Northern Command, in charge of US homeland security, added in testimony. The amount of US money that goes to Mexican cartels is so considerable that “if you ranked it among the world’s militaries, it would come into the top ten.”

On the other side of the fight, the US spends about $6 billion per year on interdiction and international efforts, according to the Office of National Drug Policy. But that's only a small part of the actual cost, Winnefeld noted. "The annual direct cost for treatment, prevention, interdiction, and local law enforcement of drug abuse exceeds $52 billion," he explained. Indirect costs, including lost productivity and the impact on the criminal justice system, reach "nearly $181 billion annually."

Scale of the violence

Granny says, "HEY - where's the Central/South America forum???"...

... she don't think anybody's back there.

 

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Granny says dey just a buncha savages...

‘Barbarism of Al Qaeda Has Nothing On These Mexican Cartels,’ Says Texas Safety Official
Thursday, May 12, 2011 Washington (CNSNews.com) - Steven McGraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told a House panel Wednesday that "the barbarism of al Qaeda has nothing on these Mexican cartels."

“International terrorists engage in organized crime to support their terrorist activities,” said McGraw, “whereas the Mexican cartels are now engaging in terrorist activities to support their criminal enterprises and organized crime activities--and the barbarism of al Qaeda has nothing on these Mexican cartels.” "They're involved in kidnappings, extortions, murders," he said. "They've butchered 36,000 Mexican nationals and some American citizens." McGraw testified at a hearing of the House Homeland Security Oversight, Investigation, and Management Subcommittee.

As CNSNews.com previously reported, the 36,000-plus drug-cartel related killings in Mexico since 2006 include 1,200 children and teenagers. Also, more civilians were killed in the border town of Juarez (near El Paso, Texas) than in all of Afghanistan in 2010. “We see four of our gangs that are operating directly with the cartels in supporting their hit squads and, by the way, there are hit squad members of the cartels living in Texas," said McGraw. "When we see that, we’re obviously concerned."

Since January of last year, McGraw’s department has identified 22 murders, 24 assaults, 15 shootings, and five kidnappings directly related to the cartels. McGraw further testified, "The cartels are throwing up spikes, using chase vehicles and blocking vehicles to thwart law enforcement operations. ... We got retrieval teams of cartels on our side of the river to take the dope and the subject back over and confront us. That's unacceptable in Texas standards and I think that's unacceptable by American standards as well."

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Feds Should List Mexican Drug Cartels As Terrorist Groups, Says AZ Atty General
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 Washington (CNSNews.com) -- Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, while testifying before Congress on Wednesday, said the United States should designate drug cartels in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).

Federal officials, however, said there is no need to make that designation because there are enough laws on the books to punish the cartels. “I certainly do agree with the chairman’s bill to designate cartels as terrorist organizations,” said Horne during the House Homeland Security Oversight, Investigations, and Management Subcommittee hearing, chaired by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas). In explaining why Mexican drug cartels should be officially named FTOs, Horne said, “among other things, it makes it an enhanced crime to supply aid to those organizations and that obviously would be a very powerful tool in fighting them.”

The chairman’s bill that Horne referred to was introduced by Rep. McCaul at the beginning of April. It calls upon the Secretary of State to officially list Mexican drug cartels as FTOs. During Wednesday’s hearing, Rep. McCaul said the bill would provide “more authority to go after [Mexican drug cartels] and those who provide them with assistance,” adding that they should be called what they really are – terrorists. Nevertheless, two Obama administration officials, one from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the other from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told lawmakers during the hearing there is no need to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

“We have very tough laws here already in the United States,” said Amy Pope, the deputy chief of staff and counselor for the criminal division of the Justice Department’s Office of Assistant Attorney General. “I’m not sure it gets us more unless we can get defendants extradited back to the United States so that they’re facing the very tough penalties that we now have in our U.S. courts.” “The designation I don’t think would help us,” said Grayling Williams, director of the Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security. “I think we have laws on the books that we need to apply and have worked with us for several years.” (Grayling is a political appointee, nominated to his position by President Barack Obama in 2009.)

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Mexicans demonstrating for peace...

Mexican 'peace caravan' demands end to drugs war
11 June 2011 - The activists called on the government to end the military approach to the war against the cartels

Hundreds of Mexicans taking part in a "peace caravan" to protest against the violent drugs war have arrived at their destination of Ciudad Juarez. The week-long journey was led by poet Javier Sicilia, whose son was killed by suspected drug-gang hit-men in March. Mr Sicilia wants Mexico's army pulled off the streets and more done to prosecute drug cartel members and seize their assets.

President Felipe Calderon has said withdrawing the army is not an option. Nearly 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since Mr Calderon deployed the army in the fight against the cartels in 2006. Ciudad Juarez, on the border with the United States, has become the front-line of Mexico's drug war. About 3,100 people were killed there in 2010, more than a fifth of the total in Mexico's bloodiest year yet in the government's campaign against the drug trafficking gangs.

Mr Sicilia and his convoy of about 20 coaches began their 2,500km (1,550 miles) journey in Cuernavaca, south of Mexico City, and criss-crossed the country. "Do your jobs, stop humiliating the citizens of Juarez, and do justice to so many who have died," Mr Sicilia said after the convoy arrived in Ciudad Juarez. "This is the beginning of a civil resistance movement to transform consciousness, to start a dialogue in the absence of government policies."

Mr Sicilia and about 500 others signed a pact calling on the government to do more to stop the violence rocking Mexico by fighting corruption, improving the justice system and weakening the cartels by seizing their assets and blocking money-laundering. He said he would organise more such rallies if Mexico's politicians do not show more commitment to changing their strategy.

BBC News - Mexican 'peace caravan' demands end to drugs war

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'I want justice for my murdered son'
10 June 2011 - Guadalupe Retana is one of hundreds of people taking part in a journey through Mexico to demand an end to drug-related violence. She and other victims' relatives explain why.

On 23 June, 2010, that's when my son, Juan Carlos Villamil Retana, died, that's when they killed him. For me there is nothing left. I can't go forward. I don't know what happened to him but I am afraid of finding out more because I have two other sons. I am scared something will happen to them too. He was a taxi driver with two children, 15 and 20 years old. He went to see a piece of land to build a house. They killed him with two shots.

I didn't even see how he was buried because I kept fainting during his funeral. I'm asking for justice. That's why I joined this caravan, I want justice. I don't feel hatred towards the person that killed my son, because it wouldn't help me get him back. I don't know who the murderer is. I only ask for justice, I want that person to go to prison, nothing more.

Martin Azalea Torres in San Luis Potosi - son, 26, murdered

My son, Juan Martin Azalea Ramos, was killed on 21 June, 2010, by two people, in a cowardly fashion. They shot him twice. An arrest warrant was issued, but police haven't carried it out. My son was hard-working. He was a street vendor, married with two children aged two and four. He was out with two friends. They got out of the car and were shot. It was 3.30pm here in the city.

This caravan gives us hope to keep fighting so that those responsible are made to pay and so that justice can intervene when it is meant to. Here in San Luis Potosi, there is a climate of fear like many other cities in Mexico. This march encourages us not to stay silent, to keep fighting, to be able to keep standing.

Ofelia Castillo Mauricio in Zacatecas - son, 35, disappeared

 

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[Douger]

Terrible. I rescued a young howler monkey yesterday that burned its hand on a power line.
You guys have fun up there and keep fighting the good fight to get rid of them thar drugs ! ( PS Don't forget to take your Prozac).
I have to go lock myself in the shelter now.Central America is a skeeeery place.

 

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Epidemic of deadly Hispexican drug cartel violence in Juarez...

18 dead in bloody Ciudad Juarez day
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - At least 18 people including a preteen boy have died in a single day of cartel violence in Ciudad Juarez.

Attorney General's office spokesman Arturo Sandoval said Tuesday was one of the bloodiest days of 2011 in the border town. At least 20 homicides were recorded there on Feb. 18.

He said among the 18 killings were three hospital parking attendants shot to death at midday by unidentified gunmen. Later, gunmen opened fire on a youth soccer game, killing four people and leaving four others in critical condition.

Authorities also say a 12-year-old boy was followed into a restaurant by assailants and killed. It is not immediately clear if the killings are related. Ciudad Juarez has been plagued by violence between warring cartels.

Source

 

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Granny says, "Dat's right - put `em in jail an' let `em kill each other...

Mexico prison shooting: 17 dead in Ciudad Juarez clash
26 July 2011 - Armed police and soldiers surrounded the jail after violence erupted on Monday night

Mexican officials say at least 17 people have been killed and another four injured in an armed clash in a prison in the city of Ciudad Juarez. A spokesman for the city's authorities told the BBC that one group of inmates attacked rivals from another drug gang on Monday night. He said they used weapons they had seized from prison guards. The spokesman denied press reports that the prisoners had attempted to break out of the jail. It took security forces several hours to regain control.

Anxious relatives have been gathering outside the jail, known locally as the "Cereso", a shortened form of its full Spanish name - the Social Rehabilitation Center for Adults. At least one woman was amongst those killed. The prison holds about 2,500 inmates. Ciudad Juarez, which borders the United States, is one of the world's most violent cities.

The BBC's correspondent in Mexico, Julian Miglierini, says the city accounts for some 20% of the total number of deaths caused by the country's drug conflict. "Clashes between rival gangs who fight over the local drug business and trafficking routes into the US are a frequent occurrence in the streets of Juarez," he says. "The violence is often replicated behind prison doors", he adds.

BBC News - Mexico prison shooting: 17 dead in Ciudad Juarez clash

 

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Gonna be boots onna ground in Mexico...

Mexican public warming to US military aid in drug war?
September 1, 2011 - Although a broad majority of Mexicans still oppose US troop support to maintain law and order in Mexico, a new survey indicates a growing percentage of the Mexican public support US assistance.

Since the days of the Mexican-American War, US intentions south of the border are regarded with the highest degrees of suspicion. Today, as Mexico struggles under a barrage of violence related to drug trafficking, the idea of American military assistance is anathema to the public. But that might be starting to change. A majority still opposes such a scenario. But according to a Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project survey released Wednesday, that opposition is shrinking. Of Mexicans surveyed, 38 percent favor US troop help today, up from 26 percent in 2010.

Seventy-four percent say they welcome US help to train police and the military, and 64 percent support more money and weapons for Mexican authorities. Those changing views have not registered among politicians in Mexico, where the US stepping too hard is always an opportunity to appeal to the electorate. Case and point is the brouhaha unleashed after the New York Times published an article in early August about US intelligence officers operating south of the border to help combat traffickers with the cooperation of the government.

Mexican opposition Senator Ricardo Monreal Avila put it bluntly to the local press: "Since the days of Santa Anna we have not had such a sell-out and unpatriotic government,” he said. Illegal, unacceptable, a violation of the constitution – the accusations went on. Mexican President Felipe Calderon faced tough questions from his opponents after the piece was published, but one theme always binds the ruling party to the rest of Mexico: pointing a finger at the US for its role in Mexican violence, because of its guns industry and insatiable appetite for illegal drugs.

Most recently that sentiment was expressed by President Calderon in the wake of the casino fire that tragically killed 52 people in the industrial city of Monterrey. Sitting next to the world's biggest drug consumer and biggest global arms vendor, he said, is part of the tragedy that Mexico is living. "You, too, are responsible," Calderon said of the US, upon calling for three days of national mourning in Mexico.

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