Time for Obama to go all Clear and Present Danger on the Mexican drug cartels.

Roger that. Obama's greatest success to date was his approval of the SEAL team's action against the pirates a while back.

Right about now, he could use a public success. Of course, it will be portrayed as a Wag The Dog scenario.

And I thought it was impossible for Mexico to become even more of a hellhole.

I'd rather see him go Creasy on these monsters:

The worst story I've heard coming out of this is the drug rehab massacres, where hit squads bust into rehab centers and murder all the poor fuckers trying to get clean, just to send a message. Easily amongst the worst people to ever live.

"My parents wouldn't let me go (to Mexico) because I have blonde hair and blue eyes," said Ward, 18. "They said I'd get kidnapped."

Gawd, I love this country.

Long time lurker of the boards here, but I felt like posting on this.

The thing was that many pushers were hiding in these places to avoid being detected by rival cartels, so when the "sicarios" (hitmen) came they just shot everybody on sight.

I was born and raised in the city of Chihuahua, which is the capital of the Mexican state Juarez and the border with El Paso are. Though I've been living here in Woodstock for over 10 years now (illegal immigrant ) I still go back to Chihuahua every year on vacation. It is getting tougher to go out and have fun though.

Be fair, though. Her dad's Bryan Mills.

So why would Spring Breakers go to Mexico? It's not cheap enough to be worth the risk, especially as the army has cordoned off a small part of the beach just for the gringos.

Why not just go to Detroit? It's closer.

Drinking ages.

the whole ideal about prohibition is just so fucking stupid

Ha ha ha. Right! The same Texas that doesn't want to teach students about the Tejanos at the Alamo?

Just read an article on HUFFPO saying that a mayor in Mexico was stoned to death. Suddenly all the warnings about the drug war turning into an Afghanistan on our border don't seem so far fetched (not that they did before, IMHO)

Can we just legalize drugs already? Because we're ruining their country for no reason other than our puritan nonsense.

Well, while total legalization of pot (in the US) would probably ease up on all that eventually, I also doubt it would just magically wipe away all the violence down there. They'd still have to decriminalize it or legalize it. And even then, those cartels will just turn to the next illicit substance.

My understanding is that marijuana accounts for 60% of their funds. In one day, you could wipe out 60% of their funding.

Now, for the record, I'm for legalizing all drugs, not just pot. I wouldn't try heroin, but I doubt it's illegality is what's people from trying it. Instead, addicts are forced to deal with dope cut with poison and an violent underground black market in our own country

Regardless, there is nothing morally superior about enjoying the buzz of a glass of whiskey over the buzz of pot or exercise -- or for that matter, crack. We're a nation of drug addicts, and I don't like the suit and tie addicts pretending they're better than the rest of us. It's legislating taste.

An interesting turn to say the least...

Just 20, young mother becomes Mexican top cop

Like many of the most tragic stories through history, the story of Mexico is now becoming downright bizarre.

Cue the inevitable movie with Ellen Page starring as Marisol.

Oh, that woman has BALLS. I hope she survives this.

I'm hoping she makes it too but something tells me her face will be on a soccer ball within a year or two.

It makes you want to want to grab an official by the neck and start screaming in his face. They've been going at it for decades and all they manage to do is put more people in jail that don't deserve to be while the criminals keep causing the bodies to pile on and make billions. But they will keep repeating the same bullshit over and over again hoping a day may come that people will miraculously stop wanting drugs.

Killing Pablo Escobar in Colombia was not a small factor in that country's level of violence being drastically reduced. Of course the situation is different in Mexico ...

A case could be made that "taking out a couple of drug lords" is precisely what caused the clusterfuck. One couldn't say there wasn't violence then, but, say, during the 90s, mexican government had an implicit agreement with the drug lords. No war zones, not so much interference. It began to change after the long-standing party was ousted in 2000, even if the presidency that replaced it had its own share of problems (many of the Obama disillusionment kind) and didn't exactly focus on the issue. However, current president Calderon declared war on all cartels when he first took office and the early victories and captures achieved by his administration effectively destabilized the situation, leaving the standard power vaccuums, creating new alliances amongst cartels as well removing all incentive they might've had for keeping their shit out of the papers.

A large number of people did question the victory, if "questioned the victory" can be defined as "loudly proclaimed the election a fraud, blocked important streets in Mexico City for months, while the losing candidate did his best Emperor Norton impresion by failing to recognize Calderon's presidency while claiming himself the legitimate president". Think Tea Party shenanigans, with thinly veiled revolution rhetoric in a country that does have a blatant presidential election fraud in its some what recent history. A sentiment that could be summarized as "it was fraud, but thank god" wasn't uncommon amongst supporters of the winning party.

I do have a sombrero on.

and here's the completely predictable, yet tragically inevitable follow up to this story of less than six months ago...

 

Runaway police chief, 20, pleads for asylum

 

 

...at least she's still breathing I guess.

I would commend her personal courage if it didn't have an expiration date. Just looking at it logically, she walked into a completely unstable situation with no support system and no experience, putting her life and the life of her child in danger. Pretty stupid.

Mexico is ripe for revolution. The corruption that permeates every level  of government  throughout the country is what makes the situation there all but hopeless.

Such a thing would be ill-advised. Unless you're anxious for an actual narco-state south of the border.

Don't they essentially already have one?

 

...and it looks like this targeting of online commentators is the new phase in this story, not just a few isolated incidents...

 

 

 

 

Attorney general says gun-walking 'should never have happened'

Attorney General Eric Holder admitted Tuesday that a federal gun-tracking operation was flawed and said it should never have happened. 

In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Holder condemned the controversial Operation Fast and Furious, which has come under intense congressional scrutiny for its use of “gun walking.” 

Holder said the effects of Fast and Furious will be felt for years to come as the thousands of firearms sold to known and suspected criminals are used in future crimes.

“I want to be clear: Any instance of so-called ‘gun walking’ is unacceptable,” Holder said.

“This operation was flawed in concept, as well as in execution. And, unfortunately, we will feel its effects for years to come as guns that were lost during this operation continue to show up at crime scenes both here and in Mexico. This should never have happened. And it must never happen again.”

Holder’s appearance before the panel was his first since internal Justice Department memos raised questions about whether he misled the House Judiciary Committee on May 3 when he testified about the Fast and Furious operation. 

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At that House hearing, Holder was asked when he first became aware of Fast and Furious. He replied, “I’m not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.” The DOJ memos, however, suggest that Holder was made aware of Fast and Furious briefing papers as early as last year.

Holder clarified his remarks Tuesday, saying that he first learned about Fast and Furious and its gun-walking tactics after news reports emerged based on the concerns of whistleblowers. He said he immediately asked for an inspector general investigation.

“I first learned about the tactics and the phrase ‘Operation Fast and Furious’ at the beginning of this year — I think when it became a matter of all of this public controversy,” Holder said.

“In my testimony before the House committee, I did say ‘a few weeks.’ I probably could have said ‘a couple of months.’ I don’t think that what I said in terms of using the term ‘a few weeks’ was inaccurate, based on what happened.”

Holder said he couldn’t be expected, as attorney general, to personally oversee the day-to-day details of every single operation conducted by the DOJ. He promised to hold accountable those involved in Fast and Furious’s poor decisionmaking once the IG investigation is completed.

Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said DOJ lied when it sent him a letter in February claiming it did not approve the tactics used in Fast and Furious, which was run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“In the nine months since then, mounting evidence has put the lie to those claims,” Grassley said of the Justice letter. “We have learned that instead of making every effort to interdict, ATF actually allowed the transfer of firearms in several operations, in hopes of making bigger cases.”

Holder said he regrets that the DOJ officials who wrote that letter to Grassley used inaccurate information. But the attorney general stressed that officials believed the information to be true at the time, saying they did not intentionally mislead Congress.

“There was information in that letter that was inaccurate,” Holder said. “The letter could have been better crafted.

“People in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, people at ATF, people who themselves have now indicated in their congressional testimony before the House that they were not aware of the tactics that were employed — as a result of that, the information that is contained in that February 4 letter to you was not, in fact, accurate. And ... I regret that.”

Grassley pointed to Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer’s testimony before the Senate committee last week. Breuer said he became aware in 2010 of the “gun-walking” tactics used in 2006-2007 during another gun-tracking operation, known as Operation Wide Receiver, and regretted not alerting Holder to them at that time or making the connection between the tactics in Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious.

Holder stood by Breuer on Tuesday, saying he saw no reason for him to offer his resignation. Breuer has been leading the DOJ’s efforts to crack down on illegal gun trafficking and has been a great asset to the agency, Holder said.

Holder has been at the center of an increasingly heated investigation by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). Issa has suggested that the attorney general might have been responsible for Fast and Furious, arguing that if he wasn’t aware of it, he should be fired for incompetence.

Issa’s investigation has spurred scores of calls for Holder’s resignation from Republicans and outside groups such as the National Rifle Association. 

On Tuesday, Holder blasted the GOP rhetoric.

“I am determined to ensure that our shared concerns about Operation Fast and Furious lead to more than headline-grabbing Washington ‘gotcha’ games and cynical political point-scoring,” he said.

Holder said the Fast and Furious debacle points to the need for a crackdown on illegal arms trafficking.

“We must be careful not to lose sight of the critical problem that this flawed investigation has highlighted: We are losing the battle to stop the flow of illegal guns to Mexico,” Holder said.

“One critical first step should be for congressional leaders to work with us to provide ATF with the resources and statutory tools it needs to be effective.”

Democrats have long pointed to Fast and Furious and the testimony of ATF agents before Congress as evidence that federal law enforcement authorities need more tools to cut down on illegal gun trafficking.

A growing chorus of Democrats could be heard Tuesday also trying to link the debate over Fast and Furious to Wide Receiver, which was run under then-President George W. Bush.

No need to try to link.  It's an appalling program, but it started--or at least its start can be traced--to Bush's AG Mukasey, a fact which that grifter Daryl Issa has already unwittingly uncovered. 

 

From the same paper you quoted, The Hill:

 

 

Are they fucking serious? This is the most ridiculous and broken damn scheme I've ever heard of. 

 

Including the one where tiny firebombs would be strapped on to bats and released over Japan.

Would legalization help?  At this point, the only way to truly fix the problem is cut off the demand, and the American people are not going to stop getting high. Even if you were to make the case that American drug use leads to Mexican violence, would people care long enough to stop...or switch to local marijuana co-ops.

Weed sales don't make up enough of their profit for legalization to be a truly damaging move to any of their prospects. Across the board legalization / decriminalization for all drugs, though... that'd make a mark.

Yeah, I know. Weed is too bulky and can be grown locally. Last half is a joke.  How can you get legalization passed?  How can we make the argument that the social cost of legalization here is better than the social cost of criminalization.

Well statistics, examples from other countries, appeals to empathy, and basic logic haven't worked so far. Bribery?

 

I was convinced the country going fucking bankrupt would have helped pass some of these less palatable pieces of legislation that are nonetheless easy money makers, like marijuana legalization. I guess I was wrong. We have the Feds shutting down clinics all over California despite them being a boon to the economy and clearly less damaging than cigarettes and alcohol. Eric Holder is a giant, weasel-faced pussy. 
 

 

I think you hit the nail on the head. We need some high-powered, high-moneyed lobbyists greasing the wheels in Washington. It's the only way. Sadly.  

The drug trade is too profitable to go legit.

 

Estimated drug money laundered through US banks alone $500 Billion. That is with a capital B. Cash money feels warm to these special kinds of bastards.

 

Prisons are a business as well. Research how much private prisons receive in the form of money for every cot and cell filled.

 

Eliminate the drug war? Hah we're just gettin warmed up.