"JSOC and the Mexican drug lords." - 1st Published December 2009

 

"JSOC appears to be running out of "high value targets," in the places where they have been used so successfully.  They can continue in places like Yemen and Somalia but they should be given something really useful to do.  I suggest that they should be unleashed on the Mexican drug cartels.  Kill or capture.  Kill or capture.  Those should be the instructions.

The legal niceties could be "cleaned up" through arrest or execution warrants issued by a special federal court.

Alternatively, a declaration that they constitute a terrorist threat would authorize action under the AUMF on terrorism.

This is not irony.  These druggies deserve that we should send them "the very best."" 

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I wrote this in 2009.  If the Mexican government does not clean up their act ...  For once I agree with Senator Tom Cotton.  The raid in Syria suggests a mission assignment.    pl 

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2009/12/jsoc-and-the-mexican-drug-lords.html

Comments

[Arei]

How much do we currently "spend" on Mexico in terms of aid and logistics when it comes to combating the cartels and corruption? Throughout the election I remarked that no ones talks about helping Mexico deal with their problems even though they are our top trading partner, our neihgbor and a home and vacation destination for many americans. Maybe I'm just naive.

[Babak Makkinejad]

How about their Fifth Column in the United States; the drug users and their suppliers?

[dilbert dogbert]

It will be interesting to read the comments on this idea. First to come to mind would be that maybe the Chinese and Russian navies having home ports in Mexico?

[The Twisted Genius]

This is where Trump's effort to establish an American Sakoku has real merit. Seal the borders, including our air and sea borders. Then we can ruthlessly eradicate the drug cartels and their financial enablers within our borders and when they attempt to cross our borders. JSOC has a lot of assets besides the door kickers. They can assist mightily in the reconnaissance and surveillance aspects of this fight especially at and beyond our borders. Our DOD should be a real defense department rather than an expeditionary adventure department.

[Ghostship]

If you really want to shut down the Mexican drug cartels rather than create a military-recreational drug complex, just legalize all recreational drug consumption for anybody over 18.

[J]

Combat Applications Group.

[turcopolier]

Ghostship

So you think the JSOC commandos are going to become druggies? That is quite a fantasy. pl

[turcopolier]

Dilbert Dogbert

Oh, BS. Do you really think all countries are created equal? pl

[BraveNewWorld]

I am hoping you meant this humorously and it just didn't translate well. This reads a lot like the US will be the judge, jury and executioner of the world, national sovereignty be damned.

I have read enough of what you have written over the last year to not believe that is your intent, but I sure would appreciate some clarity.

[turcopolier]

Arei

And what would you have us do to solve Mexico's basic social problems? Do you know anything about Mexico? pl

[turcopolier]

BraveNewWorld

Is it not obvious that Mexico cannot cope with its drug cartel and export problems? National sovereignty? You have to earn it. You mistake me for someone rational in your sense of the word. Adios. pl

[AEL]

Bismarck says that politics is the art of the possible. Given the huge demand, stamping out drug running is impossible. For an adequate price, there will always be people willing to meet the demand. At best, you drive up the price and make successful runners incredibly rich.

Oh wait..

[ked]

We can't manage our own excessive / out-of-control dependency on Big Pharma's pain & mood control prescription drugs within our own borders... and we're going to straighten out a neighboring country's "problem" of capitalizing on our insatiable appetite for non-prescription drugs? Exceptional indeed!

[turcopolier]

AEL
Bismarck also said that genius lies in knowing when to stop. A near certainty of death would cause a lot of cartel leaders to think about it. pl

[turcopolier]

ked

Ah, yet another who thinks that international relations are about justice rather than interest. pl

[dilbert dogbert]

Just running it up the flagpole. Mexico can't do anything if we put our military on the ground in Mexico. The Mexicans do have some interesting responses if we do.

[turcopolier]

dilber Dogbert

Like what? Sending an army of illegals? Declaring war? Nuclear attack? Smuggling drugs into the US? pl

[Freudenschade]

TTG,

my grandfather's property in West Berlin was maybe 700 yards from the wall. With binoculars, I could get a good view from my second floor bedroom. Of course the Berlin Wall was a much more modest border than the inner German one.

Arguably, after upgrades were started in the late 60's, the inner German border became a very effective barrier. One thing that made it effective (and mind you, it was a border keeping people in more than a border keeping people out) was the exclusion zone extending 5km from the border. Only people with special permits could live and work there.

In order to make the border more practical, entire villages were razed and parts of th physical border were located back from the actual border to avoid difficult terrain. Throw in the land mines, booby traps and 50,000 or so troops guarding about 870 miles of the inner German border, and it came to an effective barrier.

So I don't want to say we can't "seal" the Mexican border. But I think the expense in land seizures, manpower, and land mines is likely a lot higher for the 2000 miles of our southern border than the 15-20 billion estimated for its construction.

[dilbert dogbert]

Re: The certainty of death
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War
Seems to be many Mexican casualties with no reduction in drug cartel leaders.

[turcopolier]

Dilbert dobbert

The little people have died en masse. In my proposal the big people would die. pl

[dilbert dogbert]

Dean Baker bruited this idea: http://cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/a-trade-war-everyone-can-win
"The alternative is simple: Mexico could announce that it would no longer enforce U.S. patents and copyrights on its soil. This would be a yuuge deal, as Trump would say."

[turcopolier]

feudenschade

Do you live on the border? is anyone in your family addicted to opiods smuggled across the border? Do you really think the Mexican border is about money any more than the inter-German border was? pl

[dilbert dogbert]

Our need for drugs certainly is the cause for Mexico's Pain.
I understand your point.
I also remember reading of Black Jack Pershing running round Northern Mexico trying to bring Pancho Villa to justice.
Poor Mexico. So far from God and too near the USA.

[turcopolier]

Dilbert Dogbert

Do you have relatives in the drug trade? come now, what do you think US retaliation for that would be? I am wearying of this discussion. How about Anschluss with Mexico with enforcement of US law all over Mexico? ah, we have tried that a couple of times. My father enjoyed Sonora and Chihuahua in 1916-17. You are probably just a kid troll. pl

[Freudenschade]

Col.,

I think Ghostship was making the economic argument that if you legalize recreational drugs, it will reduce the price and eliminate the cartel's primary source of income. Much has been written about this idea, including the fact that there's a big difference between a drug like marijuana and one like heroine.

For your amusement, an article on the effect of marijuana legalization and imports from Mexico.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/03/legal-marijuana-is-finally-doing-what-the-drug-war-couldnt/?utm_term=.f914d5062fa4