Quote:
Originally Posted by jinx
Clinton: It's all our fault Mexico is so fucked up.
The hell? Is she high???
a) Mexico has some of the strictest gun laws in the world - as a result, only the criminals are well armed. And at this point they are running the country.
b) If US drug addicts have a disease, and aren't responsible for the destruction of their own lives, how the crap can they be responsible for the destruction of another country?
c) Were chinese users responsible for all the opium the Brits shoved up their ass?
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I dont think its quite that simple, despite the lapdog's jumping in and nodding like a bobblehead doll.
Most would agree that the so-called war on drugs for the last 30 years has been a failure.
And the issue of well armed criminals and drug lords in Mexico is due in large part to the illicit export of weapons from the US, aided and abetted by corrupt border agents on both sides.
I give Bush credit for pushing through the drug interdiction Merida Initiative at the end of his term, despite some misgivings I have about the program.
He did so because, for the first time in years, Mexico has a president in Calderon who is not corrupt (or far less corrupt that his predecessors) and committed to taking on the drug lords. But he certainly cant do it alone and both Bush and Obama recognized that fact.
At the same time, we cant keep throwing money at it if Calderon is unwilling or unable to act more aggressively and it seems like he cant or wont because I suspect he fears for his own life.
I think Clinton's remarks were diplomaticspeak to give him a little cover and some level of assurances that we wont abandon him completely and will continue to fund the Merida Intiative
And if you look at policies and funding levels, we have committed more in the last few years to focus on preventing the worst of the criminal types (as opposed to the common workers) from crossing into the US and focus on catching, detaining and deporting the criminal types (as opposed to the common worker) as well as stopping or slowing the flow of weapons from the US to Mexico.
It is easy to criticize, particularly at a superficial level. It is harder to offer construction solutions.
As to the suggestion for more "money to help secure the borders and increase prevention" that is exactly what has occurred over the last two budget cycles.