Last fall’s slaying of Mario Gonzalez, the brother of a Mexican state prosecutor, shocked people on both sides of the border. Sensational news reports revealed that cartel hit men had tortured Gonzalez, and forced him to make a videotaped “confession” that his high-powered sister was on the take.
But American authorities concealed one disturbing fact about the case from their Mexican counterparts: U.S. federal agents had allowed AK-47 assault rifles later found in the killers’ arsenal to be smuggled across the border under the notorious Fast and Furious gun-trafficking program.
This entire mess is just one little footnote of our prohibitionist drug policy, which has already demonstrably failed. People get all the drugs they want in the U.S., but our dangerous drug laws and bone-headed law enforcement—both of which are completely untethered from the on-the-ground reality of drug use and the drug economy—only make things worse.
U.S. officials also kept mum as other weapons linked to Fast and Furious turned up at dozens of additional Mexican crime scenes, with an unconfirmed toll of at least 150 people killed or wounded.
This madness has to stop.
The prohibition has NOT failed. It continues to successfully prop up a massive security/police/justice/incarceration industry which employs millions of people, using dozens of billions of dollars.
Why do you hate America? Jobs jobs jobs.
The money from taxes and the savings from inforcement could go a long way toward education and health care. Both good jobs.
Mistake?
Actually, it is a failure. Most drug abuse is with prescription drugs legally obtained and often a few of those who actually need them are prosecuted even if they are not abusing them. Top that off with where a kid’s primary source of drugs is located (the parent’s medicine cabinet), the fact that illegal drugs are still a problem, and that junkies are pretty much laughing at enforcement all the time. Another no win situation basically, either we keep wasting money on this, or we sacrifice jobs.
And don’t forget, Obama strongly supports the current policies that result in these kinds of tragedies.
the best hope for ending the drug war is the fixation on austerity budgets this country has at all levels of government (local, state & federal). it is 100% the wrong thing to do economically, but it gives us maybe our only chance at ending the drug war disaster. knowing prohibition was a failure didn’t end it. not having the money to carry on the fight because of the great depression did.
@6 And the coverup of this scandal is what will get the Kenyan homo impeached!
He is such a corrupt bastard, it makes me sick!
One has to wonder if encouraging the “War Between the Cartels” with US weaponry is helping keep Mexico occupied –similar to using refugee crises to hamper nation-states– and interfere with their economy to… to… to what? Shit, I dunno. Prevent them from competing against low paid jobs here in the US? Wreck their agricultural export economy?
I’m probably way off-base here, and I freely admit I don’t know enough about the Mexican-US economic situation to know what, if anything, a bloody war like this would be messing with. But clearly this F&F program is pretty suspect, so it smacks of ulterior motives. Hard to really determine what those motives are.
Increase the bloodshed so that one cartel ends up on top, and then go after that cartel with CIA operatives and drug-running capabilities? Make deals?
Fuck with the Mexican economy?
I dunno.
@9 – Did Georgie W. Porgie make you equally as sick with HIS corruption? Oh please tell me he did. If not, then you are too biased for debate or constructive conversation.