Mexico - The Danger Below.
The real danger facing America might not be Iraq or Afghanistan but it may be Mexico. What’s Going On In Mexico And Why It Is A Threat To All Of Us.
Something is dead wrong south of the border. Mexico is falling into a depression. The reasons have a lot to do with us and the consequences may be dire. Let’s take a look.
First, the tourist industry has gone into reverse. They can’t give hotel rooms away. This is, in part, due to the failing world economy but it is made worse by Mexico’s collapsing government. The country is becoming lawless. Did you know that in the recent past, some seventy Americans – both men and women – went to Mexico and never came home again? Americans, particularly young women, are in grave danger down there.
Second, the loss of revenue from the United States. Remember all those immigrants that flooded America for jobs? Well, when they found jobs they sent money back home every month for their families. So much money that it became Mexico’s second leading source of income – billions every month. With the recession in America, those jobs have dried up, many of those poor Mexicans have gone home, and the money flow has ended. Back home, these people instead of contributing to the Mexican economy, become a drain on it since they need assistance to survive. So Mexico has suffered a double hit there.
Third, Mexican oil. Mexico produces a lot of oil. It is America’s second biggest supplier right behind Canada. Bul three things have happened to the oil industry that have adversely affected Mexico: (1) cars are getting better mileage (2) people are driving less and (3) the price of oil has gone down. This has caused severe financial shock to the Mexican government and that now threatens the stability of the whole country. Why does this matter to us? Because if the Mexican Government becomes non-functional, a power vacuum will be created and whoever fills that vacuum controls the country, the oil, and the border. The most obvious people to fill that vacuum are the drug lords. And if they do, no matter if they use bribery or intimidation, that spells a lot of problems for us - two thousand miles of problems.
In addition to all this, American corporations have invested a lot of money in Mexico and any losses down there will affect the parent companies back here in America. Equally important is the fact that the American manufacturing capability in Mexico is a significant portion of America’s total manufacturing capability, so losing that will also be a blow to our economy and our industrial base. I am afraid we have painted ourselves into a very tight corner with nowhere to go. We are sadly, a lot more vulnerable than we ever were before in our history. Drug lords controlling Mexico will exacerbate all those problems.
Because of its economic problems, the Mexican government is losing control of the country to the drug cartels. Today, the only consistent money coming in to the country is coming from drug sales. Drugs seem to be a recession proof business. Cartels can still sell all the drugs they can smuggle into America. Such an event would be a catastrophe for us. With so much money in the hands of the Cartels and so little in the hands of the government, the government will find it can no longer pay for certain vital services – police, fire, health care - which will cost them the loyalty of those employees. Think of the police having to skip paychecks because the government is out of money. Think of fireman who can’t respond because there is no money. What would happen if a drug boss came along and offered to ‘help an officer out’ in exchange for a small favor or two? Or pay the fireman as a “public service”. Or what if they “helped out” a military commander or two? Money has a very loud voice and the possibility of corruption is everywhere.
(To cut them off at the post, America may want to consider legalizing the growing and distribution of marijuana in the United States. It would cut the heart out of the drug cartels and give the legitimate Mexican Government a hand up. If we don’t want to do that, we’d better get ready for war because it won’t be long before it will be necessary for us to invade Mexico in order to restore some legitimacy to its Government. We cannot allow an outlaw state to exist on our border. And if you think this is an exaggeration, remember what happened in Columbia a few years ago before we stepped in. And Columbia is much smaller than Mexico and they are not on our border.)
Some years ago, the US government, in its infinite wisdom, provided weapons and training for Osama bin Laden’s fighters to help them fight the Russians. The fighters were known as The Mujahadden. At the time, it seemed like a good idea. As it turned out, it was not. Osama became our enemy and used what we gave him, against us.
Now we’ve done it again. This time it’s in Mexico. Recently, we trained an elite group of military men known as Los Zetas to prop up the government in its on-going battle with the drug cartels. The Los Zetas were trained to be the swat team for the Mexican government, the quick response unit. But guess what happened on the way to the beach? The Mexican government got weaker and less well financed, and the drug cartels got stronger and much better-financed, so the cartels were able to recruit a number of the American-trained Los Zetas as mercenaries to recruit and train their own fighters. Sound familiar? Today, the cartels are challenging the government on many fronts. There are, in fact, entire areas of the country where the cartels, not the government, are in charge. How far this can go is anybody’s guess but the cartels are accumulating money and power while the government is struggling to hold on.
How’s that for a potential problem? Drug lords free of restraint, loaded with money, with their own military trained in the United States, and armed with the best and most expensive equipment available and without government opposition, able to operate with impunity along the entire 2,000 miles of American border. If that doesn’t send chills down your spine, you aren’t paying attention.
And how about this: Mexico is our second biggest supplier of oil thanks to American environmentalists who have hurt this country more than they can possibly know. Because we have let our own vast deposits go untapped, we are at the mercy of foreign oil and that includes Canada and Mexico. Any attack on those pipelines could bring our industry and our vehicles to an overnight halt. The oil we need comes from other places and they, not we, control their security. What we have is what we get from Alaska and that’s about it. We have let these goofballs stop our production at the worst time possible. And keep this firmly in mind, no matter what you hear about alternative fuel, oil is what makes this country go and oil is what is going to continue making this country go for at least two more decades. Everything else is small potatoes. So by listening to this global warming nonsense and all this green nonsense, we are very possibly going to see extremely difficult times in America. Remember, without oil we become an overnight disaster. With so much terrorism and so much eco-terrorism why do we put into office people that are truly uninformed.
Not many years ago during the depression, the city of Chicago fell into the hands of Al Capone and the Mafioso. Booze was king and Capone was the King of Booze. So he had pockets full of money when nobody else had much. Capone began to ‘help out’. He gave money to cops, to detectives, to reporters and to judges. After a while, he owned the cops, the detectives, the reporters and the judges. In fact, he owned the city, lock stock and judges.
I point this out because it happened here and it can happen just as easily in Mexico.
What eventually brought Al down, was the non-corrupt US Federal Government, not the State of Illinois. Well bad news, kids, Mexico has no such Federal Government to step in, so, we may have to do it for them. Should we? Why not? It really is our problem. Were it not for our drug lust, the cartels would be out of business.
As the number of individual Mexican officials taking drug money increases (as it will), the drug lords will acquire more and more power and influence. In essence, they will become the real government of the country. And remember, if challenged in Mexico, the drug lord can make a fine argument to his Mexican friends: “if Americans want to buy drugs and we have those drugs to sell, why is it we should not benefit from their vice?”
It’s a strong argument and truly, I am not sure how to answer it. I can see where Mexicans who are hungry, or whose families are hungry, would find it all but impossible to deny. They are under no obligation to save Americans from their own stupidity. (Read, “Is It Time For America To Consider Legalizing Drugs?” on this blog.)
Update: January 28, 2009 – The head of a Mexican police chief was delivered to his colleagues in an ice box in the country's latest drug-related violence. The incident came as 16 other people were also killed in Mexico's northern state of Chihuahua in attacks the authorities believe are linked to the country's drug wars.
In the past, drug cartels in Central America have killed cops, reporters and high-ranking officials often without consequences. Now it is happening in Mexico. We can not let it happen. We cannot sit idly by and watch while the Mexican government topples. Mexico is much too close, too big, and shares too many miles of common border with us to be left to its own devices. Nor should we forget that they are our number two supplier of oil.
As for Mexican officials, don’t expect them to fight the drug lords alone. Who would there be who could stand up to them and live even if he tried? Who would be safe from their vengeance? Whose family would be safe? As long as Americans must have their drugs, the drug lords will have the cash needed to corrupt the system. So you might say we are at fault. And you would be right if you did.
This could get ugly. The cartels are mean, murderous, and well funded. And our borders are hardly well maintained. Somewhere in the Pentagon war room, I hope they are drafting plans for a military excursion deep inside Mexico.
Two years ago, the drug cartels made a run at the Mexican government. With our help, the government survived. Remember items like this?
“Fourteen assassinations attributed to narco gangs were carried out May 20 in Mexico City, Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Guerrero, Sinaloa and Oaxaca. Additionally, federal army troops exchanged fire with 20 gunmen with AR-15 automatic rifles, bullet-proof vests and uniforms of the Federal Agency of Investigation (AFI) at a checkpoint on the Apatzingán-El Alcalde road in Michoacán.”
Jan 15, 2009 by Mica Rosenberg
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Corrupt officials inside Mexico's security forces have leaked U.S. anti-drugs intelligence directly to drug traffickers to help them escape raids, a senior U.S. law enforcement agent said. A recent anti-corruption sweep showed the infiltration of Mexican police forces had reached alarming levels, with several high-ranking investigators and a presidential guardsman arrested for selling information to drug cartels.
The Democratic Party wanted illegals here so they left our borders open. The did that to foster a one-party America. President Obama still says he wants open borders. If he insists on that, he and his party are making a mistake the likes of which they will regret for years to come. Sadly, so will we.
We must seal our borders and do so with troops. Armed military units. We need to secure those borders for the entire 2,000 miles. It will require a lot of money and a lot of resources but it must be done Either that or let’s just invade the country and take down the war lords. If we make up our mind to do it, we can. But the picture I have in my mind is not a pretty one. I see our brave soldiers defending the border with hoards of Americans behind them, crowding them, with their hands out begging for drugs. Sickening isn’t it.
But it may happen and it may end up with two nations confronting one another. Once the Mexican people come to realize that drug sales are keeping them alive, they will fight to protect their source of income. We might see corrupt units of the Mexican army defending the Mexican smugglers against us. Drug runners will cross the border, do what they have to do, and then retreat into Mexico where, if we try to follow, we will confronted by these elements of the Mexican army. It could become another Cambodia.
You remember Cambodia, don’t you? North Vietnam planes would fly into Cambodia and then into south Viet Nam. They would then engage in air combat or bomb our forces and when beaten, scuttle back across the border. We called them “hit and run” attacks.
Our democratic president, Lyndon Johnson, prevented our planes from crossing the Cambodian border in hot pursuit thereby allowing the North Vietnamese pilots to escape to return another day.
It was devastating, at least until Richard Nixon decided he had enough. Nixon removed the safe haven restriction and instructed our flyers to follow hostile aircraft into Cambodia in hot pursuit. That ended that little farce.
Of course the Democrats sucked their pacifiers and shouted how terrible this was and how terrible we were, and how we were violating the sacred borders of Cambodia, the Geneva Conference and the Holy Bible. They always do that. They whine like babies.
Fortunately, Nixon ignored them and let his order stand and that ended the threat. The North Vietnamese air force stopped using Cambodia as a “safe house” and the Democrats predictably ripped into Richard Nixon for exposing them for what they were.
Nixon had the nerve and he had right on his side. But he was roundly criticized by the liberal media and the Democratic party. But not by me. I thanked him for two things: (1) being strong enough and smart enough to attack the enemy where he was and (2) having the guts to stare down those wimps in the other party. Eventually, Nixon was out and we ran from Viet Nam like scared rabbits, leaving behind almost TWO MILLION South Vietnamese who worked with us, to die at the hands of the North Vietnamese murderers. The Democrats should hang their heads for that one.
This withdrawal was not because we had been beaten, it was because we cut and ran. We quit under pressure. And who was it that quit? The party that almost always quits: the Democratic Party. Remember Harry Reid two years ago telling President Bush ‘the Iraq war is over, we lost and you just won’t admit it.” Harry the wimp, I call him. But Harry is typical of Democrats. Just read your history. The are the best at cutting-and-running and the worst at fighting for what they believe in. Not ordinary patriotic Democrats of course – just the politicians they put into office.
Back to Mexico. This is the problem that is developing south of us. And remember, thanks to our national policies, Texas is now over 40% Mexican. California is about the same. New Mexico is about the same. Arizona isn’t far behind. Those four states have a combined population of about sixty million people and if 40% are Mexicans – legal and illegal - then we have twenty four million Mexicans living in those four Border States. If Mexicans were fighting Americans, no matter who the Mexicans might be, where would their loyalties lie? After all, they are Mexican and only recently removed from Mexico. Many of them are here just for a job and Mexico is still their homeland. So, what side would they be on because if they sided with the drug runners, they would constitute a huge Fifth Column right here in America and that could be deadly. We are not talking about a few hundred people here, we are talking about twenty four million of them, many only recently removed from the mother country.
Do you know that the local governments in some Texan communities along the Rio Grande today forbid government employees from cooperating with the U.S. Immigration Service? And they get away with it. That’s true. Just as happened in San Francisco. In recent years, a weak federal government has allowed America to splinter into pockets of anarchy with regard to immigration policy and now we may have to pay for that mistake.
For all these reasons, Americans in Texas are facing a major upheaval. Of the 2,000 miles of border, about 1,400 are in Texas. Policing that much open territory is almost impossible for Texas alone; yet, the Federal Government does almost nothing to help. Now, with Obama and the Democrats owning our government, and being in favor of open borders (not living anywhere near the border, of course), what is the future for cities like El Paso or Houston?
South Texas is facing a war on its border. If the United States government isn’t strong enough or willing enough to help them, the “Texicans” might just as well secede from the Union. Texas joined the Union as a Republic – the only State to have that distinction – so I guess if they have to face this mess alone, they might as well be on their own. What do they need Washington for? It’s a long way from D.C. to Texas.
The same trouble although a bit less imminent, can be found in New Mexico, Arizona and California. California is coming unglued they are so certifiable. They let any in, now they have huge un-American gangs in all their cities. The new “Californians” need free everything so the state gave it to them and now the state is dead broke. And what do their new citizens do? They riot. And as I mentioned, forget academic achievement in California. The once proud state – with Republicans running the show – lead America is elementary and secondary educational achievements. They were Number One. Then the liberals too over, the jackasses who can’t see beyond their noses. Liberals who made fun of our moral codes, who ridiculed our troops, who gave us the very open, very brazen, very drug oriented and gay city on the Bay – they gave us all that is wrong with that state and now, the state if bankrupt morally and financially. It is not even an American state anymore. As to academics, they should be congratulated. They are now next to last in the United States is test scores. NEXT TO LAST and next year, they will be dead last. So much for liberals and what they know about government. Oh yes, you just put them in total charge of the US government – all three houses. Way to go America. You want the entire country to become California?. You got it. Read it and weep.
You can’t leave your doors and windows open and let people come into your home without knowing who they are, and what they have in mind for you. It’s a lot easier to let them in then to get them back out. Suckers. Wait until you see what you have done to this once great nation that is now in its death throes. Can’t you see what they have done to you and to me and to the America we loved? The beacon of hope and light around the world. Do you think we stand for those same things today? The other day a teenaged girl went into an abortion clinic to abort her child. Somehow the abortion didn’t work and the girl actually gave birth to a living baby. The attendant too the baby, cut the umbilical chord, pout the paper in a plastic bag and threw it in the trash. And I doubt any of our liberal newspapers even carried it. They are totally dishonest and corrupt now. They print only what serves their purpose. This story didn’t serve their purpose, hence you didn’t get to read it much.
Iraq just completed a successful free election, the second one in the history of that country. Imagine, for forty years, they were in control of a murderous despot and now today, just six years after we went in, they have free elections and the despot is gone. We should be proud of what we have accomplished. So, did you hear anything much about this grand accomplishment? Read about it on the front pages of our newspapers. No, you didn’t? Of course you didn’t, they didn’t print it. It doesn’t serve the liberal interest and so they ignore it. They aren’t reporters anymore. They aren’t journalists. They don’t tell the truth. They all have a political agenda. To make the nation an image of San Francisco. And you let it happen. Foolish you. And all the time, they favored illegal immigrants and open borders.
Are you getting the picture? This is not a problem between governments or nations, this is a problem between a divided, confused America and gangs of drug running monsters, murderers, and criminals crossing our border freely to terrorize our fellow Americans and to smuggle in drugs. And willing to kill anyone who gets in their way. Think not? Then take a moment to find out what’s going on just across the border. Maybe it isn’t getting much press but it’s a horror in the making. Somebody better pay attention soon.
Murders in Mexico are like a plague, bodies found everywhere tied and gagged with warnings to people that would get in the way of the drug lords. The public is intimidated, the police are intimated, the press is intimidated and now they are after government officials. They are flush with power and arrogance and that is going to be one hell of a problem for us. And Mr. Obama (and his fellow Democrats) talk about ‘open borders’? If it weren’t so deadly serious, it would be funny.
In Mexico today, anyone who gets in the way of the drug lords, dies. And that includes reporters, police, and officials. Once the cartels solidify control over significant parts of the country, all hell is going to break out - on both sides of the border. They are going to have an army and not one that plays by the rules. And remember, those Mexicans living along the border on the American side are going to be pawns in all this. They are going to be called upon to help the Mexicans against the Americans. Even if the Mexicans are drug runners. And if they should decide they don’t want to help? They will be reminded they still have families back in Mexico in harm’s way. They will do as they are told.
We have created a huge problem, one with no easy solution in sight. The Mexican drug lords don’t care one whit how many people they kill or they cause to get killed, they will just buy more and more poverty-stricken Mexicans to fight for them. Sometimes we will stop them, other times they will get through. The more that get through, the stronger and more powerful the cartels will get. This is going to be a border war. All because Democrats wouldn’t do what common sense told us all had to be done – secure our borders. Now we are facing a war – and very possible a second invasion of Mexico.
So what can we do about this brewing mess? And when do we do it? Well if we can prop up the Mexican government, that would help. But do we have the resources, the money, the will? That government is anything but strong. And if we decide to help them, will the Democrats go along? If they do, it will be the first time. Democrats are not really visionaries. They work better from behind.
But somebody better to do it because this is one problem that isn’t going away. And the longer we wait – the more Mexicans we have here - the more potential allies the drug lords are going to have all along the border. It’s a situation fraught with unbelievable peril for America.
We need a stable Mexican government. The one they have is collapsing. We better help them and help them right now. If we don’t soon intrude in their affairs in one big hurry, it will be too late. The fact is, it may already be too late.
And here’s something else to consider. If the drug cartels in Mexico win control of big parts of their country, with their money and their paramilitary, they can act as a conduit for drugs from Central America, thru Mexico, and into the United States, all up and down those 2,000 rugged miles.
I mentioned before what I think may be the easiest and best solution for right now. Just legalize pot and let it be a controlled business. License growers and distributors (like state stores) and tax the sales. If people want to use pot that badly, let them. It will cut the heart out of the drug trade and end up saving a lot of money and a lot of lives. Might as well get it done. Our options are very limited.
And for those of you who wanted open borders, who saw Mexicans as poverty-stricken workers just wanting to come to America to breathe free and work, to harvest crops, cut your lawns and paint your houses and clean your pools, you are about to find out what fools you really were. You could have exercised just a little common sense and made sure of who you were letting in and why they wanted to come here. Sadly, you didn’t and now you may have to pay a price for that. And who will pay? Well all Americans of course will pay to some degree but those of you in the Southwest and along the border have the most to fear. You have invited a lot of trouble into your homes. Unless by some stroke of magic, the situation in Mexico completely reverses itself, we are going to find many of those humble Mexican workers that are here, cooperating with the drug lords. Armed with money, power, guns and a heart filled with hate and malice toward America, the drug overlords are going to wreck havoc with the loser-gringo, drug-obsessed, ugly Americans. If you aren’t sure who that is – that is you.
For those of you who really thought it could never happen here because you were so filled with worldwide tolerance, good will and understanding for the immigrant worker, you are about to find out just how wrong you were, and just how ugly this world can really be. And if you live along the border where most of the violence will be centered, you better ask God to help you because I am not sure your government can, or will. You have heard of ‘border wars’ in the past. I fear we have a big one coming in the near future. Only then it was about ‘cows’, now it is about drugs. Prepare for it.
Just as we lock your doors and windows when we go to bed at night to protect our families, and ourselves so should we have secured our borders to protect our nation. We didn’t and now we are sharing our country with people that want to do us harm. Big time. Whether they are terrorists who hate America or criminals or drug runners - they still want to do us serious harm. And we let them in, goofy, silly, unrealistic people that we are, we opened our doors and let them walk in.
So, the fat, as they say, is in the fire. I am sure the majority of the newcomers – whether legal or illegal – don’t wish us harm. And they therefore are not the problem. The problem is the others who we could have weeded out, but didn’t. They are the problem and a big one. They wish us harm and they are the ones we need to worry about. And there are a lot of them hiding in that twenty-four million.
And as I pointed out earlier, even those that might not wish us harm, may be forced to aid and abet the drug lords. Most of them have families still in Mexico and they can be used to intimidate anyone here that the cartels need or want as allies. Those who are here will do as they are told to protect those left behind. That kind of intimidation has always worked well and it will again.
We have dug a big hole for ourselves by listening to those who thought they knew better, but didn’t. Now we need to do what we can to deal with the situation. I suggest we (1) turn our attention southward (2) help the Mexican government to survive (3) offer whatever military assistance the Mexican government needs and (4) immediately secure our borders.
If we act fast enough, we may be able to shortcut the disaster that is looming. But we don’t have much time. The Mexican government is under such severe pressure that the harm done now may never be reversed.
And that will be to America’s disadvantage.
Nations collapse when their citizens lose the will to fight for what they believe in. Today, Americans have no idea what they believe in. They can’t. Every time they think they know, someone tells them they are terribly wrong. And the majority then throws in the towel and sits back down.
And that my friends is how you lose. Winners never sit back down.
Joey
