Los Zetas and Mexico's Transnational Drug War

World Politics Review ^ | 12/25/09 | Hal Brands

[webstersII]

Portugal legalized drugs in 2001 and they offer treatment instead of jail.

Don’t flame me; I’m just reporting the results.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=portugal-drug-decriminalization

[Travis McGee]

Coming soon to an Amexican barrio near you, thanks to the open border traitors.

[Salvavida]

I’m with you. The only way to dissuade involvement in such a lucrative enterprise, is to take away the luster: immediate death. It brought down Escobar when his family was at risk; obviating any perceived gains in the drug trade.

[nickcarraway]

I don’t either. But Soros is using decriminalization to foist it on us.

[nickcarraway]

Do you have a magic wand I can borrow?

[ARepublicanForAllReasons]

This situation will continue to spiral out of control until a point of critical mass is reached, such as an open and all-out civil war

There is already civil war in Mexico, the press just doesn't call it that. I can visualize the Mexican gov't declaring a total state of emergency and requesting US troops to help stamp out the cartels. Of course, coke-sniffing Obama won't do it. McCain might, but probably not.
Hmm, would Sarah P? These are not the scenarios I advocate, but rather the scenarios events seem to be leading us into. I'd rather legalize pot and deal harshly with the white drugs. Mixing a harmless herb with narcotics enforcement is S T U P I D !!

[Regulator]

Don't get used to it. It's a damn lie.

Zeta operatives are not buying RPG's and heavy machine guns at sporting goods stores in the U.S. If they are buying in the U.S. it's probably from black market sellers.

But even that's most likely not where they are getting them. It's far easier to buy virtually any kind of Russian or Chinese military weapons in South and Central America, either from smugglers or the rotten, corrupt military's of those regions.

A line like that is just a throw away propaganda line from the Leftist press.

[John-Irish]

I agree with pretty much all that you “Republican’’ but to leave any other drug prohibited is still leaving the criminal element something to profit from. As I said, in Mexico’s case, being such a corrupted society, it might be too far gone even for legalization. And think of the powerful people, banks, and other institutions that are making a fortune off the money. They won’t want to give that up. And whatever happened to Phillipe Calderon? He’s probably hiding in fear for his life.

[ARepublicanForAllReasons]

Well, we just can't legalize everything criminal syndicates profit from. How about the smuggling of illegals, 'white' slavery, extortion, etc.?

And legalizing hard drugs isn't feasible politically. No US politician would dare advocate it, but there are some who openly advocate legal pot. That is do-able, but total libertarian-style drug legalization just won't happen, not in my lifetime.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I would rather seal the border completely shut, enact a trade embargo on Mexico, and let them stew in their own juices.

[ToTheMax]

THe key to ending the drug militias and gangs in Mexico is first, intelligence. Who they are, where they operate, where they live, how they operate.

It will have to be done by an elite US force and an elite Mexican force (handpicked by the US and trained from start to keep out infiltrators).

Then we will need to bring down on the gangs overwhelming firepower to destroy their homes, bases, and operational areas, even if it means killings civilians.

They must hit, overrun and liquidated. It can be done but it will be bloody and expensive. The alternative is a continuing internal conflict in Mexico in which the communists will gain ascendency by promising to tamp down the violence (but they will be paying off the narcoterrorisms and gangs just as they have in Colombia).

We must not be afraid to use weapons of mass destruction, including napalm and large-sized bombs (over 1,000 lbs to totally take out a target). This is a fight to the finish and unless we realize that, we will lose our southern states to the drug lords.

However, given that we are led by a bunch of marxists and cowards, both in the White House, Congress, and the JCS, the above is only a wish.

[John-Irish]

No we can’t legalize everything but the biggest money maker for any criminal organization is drugs. Talking about feasibility, US politician would even legalize pot. Alcohol prohibition wouldn’t allow for the producing of one type of alcohol over another.

[Eagles6]

"The implications were soon apparent. The Zetas were the first Mexican DTO to employ a military-grade arsenal, making the jump from the standard AK-47 to shoulder-fired missiles, armor-piercing ammunition, fragmentation grenades, heavy machine guns, and even improvised explosive devices. Some of these weapons are stolen from the Mexican military or purchased on the black market. Most are bought legally in the United States and smuggled across the border.

Interesting until we come to this falsehood. Didn't read past that.

For those who believe that this violence and corruption would stop if only drugs were legalized:

The Zetas commandeered a large chunk of Gulf operations, embraced new criminal activities -- including robbery, kidnapping, extortion, money laundering, and human smuggling -- and expanded their area of operations to include much of Mexico, as well as parts of Guatemala and the United States.

Do you actually think that violent criminals, here or there will just take up legal employment if they can't support their high dollar, gangster lifestyle with drug money?