Mullen Praises Military Cooperation Between Mexico, U.S.

American Forces Press Service ^ | March 7, 2009 | By Jim Garamone

[Cindy]

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2009 – The combined capabilities and military cooperation between Mexico and the United States can defeat the drug cartels that plague both countries, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in Mexico City yesterday.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen held discussions with Mexican leaders and then spoke to students at the Mexican Naval War College during a visit that capped a five-day trip to Latin America.

“We are capable countries,” Mullen said at the war college. “This is not a threat we can’t beat. We can, working together, defeat it.”

The chairman praised Mexican leaders for their firm stand against the drug cartels and all the destruction they bring to civil society. “From my perspective, we have shared responsibilities for the cause and shared responsibilities for the solutions,” he said. “How we work those shared responsibilities are very important.”

Mullen met with Mexican Secretary of National Defense Gen. Guillermo Galvan and Secretary of the Navy Adm. Mariano Francisco Saynez. Both men lasered in on the drug cartels and the inherent danger for both countries. “It is an enormously serious problem that has grave implications,” he told the students.

The chairman noted the similarities between terrorist groups and drug cartels. Both are amorphous networks, and good intelligence is crucial to breaking both, he explained.

“There are characteristics of it that we have developed the capabilities to fight in our military in the last several years that have direct application, and I think can assist greatly,” he said. “Through cooperative efforts, we have to figure what’s the best way to do that.”

[familyop]

Hopefully, many more Mexican civilians will get enough courage from this to help soldiers quickly find the trafficantes, who will be hiding now. If public affairs does its job well with enough publishing and meetings with civilians in advance, I think they will.

[RU88]

Something about the name “Mexican Naval War College” just doesn’t sound right.

[varon]

Something about the name “Mexican Naval War College” just doesn’t sound right.

It projects about the same amount of credibility and provides as much security as Mexican Expeditionary Forces in Iraq or Afghanistan.

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53396

Chairman, President Discuss U.S. Support to Mexico

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2009 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Barack Obama discussed the situation in Mexico and the military capabilities that could assist the country in a March 7 conversation.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen had just returned from a trip to Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico. The president and the chairman talked about the trip as a whole, but focused specifically on Mexico and the country’s fight against organized crime and drug cartels.

“The president is obviously interested in the situation in Mexico, and asked the chairman to back-brief him on the trip,” a Joint Staff official speaking on background said.

The U.S.-Mexican border is an area of concern. More than 5,000 people were killed in Mexico last year as a result of drug-related violence, and more than 2,000 have been killed so far this year. Most of the deaths occurred in the northern Mexican states, but it is not limited to that area.

The chairman’s trip was aimed at improving the military-to-military relationship between the two countries. To that end, Mullen met with Mexican Secretary of National Defense Army Gen. Guillermo Galvan and Secretary of the Navy Adm. Juan Francisco Saynez on March 6.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon ordered the Mexican military to take on the cartels. U.S. officials are working with Mexican authorities to stem the flow of weapons from the United States to Mexico and to stop money laundering in the United States.

In Mexico, Mullen talked about a “shared responsibility” for the cause of the crisis, and said the United States had a shared responsibility to clean it up as well.

Obama and Mullen discussed what military capabilities might apply to the situation, the official said. This is not any kind of commitment, but rather is just a discussion at this point, the official emphasized.

In Mexico, Mullen said the U.S. military had learned what capabilities worked against terrorist networks. The same capabilities also may work against drug trafficking networks.
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