5 ms·

The flaw in the argument that ending the drug war will financially starve the cartels..(true) & if fighting criminality is our stated policy then it's the right

by sami36 14y ago

The flaw in the argument that ending the drug war will financially starve the cartels..(true) & if fighting criminality is our stated policy then it's the right thing to do..is that it's overlooking the accompanying weakening of the law enforcement- prison-military industrial complex & YES, I know people don't look at it that way, but the police & the entire drug fighting establishment are also an interest group set on keeping their budgets & their privileges. Calderon is a coward, he should have stated the obvious before he was set to leave office. How many lives were lost in Mexico because of his stubborn delusion..or cynical political calculations ?

daniel-cussen 14y ago
> the police & the entire drug fighting establishment are also an interest group set on keeping their budgets & their privileges In a way, there's this angle, sure. However, nobody wants the drug war to get so violent policemen drop dead all the time, like they do in Mexico. Nobody actually wants an all out war, despite the name "War on Drugs."
- antidoh 14y ago
  I think the US is fine with a War on Anything, as long as it's done in another country. The actual killing is done in Mexico and Afghanistan, and we're just peachy fine with that.
  - daniel-cussen 14y ago
    Afghanistan I'll grant you, mostly, because there are no US civilians for miles and miles. There are some soldiers, though. But Mexico? No. No, for so many reasons: it's a favored tourist destination, for one. Second, relatedly, Spring Break takes place there. America will be damned before it lets her young women drop dead in such a manner! And, that's an industry unto itself, with a lot of US investment tied up there. Third, the Latino population in America votes and are not peachy fine with their cousins dropping dead. The Mexican contingent within that Latino population is pretty large. Fourth is the giant, hardly monitored stretch of border between Mexico and US. Afghanistan is something like three borders and an ocean or two away from US. Pretty easy to stop violence from spilling over. But Mexico? A bit harder.
    - antidoh 14y ago
      And yet on it goes.
      - daniel-cussen 14y ago
        Indeed.

by sami36 14y ago

daniel-cussen 14y ago

> the police & the entire drug fighting establishment are also an interest group set on keeping their budgets & their privileges In a way, there's this angle, sure. However, nobody wants the drug war to get so violent policemen drop dead all the time, like they do in Mexico. Nobody actually wants an all out war, despite the name "War on Drugs."

antidoh 14y ago
I think the US is fine with a War on Anything, as long as it's done in another country. The actual killing is done in Mexico and Afghanistan, and we're just peachy fine with that.
- daniel-cussen 14y ago
  Afghanistan I'll grant you, mostly, because there are no US civilians for miles and miles. There are some soldiers, though. But Mexico? No. No, for so many reasons: it's a favored tourist destination, for one. Second, relatedly, Spring Break takes place there. America will be damned before it lets her young women drop dead in such a manner! And, that's an industry unto itself, with a lot of US investment tied up there. Third, the Latino population in America votes and are not peachy fine with their cousins dropping dead. The Mexican contingent within that Latino population is pretty large. Fourth is the giant, hardly monitored stretch of border between Mexico and US. Afghanistan is something like three borders and an ocean or two away from US. Pretty easy to stop violence from spilling over. But Mexico? A bit harder.
  - antidoh 14y ago
    And yet on it goes.
    - daniel-cussen 14y ago
      Indeed.