BORDER WARS
Obama abandons Arizona counties
Signs warn U.S. citizens against travel due to illegal trafficking


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Without fanfare, the Obama administration has essentially abandoned a major portion of three southern Arizona counties.

"Quite frankly, I'm telling you as a sheriff that we don't control that part of the county," Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu told Fox News. "My county is larger than the state of Connecticut, and we need support from the federal government. It's their job to secure the border and they haven't done it."

A Fox News video shows a sign the federal government has posted in Pinal County warning the American public that travel in the south of I-8 is not recommended because of heavily armed Mexican drug smugglers and human traffickers.

"It's out of control, and violence has increased in the last four months," Babeu said. "President Obama suspended the construction of the fence, and it's absolutely outrageous."

Mexican drug cartels win drug war

U.S. intelligence has concluded that Mexico's most powerful gang cartel now controls the drug trafficking routes through Ciudad Juarez, effectively winning a two-year war in which more that 5,000 Mexicans were killed, the Washington Times reported.

The Sinaloa Cartel is Mexico's largest, and the nexus between Ciudad Juarez in Mexico and El Paso in Texas are one of the key entry points for drugs into the United States.

In April, U.S.-Mexican border sources admitted the Mexican drug cartels have placed a $250,000 bounty for the kidnapping or killing U.S. Border Patrol agents.

Moreover, the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning to U.S. law enforcement officers in West Texas that officers should wear body armor while on duty because Mexican gang members have given a "green light" to murder law enforcement officers in the West Texas border area.

Merida Initiative failed

WND has reported on the "Merida Initiative" under which the U.S. Congress at the urging of the Bush administration allocated in December 2009 some $197 million of the $500 million authorized under a planned $1.6 billion program.

The Merida Initiative aims to provide U.S. military assistance in the form of training and equipment to the Mexican military to help it combat the drug cartels.

Earlier in 2008, Congress funded $99 million under the Merida Initiative to Mexico through the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

The Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence Center, or NDIC, reported in the National Drug Threat Assessment 2009 that Mexican drug cartels are "the greatest drug trafficking threat to the United States," reporting that Mexican drug cartels now distribute drugs in 230 U.S. cities.

"Mexico and U.S.-based Mexican drug traffickers employ advanced communication technology and techniques to coordinate their illicit drug trafficking activities," the NDIC reported. "Law enforcement reporting indicates that several Mexican drug trafficking organizations maintain cross-border communication centers in Mexico near the U.S.-Mexico border to facilitate coordinated cross-border smuggling operations."

Mexico close to legalizing marijuana

Remarkably, Mexico, in the middle of a drug war that has begun to spill over into the United States, lacks only the signature of President Felipe Calderon to sign into law a bill that would legalize a variety of drugs in Mexico for recreational use, Fox News in Houston reported.

The bill, which was slipped through the Mexican Congress at the height of the swine-flu scare, would legalize possession of 5 grams of marijuana, 500 milligrams of cocaine, 40 milligrams of methamphetamine and up to 50 milligrams of heroin – more than enough for most users to get high.

The bill does not require that those who get caught within these limits enter treatment to avoid jail time.

Instead, the bill waives jail time altogether, as long as those caught stay within the drug limits. It recommends, rather than mandates, treatment options.

Fox News has been reporting since 2006 that Mexico's Congress has been attempting to pass legislation that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use.

Evidently, the thinking in Mexico is that since the nation shows no sign of being able to beat the drug cartels, why not just join them?

06/21/10

SOURCE: RED ALERT