Thread: US military chief backs counter-insurgency for Mexico

US military chief backs counter-insurgency for Mexico

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. military is ready to help Mexico in its deadly war against drug cartels with some of the same counter-insurgency tactics used against militant networks in Iraq and Afghanistan, the top U.S. military officer said on Friday.

Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, also said the Defense Department was moving quickly to provide the Mexican military with equipment, including helicopters, under a $1.4 billion U.S. aid initiative.

"They have an urgent need. We all have a sense of urgency about this. And so we're all going to push pretty hard to deliver that capability as rapidly as possible," Mullen told reporters in a conference call as he returned from his first official visit to Mexico as Joint Chiefs chairman.

Drug violence has killed thousands of people in Mexico as the government of President Felipe Calderon wages war against drug cartels that earn some $10 billion a year trafficking narcotics destined for consumers in the United States.

Mexico's bloodiest drug war city is Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, where the Mexican government this week sent hundreds of heavily armed soldiers to take over anti-drug efforts from police tainted by corruption and links to drug traffickers.

Mullen, who visited Mexico on Friday as part of a five-nation Latin American tour, said the U.S. military is already providing some intelligence support to Mexico. He gave no specifics.

In talks with top Mexican defense and military officials, he said he emphasized the Pentagon's readiness to provide new intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance help, such as unmanned drones to spy on armed drug gangs, especially along the U.S. border.

"They need intelligence support, capabilities and tactics that have evolved for us in our fight against networks in the terrorist world," Mullen said. "There are an awful lot of similarities."

He said the Mexican leadership is taking steps to eliminate problems posed by official corruption that could compromise counter-narcotics efforts.

"Best I can tell, the leadership in Mexico is aware of the problem and is addressing it," Mullen said. "I haven't seen anything on the military side at this point that would indicate that that's a limiting factor."

The admiral said he and his Mexican hosts did not discuss the possibility of placing U.S. troops on the U.S.-Mexican border, an idea suggested by Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

He also visited Brazil, Peru, Chile and Colombia. (Reporting by David Morgan, editing by Anthony Boadle)

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCr ... SN06397194

Any training and help that we give Mexico today will one day be used against us.

The admiral said he and his Mexican hosts did not discuss the possibility of placing U.S. troops on the U.S.-Mexican border, an idea suggested by Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

We need troops on that border to help the US keep drugs and illegals out of this country. Why is this not being done!

Originally Posted by ELE

Any training and help that we give Mexico today will one day be used against us.

That is exactly what I was thinking as well.

cartels that earn some $10 billion a year trafficking narcotics destined for consumers in the United States.

"During 2008 the total amount of remittances to Mexico totaled $25.15 billion". http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-861257.html#861257

Do drug cartels receive 40% of all remittances to Mexico from the US or is this 10 billion smuggled out and not counted in the 25.15 billion in annual remittances? If the latter, then 35 billion dollars is leaving the American economy annually. Also, considering remittances are the second largest revenue in Mexico only after oil, this means that nacrotic trafficing is a major sourse or Mexico's revenue.

Dixie

He also visited Brazil, Peru, Chile and Colombia

He was scoping out the areas for possible green card soldiers so we can send them to Afghanistan.

Any training and help that we give Mexico today will one day be used against us

And as you know they already do this in gangs in America

US military speeding help to Mexico: admiral
18 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States is working to rush assistance to Mexico as it fights violent drug cartels, including equipment to help authorities track the narcotics mafia, a top US military officer said.

"We're all working very hard to move the capabilities that are desirable to Mexico as quickly as we can," Admiral Mike Mullen told reporters late Friday from his aircraft after holding talks in Mexico.

"We all have a sense of urgency about this," he said.

During his meetings with the country's military leadership, Mullen said he discussed how Washington could help in the battle against the powerful cartels, citing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) as a crucial element.

"ISR, that kind of capability is certainly a big part of it," Mullen said, using a term that can refer to unmanned drones.

He said the emphasis would be on sharing intelligence "but in recognition that there are additional assets that could be brought to bear across the full ISR spectrum."

With last year's death toll from drug-related violence at 5,300 as well-financed cartels orchestrate a campaign of intimidation and kidnappings, the crisis over the border has become a serious national security concern for the United States.

The visit by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff underlined US alarm over the escalating violence, which experts say is fed by easy access to guns and drug profits on the US side of the border.

Mullen said the US military was ready to share tactics learned in fighting insurgent networks in Iraq and Afghanistan that he said could prove useful in Mexico's drug war.

The US military was "sharing a lot of lessons we've learned, how we've developed similar capabilities over the last three or four years in our counter-insurgency efforts as we have fought terrorist networks.

"There are an awful lot of similarities," he said.

The admiral said there was no discussion of deploying US troops to the border but Mexican authorities were increasingly open to bolstering military cooperation with the United States, in a break with tradition.

"What I find is the military to military relationship is the best I've ever seen it," Mullen said.

As part of the US Merida Initiative that gives Mexico 1.4 billion dollars over three years to fight the growing drug mafia, Mullen said the military and other government agencies were trying to expedite funding and assistance already approved under the 2008 federal budget.

The two countries started sharing intelligence after signing an agreement in November and under the Merida program the US plans to deliver helicopters, maritime surveillance aircraft and other equipment, according to the Pentagon.

During his visit to Mexico, Mullen met with the secretary of defense, General Guillermo Galvan, and secretary of the navy, Mariano Francisco Saynez, saying he had come to hear how the United States could help.

"I share their deep concern over organized crime and narco-trafficking and appreciate their vigorous efforts to improve security," Mullen said in a statement earlier.

The two countries have traded accusations over failures in the drug war, with Mexican President Felipe Calderon taking offense at a US government report blaming corruption in his country.

Calerdon hit back in an interview with AFP this week, saying corruption in the United States was also fueling the crisis.

The Mexican president has cracked down on cartels since taking office in 2006, often with bloody repercussions as Mexico battles a surging drug trade and drug-linked violence.

His government announced last month it would deploy about 5,000 military troops and 1,000 police to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico's murder capital just across the border from El Paso, Texas.

Before Mexico, Mullen travelled to Brazil, Chile, Peru and Colombia in a week-long tour of Latin America.

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