Thread: Mexico cannot fight this war alone

Former director of El Paso Intelligence Center: Mexico cannot fight this war alone

Emma Perez-Trevino / Brownsville Herald
Posted: 02/18/2011 09:26:22 AM MST

This story originally appeared on the Brownsville Herald website
If Phil Jordan were to travel to Mexico, he would do it under one condition: "If I could take a couple of U.S. Marines and Navy SEALs with me."

He also likely would be armed.

"Whether we want to admit it or not, there is a war going on in Mexico. It's a no man's land," Jordan said.

A former director of the El Paso Intelligence Center, and formerly in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office in Dallas with more than 30 years in law enforcement, Jordan made his comments in the wake of Tuesday's slaying of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Jaime Jorge Zapata.

Zapata and fellow ICE Special Agent Victor Avila were attacked while driving to Mexico City from San Luis Potosi, where they had met with other U.S. personnel. Avila survived the attack. He and Zapata, a native of Brownsville, were attached to the ICE office in El Paso but were on assignment in Mexico City.

"Mexico cannot fight this war alone," Jordan said.

"I don't know the facts of what happened. However, if the Zetas or cartels are going to be stupid enough to take on American agents, I think that the response by the U.S. government should be similar to the response we gave them when they cowardly killed Kiki," he said, referring to the 1985 kidnapping, torture and murder in Mexico of federal agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena with the Drug Enforcement Agency.
According to the DEA, Camarena's murder triggered Operation Leyenda, which was the most comprehensive homicide investigation ever undertaken by the agency, ultimately uncovering corruption and complicity by numerous Mexican officials.

Jordan would travel to Mexico when he was with the DEA and was with Camarena there nine months before agent's murder.

"My prayers are with the families," Jordan said of Tuesday's assault. "My first reaction was a flashback to the cowardly torture and murder of Kiki."

ICE has not released any statement about whether Zapata and Avila were able to defend themselves. ICE did volunteer that the Mexican government does not authorize U.S. law enforcement personnel to carry weapons.

"Now, if you think for one moment in time that if I was in charge that they would not have a way to defend themselves, they would not be going," Jordan said.

When he was with the DEA, Jordan said that he would tell agents what the rules and regulations were in Mexico - "but I wouldn't tell them what not to carry."

Jordan carried a gun in Mexico. "I'm not going to lie about that," he said.

But he noted that now, he doesn't know that a .38 special would be much better than a peashooter, "if you even get to fire it."

He said a .38 special doesn't compare with the weapons the drug cartels are carrying, which include grenades, AK-47s and bazookas.

"They are better equipped than most police departments on both sides of the border," Jordan said of the cartels. "They don't have to worry about budgets."

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, indicated that the policy prohibiting U.S. law enforcement from carrying weapons in Mexico should be revisited.

"Mexico is in the middle of a full-fledged war against the drug cartels. It is unacceptable that we would send our law enforcement officers into harm's way without the ability to protect themselves," Cornyn told The Brownsville Herald.

"Congress must hold hearings and work with the Obama Administration to re-evaluate this arrangement and take the steps necessary to ensure our agents are never again put at such a gross disadvantage," Cornyn added.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, also believes that the policy that prevents U.S. law enforcement officers from defending themselves should be revisited.

McCaul is chairman of the U.S. House's Homeland Security Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

Jordan doesn't envision Mexico President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa requesting a visible U.S. presence in the country in fighting the cartels.

"I don't think the Mexican people would allow any type of U.S. intervention - but if done correctly, in a task force manner where the Mexican government is in charge, it has a lot of possibilities," Jordan said.

He noted that the U.S. cannot and should not force intervention: "Mexico is an ally and you cannot treat it like some secondary citizen."

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17419417

Why does the U.S. attempt to defend any number of other national borders around the world past and present and refuse to defend our National Borders? We now have 34,000 - 35,000 troops on the ground in Korea defending their border. Why not move them from Korea to our borders; win-win, we would save billions, our troops would be happier and the money that would have been spent in Korea would now be spent in the U.S. Maybe even a DMZ extending from our southern border five miles into mexico. Allow 5 legal crossings into the U.S. any others attempting to cross will be delt with on the spot.

We have given a ton of money to Mexico to "help" them fight this drug war. The country is so corrupt that the money just went to those in power and not to pay and arm police.

Now that they have let it get so out of control, we should ignore them and guard our borders.

No sense of throwing good money after bad, just keep it on the south side of the border. We can cut off the money to the drug cartels by shutting down shipments of the drugs to the US.

"Whether we want to admit it or not, there is a war going on in Mexico. It's a no man's land," Jordan said.

That is absolutely a true statement.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, indicated that the policy prohibiting U.S. law enforcement from carrying weapons in Mexico should be revisited.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, also believes that the policy that prevents U.S. law enforcement officers from defending themselves should be revisited.

Why don't we revisit why it is necessary for the US to have any law enforcement or military in Mexico. Get the heck out of that lawsless country and close the door behind them.

I remember when Baby Bush was President and he gave at one time over a billion dollars to mexico that was suppose to help fight the drug guys while our county Border Law Enforcement officials had to beg for the left overs; there wasn't much left for our Law Enforcement. The violence continues to scurry across the border with the non-stop flow of ILLEGALS. But then again he was busy having the FEDS place Border Patrol Agents in prison.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17419417

Originally Posted by lccat

I remember when Baby Bush was President and he gave at one time over a billion dollars to mexico that was suppose to help fight the drug guys while our county Border Law Enforcement officials had to beg for the left overs; there wasn't much left for our Law Enforcement. The violence continues to scurry across the border with the non-stop flow of ILLEGALS. But then again he was busy having the FEDS place Border Patrol Agents in prison.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17419417

That was the Merida Initiative

Mérida Initiative
From Wikipedia

The Mérida Initiative (also called Plan Mexico by critics) is a security cooperation between the United States and the government of Mexico and the countries of Central America, with the aim of combating the threats of drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and money laundering. The assistance includes training, equipment and intelligence.

In seeking partnership with the United States, Mexican officials point out that the illicit drug trade is a shared problem in need of a shared solution, and remark that most of the financing for the Mexican traffickers comes from American drug consumers. U.S. law enforcement officials estimate that US$12 to 15 billion per year flows from the United States to the Mexican traffickers, and that is just in cash, i.e., not including the money sent by wire transfers.[1] Other government agencies, including the Government Accountability Office and the National Drug Intelligence Center, have estimated that Mexico's cartels earn upwards of $23 billion in illicit drug proceeds from the United States.[2][3]

U.S. State Department officials are aware that Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s willingness to work with the United States is unprecedented on issues of security, crime and drugs,[4] so the U.S. Congress passed legislation in late June 2008 to provide Mexico with $400 million and Central American countries with $65 million that year for the Mérida Initiative. The initiative was announced on 22 October 2007 and signed into law on June 30, 2008.


[edit] BackgroundSee also: Mexican Drug War

Drug cartels and their areas of influence.
Hot spots where police corruption and extreme cartel violence prompted an increased use of the military in law enforcement roles.Mexico remains a transit and not a cocaine production country. Marijuana and methamphetamine production do take place in Mexico and are responsible for an estimated 80% of the methamphetamine on the streets in the United States,[5] while 1100 metric tons of marijuana are smuggled each year from Mexico.[6]

In 1990, just over half the cocaine imported into the U.S. came through Mexico. By 2007, that had risen to more than 90 percent, according to U.S. State Department estimates.[7] Although violence between drug cartels has been occurring long before the war began, the government used its police forces in the 1990s and early 2000s with little effect. That changed on December 11, 2006, when newly elected President Felipe Calderón sent 6,500 federal troops to the state of Michoacán to put an end to drug violence there. This action is regarded as the first major retaliation made against cartel operations, and is generally viewed as the starting point of the war between the government and the drug cartels.[8] As time progressed, Calderón continued to escalate his anti-drug campaign, in which there are now well over 25,000 troops involved.

During president Calderón's administration, the Mexican government has spent approximately $7 USD billion in an 18-month-old campaign against drug cartels.[9] It is estimated that during 2006, there were about 2000 drug-related violent deaths,[10] about 2300 deaths during 2007; more than 3,725 people have during 2008.[11][12] Many of the dead were gang members killed by rivals or by the government, some have been bystanders.[13][14] At least 450 police officers and soldiers have been killed since January 2007.[15]

The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) has noted that cocaine availability decreased in several U.S. drug markets during the first half of 2007, mostly because of record 33.5 ton cocaine seizures by the Mexican Navy.[16] However, it is estimated that the major drug trafficking organizations are currently reorganizing and readjusting to the new challenges facing their trade; as a result, drug availability in 2008 is once again on the rise. One of the new adaptations is the use of home-made narco submarines; in 2006, American officials say they detected only three; now they are spotting an average of ten per month, but only one in ten is intercepted.[17] Another recent development is the consolidation of the smaller drug trafficking organizations into powerful alliances, escalating the violence between the groups vying for control of the narcotics trade to the U.S. Some 300 tons of cocaine are estimated to pass through Mexico to the U.S. yearly.[18]

[edit] FundingThe U.S. Congress has now authorized $1.6 USD billion for the three-year initiative (2007-2010). The U.S. Congress approved $465 million in the first year, which includes $400 million for Mexico and $65 million for Central America, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. For the second year, Congress approved $300 million for Mexico and $110 million for Central America, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. A FY09 supplemental appropriation is providing an additional $420 million for Mexico; and $450 million for Mexico and $100 million for Central America has been requested for FY10.[19]

Only about $204 million of that, however, will be earmarked for the Mexican military for the purchase of eight used transport helicopters and two small surveillance aircraft. No weapons are included in the plan.[20][21][22] The bill requires that $73.5 million of the $400 million for Mexico must be used for judicial reform, institution-building, human rights and rule-of-law issues. The bill specifies that 15% of the funds will be dependent on Mexico making headway in four areas relating to human-rights issues, and on which the U.S. Secretary of State will have to report periodically to Congress.[23][24]

An additional $65 million was granted for the Central American countries (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama); the House also included Haiti and the Dominican Republic in this bill for Central America, which is a comprehensive public security package that seeks to tackle citizen insecurity in Central America by more effectively addressing criminal gangs, improving information sharing between countries, modernizing and professionalizing the police forces, expanding maritime interdiction capabilities, and reforming the judicial sector in order to restore and strengthen citizens’ confidence in those institutions.[25]

Much of the funding will never leave the United States. It will go toward the purchase of aircraft, surveillance software, and other goods and services produced by U.S. private defense contractors. While this request includes equipment and training, it does not involve any cash transfers or money to be provided directly to the Government of Mexico or its private contractors. According to U.S. State Department officials, 59% of the proposed assistance will go to civil agencies responsible for law enforcement, and 41% to operational costs for the Mexican Army and Mexican Navy. While the initial cost for equipment and hardware that the military required is high, it is expected that future budget requests will focus increasingly on training and assistance to civil agencies.

As of November 2009, the U.S. has delivered about $214 million of the pledged $1.6 billion.[26]

With the Mérida Initiative set to expire on September 30, 2010, the U.S. State Department has proposed a major renewal and expansion of the program. If approved, starting in 2011, $310 million would be granted to Mexico, another $100 million for the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), and $79 million for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI).[27]

[edit] Equipment
Helicopter Bell 412
CASA CN-235 transport aircraft.The Mérida Initiative will provide funding for:[28][29]

Non-intrusive inspection equipment such as ion scanners, gamma ray scanners, X-ray vans and canine units for Mexico and Central America.
Technologies to improve and secure telecommunications systems that collect criminal information in Mexico.
Technical advice and training to strengthen the institutions of justice, case management software to track investigations through the system, new offices of citizen complaints and professional responsibility, and witness protection programs to Mexico.
Thirteen Bell 412 EP helicopters (5 with INCLE funds for the Federal Police and 8 with FMF funds for the military).
Eight UH-60 Black Hawk transport helicopters (three with INCLE funds for the Federal Police and 5 with FMF funds for the Mexican Air Force).
Up to four CASA CN-235 transport aircraft.
Equipment, training and community action programs in Central American countries to implement anti-gang measures and expand the reach of these measures.

[edit] Smuggling of firearms
The Mérida Initiative includes $74 million to be assigned for efforts by the U.S. government to stop the flow of illegal weapons from the U.S. to Mexico, but important concerns remain regarding how this will be achieved. According to a Mexican government official, as many as 2,000 weapons enter Mexico each year and fuel an arms race between competing drug cartels. Since 1996, the ATF has traced more than 62,000 firearms smuggled into Mexico from the United States.[30] Mexican government officials suspect that corrupt customs officials, on both sides of the border, help smuggle weapons into Mexico; as reported by ATF, the most common "traced" firearms now include the Colt AR-15 .223 caliber rifle, the AK-47 assault rifle, FN 5.7 caliber semi-automatic pistol and a variety of armor piercing .50 caliber long range sniper rifles and machine guns. Also, there have been occasions where grenade launchers were used against security forces and twelve M4 Carbines with M203 grenade launchers have been confiscated.[31][32][33] It is believed that some of these high power weapons were stolen from U.S. military bases.[34]

An analysis of firearms trace data by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) over the past three years shows that weapons are being traced to dealers in virtually every state, as far north as Washington state, and that Texas, Arizona and California are the three most prolific source states, respectively, for firearms subsequently illegally trafficked to Mexico.[35][36] Since 1996, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has traced more than 62,000 firearms smuggled into Mexico from the United States.[30] ATF officials report that 90% of the firearms recovered in Mexico came from U.S. gun dealers,[37][38][39][40] and about 55% of these guns were identified as assault rifles.[41][42] However, the Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General reported only 18,585 seized Mexican firearms were successfully traced to the United States in the last five years (2005-2009) out of 66,028 firearms submitted by Mexico to ATF for tracing.[43] Mexican officials submitted some 32% of the guns seized to the ATF for tracing. The ATF was able to trace less than half of the weapons submitted. Overall, 83% of the guns seized by Mexican authorities could not be traced.[44]

ATF has computerized millions of firearms sales transactions from dealer "out of business" records, and multiple sales reports, effectively creating a large de facto national firearms registry. If the firearm cannot be found in the computerized records, agents contact the manufacturer or importer with a make and serial number, then work their way down the supply chain by telephone or on foot.[45] ATF agents found that one in five of the seized Mexican guns could not be traced.[45]

In 2008, the ATF received 2 million USD to assist in the expansion of Spanish language eTrace software to Mexico and Central America region to assist them with firearms tracking issues, and their immediate goal is to deploy Spanish e-Trace software to all thirty-one states within Mexico.[46] ATF has provided Mexico (and Colombia) with its own centralized tracing center, staffed by nationals, with direct access to United States firearms transaction records maintained by the ATF National Tracing Center.

Since more work is required to make sure those guns stay in the U.S., the U.S. Senate proposes to stop firearms' smuggling now, which will allow Mexican law enforcement to fight drug trafficking more effectively; more importantly, it also takes the Mexican military out of the law enforcement role it has been assigned.[47] The ATF and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently implemented two enforcement initiatives named, Operación Armas Cruzadas (ICE) and Project Gunrunner (ATF). In early August 2008, the FBI is engaged in 146 task force investigations, 12 of them in Texas, aimed at drug-smuggling groups and gang activity.[48]

[edit] CriticismThe Mérida Initiative is called "Plan Mexico" by critics, to point out its similarities to Plan Colombia, through which the U.S. has heavily funded the Colombian military, yet cocaine production has steadily increased and registered a 27% rise in 2007,[49] before declining in 2008 and 2009 [50]

The current plan will require Mexican soldiers accused of human rights abuses in their country to face the civil courts rather than courts-martial. In response, members of the Mexican Congress raised objections because the conditions requiring monitoring of human rights violations are an infringement and "violation of Mexican sovereignty",[51] a particular point of sensitivity because Mexico is concerned in exercising its right to govern over its own country without foreign intervention. Mexican authorities are understood to be much happier with the final wording of the package, which contains the phrase “in accordance with Mexican and international lawâ€

I may be incorrect but I seem to remember during the same time period some of the of the local Texas Border Law Enforcement were requesting helicopters to help patrol their large areas along the drug infested borders but were again turned down by the feds while shipping the copters off to mexico. Some Texas Citizens raised private funds to purchase a "used" helicopter to be used at a Texas location on the border. Of course U.S. Tax money was utilized for the mexican helicopters.