Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    TEXAS - The Lone Star State
    Posts
    16,941

    Sen. Kerry says Mexico strained, but is not a failed state

    Sen. Kerry says Mexico strained, but is not a failed state
    By ALICIA A. CALDWELL Associated Press
    March 30, 2009, 2:39PM

    EL PASO, Texas — Mexico's government is being tested in its battle with powerful drug cartels but is not on the brink of being a failed state, U.S. Sen. John Kerry said today at a Senate field hearing about the brutal drug war that has left thousands dead.
    President Felipe Calderon's government, which launched an offensive against the cartels more than a year ago, is getting stretched thin but is strong, the Massachusetts Democrat said in El Paso, just across the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez.

    "I am troubled by the suggestions form some quarters that Mexico is in imminent danger of becoming a failed state," Kerry said. "Mexico is a functional democracy with a vibrate and open economy."

    Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was joined by Republicans John Barrasso of Wyoming and Roger Wicker of Mississippi for a hearing on what the U.S. can do to help stem the violence and ensure it doesn't spread further into the United States.

    Jaime Esparza, the district attorney for El Paso, testified that despite violence in Ciudad Juarez that has claimed more than 2,000 lives since January 2008 there has been no spike in crime in Texas border cities. He said descriptions of a spillover are widely exaggerated.

    "It's night and day," he said, comparing the climate of El Paso to the violent bordering Mexican city of 1.5 million people.

    Officials in Phoenix and Atlanta, among other cities, have reported a rise in home invasions, kidnappings and drug-related killings attributed to cartel cells.

    But U.S. border cities are still being affected, according to Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and DEA officials said. And the trafficking of high-caliber weapons made or sold in the U.S. continues to pose one of the greatest threats, said William McMahon, ATF deputy assistant director for field operations.

    "We are seeing that they (cartels) are using military grade weapons," McMahon said. "More southbound inspections would be very helpful."

    McMahon said ATF officials are also concentrating on prosecuting gun dealers and gun buyers with a clean criminal history who buy guns to smuggle to Mexico.

    Harriet Babbitt, the former ambassador to Organization of American States, testified that the U.S. could help its own efforts by ratifying a cross-border weapons smuggling treaty originally signed more than a decade ago.

    The treaty requires countries to mark guns so they can be traced. The U.S. already requires that of guns imported or sold here, which helped officials to conclude that 90 percent of the guns traced by Mexican authorities are from the U.S.

    The problem, though, is that only about one in four guns found in Mexico is ever traced, McMahon said. Babbitt suggested that ratifying the treaty probably would increase Mexico's participation.

    Wicker and Barrasso said they worried the treaty could infringe on the rights of U.S. gun owners.

    McMahon and Joseph Arabit, special agent in charge of El Paso's DEA office, testified that their agencies primarily need more money and personnel at the border.

    Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano last week announced plans to send nearly 500 federal agents and support personnel to the border. The plan stops short of calls from Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to send National Guard troops.

    Arabit told the committee that troops probably aren't necessary.

    "I don't know that we are there yet," Arabit said. "There have been 413 homicides in Juarez, and two in El Paso. The violence has not spilled over."

    Kerry said the U.S. needs to fully commit to fighting the cartels in the U.S. and Mexico, and that smuggling is far too easy.

    "If I was in the business of moving that stuff ... I would sort of be laughing at our efforts," Kerry said. "Some of the lower level guys, mules, are being caught but they (cartel leaders) don't care. Then they find other ways to move drugs."


    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6349811.html
    170 comments at link

  2. #2
    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    55,883
    ""The treaty requires countries to mark guns so they can be traced. The U.S. already requires that of guns imported or sold here, which helped officials to conclude that 90 percent of the guns traced by Mexican authorities are from the U.S.

    ""The problem, though, is that only about one in four guns found in Mexico is ever traced, McMahon said. Babbitt suggested that ratifying the treaty probably would increase Mexico's participation.

    ""Wicker and Barrasso said they worried the treaty could infringe on the rights of U.S. gun owners.""

    Yes, it would most certainly infringe upon our guaranteed constitutional rights. Just get some people with guns like our troops down on the border and secure it. They know how to do this. It's what they're trained and paid to do, defend our nation from aggression.

    The violence in Mexico is their problem. We need to legalize/regulate drugs, control our own drug trade from field to living room, and get their cartels out of our 235 cities where they could erupt at any moment on our soil.

    This whole thing down on the border is probably a diversion to do just that too.
    A Nation Without Borders Is Not A Nation - Ronald Reagan
    Save America, Deport Congress! - Judy

    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    On the border
    Posts
    5,767
    Well, that settles that! If Kerry says so it must be true
    If Mexico has such a vibrant and open economy why are they all sneaking across the border to our country when our economy is in the toilet?
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  4. #4
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    65,443
    So if our country isn't very affected yet why does Phoenix have the second highest number of kidnappings in the world?????

    Looks like another bunch of fluffy hot air going on and what does Kerry know about the border anyway?
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    On the border
    Posts
    5,767
    Quote Originally Posted by jean
    So if our country isn't very affected yet why does Phoenix have the second highest number of kidnappings in the world?????

    Looks like another bunch of fluffy hot air going on and what does Kerry know about the border anyway?
    He was in El Paso and made a speech, that makes him an expert on the border. Why he may even have been close enough to it to actually see into Mexico.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  6. #6
    April
    Guest
    "I am troubled by the suggestions form some quarters that Mexico is in imminent danger of becoming a failed state," Kerry said. "Mexico is a functional democracy with a vibrate and open economy."
    Whatever............ Should we believe his BS or our lying eyes?

  7. #7
    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    55,883
    These morons need to quit worrying about Mexico and start worrying about whether the United States is in eminent danger of becoming a failed state.

    A Nation Without Borders Is Not A Nation - Ronald Reagan
    Save America, Deport Congress! - Judy

    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    TEXAS - The Lone Star State
    Posts
    16,941
    http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_12033826

    another story on El Paso Times on same
    WITH VIDEO

  9. #9
    Senior Member butterbean's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Posts
    11,181
    I don't know that we are there yet," Arabit said. "There have been 413 homicides in Juarez, and two in El Paso. The violence has not spilled over."
    Close enough. Why wait until people are raped, robbed, murdered, and beheaded? Put the army on the border.
    RIP Butterbean! We miss you and hope you are well in heaven.-- Your ALIPAC friends

    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  10. #10
    Senior Member SOSADFORUS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    IDAHO
    Posts
    19,570
    Right Kerry, they have only infiltrated 230 Americans cities....where does this idiot think these drug cartels came from, not to mention all the other criminals, thanks to them and not doing their job.



    ****ACTION ALERT****
    WASHINGTON DC AT IT AGAIN..."DREAM ACT" Stop in-state tuition for illegal aliens!
    this will GIVE path to citizenship and amnesty for millions of their relatives! ACT NOW!!!

    Instructions and contact information
    http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-151805.html
    Please support ALIPAC's fight to save American Jobs & Lives from illegal immigration by joining our free Activists E-Mail Alerts (CLICK HERE)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •