With advanced weapons and tactics at their disposal, Mexican cartels are more militarized ever before. However, a military response still may not be the best bet at combating them.
Rarely does anyone talk about the REAL problem- the addicts and consumers. Mexico doesn't have a drug problem, the US does. All the consumers are in the US. Mexico suffers theviolence of the demand created by US drug users. The "war on drugs" has never worked. Demand is always supplied, by whatever means necessary. Unless the root issue is addressed, American drug use, nothing will change.
It seems that some special operators from various countries have become nothing more than highly paid criminals. It’s a damed shame . With that said I do not want to see the US military involved in Mexico. It would be a disaster. If Mexico needs weapons, training or intelligence I’d be okay with that. Mexico is capable of fighting this themselves and they don’t want the US there. Just as in the US corruption is the biggest obstacle to law and order. The old saying still stands, it’s good for thee, but not for me. I retired to Mexico and feel safer here than Kansas City, but I don’t go looking for trouble either. If there was no demand there would be no drug cartels. Control our borders and most of the problem would be solved.
Nice write-up on their current capabilities and where they’ve gotten their training. The thing that concerns me most is that their equipment is made in USA. How is so much equipment getting south of the border and no one seems to care?
This is an interesting article with good sourcing.
There's definitely a lot getting across the border from the illicit arms market. I suspect that they are sourcing weapons from domestic military backchannels.
It is my firm belief that most Americans have created an obsession and unrealistic narrative of cartel violence in Mexico. Narco drug culture has been romanticized in hit Netflix TV shows like Narcos and Pablo Escobar. Drama sells and Americans are buying it! Cartel violence is localized and happens within the confines of rival cartel areas or turfs. Cartel violence has been greatly exaggerated from exacerbated from the legacy media. Furthermore, cartel members don’t “bother” you as long as you don’t bother them. It is an interesting dynamic but this is how it works in Mexico. In politics when it comes to the Latino population Democrats give promise's of the American Dream they don’t keep and Republicans use Latino’s as their favorite punching bag. From the ground up many things have to change from the social stigma that all immigrants are bad people to incompetent Latino political representation. From personal experience the family that I have who live in Mexico live peacefully. The two biggest issues plaguing Mexico is the lack of economic prosperity along with a weak political infrastructure. You fix those two things along with the demand of drugs from the US and you get rid of the cartel. Lastly, Americans must take ownership of the drug issue. Americans are the number one consumer of drugs that are supplied by Mexico. If we are to be successful against The War on Drugs the battle must be fought in both Mexico and USA.
We could, you know, try something different like letting Americans just buy their drugs from the us government. Require them to jump through hoops, get advised about how it's bad, maybe even a doctor checkup. Sell those drugs at current market prices and use the massive profits (cheap to synthesize chemically w/o legal constraint) to properly fund treatment.
Yes, drugs are bad for people but up through the 1914 morphine (laudinum) was common in our bathroom cabinets and we sent cocaine to soldiers on the front in WW1 and it wasn't the end of the world. After a 100 years of prohibition drugs of abuse are widely available across the country and inconsistent dosing/adulterants cause huge numbers of deaths each year.
On top of this this policy results in essentially outright warfare in Mexico, horrible things like people being burned alive as warnings not to mention substantial numbers of innocent people being killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
How bad do the consequences have to be before we consider that the cure might be worse than the disease??!
I never said that. It's just that the men of the Delta Force (JSOC) are among the very best fighters in America and even the world, so for me it's very concerning.
I'm not as concerned about this. It's not like Rambo. What makes those units so effective isn't that any guy is just so badass but the discipline and constant training to work together for maximum efficiency.
Having a guy who used to be Delta force isn't really giving the cartel a Delta force level asset. They aren't so deadly because if secret knowledge that operator can share and I very much doubt that cartel soldiers can manage the kind of discipline, trust and extensively exhaustive training based on detailed intelligence that makes the us special forces command effective.
I mean it's hard to convince people who are just there for the money to be willing to make sacrifices for the good of the outfit ... and a big key to unit effectiveness is that the members aren't all shirking a bit because they'd rather be the one who doesn't die.
Rarely does anyone talk about the REAL problem- the addicts and consumers. Mexico doesn't have a drug problem, the US does. All the consumers are in the US. Mexico suffers theviolence of the demand created by US drug users. The "war on drugs" has never worked. Demand is always supplied, by whatever means necessary. Unless the root issue is addressed, American drug use, nothing will change.
It seems that some special operators from various countries have become nothing more than highly paid criminals. It’s a damed shame . With that said I do not want to see the US military involved in Mexico. It would be a disaster. If Mexico needs weapons, training or intelligence I’d be okay with that. Mexico is capable of fighting this themselves and they don’t want the US there. Just as in the US corruption is the biggest obstacle to law and order. The old saying still stands, it’s good for thee, but not for me. I retired to Mexico and feel safer here than Kansas City, but I don’t go looking for trouble either. If there was no demand there would be no drug cartels. Control our borders and most of the problem would be solved.
Nice write-up on their current capabilities and where they’ve gotten their training. The thing that concerns me most is that their equipment is made in USA. How is so much equipment getting south of the border and no one seems to care?
This is an interesting article with good sourcing.
https://narco.news/articles/fat-furious-a-maga-contra-scandal
There's definitely a lot getting across the border from the illicit arms market. I suspect that they are sourcing weapons from domestic military backchannels.
It is my firm belief that most Americans have created an obsession and unrealistic narrative of cartel violence in Mexico. Narco drug culture has been romanticized in hit Netflix TV shows like Narcos and Pablo Escobar. Drama sells and Americans are buying it! Cartel violence is localized and happens within the confines of rival cartel areas or turfs. Cartel violence has been greatly exaggerated from exacerbated from the legacy media. Furthermore, cartel members don’t “bother” you as long as you don’t bother them. It is an interesting dynamic but this is how it works in Mexico. In politics when it comes to the Latino population Democrats give promise's of the American Dream they don’t keep and Republicans use Latino’s as their favorite punching bag. From the ground up many things have to change from the social stigma that all immigrants are bad people to incompetent Latino political representation. From personal experience the family that I have who live in Mexico live peacefully. The two biggest issues plaguing Mexico is the lack of economic prosperity along with a weak political infrastructure. You fix those two things along with the demand of drugs from the US and you get rid of the cartel. Lastly, Americans must take ownership of the drug issue. Americans are the number one consumer of drugs that are supplied by Mexico. If we are to be successful against The War on Drugs the battle must be fought in both Mexico and USA.
We could, you know, try something different like letting Americans just buy their drugs from the us government. Require them to jump through hoops, get advised about how it's bad, maybe even a doctor checkup. Sell those drugs at current market prices and use the massive profits (cheap to synthesize chemically w/o legal constraint) to properly fund treatment.
Yes, drugs are bad for people but up through the 1914 morphine (laudinum) was common in our bathroom cabinets and we sent cocaine to soldiers on the front in WW1 and it wasn't the end of the world. After a 100 years of prohibition drugs of abuse are widely available across the country and inconsistent dosing/adulterants cause huge numbers of deaths each year.
On top of this this policy results in essentially outright warfare in Mexico, horrible things like people being burned alive as warnings not to mention substantial numbers of innocent people being killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
How bad do the consequences have to be before we consider that the cure might be worse than the disease??!
Wait, there are really former U.S. Delta Force soldiers in the ranks of the Mexican cartels? Did I read correctly?
That’s what the witness said. It’s impossible to verify, but given the CJNG’s vast resources and clear military training, it’s very likely.
Did you think that no former Delta force soldiers are greedy and immoral?
I never said that. It's just that the men of the Delta Force (JSOC) are among the very best fighters in America and even the world, so for me it's very concerning.
Sorry I misinterpreted.
I'm not as concerned about this. It's not like Rambo. What makes those units so effective isn't that any guy is just so badass but the discipline and constant training to work together for maximum efficiency.
Having a guy who used to be Delta force isn't really giving the cartel a Delta force level asset. They aren't so deadly because if secret knowledge that operator can share and I very much doubt that cartel soldiers can manage the kind of discipline, trust and extensively exhaustive training based on detailed intelligence that makes the us special forces command effective.
I mean it's hard to convince people who are just there for the money to be willing to make sacrifices for the good of the outfit ... and a big key to unit effectiveness is that the members aren't all shirking a bit because they'd rather be the one who doesn't die.