Sunday, June 01, 2008
Let's Hear It For A Free Market—Ooops, Not With Gunfirer!
...Anyhow, from the front in the other War, the War On Drugs, comes familar news: we ain't winning. For years and years, Mexico has provided kajillions of tons of drugs to the U.S., as well as, probably, Canada. The corruption goes clear to the top in Mexico.
Yeah, I know it does here, too, but in a more legalistic way. I'm not saying that drug money does not penetrate our legislative and judicial branches of government. I'm saying that America's main form of corruption is about business—which means it isn't quite as bloody as drug money—except, say, in Iraq or Afghanistan...
Back when the U.S. government cracked down on the sale of ingredients used to manufacture "meth," it was obvious the Mexican drug cartels would take up the slack. If I was super-paranoid instead of kinda-paranoid I might suggest that allowing Mexico to find another profitable drug to traffic was the way it was planned. Domestic meth production is way down, but there's no scarcity of the drug. Some statistics I've seen indicate that heroin use is up. Maybe that's Afghanistan developing a robust market economy...
Mexicans believe drug gangs winning war with gov't
REUTERS
Reuters US Online Report World News
Jun 01, 2008 13:40 EST
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A majority of Mexicans believe
violent drug gangs are winning a war with President Felipe
Calderon's government after one of the worst months on record
for killings, Reforma newspaper reported on Sunday.
According to a poll by the newspaper, 53 percent of
Mexicans think that drug traffickers hold the upper hand
against government forces which are trying to clamp down on
cartels that ship drugs to the United States.
Only 24 percent said they believed the government was
winning the battle. The remaining 23 percent gave no opinion.
May was one of the most violent months on record for drug
killings, both between gangs and targeting federal forces.
Calderon has sent thousands of troops onto the streets in a bid
to stop cartels from operating.
Close to 500 people were slain in May -- including a wave
against police chiefs -- the highest number of killings since
Calderon took office in December 2006, according to a tally
kept by Milenio newspaper.
Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said last month that
4,152 drug-related killings have been registered in Calderon's
administration, 450 of them police, military or government
officials.
Calderon, however, kept up his approval rating in the
Reforma poll. Some 64 percent approved his work as president,
up from 63 percent in March. A year ago his rating was 65
percent.
The poll was carried out among 1,515 people nationwide on
May 23-25 and had a margin or error of plus or minus 2.5
percent, Reforma said.
(Reporting by Chris Aspin; Editing by Eric Beech)
Source:
Reuters US Online Report World News
Yeah, I know it does here, too, but in a more legalistic way. I'm not saying that drug money does not penetrate our legislative and judicial branches of government. I'm saying that America's main form of corruption is about business—which means it isn't quite as bloody as drug money—except, say, in Iraq or Afghanistan...
Back when the U.S. government cracked down on the sale of ingredients used to manufacture "meth," it was obvious the Mexican drug cartels would take up the slack. If I was super-paranoid instead of kinda-paranoid I might suggest that allowing Mexico to find another profitable drug to traffic was the way it was planned. Domestic meth production is way down, but there's no scarcity of the drug. Some statistics I've seen indicate that heroin use is up. Maybe that's Afghanistan developing a robust market economy...
Mexicans believe drug gangs winning war with gov't
REUTERS
Reuters US Online Report World News
Jun 01, 2008 13:40 EST
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A majority of Mexicans believe
violent drug gangs are winning a war with President Felipe
Calderon's government after one of the worst months on record
for killings, Reforma newspaper reported on Sunday.
According to a poll by the newspaper, 53 percent of
Mexicans think that drug traffickers hold the upper hand
against government forces which are trying to clamp down on
cartels that ship drugs to the United States.
Only 24 percent said they believed the government was
winning the battle. The remaining 23 percent gave no opinion.
May was one of the most violent months on record for drug
killings, both between gangs and targeting federal forces.
Calderon has sent thousands of troops onto the streets in a bid
to stop cartels from operating.
Close to 500 people were slain in May -- including a wave
against police chiefs -- the highest number of killings since
Calderon took office in December 2006, according to a tally
kept by Milenio newspaper.
Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said last month that
4,152 drug-related killings have been registered in Calderon's
administration, 450 of them police, military or government
officials.
Calderon, however, kept up his approval rating in the
Reforma poll. Some 64 percent approved his work as president,
up from 63 percent in March. A year ago his rating was 65
percent.
The poll was carried out among 1,515 people nationwide on
May 23-25 and had a margin or error of plus or minus 2.5
percent, Reforma said.
(Reporting by Chris Aspin; Editing by Eric Beech)
Source:
Reuters US Online Report World News
