American guns and the war next door

[DainBramaged]

Last year, around 2,500 Mexicans died in the twin wars drug cartels are waging against each other and against the Mexican state, using weapons smuggled in from the United States. In the first 11 months of this year, the death toll was 5,367, according to the Mexican attorney general. Next year?

There is no end in sight. At least two of the lethal ingredients in the toxic brew that fuels Mexico’s ever-widening violence are unlikely to change: lax American gun laws and a Mexican border that barely controls north-south traffic. On many of the crossing points along the 2,000-mile frontier, travelers coming in from the United States, by car or on foot, are routinely waved through without even having to show identity papers.

Weak Mexican border controls rarely feature in official or academic reports on a problem that has prompted some experts and U.S. publications to wonder whether Mexico is a “failing state”. That’s the headline over a cover story on Mexico in the latest edition of the business magazine Forbes. Mexican officials reject the label.

But privately, they concede that Mexican authorities are doing a less-than-thorough job in searching and monitoring north-south traffic. They tend to point in the other direction, to the easy availability of guns in the United States, the armory of Mexico’s criminal mafias.

According to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the agency charged with regulating the firearms industries, there are 9,161 licensed arms dealers in the four states bordering Mexico — California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Buyers from licensed establishments need to go through a background check and the serial numbers of their purchases can be traced.

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2008/12/18/american-guns-and-the-war-next-door/

[rangersmith82]

1. Who cares....

So they should restrict my rights because the Mexicans want to break the law???

Sounds like their fu*ked up police can't keep things under control....oh i forgot the Cartels own the police, silly me.....

The only phrase that comes to mind is...fuck Mexico.

[safeinOhio]

2. They should

build a wall.

[DainBramaged]

3. Build a wall for what, decorative purposes?

[safeinOhio]

6. Keep guns out of their country.

Of course the U.S. will say it's their fault because of the demand.

[Hangingon]

8. Keeping guns out is a Mexican problem it is their border.

They are very quick to jail a US citizen when they find a lost shotgun shell in the truck bed.

[iverglas]

9. so the US will be pulling out

of Colombia this year?

How 'bout those Afghan poppies, eh?

[Tejas]

18. the US has nothing to do with Peruvian gun-smuggling into Columbia

[iverglas]

24. ah, the charm of the (pretend?) concrete thinker

Keeping guns out is a Mexican problem it is their border.

Cocaine ... United States ... their border ...

I think you got it.

[valhalla]

15. Just like Illegal Aliens

They not only won't do anything to stem the flow of their citizens into our country, but often help them. They want an open border, and that is what they are getting. It is a two way street.

[Tejas]

12. How about you tell North Korea to keep AK-47's out've Mexico?

Come on, tell us all just exactly what you THINK you know about the state of gun smuggling concerning Mexico.

While you're at it, please enlighten us with your knowledge about how the USA alone supplies the rest of Central America with AK-47's.

[benEzra]

16. Full auto AK-47's, and RPG's...

which are as tightly controlled in the United States as tanks, howitzers, and 500-lb bombs.

What a lot of people choose to ignore is that Mexico is now also the hub for many drug shipments going to Central America (a reversal of sorts), and that military hardware flows back the other way along that pipeline.

[Tejas]

17. Correct, no idea where antis get the idea that

Mexico is stupid and helpless. Funny how antis choose to ignore the real world of gun smuggling, then again some wouldn't wake up if a Chiquita banana hit them between the eyes.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

19. They hand out RPG's with every ticket at every gun show, don't you know that.

The NRA funds it and then gives people bus tickets to the border or to cities that have large minority populations.

David

[Yavapai]

21. As long as they do it with UNION Labor!!

[jmg257]

4. Sounds like Mexican authorities have to get their act together - if they really want to. $$$

[pipoman]

5. Since we are talking about recipes

At least two of the lethal ingredients in...

Who wants to talk about lethal ingredients? For those here who don't know I am a pro chef. One of my specialties is soup, I have literally hundreds of fab soup recipes. Among them are several which I am routinely asked for the recipe. Here is one favorite and this is the only place I have EVER revealed this recipe...ooo, my customers would be soooo jealous...

Cheesy Cabbage and Sausage Soup

1 med head green cabbage coarsely shredded
1 medium yellow onion slivered
10 Green Onions cut into rings
1 red bell pepper diced small
1 qt chicken stock
1 qt whole milk
1 lb shredded cheddar
1/4 lb blue cheese crumbles
1 1/2lb velveta cheese cubed
1/2 c canola salad oil
1 stick butter (not margarine)
1/2 c flour
1 lb German sausage links (any smoked sausage will work as will bratwurst)


in a 6 qt stock pot melt butter, when melted add the slivered onion, cook until the onion becomes clear. Add shredded cabbage and cover. Stir every 1 to 2 minutes. The idea here is to soften the cabbage and to lightly brown a few of the shreds, this should take around 8 to 10 minutes. Combine the milk, red pepper and chicken stock and add to the pot. Bring to a simmer. If the sausage is raw slice it and brown it through in a skillet, set aside. When the pot comes to a simmer add all of the cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. The blue cheese will not melt completely. When melted add the drained sausage. Combine the canola and flour, stir until smooth. Add the green onions. Bring the soup back up to a very light boil. Reduce heat and slowly add the oil/flour mixture until desired thickness. Don't over thicken, it should be just the right soup thickness. You shouldn't need salt, but taste and salt if needed. Simmer 10 minutes and serve with crusty bread. It is delicious!

This is my own recipe..not something I pulled off the web.

Anyone else have any recipes you would like to share, since we are talking about ingredients?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

10. Soup it is.

Firehall Baked Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS:

6 baking potatoes
1 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
8 cups milk
1/2 cup diced white onions
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
12 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
5 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
Crushed Red Pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. Bake potatoes 1 hour in a 400 degree F (200 degree C) oven. Scoop out the inside of the potatoes and set aside.
2. Saute onions in 1 tablespoon butter.
3. Melt the 1 cup butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Stir in 1 cup flour slowly while stirring vigorously to make a roux. Cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually pour in the milk while stirring vigorously until all the milk has been added. Bring heat to medium and keep stirring until the soup mixture starts to get thick. This is a real pain in the ass, but it's worth it.
4. Add the potatoes, onions, salt, ground black pepper, bacon and cheese. Stir well and continue to heat for about 15 minutes, allowing the flavors to blend. Stirring well, mix in the sour cream until well blended with the soup. Serve immediately.

Notes: Left over baked potatoes will work. Crushed Red Pepper to taste. Save some of the cheese to sprinkle on top when served. You can use green onions if so, do not saute first.


Hope you enjoy. Very good winter soup.

David

[iverglas]

26. add leeks

2 or 3 medium leeks for the volume you have, boiled in a little watter til soft; then you use a hand blender to mush it all together before adding the bacon and cheese.

I don't use flour, to save on empty carbs (and on having to make the bloody white sauce). Boil cubed potatoes with leeks, drain, add chicken broth, blend, season. The potatoes themselves are the thickener. And try white pepper instead of black for a delicate taste.

[iverglas]

25. forgive me

but that is disgusting.

Do they really still sell Velveeta cheese? And people buy it? And eat it?


The thing to make with cabbage is moo shu. Much easier and far better for you, of course, if you use store-bought whole wheat / low carb flour tortillas (small 7ish-inch size, not the 12-inch ones) instead of trying to make rice pancakes, which have no redeeming value other than their own pure-starch texture.

My own fast and easy version involves, oh, approximately

4 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 cups very thinly sliced (lengthwise or diagonally) celery
1 cup very thinly sliced (lengthwise) carrot
1 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
1 cup sliced (lengthwise) green onions
1 cup thinly sliced (lengthwise) cooking onions
-- all in about 2-inch lengths
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
slivered or crushed ginger and garlic to taste
(You can use the authentic stuff like shredded lily buds if you have them handy; I went off dried wood ear mushrooms when they kept being full of bugs where I bought them.)

all stir fried up in canola oil until limp-crisp (the cabbage limper than the rest) - it is a lot less volume when cooked - with a spoonful or so of sesame oil added at the end.

bottled hoisin sauce to taste - easiest just to add it to the mix in the serving bowl, or it can be left for eaters to add as they eat

spoon mix into warm tortillas, turn up the bottom, roll up and dribble on yourself as you eat.

Mmmmmm.

[iverglas]

7. an article you may find interesting

linked in this post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=193465&mesg_id=193606

I provide that link for an earlier discussion you may have missed.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

11. Some of those fully automatic AK-47's bought at gun shows I'm sure.

[Redneck Socialist]

13. And the media gets it wrong again. Laughably so in this case.

The cartel killers’ weapons of choice: AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles. Favorite pistols: Colt .38 Super, Glock 9 millimeter, and the FN 5-7, nicknamed “cop killer” because it can pierce a flak jacket at a range of 300 meters.

All these can be legally (and easily) acquired in the United States by citizens and legal residents without a criminal record, after a background check with the Federal Bureau of Investigations that often takes less than 15 minutes.

Assault rifles can't be bought quickly or easily, and good luck hitting anything, much less piercing a vest at 300 meters with the FN 5-7. Out of a three inch barrel a 28 to 55 grain projectile isn't going to pack much of a punch out at that range. We'll just ignore the fact that the AP ammo designed for the Five seveN isn't available to civilians in any event.

[Irreverend IX]

14. If the US manages to magically stop all illegal traffic of guns to Mexico...

The cartels will just start manufacturing them down there. The Pakistanis can do it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9xf62PKC5M

It's laughable for Mexico to complain about this when the gangs down there basically run the government. If they really get hard up for weapons they can just requisition some from the military.

[JonQ]

20. Sounds like they should start cooperating with us to shut down illegal border jumpers

Oh wait, they really want the money brought in by drug dealers and illegals working here. And so they don't really mind a few thousand peasants dying per year to get that money. Right.

Does anyone think that if we were to totally ban and confiscate all guns in the US that the violence would stop? That drug cartels would suddenly lose interest in arming themselves? Ha!

[DeadEyeDyck]

22. the guns that find there way to Mexico

were not purchased legally. All the SW states have tight gun purchasing laws. Even where I live, if I were to tranfer a gun to someone else, I would insure that I had a BOS and recorded the new ower of the gun.

People who own guns legally insure that their names are not attached to guns not in their control. The guns finding their way into Mexico are not legal and all the guins laws in the world will not make them so.

You all just don't seem to get it. Gun laws are obeyed by the good guys. Bad guys ignore them. So "tightening up" gun laws simply removes guns from the good guys and transfer them to the bad guys.

[iverglas]

23. uh ...

so?


The guns finding their way into Mexico are not legal and all the guins laws in the world will not make them so.

Really? And your basis for that assertion is ...?


Gun laws are obeyed by the good guys.

Ah. You mean the ones selling the guns? Too bad there aren't some laws for them to obey ... like only selling guns to licensed purchasers, and registering the transfer of the guns ...