U.S.-Backed Programs Supplying the Firepower for Mexico’s Soaring Murder Rate

[beevul]

U.S.-Backed Programs Supplying the Firepower for Mexico’s Soaring Murder Rate

Posted by Bill Conroy - April 14, 2011 at 8:16 pm

Felipe Calderón's Drug War Has Become Hot Market for U.S. Arms Trade


The dollar value of U.S. private-sector weapons shipments to Mexico in fiscal year 2009 exceeded the value of private arms shipments to two other major conflict regions elsewhere in the world, Iraq and Afghanistan, and even outpaced the value of arms shipped to one of the United States’ staunchest allies, Israel.

U.S. private-sector suppliers shipped a total of $177 million worth of defense articles — which includes items like military aircraft, firearms and explosives — to Mexico in fiscal 2009, which ended Sept. 30 of that year.

By comparison, over the same period, private arms companies in the U.S. shipped $40 million worth of weapons to Afghanistan; $126 million to Iraq; and $131 million to Israel.

The onslaught of weapons that hit Mexico in fiscal 2009 via these legal commercial exports is multiplied even further by the thousands of additional illegal weapons that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) allegedly allowed to cross the border into Mexico, unchecked, as part of what appears to be a seriously flawed operation known as Fast and Furious — which was launched in October 2009.

This flood of weapons, including high-powered assault rifles and even military-grade munitions, coursing into Mexico in fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2009 via the DCS program and ATF’s Fast and Furious seems to have been, in part, the catalyst for a huge spike in narco-related bloodshed in the country.



(MUCH more at the link)

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2011/04/us-backed-programs-supplying-firepower-mexico-s-soaring-murder-rate


It goes on to talk about DCS (direct commercial sales) programs


All the glue, bailing wire, and black tape in the world arent going to put that meme back together again.

The "border gun stores fuel mexican drug violence" meme, that is.

[Kolesar]

1. Why are you celebrating this story? eom

[beevul]

2. Its not nice to say someone is doing something they are not in fact doing.

Why do you beat your dog?

[Kolesar]

3. Now you're unhappy!

So so sad!!

[Old Codger]

4. The real

Thing backing the drug wars in Mexico are the U.S. citizenry buying drugs, no market no drugs, no one will produce a product that has no buyers, not rocket science.

[Katya Mullethov]

5. And with enough funding and the complete backing of the American people

We will round the corner in the war on drugs .

[one-eyed fat man]

8. He's not wrong.

The fact that there is a demand for dope certainly fuels the trade. The consumers don't care about dead Mexicans, they just want to get high and not get busted buying the stuff.

Dopers steadfastly insist they have absolutely nothing to do with Mexicans killing each other. It's all the government's fault for making dope illegal. They're just engaging in a little harmless recreational drug use; a "victimless" crime. They don't care about 30 or 40 thousand dead Mexicans. It's not like they were cute like "Flipper" and worth boycotting the producers over, like dolphins in tuna.

[Katya Mullethov]

9. You jingoistic fascist tendencies at first gave me pause

But only because that's what I most admire about you !!

Few care , correct , they never have . And it has resulted in a train of crimes and usurpations identical to that of the ATF . You should be well versed in the later , down to the tiniest charred details . But now the shoe is on the other foot . And the same people , use the same tactics , in a ill conceived attempt to conflate your freedoms with their war and do an end run on the constitution .

I trust you have heard of these "recent criticisms " and seen them referred to thusly .

There are so many domestic medical growers that it is causing a drop in prices , and therefore margins on Non-Mexican Free Weed® . That's givin' the double dong to the Golfos !! Perhaps this is but one of the many precipitating events in the escalation of violence , a resource in decline . But I digress , something is being done , and right under your nose . The assimilation will take some time , just like with constitutional carry . Resistance is futile .

[one-eyed fat man]

10. This is the still the only extant example of bi-partisan cooperation

The Grand Experiment

[Katya Mullethov]

11. Can you see the similarities

Between the modus employed in the initial thefts of , and the ultimate restorations of our rights to both medicate and defend ourselves ? It is quite striking really , from the top down taking , the bottom up repatriation , all the way to the end .....when the laws are relaxed and nobody notices , the dire predictions are proven false , and a net in tangible benefits is seen . This is the one big secret fear ,that once a prohibitionist construct is shown to be completely comprised of bullshit , it quickly goes the way of water witching or uroscopy . Oh wait ! People still DO THAT dont they ?

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

12. Whoever drew hat picture has never swung an axe.

both figures are holding the axes horridly wrong.

[one-eyed fat man]

13. I don't know...

Maybe he made the donkey LEFT-handed on purpose?

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

14. Either one of them, or even under the assumption of it being a mirrored image...

both figures are holding the axes very wrong.

It's a bit like swinging a baseball bat.
the lead arm/hand is on bottom and the rear arm is on top.
Often, the dominant (strong arm) is the top/rear arm.

The ONLY time you'd likely ever see somone holding an axe cross-handed (like in the cartoon) would be a speed competition where it's quicker to strike the opposite side of a trunk without repositioning your hands or moving your entire body to the other side of the trunk.

[one-eyed fat man]

15. I've spent plenty of time with an axe

and a maul, cut and split more firewood than I care to admit. But you are correct The Elephant is standing like a left-handed batter while holding the axe like he's right handed, while the Donkey is the reverse.

Have you every been to Hurley to watch the lumberjack competition?

[Katya Mullethov]

16. It's just an artifact of good composition

Helps with the "flow " of the illustration .

[PavePusher]

6. And your suggestion on how to accomplish that?

May I point out that banning anything has a noticeably poor track record?

(Something on the order of zero successes to billions of attempts, throughout history...)

[Logical]

7. kick