President Obama has released an official statement that 'corrects'Secretary of State Clinton's assertion that drug violence in Mexico is starting to resemble that of Columbia 20 years ago.
In the resulting diplomatic clusterfu*k, Clinton goes on to put her foot in mouth:
Clinton, in her comments, said the governments in the region needed to develop the "equivalents" of Plan Colombia to gain the upper hand.
Oy vey.
(flip)
Now, when I first read the article, I was proud of Clinton for calling it like it is.
Anyone who's been paying the SLIGHTEST attention to Mexico knows that it's Ground Zero for the failure of the Drug War. The cartels have upgraded to car bombs (like other insurgencies in the Middle East). There are plenty of examples of how the Drug War has changed the fabric of Mexico- here, here, here, here.
Sooner or later you just have to wake up and smell the drug war. For some time, even conservatives have noted with increasing alarm how our lack of marijuana law reform is fueling the cartels, who famously make around 60% of their profits off weed...and before the rise of the California cannabis producers, you can bet that 60% number used to be higher. Even Sarah Freaking Palin has said that pot use at home should not be a criminal priority in America.
Back in 2009, I said that America is funding terrorism. In that diary is where I first began disseminating the official stat about weed being 60% of cartel profits. One of the scariest expert quotes from that diary:
Fourth, Latin American states have come to the conclusion that sticking with America's "war on drugs" is exactly the wrong path to take regarding the growing transnational threat of terrorism in this age of expanding globalization. The global drug trade comes to roughly one-third of a trillion dollars per year, with Latin American cartels obviously controlling a large portion of that flow. As virtually all transnational terror groups are simultaneously globalizing criminal enterprises, the lure of Latin American drug trafficking money naturally attracts their networking. In other words, America's "war on drugs" strategy actually encourages an influx of global terror connectivity with Latin America that otherwise would not likely occur.
Meteor Blades wrote this on Sunday:
Look at the map of Mexico. U.S. drug demand combined with U.S. drug policy has helped to obliterate the lines between Mexican states and replace them with cartel kingdoms, alternately allying with and warring on each other. The lines between the cartels and the army have been murderously obliterated as well. A group of elite, highly trained army veterans founded one of the cartels. A past chief of the Mexican government's anti-drug campaign made millions helping one cartel destroy its rival. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that the cartels get more than 60 percent of their revenue from marijuana sales in the United States.
Then look at Colombia.
Well, when Secretary Clinton looks at Columbia, she sees parallels to Mexico. Who can blame her? Unfortunately, the prescription that Clinton writes is more Drug War.
Clinton, in her comments, said the governments in the region needed to develop the "equivalents" of Plan Colombia to gain the upper hand.
goddamit
I don't even need to link to my own past writing or the countless articles by way smarter people than me about how Plan Colombia has been a waste of American taxpayer dollars.
Just another day in drug war policy debate by the US Federal Govt. Tune in next time for More Fail.
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LA Times:
Plan Colombia has drawn criticism for its heavy use of military force, the presence of hundreds of U.S military advisors, and for human rights abuses. The program involved not only military advisors, but U.S. special forces personnel and a large number of defense contractors.
Clinton acknowledged that Plan Colombia was "controversial ... there were problems and there were mistakes. But it worked."