Mexican Military Incursions

[FeatherFall]

The Washington Times Reports that confrontations between US boarder patrol agents and, the (alleged) Mexican military have been happening for several years and are becoming more common. If the US isn't dealing with the Mexican military, it is at least dealing with a heavily armed and equipped, highly organized paramilitary. They have reportedly come in groups as large as 18 who wore BDUs, carried .50cal machine guns and rode humvees. Apparently, the troops are assisting with drug smuggling and other illegal activity.

The crazy part is that if this is true, it could be that Mexicans are asserting the proper role of the government in the face of the US abrogating of its own proper role! It all serves to illustrate the fact that when a government stops protecting individual rights and gets involved with matters of personal choice, chaos ensues.

This comes on the heels of recent speculation that a series of home invasions (and execution-style murders) in Phoenix were perpetrated by the Mexican military. The consensus is now that the home invaders were not Mexican troops.

[D'kian]

The Washington Times Reports that confrontations between US boarder patrol agents and, the (alleged) Mexican military have been happening for several years and are becoming more common. If the US isn't dealing with the Mexican military, it is at least dealing with a heavily armed and equipped, highly organized paramilitary. They have reportedly come in groups as large as 18 who wore BDUs, carried .50cal machine guns and rode humvees. Apparently, the troops are assisting with drug smuggling and other illegal activity.

They're either drug gang "soldiers" with their own weapons, or Mexican troops and/or federal poilce agents hired by the drug smugglers. In either case:

The crazy part is that if this is true, it could be that Mexicans are asserting the proper role of the government in the face of the US abrogating of its own proper role! It all serves to illustrate the fact that when a government stops protecting individual rights and gets involved with matters of personal choice, chaos ensues.

I fail to see how aiding criminals in a criminal enteprise is in any way the proper role of government.

True, none of this would be happening if drugs were legal. Also true, government should not make drugs illegal. But governments accross the world have done so anyway, and drugs are illegal almost anywhere. What that means is that drug growers, smugglers and dealers are not businessmen trying to earn a living. They are criminals. They don't stop at drugs, either. Many drug gangs also engage in kidnapping and bank robbery among other things like people-trafficking.

Which brings up the problem of how to legalize drugs so the current criminal gangs don't wind up with a monopoly on that market. The mob back in the 20s smuggled and dealt liquor. It didn't make it. Imagine if all liquor and beer companies were run by the mafia.

[Jake_Ellison]

Imagine if all liquor and beer companies were run by the mafia.

The Mafia isn't run by a young Michael Corleone, it's just a bunch of senseless, uneducated thugs. If they owned legitimate companies (be it marijuana growers/importers or liquor producers), they'd be failing left and right faster than GM, and getting replaced by honest businessmen.

Plus, there's no way marijuana would continue to be produced in Latin America and imported into the US.

Us and the Canadians are already growing far better pot than the Mexicans (no offense ), even with the various agencies trying to stop us.

And marijuana is the main drug these days, coke went out of fashion back in the eighties. I doubt people would start doing it again just because it's legalized.

So, to sum up, I don't see the Mafia (or gangs) as a major problem if we were to legalize drugs tomorrow. They'd simply lose their main source of cash, and their influence (in Mexico, but also in the streets of American cities). It's not so much that the criminals would be getting jobs at McDonald's, but at least they won't be getting replaced by new thugs when they inevitably end up in jail for other crimes.

[D'kian]

The Mafia isn't run by a young Michael Corleone, it's just a bunch of senseless, uneducated thugs. If they owned legitimate companies (be it marijuana growers/importers or liquor producers), they'd be failing left and right faster than GM, and getting replaced by honest businessmen.

What I know for real about the mafia (as opposed to what you see in the movies) is that they run some quasi-legitimate companies as cover for criminal enterprises, but also for their own sake (things like sanitation, for example). All with the conivance of local and, presumably, state officials.

Now, aside from pot, much of which is home-grown anyway, there are plenty of other drugs people take: heroin, methamphetamines, crack (which is a form of cocaine), etc. Maybe some reputable pharmaceutical and/or chemical companies would sell them if they were legal, but then again maybe not. Legal or not, drugs carry a social stigma many compaies would not like to be identified with (at least for now).

Alcohol was different not least because reputable brewers and distillers existed before Prohibition, and beacuse by and large drinking dind't carry a negative stigma (not everywhere and not for everyone).

But aside rfom the mafia drugs are handled by other criminal gangs like those who pay off Mexican soldiers. To tell you the truth I don't know what would happen in mexico if the US legalized all drugs. Largely the opinion today is that all Americans, or most of them, are junkies and all our troubles with the criminal gangas are America's fault. While it's true there would be no probelm if drugs weern't elgal in the US, it's also true we have drug problems of our own. Lots of people do drugs. In some very poor ares even young children sniff glue or paint thinner (and try to criminalize that!). It's an ugly scene all around.