I'd like to lay out in this post why I believe the violence in Mexico, and more importantly, why the US focus on it is a lie and fraud being forced on the American People by our government. Before you call me a loon or a nutter, read my full post, and then I'd like to hear why you think I'm wrong.
Sen. Kerry makes push for tighter gun control...
Apparently he still hasn't figured out why he lost to Bush...
Let's think about the logic of this, for just a moment. Let's assume that the information being espoused by the ATF in this article as fact, is true. Let's pretend for a moment, that guns are actually "pouring across the Mexican border" (
)and are being used to commit violence by the cartels. I have bile in my mouth even playing devil's advocate here, but bear with me, I have a legitimate point.
Let's assume this is actually happening, just like the Mexican government and our esteemed [strike]liars[/strike] agents at the ATF are saying it is. Let's even go so far as to assume that all parties are telling the truth (ROL), and that criminal gun dealers are selling these guns in bulk to gun runners who are taking them back across the border to the cartels. We know for sure these guns came from the US, because they still have serial numbers (RROL), and the Mexican government can actually trace these serial numbers to US gun sellers. The ATF even traced 60 whole guns to cities all over the US, [strike]conveniently[/strike] suprisingly in at least one major city on every coast and even the Midwest, obviously meaning it's a national issue requiring Federal intervention.
Let's just pretend for a moment that those are the facts. If they are true, does it make sense for the US to severely restrict the ability of its own citizens; those that have a 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms? Or does it make more sense to put additional resources on the border and attempt to stop the flow of weapons? Further, if we have such substantial evidence that it us the US consumer market fueling the gun runs across the border, why don't we see a wholesale and widespread attempt by the ATF to shut down these dealers? They have testified that they traced the guns to the US. They have testified that the problem is overwhelming and spread out across the entire US. They haven't othered to go after the dealers they claim are supplying the guns, yet they have 200+ resources dedicated solely to this effort.
Something doesn't smell right here. How can the only option being considered be the one that restricts the rights of citizens rather than prosecuting those who are supposedly creating the problem? After all, the ATF has already testified that they know where the guns came from. Why isn't the Senate demanding prosecutions of the FFL's?
I suggest it's because they know the truth of the matter is that it is the US Government that supplied a vast majority of the guns, and they don't want that fact coming to light. What has not been supplied by the US government is being imported into Mexico by sea and through it's Southern border with Central America.
Before you call me a conspiracy nut, let me add some additional facts in order to tell you how I reached that theory in the first place.
FACT: The Mexican government has thus far refused to release the serial numbers of the guns they claim came from the United States. US officials including the ATF, Senators, and Cabinet members have claimed that 70-90% of guns used in Mexico can be traced to the US, but thus far, despite the cacophony of screaming from the pro-gun groups, not one shred of proof of this claim has been submitted for public review. No evidence has been presented, whatsoever, of either the existence of these guns or of their serial numbers. Aside from ATF testimony of this "fact," there has been nothing presented by anyone involved to actually back up this claim.
FACT: The ATF has testified to Congress that they have "148 special agents dedicated to investigating firearms trafficking on a full-time basis and 59 industry operations investigators (IOIs) responsible for conducting regulatory inspections of federally licensed gun dealers, known as Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs), along the Southwest border." Link - Page 6
One would think over 200 agents would be able to provide a substantial amount of evidence of their claims, but thus far, nothing at all has been demonstrated except claims and unsupported allegations.
FACT: In 2007, then President George W. Bush, with help from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was able to get legislation passed that would provide Mexico with at least 1.4 billion dollars for Mexican military and police forces. This effort was dubbed "Plan Mexico." Link
FACT: The U.S. Office of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms reports that 90% of arms decommissioned from organized crime in Mexico came from the United States, many registered to the U.S. Army. Link
FACT: Senator Alfonso Sanchez Anaya reported to the Mexican Congress that 15 million arms circulate illegally in Mexico. ("Detalla la PGR lista de armas decomisadas," Andrea Becerril, La Jornada, Mar. 19, 2008.) FACT: The Feb. 21, 2009 attack on police headquarters in coastal Zihuatanejo, which injured four people, included military-grade weapons, including hand grenades, grenade launchers, armor-piercing munitions and antitank rockets. These weapons and munitions are not available to the US population, except in very rare; highly restricted and registered cases. Link
FACT: Mexican Authorities reported three thefts of several hundred pounds of blasting material from industrial explosives plants in Durango during a four-day period in March of 2009. Link
FACT: Grenades or military-grade weapons have been reported in at least 10 Mexican states during the last six months, used against police headquarters, city halls, a U.S. consulate, TV stations and senior Mexican officials. In a three-week period ended March 6, five grenade attacks were launched on police patrols and stations and the home of a commander in the south-central state of Michoacan. Other such attacks occurred in five other states during the same period. Link
FACT:: U.S. law enforcement officials say they detected the smuggling of grenades and other military-grade equipment into Mexico about a year and a half ago, and observed a sharp uptick in the use of the weapons about six months ago. The Mexican government said it has seized 2,239 grenades in the last two years, in contrast to 59 seized over the previous two years. Again, the US market cannot possibly be supplying these devices as they are not available to anyone but LEO and Military except in extremely rare, highly documented and registered cases. Link
FACT: The single deadliest attack on civilians by drug traffickers in Mexico took place Sept. 15 at an Independence Day celebration in the central plaza of Morelia, hometown of President Felipe Calderon and capital of Michoacan. Attackers hurled fragmentation grenades at the celebrating crowd, killing eight people and wounding dozens more. Amid the recent spate of attacks in Michoacan, federal police on Feb. 20 announced the discovery of 66 fragmentation grenades in the fake bottom of a truck intercepted in southern Mexico, just over the border from Guatemala. The two men arrested with the cargo told police they were transporting the grenades to Morelia. Link
FACT: In the one case that the US Government has filed against a FFL (X-Caliber Guns in Arizona), the case was thrown out with prejudice when the judge noted "There is no proof whatsoever that any prohibited (firearm) possessor ended up with the firearms." Link
FACT: Grenades used in three attacks in Monterrey and Texas were linked to a single Monterrey, Mexico warehouse, packed with explosives and high-caliber guns, reportedly belonging to the Gulf cartel. Mexican authorities raided the warehouse in October and seized the cache, which contained South Korean-manufactured grenades similar to the American M67 fragmentation grenade. Grenades from the same lot were used in a Jan. 6, 2009 attack on the Televisa television station in Monterrey, which caused damage but no injuries, and during an Oct. 12 attack against the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey. The device at the consulate did not detonate. Late on the night of Jan. 31, 2009, a Saturday, a man tossed a grenade into the El Booty Lounge in Pharr, Texas. Three off-duty Texas police officers were there, though authorities would not say whether they were the target. The explosive, which did not detonate, was traced to the Monterrey warehouse. Link
So if the Mexican cartels can import South Korean grenades, grenades which are neither produced or available in the US, how far of a leap is it to believe they can also import guns from anywhere in the world?
FACT: Traffickers using M203 40-millimeter grenade launchers last year attacked and killed eight Mexican federal police officers in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state. In the northern border city of Nogales, the Sonora state police commander was killed Nov. 2, 2009 in an ambush by purported traffickers firing AK-47s and lobbing grenades. He had been returning from a meeting with U.S. authorities in Arizona to discuss gun smuggling. Link
You can't get an M203 40-millimeter grenade launcher at a gun store in the US. You can get it in a US Army armory though, or from your friendly local US Government arms supplier tasked with "Plan Mexico" duty.
FACT: Beyond the weaponry, drug gangs for several years have demonstrated the ability to form squads and employ military tactics, including the use of assault rifles, hand grenades, grenade launchers and fully automatic weapons to pin down army forces. This has enabled them to attack army patrols frontally, as they did with lethal results Feb. 7, 2009 in the central state of Zacatecas, killing one sergeant and critically wounding a colonel. "At this stage, the drug cartels are using basic infantry weaponry to counter government forces," a U.S. government official in Mexico said. "Encountering criminals with this kind of weaponry is a horse of a different color," the official said. "It's not your typical patrol stop, where someone pulls a gun. This has all the makings of an infantry squad, or guerrilla fighting." The fear of guerrilla warfare was compounded in February when 270 pounds of dynamite and several hundred electric detonators were stolen from a U.S. firm in the state of Durango. On Valentine's Day, about 20 masked gunmen, led by a heavyset man wearing gold rings and chains, stormed the warehouse of a subsidiary of Austin Powder Co., an industrial explosives manufacturer, according to official accounts. They overpowered guards and emptied the warehouse. Two similar thefts were reported within four days in the same area. Link
Where do you think these cartels are learning how to use military infantry tactics and guerilla warfare methods? Do you think it might be possible that some of the corrupt Mexican police or military that have been trained by the US, have accepted bribes to train them? Is it also possible that some of the narco police and military that the CIA has been training in Colombia, for decades, have decided that life is more posh in the cartels than in a life dedicated to fighting them? Let's look at another fact on that topic...
FACT: The US State Department 2007 report on human rights in Mexico notes, "Corruption continued to be a problem, as many police were involved in kidnapping, extortion, or providing protection for, or acting directly on behalf of organized crime and drug traffickers. Impunity was pervasive to an extent that victims often refused to file complaints." Ranking members of Mexican security forces on local and national levels maintain close links to drug traffickers, working for them directly in many parts of the country. The army has traditionally been more independent of this dynamic, but its deployment within the country in the drug war is increasing its involvement and leading to human rights violations. Many armed forces deserters, that totaled 17,000 last year alone, receive counternarcotics training and then pass it along in service to high-paying drug cartels. The infamous Zetas (a drug trafficking network comprised of former law enforcement and military agents) illustrate the lethal capacity of military-trained groups that operate with drug cartels. Link
––––––––
I am convinced that this campaign of lies, as it relates to a need for a new Assault Weapons Ban or any gun control at all, is being used as a smokescreen to mask the real issue, which is; the US Government has been complicit in providing weapons and training to corrupt officials in the Mexican Government which have passed on both to the cartels. It is also obvious that Mexico has a history and tradition of corruption at every level of their local, state, and federal government, and this environment makes it ridiculously easy to import practically anything by land, air, and sea. The evidence found throughout Mexico clearly shows that munitions not available in the US have been imported to Mexico, and it is hardly a leap in logic to think that it would be just as easy to import the "fully-automatic guns" that are being used as well. Those are damn sure not coming from the US, because they are so heavily restricted, registered, and controlled. It is obvious that the cartels are now using para-military tactics to fight the Mexican government, and is hardly a leap in logic to assume they learned those tactics from all of the para-militaries that the US has been training in Central America for decades.
So that's what I have to offer as to why the Mexican violence problem has nothing to do with weapons sold in the US. Even if they were, we could easily go after the criminal FFL's because the ATF has testified they know who sold them, and where they are. That is clearly a lie or they would be seeking prosecutions, especially under the watch of a vehement anti-gun extremist like Eric Holder (US Attorney General).
This alleged export problem is being used to lie to the American people and sell them on an Assault Weapons Ban and more gun control. That potential ban or any other gun control will have absolutely zero impact on violence in Mexico. US officials know this, but clearly they feel that their ideological goal of disarming the citizenry is far more important than actually dealing with the problem south of our border. The governors of Arizona and Texas can see the writing on the wall, and they know it is only a matter of time before this becomes a US problem as well. They have practically begged for the National Guard to be deployed to the border, but instead, the US Government has responded by sending a few hundred law enforcement agents.
What is happening in Mexico is a tragedy, but our government is trying to use that tragedy to lie to the people to pass laws that would have no effect on that which they pretend to care about. I further believe that this focus on the US consumer market is a smokescreen to hide the real facts of the US Governments involvement in indirectly arming the Cartels. How illogical is this really? Columbia/Drug Cartels? Iran/Contra? Afghani's/Soviets? Saddam Hussein? This may sound like crazy talk, but our government has a history and a track record of getting involved in this manner, almost universally with tragic results in the end. I believe the US is trying to cover its involvement by trying to make the issue out to be the US consumer gun market. The half-truth they've been telling is that the US is the source of some of the guns in Mexico, the "little white lie" is that the armory supplying is the US Military, and the knowledge base in training is the US DEA. Prove me wrong, or at least tell me why you think I'm nuts.
Sen. Kerry makes push for tighter gun control...
Apparently he still hasn't figured out why he lost to Bush...
Let's think about the logic of this, for just a moment. Let's assume that the information being espoused by the ATF in this article as fact, is true. Let's pretend for a moment, that guns are actually "pouring across the Mexican border" (
)and are being used to commit violence by the cartels. I have bile in my mouth even playing devil's advocate here, but bear with me, I have a legitimate point.Let's assume this is actually happening, just like the Mexican government and our esteemed [strike]liars[/strike] agents at the ATF are saying it is. Let's even go so far as to assume that all parties are telling the truth (ROL), and that criminal gun dealers are selling these guns in bulk to gun runners who are taking them back across the border to the cartels. We know for sure these guns came from the US, because they still have serial numbers (RROL), and the Mexican government can actually trace these serial numbers to US gun sellers. The ATF even traced 60 whole guns to cities all over the US, [strike]conveniently[/strike] suprisingly in at least one major city on every coast and even the Midwest, obviously meaning it's a national issue requiring Federal intervention.
Let's just pretend for a moment that those are the facts. If they are true, does it make sense for the US to severely restrict the ability of its own citizens; those that have a 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms? Or does it make more sense to put additional resources on the border and attempt to stop the flow of weapons? Further, if we have such substantial evidence that it us the US consumer market fueling the gun runs across the border, why don't we see a wholesale and widespread attempt by the ATF to shut down these dealers? They have testified that they traced the guns to the US. They have testified that the problem is overwhelming and spread out across the entire US. They haven't othered to go after the dealers they claim are supplying the guns, yet they have 200+ resources dedicated solely to this effort.
Something doesn't smell right here. How can the only option being considered be the one that restricts the rights of citizens rather than prosecuting those who are supposedly creating the problem? After all, the ATF has already testified that they know where the guns came from. Why isn't the Senate demanding prosecutions of the FFL's?
I suggest it's because they know the truth of the matter is that it is the US Government that supplied a vast majority of the guns, and they don't want that fact coming to light. What has not been supplied by the US government is being imported into Mexico by sea and through it's Southern border with Central America.
Before you call me a conspiracy nut, let me add some additional facts in order to tell you how I reached that theory in the first place.
FACT: The Mexican government has thus far refused to release the serial numbers of the guns they claim came from the United States. US officials including the ATF, Senators, and Cabinet members have claimed that 70-90% of guns used in Mexico can be traced to the US, but thus far, despite the cacophony of screaming from the pro-gun groups, not one shred of proof of this claim has been submitted for public review. No evidence has been presented, whatsoever, of either the existence of these guns or of their serial numbers. Aside from ATF testimony of this "fact," there has been nothing presented by anyone involved to actually back up this claim.
FACT: The ATF has testified to Congress that they have "148 special agents dedicated to investigating firearms trafficking on a full-time basis and 59 industry operations investigators (IOIs) responsible for conducting regulatory inspections of federally licensed gun dealers, known as Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs), along the Southwest border." Link - Page 6
One would think over 200 agents would be able to provide a substantial amount of evidence of their claims, but thus far, nothing at all has been demonstrated except claims and unsupported allegations.
FACT: In 2007, then President George W. Bush, with help from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was able to get legislation passed that would provide Mexico with at least 1.4 billion dollars for Mexican military and police forces. This effort was dubbed "Plan Mexico." Link
FACT: The U.S. Office of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms reports that 90% of arms decommissioned from organized crime in Mexico came from the United States, many registered to the U.S. Army. Link
FACT: Senator Alfonso Sanchez Anaya reported to the Mexican Congress that 15 million arms circulate illegally in Mexico. ("Detalla la PGR lista de armas decomisadas," Andrea Becerril, La Jornada, Mar. 19, 2008.) FACT: The Feb. 21, 2009 attack on police headquarters in coastal Zihuatanejo, which injured four people, included military-grade weapons, including hand grenades, grenade launchers, armor-piercing munitions and antitank rockets. These weapons and munitions are not available to the US population, except in very rare; highly restricted and registered cases. Link
FACT: Mexican Authorities reported three thefts of several hundred pounds of blasting material from industrial explosives plants in Durango during a four-day period in March of 2009. Link
FACT: Grenades or military-grade weapons have been reported in at least 10 Mexican states during the last six months, used against police headquarters, city halls, a U.S. consulate, TV stations and senior Mexican officials. In a three-week period ended March 6, five grenade attacks were launched on police patrols and stations and the home of a commander in the south-central state of Michoacan. Other such attacks occurred in five other states during the same period. Link
FACT:: U.S. law enforcement officials say they detected the smuggling of grenades and other military-grade equipment into Mexico about a year and a half ago, and observed a sharp uptick in the use of the weapons about six months ago. The Mexican government said it has seized 2,239 grenades in the last two years, in contrast to 59 seized over the previous two years. Again, the US market cannot possibly be supplying these devices as they are not available to anyone but LEO and Military except in extremely rare, highly documented and registered cases. Link
FACT: The single deadliest attack on civilians by drug traffickers in Mexico took place Sept. 15 at an Independence Day celebration in the central plaza of Morelia, hometown of President Felipe Calderon and capital of Michoacan. Attackers hurled fragmentation grenades at the celebrating crowd, killing eight people and wounding dozens more. Amid the recent spate of attacks in Michoacan, federal police on Feb. 20 announced the discovery of 66 fragmentation grenades in the fake bottom of a truck intercepted in southern Mexico, just over the border from Guatemala. The two men arrested with the cargo told police they were transporting the grenades to Morelia. Link
FACT: In the one case that the US Government has filed against a FFL (X-Caliber Guns in Arizona), the case was thrown out with prejudice when the judge noted "There is no proof whatsoever that any prohibited (firearm) possessor ended up with the firearms." Link
FACT: Grenades used in three attacks in Monterrey and Texas were linked to a single Monterrey, Mexico warehouse, packed with explosives and high-caliber guns, reportedly belonging to the Gulf cartel. Mexican authorities raided the warehouse in October and seized the cache, which contained South Korean-manufactured grenades similar to the American M67 fragmentation grenade. Grenades from the same lot were used in a Jan. 6, 2009 attack on the Televisa television station in Monterrey, which caused damage but no injuries, and during an Oct. 12 attack against the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey. The device at the consulate did not detonate. Late on the night of Jan. 31, 2009, a Saturday, a man tossed a grenade into the El Booty Lounge in Pharr, Texas. Three off-duty Texas police officers were there, though authorities would not say whether they were the target. The explosive, which did not detonate, was traced to the Monterrey warehouse. Link
So if the Mexican cartels can import South Korean grenades, grenades which are neither produced or available in the US, how far of a leap is it to believe they can also import guns from anywhere in the world?
FACT: Traffickers using M203 40-millimeter grenade launchers last year attacked and killed eight Mexican federal police officers in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state. In the northern border city of Nogales, the Sonora state police commander was killed Nov. 2, 2009 in an ambush by purported traffickers firing AK-47s and lobbing grenades. He had been returning from a meeting with U.S. authorities in Arizona to discuss gun smuggling. Link
You can't get an M203 40-millimeter grenade launcher at a gun store in the US. You can get it in a US Army armory though, or from your friendly local US Government arms supplier tasked with "Plan Mexico" duty.
FACT: Beyond the weaponry, drug gangs for several years have demonstrated the ability to form squads and employ military tactics, including the use of assault rifles, hand grenades, grenade launchers and fully automatic weapons to pin down army forces. This has enabled them to attack army patrols frontally, as they did with lethal results Feb. 7, 2009 in the central state of Zacatecas, killing one sergeant and critically wounding a colonel. "At this stage, the drug cartels are using basic infantry weaponry to counter government forces," a U.S. government official in Mexico said. "Encountering criminals with this kind of weaponry is a horse of a different color," the official said. "It's not your typical patrol stop, where someone pulls a gun. This has all the makings of an infantry squad, or guerrilla fighting." The fear of guerrilla warfare was compounded in February when 270 pounds of dynamite and several hundred electric detonators were stolen from a U.S. firm in the state of Durango. On Valentine's Day, about 20 masked gunmen, led by a heavyset man wearing gold rings and chains, stormed the warehouse of a subsidiary of Austin Powder Co., an industrial explosives manufacturer, according to official accounts. They overpowered guards and emptied the warehouse. Two similar thefts were reported within four days in the same area. Link
Where do you think these cartels are learning how to use military infantry tactics and guerilla warfare methods? Do you think it might be possible that some of the corrupt Mexican police or military that have been trained by the US, have accepted bribes to train them? Is it also possible that some of the narco police and military that the CIA has been training in Colombia, for decades, have decided that life is more posh in the cartels than in a life dedicated to fighting them? Let's look at another fact on that topic...
FACT: The US State Department 2007 report on human rights in Mexico notes, "Corruption continued to be a problem, as many police were involved in kidnapping, extortion, or providing protection for, or acting directly on behalf of organized crime and drug traffickers. Impunity was pervasive to an extent that victims often refused to file complaints." Ranking members of Mexican security forces on local and national levels maintain close links to drug traffickers, working for them directly in many parts of the country. The army has traditionally been more independent of this dynamic, but its deployment within the country in the drug war is increasing its involvement and leading to human rights violations. Many armed forces deserters, that totaled 17,000 last year alone, receive counternarcotics training and then pass it along in service to high-paying drug cartels. The infamous Zetas (a drug trafficking network comprised of former law enforcement and military agents) illustrate the lethal capacity of military-trained groups that operate with drug cartels. Link
––––––––
I am convinced that this campaign of lies, as it relates to a need for a new Assault Weapons Ban or any gun control at all, is being used as a smokescreen to mask the real issue, which is; the US Government has been complicit in providing weapons and training to corrupt officials in the Mexican Government which have passed on both to the cartels. It is also obvious that Mexico has a history and tradition of corruption at every level of their local, state, and federal government, and this environment makes it ridiculously easy to import practically anything by land, air, and sea. The evidence found throughout Mexico clearly shows that munitions not available in the US have been imported to Mexico, and it is hardly a leap in logic to think that it would be just as easy to import the "fully-automatic guns" that are being used as well. Those are damn sure not coming from the US, because they are so heavily restricted, registered, and controlled. It is obvious that the cartels are now using para-military tactics to fight the Mexican government, and is hardly a leap in logic to assume they learned those tactics from all of the para-militaries that the US has been training in Central America for decades.
So that's what I have to offer as to why the Mexican violence problem has nothing to do with weapons sold in the US. Even if they were, we could easily go after the criminal FFL's because the ATF has testified they know who sold them, and where they are. That is clearly a lie or they would be seeking prosecutions, especially under the watch of a vehement anti-gun extremist like Eric Holder (US Attorney General).
This alleged export problem is being used to lie to the American people and sell them on an Assault Weapons Ban and more gun control. That potential ban or any other gun control will have absolutely zero impact on violence in Mexico. US officials know this, but clearly they feel that their ideological goal of disarming the citizenry is far more important than actually dealing with the problem south of our border. The governors of Arizona and Texas can see the writing on the wall, and they know it is only a matter of time before this becomes a US problem as well. They have practically begged for the National Guard to be deployed to the border, but instead, the US Government has responded by sending a few hundred law enforcement agents.
What is happening in Mexico is a tragedy, but our government is trying to use that tragedy to lie to the people to pass laws that would have no effect on that which they pretend to care about. I further believe that this focus on the US consumer market is a smokescreen to hide the real facts of the US Governments involvement in indirectly arming the Cartels. How illogical is this really? Columbia/Drug Cartels? Iran/Contra? Afghani's/Soviets? Saddam Hussein? This may sound like crazy talk, but our government has a history and a track record of getting involved in this manner, almost universally with tragic results in the end. I believe the US is trying to cover its involvement by trying to make the issue out to be the US consumer gun market. The half-truth they've been telling is that the US is the source of some of the guns in Mexico, the "little white lie" is that the armory supplying is the US Military, and the knowledge base in training is the US DEA. Prove me wrong, or at least tell me why you think I'm nuts.
