President-elect of Mexico: there's no winning the drug war
Houston Chronicle:STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
The United States must reduce the demand for cocaine and other illegal drugs at home if it expects Mexico to succeed in defeating the drug cartels, President-elect Felipe Calderon said Thursday.
Turf wars for the lucrative smuggling routes to U.S. cities have left a record 1,500 people dead in Mexico this year. Victims include five men whose decapitated heads were dumped in a night club in Michoacan state Wednesday.
“It’s not just about fighting the supply,” Calderon told foreign journalists. “It’s fundamental that the United States work to reduce the demand, because otherwise this will never stop.” [Emphasis added.] (Link)
Correct. And since our Government cannot reduce the demand for drugs, at least not by decree, it will never stop.
… we often end up taking vengeance on those who’ve harmed nobody but themselves. Why?
Occasionally, you’ll hear this rejoinder: “Well, the laws against murder don’t stop murder. Should we repeal those laws, too?” This question assumes that the purpose of the law is to prevent violent crime. Manifestly, our laws do not prevent crime. But that’s not their purpose. Their purpose is to provide people with formal notice of conduct that will get them imprisoned or executed. Society can’t stop a man from harming others. But it can take vengeance on him. (If you’d prefer to stop the taking of your life, rather than have society posthumously avenge you, buy a gun.)
The ostensible purpose of the war on drugs is to halt, or at least significantly reduce, drug consumption. But this the law cannot do. (Despite draconian laws against drug consumption, the drug trade is “booming.”) Consequently, we often end up taking vengeance on those who’ve harmed nobody but themselves. Why?STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
Technorati tags: War+on+drugsSTRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
While I don’t ethically agree with decriminalization; what’s “legal” can be regulated, monitored, licensed and taxed. Gambling and prostitution being two imperfect examples. And alcohol and tobacco are both traditional, santioned high-profit/high-tax “drugs” are two additional imperfact examples.STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
Now, however, we did not elect Calderón, we was “placed” by the U.S. Government and corporations.STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
It was a fraud. If the drug war is lost, it’s because it’s convenient for someone in high places in the U.S. government, that controls the Mexican government (and “electoral” processes therein). STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
[Those are wild assertions. Do you have any evidence to support them? — Ed.]STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
I wouldn’t state such a thing without having been a witness to the electoral process (and the similarities in the counting to Florida 2000), and having lived in Mexico in the twentieth century. You see, we too had a state party until 2,000, and when it was finally “beaten democratically”, the conservatives won the election, and the church and big business went and backed them like they had backed the previous regime.STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
Putting two and two together (citing the way that the American government has shaped governments in Latin America since the cold war - and even the slaughter of civilians in Mexico during the sixties and seventies, also under US Orders), you can tell that if a candidate that doesn’t win in the polls, but does in the election, favours U.S. policies without hesitation, it’s a wilder assertion to deny involvement.STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
It’s not a coinicidence that the same people behind the “state government” of the twentieth century are now behind the “new party” that has, so far, governed twice in a row.STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
It’s no surprise, since it does, in fact, follow U.S. policy by the book (even through President Fox’s diplomatic idiocy) like it did in the Twentieth.STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
You’ll see for yourself, my friend.STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER
We have no direct proof, but the mexican government has been known to do this sort of thing since after the revolution. It’s some sort of implicit truth.STRIPSAVER 2 TELECHARGER