The War on Drugs:A Forgotten Threat to National Security
There is a war going on in Mexico continuing to escalate in Tijuana, Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros and other cities on the border. Mexican drug lords are now offering bounties of $200,000 for killing American DEA agents or other American law enforcement officials. Many Americans complain that this is the result of Mexican corruption but the reality is that the funding and supplies for this war is coming from the United States.
Essentially all the money that comes from illegal drug sales into Mexico is coming from the United States. Assault rifles and even grenade launchers used by the thugs of the Mexican cartels are also almost always purchased in the United States and smuggled to Mexico. There is appropriate concern about what is being smuggled into the United States but not enough concern about what is being smuggled out of the United States.
The illegal use of drugs in the United States remains a real threat to our national security. Although gun laws must respect constitutional authority, at the same time, we have to wake up to the reality that we are supplying potential terrorists right on our border. Drug dealers in the United States need to be seen as more than just criminals selling illegal products, but instead should be seen in the light of a threat to national security. The reduction in sentences and the appeasement to those who wish to decriminalize drug use are aiding hemispheric insurrection. Many drug dealers selling crack cocaine now go on probation repeatedly or serve short local jail time sentences, the long sentences that were common years ago have been abandoned.
For example, presumed Democratic Nominee Illinois Senator Barack Obama has in the past not supported additional sentencing for criminals that are associated with gangs. This is well described in the book, This Improbable Quest, by John Wilson, who was a law student under Obama at the University of Chicago Law School. This position could block the ability of prosecutors to file conspiracy charges against Mexican drug cartel members. The same book does describe that Obama proposed limiting gun purchases to one a month which is a step in the right direction.
In his two books, The Audacity of Hope and Dreams of My Father, he describes drug dealers as victims who really just need better job opportunities. He has on numerous times stated that non-violent offenders should not be incarcerated so that under his authority it seems drug dealers should not be imprisoned. The National Criminal Justice Association has rated him as 75% which is borderline soft on crime.
National security experts have confirmed that there are now links between Al-Queda, FARC, and probably the Mexican drug cartels in at least drugs and weapons. The number one export of Afghanistan is opium and its derivatives.
More emphasis needs to be made on tracking the financial assets of drug cartels and seizing them. The global financial community, including American institutions, are too complicit in providing safe heaven for the ill gotten gains of drug trafficking.
Crack cocaine and methamphetamine derivatives are the most addicting substances yet in the human existence. The billions of dollars that drug cartels are making from their American sales are allowing them to consider buying jet aircraft and some even contend eyeing nuclear weapons. We need to hear more from our elected officials and from those currently seeking office about what action is going to be taken before we are confronted with severe catastrophe.