DRUG CARTELS AND TRUE DEFINITION OF “TERRORISM”. DOES IT FIT? 

            A good friend of mine is being asked by a few US political leaders to help draft language that would identify certain drug cartels as FTOs ( Foreign Terrorist Organizations). He and I have a “history” of working the issue of drug cartels and I am here to tell you, he knows what he’s talking about. Having said that, let’s take a few minutes and see if a nexus between the word “Terrorism” and the drug cartels truly does exist.

What is a Terrorist?

            Okay, first off, a lot of people have made great a deal of money and fame trying to frame the meaning of “Terrorism”. “One person’s, being politically correct here, Terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter”. Now, outside the US that stance has been hard to defeat, just ask Hamas or Hezbollah. Most typically describe terrorist groups or individuals as motivated by political or religious issues. Almost all the “experts” will tell you a terrorist or terrorist movement primarily targets unsuspecting civilians. Most will say monetary profit is not a primary goal of a terrorist group or individual, although receiving funding for their actions often leads to a hierarchy of leadership inside the group. Again, look at the leadership of Hamas or Hezbollah. So, in 2019, it seems the acceptable and recognized definition of “Terrorism” is still wrapped around political, religious and social issues. That begs the question. Can a Terrorist or terrorist movement be based upon nothing more than profit? Again, it’s 2019 and it could very well be time for a review of what truly terrorizes a society.

Drug Cartels:

            Did the Bootleggers of the 20s resemble the modern-day Drug Cartels, because I’ve heard that argument over and over again and it usually comes from those who want to legalize certain drugs. Is it just a matter of legalization and the whole issue goes away? That’s so myopic, I won’t waste my time on arguing that stance. As for the Bootlegger comparison, it’s simple. It’s about proportionality. In the 20s, crime took place everyday in every major US city, crime that was based on booze, who got to move it and sell it. Sound familiar? So is that it? Are we just talking about the Bootleggers of the 21^st Century? No. Here is the reality the “just legalize it” side doesn’t want to face. To the Bootleggers of the 20s, it was all about making money by selling and moving alcohol. That was it. Yes, they dabbled in other smaller criminal activities that eventually spread into illegal drugs, but for the most part, the Bootleggers and the criminal organizations that sprung up with the era of prohibition limited themselves to making money on a local scale and their scale of violence was minuscule compared to what is taking place today. Still don’t believe me there is no comparison? Okay, show me a time in the US 20’s where most major highways were controlled, openly controlled by Bootleggers? Show me an example of entire towns or being rounded up to work in a still somewhere. Forget it. There is no true comparison. Anyone that makes that statement is hiding from reality. The violence and the ability to carry out mass violence makes the modern-day drug cartels unique.

So What?

            So what? The US and other parts of the world have a drug usage problem? Why should that lead to drug cartels being labeled as “Terrorist”? I mean, bombs are not going off in Chicago or New York because someone is upset over the conviction of one of the biggest Drug Lords in history? Why not? If these groups were really “Terrorist” wouldn’t they be threatening the US public and government? Wouldn’t they be bombing commercial aircraft? They sure don’t seem to be reacting like typical Terrorist, so why would someone in DC want to place them in this category? Why should the American people demand the drug cartels wear a title that changes the rules of the game for going after them? Here is the shocker and the answer is right in front of us.

Crime:

            Parts of Chicago are nearly as dangerous as Northern Syria. Why? Drugs? Yep. In the course of 30 days, twenty-five people are killed in open shootouts in the streets over drugs, sometimes that just in one weekend. Is that a Terrorist act? If that was a bus bombing or a mass shooting at a Basketball game with the gunmen screaming “Allahu Ak Bar”, would the media or the public treat it the same way? In one year, how many crimes / murders / are directly linked to “drugs” in the US? I once say a figure that stated 80 percent…let that sink in for a minute. Is the manner of death relevant to the issue? If we lose 20 in good old fashion terrorist attack, is that more impactful than a decades old drug war? When the dead are pilled up in Syria from a terrorist attack, it’s not near as dramatic as when it takes place here right? But…what is the fear…….what is the fear that makes the US spends BILLIONS….even TRILLIONS of dollars? You bet…..it’s the fear those events made come here! So there you have it. If the “ War on Terrorism” is based on keeping it from taking place on the streets of Pleasantville USA, then why does the US accept the failed “War on Drugs”? Is there another avenue to help change a future that some of us know is coming?

 The Future:      

            “It’s Mexico….It’s always been like that”.  Those that follow my post, you know how often I have addressed this ignorant viewpoint. What event or series of events makes the US population wakeup to the dangers of the Drug Cartels? Do they get mad over the conviction last week and bomb a public event? Is that what it would take? Would they consider them Terrorist then? These groups control a 60 BILLION dollar industry. At what point to they decide to up their game and why oh why should we wait until that fateful day takes place? Let me give you an example of the kind of day the US doesn’t want to reach.  Several years ago, I was talking with a few SEDENA “Officials” about their operations along the US/ Mexican border. Two of them had the moral integrity to admit they only control the area while they are physically there. That same day, I sat and listened to multiple US Ranchers testify they know longer felt safe on their own land. Several even talked of how they would not travel onto large sections of their property near the border because of the constant threats from the drug dealers? Is that not being “terrorized”? Is that not a form of Terrorism? That same day, I sat with a Rancher who had over twenty hired guns that simply helped him stay safe on his own land. That was probably 2009, not 1869! I listen to young people talk about what clubs you didn’t go into in cities like Del Rio Texas because the drug gangs ran those clubs. Is that not being terrorized on you own land, in your own town?

So why hasn’t it happened?

            Why haven’t the drug cartels actually taken on the tactics of the more known terrorist organizations? Here’s the bad news……………..they have. I remember when the first video taped beheading started in the Middle East. I remember how outraged the West was. As soon as that took place, a few of us made a prediction………..it would begin in Mexico on a grand scale. Now, in 2019, it’s a daily occurrence and not just in one city or another, but all over the country. What is it the US government would like to do? Wait until that level of narco violence is a daily event in the US? Look, the short answer is this. The drug cartels are already “Terrorist”, just ask any person trying to walk the streets of Juarez, or any other major city in Mexico. Why hasn’t the level of violence elevated to the point it makes the nightly news in the US? Well, do you watch the news from Chicago? What do you think is the catalyst behind that cities image being destroyed?

We’ve tried this before:

            Before I hear it again, let me address another standard response from those who are walking through life blind. “We tried the War on Drugs and it didn’t work. We tried intervention in Central America to prevent the flow of illegal drugs and all we did was back ruthless Dictators”. If I was in a classroom, that would be the moment in time I would toss an eraser at anyone spouting out that BS. What the US was  doing in that region was a pathetic attempt to control the spread of Soviet influence in the US’s “backyard”. Yes, the DEA went in there to make an attempt to answer the drug issue, but the effort was just that, an attempt. Clandestine operations to “deal” with the drug world did work, the problem was, it was never a complete national strategy. It was what it was………a half-ass attempt to deal with a complex issue and it failed.  Here is the real bad news. Times have changed. The days of watching bad things happen in Mexico and then believing they wont take place in the US are coming to and end. Label these groups what they are……. A Clear and Present Danger to the United States. Does this sound like a corny support to a fairly decent movie………… a movie that painted the picture of an out of control US government…. a government that was actually made to look like the bad guys?  Call it what you want, but I will tell you this. The day the flow of drugs, human trafficking, theft of oil and I could go on and on, stops or it  truly threatens the drug cartels, then the US better be ready for a very different optic on the nightly news. Oh…..by the way…………… these so called modern day versions of Bootleggers have documented interaction with real terrorist organizations…..Hezbollah! Don’t believe it? That’s okay, but the next time you want to spend a few days just seeing the great countryside of the US, I would encourage you to take a drive along the Texas, Mexico border. Stop in a few small towns and ask the people there if the drug cartels influence their lives? FTO status…………it must take place and it must take place soon! If this movement in DC keeps going, you can bet I will keep talking about it.