US War on Drugs Hits Guatemala

phr

phr

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US War on Drugs Hits Guatemala
McCarton Ackerman
8.30.12


The US War on Drugs is starting to look more and more like an actual war. Two-hundred US Marines have been employed to patrol the western coast of Guatemala starting this week in an attempt to beat drug traffickers in Central America. The Marines were deployed as part of Operation Martillo, an effort which started last January that is using troops from 13 countries across the globe and focuses exclusively on drug dealers in airplanes or boats throughout the region. Guatemelan authorities signed a treaty last month allowing the operations to take place and the commander of the operation gave the thumbs up last week to move full steam ahead. "This is the first Marine deployment that directly supports countering transnational crime in this area, and it's certainly the largest footprint we've had in that area in quite some time," said Marine Staff Sgt. Earnest Barnes at the US Southern Command in Miami. This will be the first time in fifty years that the US has sent significant help into Guatemala. That most recent attempt to help Guatemala by establishing a base to support counter-insurgency efforts during a guerrilla uprising led to 36 years of war and more than 200,000 deaths before the US pulled out in 1978. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, 80% of cocaine smoked, snorted and swallowed in the US passes through Central America.

Link!
 
Guatemala must have seen how well narco-imperialism has worked for other Latin American countries and...oh wait. Maybe their government just wants to set the US up as a scapegoat for their problems a few years down the line.


80% of cocaine smoked, snorted and swallowed in the US passes through Central America
Click to expand...

But not rectal, IV or sublingual/buccal cocaine?
 
Critics Slam Obama Deployment of U.S. Troops to Guatemala for Drug War
Written by Alex Newman


Critics from across the political spectrum are outraged after the Obama administration announced that it was unconstitutionally sending 200 U.S. Marines to Guatemala under the guise of fighting the drug war. According to officials, the American troops were deployed as part of “Operation Martillo,” a multi-national squad of soldiers and law-enforcement personnel supposedly aimed at countering narcotics trafficking throughout Central America.

The new President of Guatemala, Otto Pérez Molina — a widely respected tough-on-crime former military general who opposed communism — had said earlier this year that legalizing drugs would be a better approach. However, the Obama administration swiftly deployed high-level functionaries to coerce the leader into backing down. Apparently the mission was a success.

In mid-July, the Guatemalan government signed what news reports and officials described as a “treaty” with the Obama administration — the U.S. Senate, however, never ratified any such agreement as required under the Constitution. Within a month of the controversial deal, U.S. Marines, equipment, and military helicopters began arriving in Guatemala.

. . .

Despite the lack of constitutional authority to send troops abroad to fight various undeclared “wars,” military officials had a variety of excuses purporting to justify the latest deployment. U.S. Rear Adm. Charles Michel, for example, explained that the “adversary” was highly mobile and well-funded — though he did not mention that drug cartels are only so wealthy and powerful because of massive profits associated with the “war” itself. He also claimed that the “adversary” supposedly “threatens democratic governments, terrorizes populations, impedes economic development and creates regional instability."

For critics, however, that is hardly an excuse to send American forces into foreign nations without a declaration of war. Not only is the U.S. government borrowing more than a trillion dollars per year just to stay afloat, intervention abroad almost always causes what foreign-policy experts refer to “blowback” — consequences that will eventually come back to haunt the American people.

“I’m sure there are more drugs floating around the U.S. than in Guatemala, so would it be permissible and acceptable for another country to send its heavily armed troops here to fight their own war on drugs?” wondered popular libertarian analyst and commentator Gary D. Barnett. “The more likely scenario is that the U.S. is making sure that most of these drugs get delivered safely to the U.S.” Another scenario cited by analysts was knocking out certain less-favored cartels to eliminate competition.

According to Barnett, it is ironic that the U.S. government — which he called “one of the largest drug traffickers on the planet” — would wage a war all over the world to supposedly stop drugs. “The government depends heavily on its phony ‘war on drugs’ in order to fill the prisons of its corporate sponsors; thereby supplying money and taxpayer subsidized jobs to all the prison support companies,” he concluded. “And how else would the CIA fund its murderous covert operations without the sale and delivery of drugs?”

full http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnew...oyment-of-us-troops-to-guatemala-for-drug-war
 
jeesus how many countries do we have troops deployed in now? probably ten? i honestly hate to say it, but in some cases i feel like drones are the way to go.
 
@trees_please:

"jeesus how many countries do we have troops deployed in now? probably ten?"

Try 196,248 troops in >150 countries. Only 29 countries have more than 100 though. 11 with ~1000 or more. Outside of active combat zones Germany has the most at >53000. Because, that Germany is just so dangerous...

"i honestly hate to say it, but in some cases i feel like drones are the way to go."

You have aerial drones. Until you get things like atlas and bigdog out into the field you'll need plenty of ground troops as well. Even then, I suspect it will be a while before you can get rid of all the humans.
 
Bullies. Keep trying to push other nations into fighting your "drug wars." One day - and I hope that day is soon, opium dens will thrive again (except in America). What a bunch of two-faced andropausal troglodytes. Obama, that includes you too. You bullshit with the best of them, and you let a lot of Americans down with your charming speeches of changes, such as, "America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love."

The day the DEA is dissolved/disbanded/broken/folded will be the day I create a bonfire with a couple hundred pounds of manure to give meaning to the fact I'm so happy that you pieces of shit are lickety fooking split.
 
this mccarton ackerman dude is either a) so ignorant and stupid, he doesnt realize the US' war on plants has already crashed into and began to disenfranchize Guatemala (and many other latin american countries), or b) is aware and in denial of the fact.
 
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