Jack & Jill Politics

Did you know the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is involved in fighting drug cartels in countries throughout the southern hemisphere? According to a recent report in the New York Times:

The D.E.A. now has five commando-style squads it has been quietly deploying for the past several years to Western Hemisphere nations — including Haiti, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Belize — that are battling drug cartels, according to documents and interviews with law enforcement officials.

The program — called FAST: for Foreign-deployed Advisory Support Team — was created during the George W. Bush administration to investigate Taliban-linked drug traffickers in Afghanistan. The FAST program is similar to a D.E.A. operation in the late 1980s and early 1990s in which drug enforcement agents received military training and entered into partnerships with local forces in places like Peru and Bolivia, targeting smuggling airstrips and jungle labs. Beginning in 2008 and continuing under President Obama, it has expanded far beyond the war zone.

The evolution of the program into a global enforcement arm reflects the United States’ growing reach in combating drug cartels and how policy makers increasingly are blurring the line between law enforcement and military activities, fusing elements of the “war on drugs” with the “war on terrorism.”

Many people thought the advent of the ‘war on terror’ would bring some abatement of the ‘war on drugs’ as government redirected its resources towards fighting a greater danger. There has been a diminution of the harsh drug war rhetoric of the 80s and 90s but post-911 America has witnessed the rapid morphing of the ‘war on drugs’ with the ‘war on terror’. Increasingly the drug war in many countries is a war between the armies of the cartels and the armies of the government fighting for control of physical turf and psychological dominance.

Operation Fast and Furious was the ill-advised initiative by the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to allow weapons from the U.S. to pass into the hands of suspected gun smugglers so the arms could be traced to the higher echelons of Mexican drug cartels. ATF lost track of hundreds of firearms, many of which were subsequently linked to crimes, including the fatal shooting of a border patrol agent. The operation was a failure that led to a scandal and provided more grist for the mill of Mexican complaints that its military is fighting drug cartels armed with U.S. weapons – hardly what you expect from your ally in arms.

Republican leaders have begun suggesting that U.S. military intervention in the Mexican drug war might be necessary. A recent article in Foreign Policy noted that Rep. Connie Mack of Florida used a recent hearing on the Merida Initiative (the regional anti-drug security agreement between the U.S. and Latin America) to promote an anti-insurgency campaign in Mexico. On the administration side, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta recently announced that President Obama has nominated Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV to be commanding general of U.S. Army North, headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Caldwell’s current assignment is developing the combined transition security team for Afghanistan. The article continued by noting:

Remarks and actions like these — by key members of both parties — suggest that the encroachment of military rhetoric and thinking on the situation across the border is the inevitable logical consequence of the costly and manifestly unsuccessful drug policy the United States has pursued for decades. In declaring the war on drugs in 1971, President Richard Nixon advertised the policy as a “total war” on “public enemy number one.” Instead, the war on drugs has settled — along with the drug trade it seeks to combat — into something that far exceeds the ambit of mere law enforcement, yet falls far short of necessitating the mobilization, intensity, and mission clarity found in a proper war. It has long blurred the distinction between police action and armed conflict. The same drones patrolling the Pakistani frontier cruise the Mexican border. Domestic SWAT teams now frequently conduct no-knock raids in American hometowns reminiscent of U.S. tactics during the worst days of the Iraq war.

What does a militarized drug war look like? The following video of a police raid on a Missouri family in the middle of the night caused public outrage, in part because the police fired seven shots killing the family dogs in the course of their home invasion. Was this a raid on a dangerous drug ‘kingpin’ hiding lots of drugs, money or weapons? No!! The police found a “small amount” of marijuana, enough for a misdemeanor charge. The parents were then charged with child endangerment. So smoking pot = “child endangerment.” Storming a home with guns, then firing bullets into the family pets as a child looks on = necessary police procedures to ensure everyone’s safety.

Lest you think these tactics are limited to suspected adult drug dealers and their families, check out this video of a police raid in the early morning hours at a public school in Goose Creek, S.C. The raid was conducted in response to reports of marijuana use among students, no marijuana was discovered during the raid as frightened kids were forced to kneel on the floor with their hands behind their heads as police with drawn guns searched their backpacks and belongings with the assistance of drug-sniffing dogs. As you watch the video ask yourself, how you would feel if this was your child or loved one?

Police excesses like these have generated growing public skepticism about the war on drugs. There is little public appetite for escalating it despite campaign rhetoric about putting ‘more boots on the ground’ and more “drones in the air’. Never fear, the U.S. has an ace up its sleeve – Blackwater to the rescue.

For skeptics of how the American government has conducted its so-called War on Drugs, don’t worry, it will soon be out of their hands. The US Department of Defense has transferred its armed efforts in Latin and Central America in the War on Drugs to Academi, the private military contractors formerly known as Blackwater, reports BBC Spanish. Before they altered their branding to be known as Xe, then most recently Academi, Blackwater underwent immense criticism for a series of scandals involving contract employees executing civilians throughout the Middle East. That same company that trained contractors to mercilessly slay helpless Iraqis will now be ushering military contractors south of the border to help combat the War on Drugs there, the outlet reports.

Does anyone think the use of military equipment such as Drones and military resources like the commando teams of FAST will improve the situation? Will it yield any real success in the never-ending war on drugs? The evidence does not bode well. If we continue to pursue the path of militarization we will help accelerate the very events we hope to avoid – destabilization of governments and the emergence of more narco-states.

Authors Note: I’ve been sick for the past few days and fell behind in my posting. So, I’ll be doubling up until I catch up……..Today, Days 9 & 10.