Please, Blame America First

Another failed state which she can blame on America?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton excused the violence going on in Mexico by saying it was the fault of the United States:

“Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the death of police officers, soldiers and civilians,” Clinton told reporters during her flight to Mexico City.

“I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility.”

Once again, it’s all our fault.  Never mind that we do not see this type of violence going on in Canada.  After all, Canada shares a longer border with the United States than Mexico does.  She also forgot to mention that many of the “assault rifles” in Mexico used by gangs were originally shipped there for the army to use but, because of corruption, found their way into the hands of thugs.  In fact, the Mexican government won’t release the serial numbers for these confiscated weapons, probably because they would be traced back to the military:

Also in his testimony, Cox pointed out that the Mexican government itself has hindered the efforts of U.S. agents to attack the problem, refusing to share serial numbers of captured weapons and not allowing local authorities to cooperate with U.S. authorities.

Could it be that Mexico is a weak, corrupt nation run by thugs who assassinate police chiefs, bribe local officials, and murder each other in the streets?  For Clinton to say something like that she would be telling it closer to the way that it is.

Could it be that NAFTA, which helped to pave the way for Mexican trucks to stream into the United States, is responsible for much of this?  Possibly drugs are being hidden in these 18 wheelers and then spreading all across the country?

The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement approved broader access for ground shipments from both countries but the Clinton administration never complied with the trucking provision. A special tribunal ordered the Bush administration to do so in 2001.

In fact, crime is so rampant in Mexico that:

Not a day goes by that there aren´t more stories about assassinations of police, judges, prosecutors, army and federal investigators. They´re being killed at a faster rate than U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The vast majority of these killings are tied to drug gangs, either because these officials were doing their job and enforcing the law or, in a few cases, they might have been allied with the wrong drug gang.

Dozens of journalists have been killed in Mexico as well, often because of stories they had written or were investigating. It´s one of the most dangerous places to work in the world.

Those honest police and other officials in Mexico, who are trying to do their jobs, are far outnumbered by corrupt officials:

A total of 129 police officers were suspended or fired in an anti-corruption purge of law enforcement agencies in the Mexican border state of Baja California, the Mexican authorities have announced.

Daniel de la Rosa, an official with the State Public Safety Security, told a news conference that the sweep netted officers for “irregular, or even criminal conduct” including murder, ties to organized crime and falsifying official paperwork.

One state police investigator has been jailed for homicide, and another for sexual abuse, according to official figures released Wednesday. Five investigators are under criminal investigation for torture.

Furthermore:

Ramirez told U.S. Immigration Judge Joseph R. Dierkes in Minnesota that cartel bosses made “arrangements” with “high-level government people,” including Mexican military, politicians and police officials, to protect the drug gangs and their smuggling operations.

It is a shame that things in that nation are going the way that they are for Mexico is sitting on huge oil reserves.  In fact, “[t]he Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ) estimated that as of 2007, Mexico had 12.4 billion barrels (1.97×10^⁹ m³) of proven oil reserves.”  But because the Mexican oil company, PEMEX, is run by the government it is inefficient, corrupt, and loses money!

The U.S. consumption of illegal drugs is a huge problem both in terms of the lives it destroys and in the cost society pays in terms of lost productivity and money but for the Secretary of State to make excuses for a nation that is riddled with corruption and can’t even maintain control of its own streets or officials is absurd.  Russia has many of the same problems as does Mexico as far as corrupt officials, journalists murdered for speaking out, and private citizens thrown in jail… will Secretary of State Clinton blame that on America, too?

Once again, it shows that the country Democrats think least of is the one of which they are citizens.