Senators and U.S.
Drones: What Else are They Hiding?
"Now
they are flying over our national territory. Obama's CIA has used them with
impunity to bomb Pakistan and kill al-Qaeda leaders by remote control (like
playing Nintendo!) Could we be next? Is there an agreement in writing with
Obama? Does the Senate know about this, or is it a secret? … It's unbelievable:
Obama, a former constitutional law professor, has shown less respect for
international law than George W. Bush."
Over recent days, we've learned
of two more violations of our national sovereignty: Operation Fast
and Furious and the flights of unmanned aircraft (Pentagon? CIA?) over our
territory. In the first operation, the United States encouraged, or is currently
encouraging, the illicit smuggling of weapons to put in the hands of the cartels,
and “let them walk” in order to track them: an encore to Iran-Gate? As
for the second operation, senators should know that most often, some of the drones
are armed, ready to bomb hostile groups and capable of eliminating enemies in ways
that violate individual human rights, and which prestigious internationalists
define as targeted killings (or remote-control assassinations), as is occurring
in Pakistan. So is Mexico next?
Operation Fast and Furious worked
well enough until one of the smuggled weapons killed ICE
Agent Brian Terry. Later, when Jaime Zapata was peppered with bullets in
San Luis Potosí with an AK-47, Federal
Agent John Dodson disclosed to CBSNews in Phoenix the
details of a criminal operation that was "approved all the way up in the Justice
Department," which ordered U.S. officers to “turn a blind eye,” and allow smuggled
weapons into Mexico.
"Dodson's bosses say
that never happened. Now, he's risking his job to go public. 'I'm boots on the
ground in Phoenix, telling you we've been doing it every day since I've been
here," he said. "Here I am. Tell me I didn't do the things that I
did. Tell me you didn't order me to do the things I did. Tell me it didn't
happen. Now you have a name on it. You have a face to put with it. Here I am.
Someone now, tell me it didn't happen.']
The overflights were revealed
in a New York Times article entitled U.S. Drones
Fight Mexican Drug Trade. And while The Times says that as far
as they know, the drones “are unarmed,” this is impossible to prove. They are
used by the Pentagon and U.S. Department of the Interior to “protect” the
border with Mexico, and have apparently been involved in operations to catch
drug dealers.
Now they are flying over our
national territory. Obama's CIA has used them with impunity to bomb
Pakistan and kill al-Qaeda leaders by remote control (like playing Nintendo!) Could
we be next? Is there an agreement in writing with Obama? Does the Senate know about
this, or is it a secret, as Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa
suggested?
The New American Foundation (which monitors the
development of democracy and U.S. foreign policy) believes that the flights of unmanned
CIA aircraft have illegally killed hundreds of al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan, classifying
civilians as “collateral
damage.”
Now that U.S. Congressmen and
military commanders consider Mexican drug trafficking a “terrorist force” and, as
reported in La Jornada, the 10th largest armed force in the world in
terms of its economic strength and destructive power, what's to prevent them to
use flights to eliminate criminals?
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Even now, the Mexican
government insists that it has never heard of Operation Fast and Furious, while the
U.S. Embassy, still in the hands of Carlos Pascual, says
otherwise. And in the case of the overflights, after The Times published
its article, President Calderon admitted to the deal, but resorted to crafty legal
arguments to claim that the president has the authority and that foreign
military aircraft do not violate the Constitution (see in La Jornada my
article on Foreign Minister Espinosa's deplorable statements
in the Senate).
With the complacency of the
government and the ignorance of the Senate, we are witnessing the beginning of
a dangerous expansion of U.S. military activity in Mexico and Central America, which
is the new refuge of Mexican cartels. The Merida Initiative is
over. Now they are looking for a “regional approach.” Mexico now faces great
risk to its political stability due to its position at the heart of the war on
crime in Latin America, the experience of its military in the fight against
drug trafficking and Calderon's condescending stance. It appears that the
latest Congressional hearings with the U.S. high command, reproduced in La Jornada, seem to
indicate the above.
The commanders are planning
to turn Mexico into an ideal partner for combating one of the greatest threats
to U.S. national security: transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). Douglas Fraser,
head of the U.S. Southern Command, deems the triangle south of Mexico (Honduras,
Guatemala and El Salvador) to be, “the most dangerous area on earth.” [video below] At those
same hearings, FBI director Robert Mueller said that
Calderon had been unable to control the exponential spread of violence produced
by the TCOs.
What is “friend” Obama's role
in this affair? After being a snake in the grass with Fast and Furious (everyone in
Washington denies the operation), and after authorizing overflights agreed to by Calderon, Obama now refers to him as a “frustrated president, due
to violence.” It's unbelievable: Obama, a former constitutional law professor, has
shown less respect for international law than George W. Bush. He has authorized
hundreds of illegal attacks and killings by armed drones in Pakistan, with whom
no state of war exists. I don't believe that today, while in full re-election
mode, he would think twice about authorizing targeted killings in Mexico in order
to “protect” the U.S border. Will the Mexican Senate allow this?
