U.S. Official: Mexico Not Near Collapse

(CBS/AP)  The Mexican government is not on the verge of collapse, the top U.S. intelligence official said Thursday, seeking to tamp down increasing alarm over the powerful and violent drug cartels operating in the country that is the United States' southern neighbor.

"Mexico is in no danger of becoming a failed state," said National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair at his first news conference Thursday.

Echoing the assessment of Mexico's leaders, Blair said the dramatic increase in killings in Mexico is a result of that government's crackdown on drug cartels.

A U.S. military planning report issued in January warned that the escalating violence is dangerously destabilizing Mexico and warned its government could collapse. But Blair said there is no danger of that.

Still, Bliar's pronouncement came the day after the body of a U.S. Marashal was discovered in Juarez, Mexico.

According to a statement from U.S. Marshals spokesman Jeff Carter, "The body of Deputy U.S. Marshal Vincent Bustamante was discovered March 25 by authorities in Juarez, Mexico. The U.S. Marshals Service is cooperating with Mexican authorities and the FBI in the investigation into the death of Deputy Bustamante, and it would be premature at this time to address the potential outcome of that investigation."

There was an active warrant for Bustamante's arrest at the time of his death for his failure to appear in court on charges of criminal theft of public property, Carter said.

Nevertheless, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that it will dispatch nearly 500 more federal agents to the border, along with X-ray machines and drug-sniffing dogs, to stop the spillover of violence into the U.S. from Mexican drug smugglers and immigrant smugglers. National Guardsmen might also be sent.

"The Mexican campaign is our campaign," Blair said.

During his news conference, Blair also said the Obama administration is still wrestling with what to do with the remaining 240 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, which the president has ordered closed.

Some of the detainees, deemed non-threatening, may be released into the United States as free men, Blair confirmed.

That would happen when they can't be returned to their home countries, because the governments either won't take them or the U.S. fears they will be abused or tortured. That is the case with 17 Uighers, Chinese Muslim separatists who were cleared for release from the jail long ago. The U.S. cannot find a country willing to take them, and it will not turn them over to China.

Blair said the former prisoners would have get some sort of assistance to start their new lives in the United States.

"We can't put them out on the street," he said.

Blair said the U.S. government is building dossiers on each of the prisoners at Guantanamo and is still developing the process that will determine what happens to them. Some may face criminal trials in the U.S. civilian courts and be imprisoned in U.S. jails. Others will be remanded to their home governments for continued jailing or potential rehabilitation.

The Pentagon claims more than 60 former Guantanamo inmates have been released by their home governments and are believed to be engaged in militant activities. It has not released a list of those former prisoners. Two of the top al Qaeda leaders in Yemen are former inmates, according to both al Qaeda and U.S. intelligence officials. And the Taliban's top operations officer in southern Afghanistan was released from Guantanamo in 2007, according to U.S. intelligence and military officials.

On another matter, Blair said the United States will no longer waterboard prisoners- a form of simulated drowning that was used against three alleged terrorists in 2002 and 2003. But other "enhanced interrogation techniques" are being considered for inclusion in the methods finally approved for use. He did not say what methods he would consider retaining. The CIA's enhanced interrogation program is classified. Blair is a key figure in the White House review of the CIA's interrogation program.

[tincup356]

the only way to STOP cartel violence is to end the prohibition of marijuana. legalize it and you eliminate the black market ...and just like the mobs of alcohol prohibition,,,they are out of the picture and the violence is gone.....you save money by not imprisoning over 800,000 non violent people a year at a cost of about 40,000 per. Legalization would mean a total NEW industry that would employ millions and create billions in revenues. The prison and court system would then be freed up to go after real criminals with real victims like corporate and investment fraud.American family farms could once again put money into the middle class where it is needed the most and the least relief has been given. All these problems could be helped out with just the stroke of a pen...legalizing marijuana.

[toolmangler-2009]

What happens when the cartels get smart and get thire man elected to president of
Mexico. will obama go to war with mexico
Posted by bumpedoff1 at 8:34 AM : Mar 28, 2009



It could happen!

[bumpedoff1]

What happens when the cartels get smart and get thire man elected to president of
Mexico. will obama go to war with mexico

[ivehadit9]

The USA has many things in common with Mexico. - GOOD and BAD...The quicker we begin to face the challenges as equals and humble our hearts, and guard our words, the faster we both can effectively resolve these problems. The USA needs Mexico and Mexico needs the USA. It is that plain and simple.

More citizens in the USA need an open mind.
Posted by pensacola8-2009 at 6:07 AM : Mar 27, 2009
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Granted, but what we don't want from Mexico is for the drug cartels coming into our neighborhoods and wreaking havoc and destroying people's lives. We don't want the drug wars spilling over into US soil and spreading all over the US and into Canada. We don't want the MS-13 gangbangers crossing the borders illegally and raising the crime rate here in the US.

It's time to build that freak**** wall and get the military to patrol it, so we can significantly curb the drug and gun smuggling and to regulate who's coming in and out of the border.

[ramos1129]

To pensacola8-2009 ......excellent post. To it add the fact that the Mexican cartels have access to the American arms market where they have no problem buying and importing into Mexico far more firepower than even the Mexican army has. These arms include AK-47s, RPGs, grenades, etc. If this one problem can ever be eliminated, half of the problem would be solved.

[rrozsa]

anti-global , LOL Mexico is broke?
Mexicos Financial sector is in better shape than the U.S. Financial institutions,
Mexico is not borrowing trillions of dollars right now...
Posted by Quetzalcoatl-Vive at 6:34 AM : Mar 27, 2009

====================

They are probably in pretty good shape, thanks to all the drug industry. Time to start taxing and regulating recreational drugs here in the US!

[inketolstoy]

"The USA is the principal consumer and client of the drug cartels, and does bear principal ownership of the problem."

Easy to use racist slurs to blame the Mexicans, but it is our addictions that fuel the fires of this drug war.

[rrozsa]

Posted by american_11-2009 at 6:26 AM : Mar 27, 2009

=====================

You must have your tirade saved on your clipboard, since you repeat the whole thing verbatim at least twice a day!

[pensacola8-2009]

The single event that triggered the Mexican slippage into economic disadvantage began in 1973 when Arabs raised their prices of oil to over $34 a barrel. The Mexican oil minister saw that if high prices like that were sustained, the Mexican government could borrow billions to finance their own oil exploration, construction of refineries, and construction of a pipeline distribution system and be able to repay their loans and still make a profit. So, they borrowed the money.

The Arabs saw competition coming, so they lowered the oil prices to erradicate their competitors.

Unfortunately for Mexico, they had already borrowed the money and now were forced to operate their oil industry at a loss. This is the single event that took down Mexico from the good standard of living that maintained parity with the US up to that point.

Since that fateful decision in 1973, the Mexicans have suffered a depression, complete with several succesive years of inflation exceeding 100% during the 80's. Their foriegn national debt was renegotiated several times. I believe it is the French who are the principal owners the national debt of Mexico. Today, their economic recovery shows considerable more promise than the USA, since they do not bear high expenses for national defense or nation-building.

The big problem with the drug cartels is partially because the USA has made strides in eliminating it in Colombia, but the illicit drug industry just simply moved to other locations, such as Ecuador, Guatamala, and Mexico.

There is nothing inferior about Mexican resolve. They do possess willingness to defeat their challengers, however, the USA does have a huge streak of arrogance and unwillingness to share the burden or accept some responsibility for the drug trafficing.

I do wholeheartedly agree with Secretary Clinton. Her words were the exact same ones spoken by Secretary James Baker under the Reagan Administration: The USA is the principal consumer and client of the drug cartels, and does bear principal ownership of the problem.

[johnb8888]

Not to worry, the drug cartels will increase their payoffs to Mexican politicians and cops and all will become peaceful again.