Gunmen Attack Federal Forces in Mexico

Five Federal Agents, 2 Soldiers Killed in Bold, Coordinated Assault in Suspected Retaliation for Cartel Arrest

(AP)  Gunmen boldly attacked federal forces across the western state of Michoacan on Saturday, killing five federal agents and two soldiers after the capture of a suspected drug cartel operative.

Ten other federal agents were wounded in the ambushes.

Convoys of heavily armed gunmen tossed grenades and opened fire on police stations in the state capital of Morelia and in five other cities between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. Saturday. Assailants also shot up a hotel where federal agents were staying in Apatzingan, according to the state attorney general's office.

The attacks were among the boldest frontal offenses carried out against the government. They appeared to be in retaliation for the arrest of Arnoldo Rueda Medina, an alleged member of La Familia drug cartel, which is based in Michoacan.

Rueda was allegedly in charge of operations under reputed La Familia leaders Nazario Moreno Gonzalez and Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, who are both on Mexico's most-wanted list of drug suspects, said federal police coordinator Gen. Rodolfo Cruz.

Rueda was captured in Morelia before 5 a.m. on Saturday. Minutes later, a group of more than two dozen hit men tossed fragmentation grenades and opened fire on federal police offices where Rueda was being held.

Three agents were injured in the grenade attacks before officers were able to fend off the aggressors, Cruz said.

The violence then spread across the picturesque Pacific coast state.

In Zitacuaro, a mountain town famous for its Monarch butterfly nesting grounds, three federal agents were killed Saturday, and two soldiers were fatally shot in the town of Zamora. Other officers were wounded in attacks in Apatzingan, Patzcuaro, and Huetamo.

Two federal agents were killed and three others were wounded along a highway between Morelia and the port City of Lazaro Cardenas on Saturday afternoon when dozens of gunmen ambushed their patrol cars, according to the state attorney general's office.

Many of Saturday's attacks occurred in towns where federal forces arrested mayors in May in an unprecedented sweep against politicians accused of protecting cartels. Eight mayors remain jailed on organized-crime charges.

President Felipe Calderon's home state of Michoacan has been at the center of his drug war. Calderon has sent more than 45,000 troops to the state and other drug hotspots throughout the nation, and gangs have responded with unprecedented bloodshed.

Drug violence has killed more than 11,000 people nationwide since 2006, when Calderon took office.

[tankman99]

I think the mexican government should send in as many troops needed to take control of the situation .The drug cartels should not be allowed to roam free scaring the people and even killing them. The U.S. should help them but other countries would just say that we are intruding again or trying to take over the country.

[erasmus111]

So, now you're contradicting yourself and saying you now APPROVE of detainees being kept locked up indefinitely until somebody can figure out what to do with them.

Which was my option one, as you may recall.


I never said whether I approved or didn't approve. I just asked you whether or not you thought they should be kept without a trial. And of course you never did answer me, did you? You gave the two choices, but really there is only one choice. If congress won't let him turn them loose, that leaves one option. And I just said that he would have had to think long and hard about what he did. That isn't approval one way or another.

And thank you for letting me know what you think of me. I appreciate it.

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney345 July 12, 2009 5:24 PM PDT
Why are you offering your hot pink tongue to me?

Because I don't have a brain?

[darthcheney345]

Are you saying that's how women really get ahead in the workplace?

[erasmus111]

Only the women you know.

[erasmus111]

And just to show how truly stupid you are, my tongue isn't "hot pink", it's a deep rose color.

[darthcheney345]

by erasmus111 July 12, 2009 4:37 PM PDT
He was left this mess and he has to think long and hard about what is to be done with them.
--------------

So, now you're contradicting yourself and saying you now APPROVE of detainees being kept locked up indefinitely until somebody can figure out what to do with them.

Which was my option one, as you may recall.

Thanks for playing, please remember to bring your brain next time.

If you have one...

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney345 July 12, 2009 4:19 PM PDT
Neener, neener!

Boogle boogle!


: P

[darthcheney345]

Why are you offering your hot pink tongue to me?

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney345 July 12, 2009 4:18 PM PDT
But he really is making Bush look good. We're exactly where we were when Bush was president.

You're sure full of it today. There's a BIG difference. Most countries hated Bush. As of right now, most like Obama.


"Now, you would think Obama would get the idea to accelerate the rate of trials. After all, he's a Harvard law professor, you'd think he knows a thing or two about speeding up the legal process."

Oh yeah, that would go over good. If he speeded things up, then everyone would be jumping up and down saying he was doing something illegal. Like Bush, there's nothing he can do that would be right.

I can see why it's taking him so long to figure this one out. He was left this mess and he has to think long and hard about what is to be done with them.

And I think they would be better suited to YOUR good old state of TEXAS.

He's going to pull out the troops by the end of 2011. Isn't that good? Or don't you think so? And I don't want to hear, "IF you does it".

He's making progress in Afghanistan, isn't he? Or don't you think so?

[erasmus111]

"IF you does it".

That should be "IF HE does it".

[erasmus111]

Now on the subject of health care, I was hoping that Obama would get it right, but I'm not so sure. I listened to him the other night and couldn't really understand what he was talking about. He said he didn't want to copy anyone else's health care. He wanted it to be "uniquely American". Ummmm, I didn't think that sounded very good. In fact I thought it was quite SCARY. Anything that is "uniquely American" is usually CORRUPT. : )

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney345 July 12, 2009 3:57 PM PDT
LOL! You're so biased, you can't even see how biased you are.


Shut up, dinky head.

[darthcheney345]

Neener, neener!

Boogle boogle!

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney345 July 12, 2009 3:58 PM PDT
So then they are just suppose to keep them locked up forever? No trial?
-------------
I covered that already. We can release them all in your neighborhood, if that's what you'd prefer.

It's your choice.


You did not answer my question!! What are they supposed to do with them?

I WANT AN ANSWER!

[darthcheney345]

I WANT AN ANSWER!
--------------
What is hard to understand about this?

There are only two choices.

One: keep them locked up right where they are until they all get a fair and complete trial. Which will take decades at the current pace.

Two: release them without trial. I pick your neighborhood as the place to release them.

Now, you would think Obama would get the idea to accelerate the rate of trials. After all, he's a Harvard law professor, you'd think he knows a thing or two about speeding up the legal process.

But apparently he doesn't.

And moving them out of Gitmo was nixed by Congress. Nobody wants them in their neighborhood.

So, it's just another major unmitigated failure for Obama.

Once again, you'd think a Harvard law professor would be right on top of this. But after the spanking his own party administered to him in Congress, he back to Day 1 on the Gitmo issue.

You'd think he could do better than this.

But he really is making Bush look good. We're exactly where we were when Bush was president.

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney345 July 12, 2009 3:14 PM PDT
I don't think 6 months is long enough to judge him.
-----------------
LOL! What a liberal.

The liberals gave Bush only 3 months before they started judging him.

Now you say 6 months isn't long enough for a Democrat.

Sorry, but I live here. Obama's first 6 months has hurt us badly. We can't take another three and a half years of this.

He's done enough wrong in 6 months to prove that he's a clueless incompetent weakling.

Our enemies sure have made up their minds.



I wouldn't be too sure that your enemies have made up their minds. I'm on the outside looking in, and I will tell you things look a whole lot better than they did. Don't they say that people on the outside can see things better than the ones on the inside?

The pirates may have taken a hostage, but they didn't get away with it. And that whacko nutjob hasn't hit anyone with his missiles yet, has he? You gotta look on the bright side. Think positive. : ) In the beginning I thought that if Obama got in, it would be the biggest mistake. I too believed that he was weak. I said many times that he was a wimp, and McCain was a warmonger. But he's in there now, and you have to make the best of it. He's smart, he's surrounded himself with people that are more knowledgeable about things that he is lacking in. Hopefully he will get it right. I can guarantee that he's doing a far better job than that other idiot. And I don't mean Hillary. And no, it isn't because he's a conservative that I think he's an idiot.

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney345 July 12, 2009 3:18 PM PDT
When you cut miles and miles of slack for Obama and say 6 months of total disaster isn't enough to conclude that he's a bad president, but you want to blame Bush endlessly - yah, that makes you a liberal.


In this 6 months, I don't consider everything he has done a total disaster. That doesn't necessarily make me a liberal. It has nothing to do with whether he is a Democrat or not. I'm judging by what I am seeing right now. You consider EVERYTHING that he has done to be wrong. I have already told you that I didn't agree with him giving the car dealers bailout money. I figured that they shouldn't be getting any money until they had their problems fixed. If the problems aren't fixed, then it's a big mistake to give them money. There are things I agree with and things I don't, but overall I think it's too early to judge.

And I have NOT blamed Bush endlessly. Bush has done some good things, but it seems to be a lot more bad. I'm not blaming him because he is a "Republican". That is what all you AMERICANS do. Not me. You hate the other because they are "liberals" or "conservatives", not so much on what they have done or not done. It's just an automatic HATRED for one or the other.

Bush had 8 years in there, and everyone can see the mistakes he made. Obama has only had 6 months. Maybe he will learn from those mistakes, and turn things around. I'm not saying that because he's a LIBERAL, but because he's smart, and hopefully can figure it out.

[darthcheney345]

LOL! You're so biased, you can't even see how biased you are.

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney345 July 12, 2009 3:16 PM PDT
I'm not talking about releasing them without a trial first. Haven't they been held without trials?
---------------
How long do you think it will take a bunch of government lawyers to prepare for that many trials?

And I'm using Reply to this comment just to annoy you.

Is it working? :-)



So then they are just suppose to keep them locked up forever? No trial?


And YES, you are annoying me. But what's new? : )

[darthcheney345]

So then they are just suppose to keep them locked up forever? No trial?
-------------
I covered that already. We can release them all in your neighborhood, if that's what you'd prefer.

It's your choice.

[erasmus111]

by erasmus111 July 12, 2009 2:50 PM PDT
by gravyboat4000 July 12, 2009 2:31 PM PDT
Spaniards and Mexicans. He's think you speak Spanish.

;-)


But I can. Me amas todavia? Hahahahaha!


Oops, I think maybe I made a mistake. : )

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney345 July 12, 2009 2:47 PM PDT


You're the one who declared that your views differ from liberal views.

So you must know what liberal views are. Otherwise, how could you make that statement?

If you know what liberal views are, please tell us. And explain how yours are different.

What I see is, your views are:

Democrats good
Republicans bad

That sounds liberal to me.


I don't think you could see anything. I only know what is considered to be liberal, when I say something and someone calls me a liberal. Otherwise I don't know what all is considered to be liberal. And the same for conservative. I know that I am against guns, and so therefore I must be a liberal. Which of course doesn't make sense to me, because surely there must be liberals that do like guns. And there must be conservatives that don't like guns. I was for Bush going into Iraq to get rid of Saddam the butcherer, so that must mean I'm a republican. To me it wasn't about the "oil" or the "wmds". It was about stopping the butcherer.

I do not know how you can label someone. It's like there is this list or something. If you are liberal, then you must think this, and this, and this....???? How can it be that cut and dried? Or whatever that saying is. : )

[darthcheney345]

When you cut miles and miles of slack for Obama and say 6 months of total disaster isn't enough to conclude that he's a bad president, but you want to blame Bush endlessly - yah, that makes you a liberal.

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney345 July 12, 2009 2:43 PM PDT
That was exactly my point. Obama is as bad as Bush.

Gitmo? If Obama wanted to close it, you'd think a Harvard law professor could get it right.

Why not just release all the detainees in your neighborhood with no further trials. Would that make you happy?


I'm not talking about releasing them without a trial first. Haven't they been held without trials?

[darthcheney345]

I'm not talking about releasing them without a trial first. Haven't they been held without trials?
---------------
How long do you think it will take a bunch of government lawyers to prepare for that many trials?

And I'm using Reply to this comment just to annoy you.

Is it working? :-)

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney345 July 12, 2009 2:41 PM PDT
That was exactly my point. Obama is just as bad as Bush.


Yes, Obama may have made a few mistakes, but I don't think he's as BAD as Bush. Everyone makes mistakes. If he was to keep making mistakes, then there is a problem. I don't think 6 months is long enough to judge him.

[darthcheney345]

I don't think 6 months is long enough to judge him.
-----------------
LOL! What a liberal.

The liberals gave Bush only 3 months before they started judging him.

Now you say 6 months isn't long enough for a Democrat.

Sorry, but I live here. Obama's first 6 months has hurt us badly. We can't take another three and a half years of this.

He's done enough wrong in 6 months to prove that he's a clueless incompetent weakling.

Our enemies sure have made up their minds.

[erasmus111]

by gravyboat4000 July 12, 2009 2:31 PM PDT
Spaniards and Mexicans. He's think you speak Spanish.

;-)


But I can. Me amas todavia? Hahahahaha!

[darthcheney345]

Wow, erasmutt is here, gravypants is here, stuart got banished again.

This is like old times, eh?

[darthcheney345]

by erasmus111 July 12, 2009 1:52 PM PDT

No, I'm not a liberal. My views differ
-----------------
You are the one labeling me a liberal, so maybe you should tell me exactly what that means. While you are at it, you can do the same for what a conservative is supposed to be.

--------------

You're the one who declared that your views differ from liberal views.

So you must know what liberal views are. Otherwise, how could you make that statement?

If you know what liberal views are, please tell us. And explain how yours are different.

What I see is, your views are:

Democrats good
Republicans bad

That sounds liberal to me.

[erasmus111]

by gravyboat4000 July 12, 2009 2:26 PM PDT
Can't teach an old CBS'er new tricks?

hehehe


NO, smart ass.: )

You have to keep going back to the original post. I don't like it.