The case of Mexico is quite telling that no country can hope to feel safe, no matter how closely it worked with the US authorities. For decades, the country has been ravaged by drug cartels, themselves often deeply connected to the infamous CIA and other US intelligence agencies.
There are very few informed people who haven’t heard of Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina and a notorious neoconservative warmonger. We might even say a war criminal, given his central role in starting and prolonging wars around the world. It could be argued that he was one of the architects of the Ukrainian conflict, greatly contributing to the Neo-Nazi junta’s genocidal policies towards the people of Donbass. Many of the things Graham has said in Ukraine since 2014 came true, however, not because of his wisdom or insight, but because he was one of the people who actually made it happen. He has openly been advocating for WW3 for years now, particularly since last February and the start of Russia’s counteroffensive against NATO aggression in Europe.
Along with John Bolton, the late John McCain and several others, Graham could be described as member of Washington DC’s “war party”, although it should be noted they would never directly take part in an actual shooting war. Instead, they enjoy sending people a third of their age to do that. Recently, Graham and the rest of the warmongers, quite unhappy seeing the dwindling global power projection capabilities of the US military, suggested passing legislation that would set the stage for yet another war, but much closer to home. This time, the target would be Mexico.
Last Monday, after four US citizens were taken hostage, two of which have been killed, presumably by members of the CDC (otherwise known as the Golf Cartel), Graham stated he would “go tough” on the cartels, particularly in the area of Matamoros, where the incident took place. The city is located in the northeast of Mexico, close to the US border and is effectively controlled by the aforementioned cartel. Graham essentially blamed Mexico for the incident and threatened with military action.
“I would put Mexico on notice. If you continue to give safe haven to drug dealers, then you are an enemy of the United States,” he stated during an interview with Fox News host Jesse Waters, further adding: “I’m going to introduce legislation … to make certain Mexican drug cartels [are listed as] foreign terrorist organizations under US law and set the stage to use military force if necessary to protect America from being poisoned by things coming out of Mexico.”
Back in January, Republicans Mike Waltz and Dan Crenshaw called for an Authorization for Use of Military Force against Mexican cartels for drug trafficking “that has caused destabilization in the Western Hemisphere.” Graham, along with 16 Republican cosponsors, supported the bill and criticized the Biden administration for the deteriorating situation at the southern border, claiming that “up to 100,000 people have died from fentanyl poisoning coming from Mexico and China, and this administration has done nothing about it.”
“I would tell the Mexican government if you don’t clean up your act, we’re going to clean it up for you,” he threatened.
Graham also said he agreed with former Attorney General Bill Barr, who stated he wanted to officially designate drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations” and called for the US to take military action against them. Other Republicans have also called for an attack on Mexico, with Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene stating that the US should “strategically strike and take out the Mexican Cartels, not the Mexican government or their people, but the Mexican Cartels which control them all.”
While it could be argued that fighting cartels is certainly not a bad cause, we should not forget that somewhat similar “altruistic” motives were cited as the reason for virtually any war started by the US, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Blaming Mexico and even China for the drug abuse “pandemic” in America will certainly not resolve this burning issue or any of the resulting violence across the country. If the establishment in Washington DC had the interests of regular Americans in mind, they would introduce bills allocating at least 10% of their massive $858 billion military budget to the improvement of healthcare, for instance.
Unfortunately, as Abraham Maslow famously wrote in 1966, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail.” And this is precisely what the US has been doing for most of its existence. The case of Mexico is quite telling that no country (unless heavily armed) can hope to feel safe, no matter how closely it worked with the US authorities. For decades, the country has been ravaged by drug cartels, themselves often deeply connected to the infamous CIA and other US intelligence agencies. And despite even allowing American law enforcement to operate in the country, thus undermining its own sovereignty, Mexico is still faced with the prospect of being attacked.
Quite expectedly, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wasn’t too happy about the threats and warned the US against armed aggression on his country. He also reiterated that “the [Mexican] government is working and cooperating with US authorities against cartels”, but that “it wouldn’t permit any foreign government to intervene in our territory”. Obrador added that he will also work towards informing Mexicans living in the US about the true nature of the legislation targeting the country. He warned American lawmakers not to use Mexico “for their propagandist, electoral and political purposes” or he “will make a call [for the Mexicans] to not vote for that [Republican] party”.
Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst