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| Home Front: WoT |
| FBI, DEA join probe of slayings near Mexican border |
| 2010-03-16 |
| Story not yet elevated to WoT status, though that's what the drug war in Mexico is, until we learn whether Ms. Enriquez was specifically targeted. Dozens of officials from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other U.S. agencies joined an investigation Monday into the killings of three people tied to the U.S. Consulate in the Mexican city of Juarez, scrambling to determine whether the slayings marked an escalation in the region's drug war or were simply cases of mistaken identity, officials said. Lesley Enriquez, 35, who worked in the consulate's citizens services section, was believed to be the first American consulate employee to have been killed in apparent Mexican drug violence since 1985, when DEA Agent Enrique Camarena was tortured and murdered. Enriquez and her American husband were gunned down near the Santa Fe bridge into the United States about 2 p.m. Saturday, as their infant daughter cried in the back seat, unharmed but terrified. About the same time, assailants in a different part of the city killed the husband of a Mexican who works at the consulate. That victim, identified in Mexican media as Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37, had been at the same children's birthday party as Enriquez and her husband, Arthur Redelfs. The American couple and the Mexican victim had been traveling in white vehicles. FBI spokeswoman Andrea Simmons in El Paso, across the border from Juarez, said investigators had not determined the motive for the shootings. But, she said, "at this point we don't have any indication the victims were targeted because of their employment at the consulate." How many thousands of Americans cross the border daily, and the hard boys just happen to whack a consulate employee? Just what did Ms. Enriquez do in 'citizen services'? In a sign of how seriously the Mexican government regards the case, Attorney General Arturo Chavez Chavez traveled to Juarez on Monday to oversee the investigation, according to El Diario, a newspaper in the city. Mexican President Felipe Calderón and President Obama expressed indignation at the murders. U.S. agencies, including the FBI, DEA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, are assisting Mexican authorities by providing intelligence and interviewing witnesses in the United States, Simmons said. A Mexican official familiar with the cases said there were two main lines of investigation: whether the shootings were "a direct message to the U.S." or were instances of mistaken identity. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe is continuing. Violence involving rival drug gangs has become so severe that the State Department recently authorized U.S. personnel in six consulates in northern Mexico -- including Juarez -- to send their family members out of the area until April 12. At least 18,000 people have been killed in Mexico since December 2006, when Calderon declared war on the country's drug traffickers. The U.S. government has committed to spending more than $1 billion to assist the Mexican effort. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 You mean like the US? Not even close. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-03-16 21:43 |
| #6 Where's Black Jack Pershing when you need him? |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-03-16 13:11 |
| #5 Not WoT but FSA: Failing State Alert. Lot of that about, and most of it unrelated to Islam. But nearly all of it related to the increasing criminalization of so many of the non-western world's regimes. You mean like the US? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2010-03-16 12:47 |
| #4 Even PBS did a half extensive segment on it...didn't get into history or extent but did mention it is bad. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-03-16 12:16 |
| #3 I listened to Juan Williams on Fox. Williams is a liberal Democrat who was in Mexico City in the last week. He said this is being under-reported. He said that all of Mexico is a war zone and anywhere you might be you might get caught in a cross-fire. The mayor of Juarez goes over to El Paso to sleep every night because he fears for his safety. I don't see this getting any better without strong leadership on both sides of the border. Basically war has to be declared on the drug gangs and they need to be eradicated. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-03-16 11:32 |
| #2 ..you missed Detroit on your list. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-03-16 08:19 |
| #1 Story not yet elevated to WoT status, Not WoT but FSA: Failing State Alert. Lot of that about, and most of it unrelated to Islam. But nearly all of it related to the increasing criminalization of so many of the non-western world's regimes. Off the top of me head, here's a short list of bandit regimes where -- the government doesn't govern -- rule of law is sporadic at best -- the state has been effectively criminalized -- to the extent the nation has advanced scientific-technical capabilities, it is a sieve for international WMD traffickers like AQ Khan's network Top of the list is GazPutin's criminalized Russian regime, followed closely by the Ukrainians, Byelorussians, and Kazakhs. The mullahs in Iran lack the Russians' flair for theft-- millions, not billions-- but the pattern's the same: steal, bully, torment and cause mayhem. In the next tier are the Indonesians, Filipinos, Indians and the more chaotic latins, esp the Argentines and of course the Cubans and Venezuelans. And then there's nearly all of Africa and the middle east. Chaos rules. Cry havoc, etc |
| Posted by: lex 2010-03-16 00:44 |