opinion: Mexican drug cartels are worse than ISIL

in #opinion8 years ago (edited)

Mexican drug cartels are worse than ISIL

Musa al-Gharbi, Al Jazeera America
While there are other organized groups whose depravity and threat to the United States far surpasses that of ISIL, none has engendered the same kind of collective indignation and hysteria. This raises a question: Are Americans primarily concerned with ISIL’s atrocities or with the fact that Muslims are committing these crimes?

I agree and disagree with al Gharbi.

I agree that the long term threat posed by terrorist groups like ISIL and al Qaida, however deadly, is over-prioritized in the media in comparison to other long-term violence. The drug cartels operating out of Mexico kill more American civilians (along the border states) than terrorist political groups do every year. However, attacks performed by the political groups are given first priority by the press while attacks by criminal organizations are shuffled off as mere crime statistics.

I disagree that the current media focus on terrorist groups is primarily based on cultural differences. Were that true, then anti-Mexican rhetoric promoted by populists like presidential candidate Donald Trump would reign supreme and the media would prioritize violence by our southern stereotypical "Dark Skinned, Catholic" neighbors. This hasn't happened.

I believe that the real reason that the media prioritizes certain terrorist groups is taboo to say outloud and that the bigotry argument is the safe alternative to it.

That real reason for media focus is simple: Some terror campaigns are successful. If you hear and talk about it, the attack was a success. We're not supposed to admit that terrorism works, but often, it does. Ask the Irish.

The product and goal of terrorism is media attention. Media attention drives recruitment. More recruits increase the number/and or severity of the attacks. These attacks draw more attention, then more recruits, and so on.

Simultaneously, the media outlets that refuse to give full coverage to terrorist attacks that hit home or hit our historical NATO allies go out of business. The press is forced to prioritize the successful attack, which in turn provides positive reinforcement for future attacks, which the press will then, again, cover.

It's a vicious cycle. It's also hard to break out of as it is hard for the individual citizen to not focus on such sensational events.

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Mexican Drug Cartels would be much easier to defeat than ISIL.

Decriminalize ALL drugs like Portugal did more than a decade ago.

Drug crime, drug abuse, HIV due to drugs, etc are all at an all time low in Portugal due to this.

Similar things are seen in other places that decriminalize/legalize even one drug.

BANNING things creates a black market. Black markets are powerful, and also an avenue of corruption for our governments.

If the things are not banned it becomes difficult for the black market criminal organizations to stay in business. At least as a criminal entity.

The War on Drugs is the best thing to ever happen to Mexican Drug Cartels, corrupt political families, and drug enterprises globally.

Totally agree. Prohibition promotes these cartels just like the prohibition against alcohol expanded the Italian-American Mafia.

Even if the cartels just end up making something else that's illegal, you're still forcing them to change their entire operation at an enormous cost. Meanwhile the legalized areas rake in their former profits in the form of taxes.

What is really interesting about Prohibition that most people don't realize is how many of our powerful political families today (e.g. Kennedys) made their fortunes off of bootlegging during prohibition.

It was a quick way to money and money is a quick way to power over corrupt Washington D.C.

So I don't understand why people can't realize the extreme likelihood of powerful families (e.g. Clintons) doing the same in this day and age. It is in their best interest to convince us to ban things. Then they can do backdoor deals with those in the black market.

Ban guns... what do you think will happen? Black Market. It won't stop people from having them.

BANNING is bad. If people commit a crime such as murder, assault, theft while they are on drug X or while they are holding weapon Y then truly X and Y don't matter. Charge them with murder, assault, or theft... we already have laws for those things that don't require banning and penalizing people who have not committed crimes.

Yet there is money in banning.

luchamos contra las drogas

saludos desde colombia

Cuidado, amigo. Saludos desde California.