Houston Anti-Kidnapping Expert Kidnapped in Mexico
Houston Chronicle, 15 Dec 08: Houston anti-kidnapping expert kidnapped in Mexico
Quote:
An American renowned as an anti-kidnap expert has himself been abducted in northern Mexico after several days of seminars in which he was teaching police and citizens how to deal with kidnappings.
Felix Batista, 55, is a senior consultant with
ASI Global, a Houston-based firm that assists clients with security issues, including both preventing and resolving kidnappings. He was taken Wednesday evening outside a restaurant in the industrial city of Saltillo in the state of Coahuila, which borders Texas....
Forget the serious discussion,
The title of this thread is hilarious, it wins my vote for the amateur sub-editorial title post of 08,
It really appeals to my aussie sense of humour.
Mark
General Barry McCaffrey: Mexico Trip Report
General Barry McCaffrey: Mexico Trip Report
General Barry McCaffrey (USA, Ret.) an Adjunct Professor at West Point, visited Mexico 5-7 December 2008 as part of an International Forum of Intelligence and Security Specialists.
In his report, General McCaffrey notes that drug-related violence in Mexico is as severe as terror-related violence in Afghanistan and calls on the new Administration to urgently focus on the growing security threat to the US southern border.
Latest Academic Mexico Trip Report - December 2008 (Full AAR)
Good post and on target I believe.
We have not been very nice to either of our neighbors...
That's generally considered to be not very bright and to breed resentment that regardless of wealth and the size of your lot can lead to power outages, disrupted water lines and their dogs using your turf for a dumping ground.
We should do better.
David has a point. Barry's previous job did give him
some familiarity with the problem but my suspicion is that a flying two day visit and speaking to folks on high -- you can rest assured he did not speak in depth with any peons (LTC and below in his eyes, I suspect) -- does not really give him the depth of current knowledge to be making policy prescriptions. Not that such fact would deter him...
Not having ever been a McCaffrey fan
I would still suggest to all that we don't underestimate his experience with Mexico or his insights. He was, after all, not only the Director ONDCP (Drug Czar) but also CINC USSOUTHCOM at a time when that command had some major responsibilities toward Mexico even though it was not technically in his AOR.
That said, I agree with Ken's assessment about who the General talked with.:wry:
Cheers
JohnT
Is Legalization the Answer?
Major Marginal said:
"This will not go away. There is de facto legalization in most of urban America. In most of urban America you can sell drugs all day long. All strata of society use illegal drugs. It's time to re boot and think about legalization and regulation."
I agree that we need to re-think our drug policy. We spend billions of dollars on drug enforcement every year and little to show for it. I do not believe that law enforcement has ever changed the American public's drug use/consumption, or even mores. either.
Meanwhile, look at what the "drug war" is doing to democracies in Central and South America, it's absolutely tragic.
Would the world be worse if the US legalized (and taxed/regulated) narcotics like Heroin/cocaine, and of course, the no-brainer marijuana? I suspect not.
I hope more Americans start discussing our current drug policies, and the possibility of legalization, intelligently in the near future. . .