Lessons of Iraq Help U.S. Fight a Drug War in Honduras

[Judi Lynn]

Lessons of Iraq Help U.S. Fight a Drug War in Honduras



[font size=1] Tomas Munita for The New York Times

Honduran soldiers at Forward Operating Base Mocoron, one of three outposts from which cocaine trafficking is
being combated. More Photos »

By THOM SHANKER
Published: May 5, 2012 [/font]

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MOCORON, Honduras — The United States military has brought lessons from the past decade of conflict to the drug war being fought in the wilderness of Miskito Indian country, constructing this remote base camp with little public notice but with the support of the Honduran government.

It is one of three new forward bases here — one in the rain forest, one on the savanna and one along the coast — each in a crucial location to interdict smugglers moving cocaine toward the United States from South America.

Honduras is the latest focal point in America’s drug war. As Mexico puts the squeeze on narcotics barons using its territory as a transit hub, more than 90 percent of the cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela bound for the United States passes through Central America. More than a third of those narcotics make their way through Honduras, a country with vast ungoverned areas — and one of the highest per capita homicide rates in the world.

This new offensive, emerging just as the United States military winds down its conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and is moving to confront emerging threats, also showcases the nation’s new way of war: small-footprint missions with limited numbers of troops, partnerships with foreign military and police forces that take the lead in security operations, and narrowly defined goals, whether aimed at insurgents, terrorists or criminal groups that threaten American interests.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/world/americas/us-turns-its-focus-on-drug-smuggling-in-honduras.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

[bemildred]

1. Just boggles the mind, it does. nt

[Peace Patriot]

2. !@#$%!

See my !@#$%! in "Latest Threads" at...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101627434

[Judi Lynn]

3. They are trying to slip the same old war plan by the public with a new name.

They are trying to slip the same old war plan by the public with a new name.

This time their plans for Latin American people are more conspicuous since we are familiar with the pattern by now.

Instead of calling the people they want to destroy "communists," they are pretending they are saving the world from narcotraffickers.

It would be easy to condemn it if it were only a little wrong. This is downright evil.

People in the military have been wanting to publicly slaughter Latin Americans for a long time, to show those people south of the border they are expected to shut up, take a beating, some massacres, then go back to being the silent, impoverished vast pool of extremely poor, cheap labor we expect them to be for U.S. American companies.