Severed head hung from bridge in Tijuana, Mexico

[harvey007]

Source: Washington Post

TIJUANA, Mexico -- The severed head of a young man was found hanging from a bridge in the Mexican border city of Tijuana on Monday.

The Baja California state attorney general's office said the head belonged to a man between 25 and 30 years old.

It had several bullet wounds and was hung using a metallic ring and a nylon rope. A threatening message was found nearby on the bridge.

Hours earlier, a woman between 30 and 35 years old was found shot to death in another Tijuana neighborhood, also with a threatening message left nearby.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/03/AR2011010304485.html

[hlthe2b]

1. I remember when a visit to Tijuana or Matamoras, or any border town...

was simply a little short term adventure. The crime is unspeakable there now. I don't know what it will take to end it, other than, perhaps civil war against the drug lords.

[Mojambo]

3. Went to Tijuana with my parents when I was 12

Can't imagine any sane families making that trip now.

The violence is INSANE down there.

[lonestarnot]

24. Used to cross the border daily to the race track as a kid. Now dogs, used to be horses at Caliente.

[jtuck004]

14. And that has worked so well against the Taliban...

Problem is, they are so embedded, not only in the seats of power in Mexico, but in
corporations with influence in this country. They could not operate otherwise.

[hlthe2b]

18. Last I checked... Afghanistan has never been at civil war...

They have been invaded multiple times by multiple countries, most recently, our own. There is a difference.

[jtuck004]

19. The friggin' Taliban ARE their own people...that's a civil war

Though I am open to another definition... ;)

[hlthe2b]

20. Taliban arose to fight the Soviets and remained in power...

The Afghan people themselves have not risen up against the Taliban with few exceptions. That would be a civil war. Unlike Iraq, where the Sunnis and Shia did engage in war with each other for a time after we deposed Sadaam Hussein. In Afghanistan, rather, it is the US that is in combat with the Taliban--where they have been additionally infiltrated by Al Qaida. That to me does not meet the definition of civil war. Rather, it is insurgency.

[jtuck004]

21. The Mujahadeen fought the Soviets, as well as the groups that

became Al Quaida. The Taliban arose in the vacuum we left behind when we pulled out after the Soviets left. They did not have control
of Afghanistan, and there were several areas where they were actively battled.

And they fought each other until we gave them a new enemy to unite against. Us.

But the whole country, until the Taliban grew strong enough, was in fact very much like Mexico, with roving bands of gangs
holding areas and doing what they wanted, using force where necessary. It was that which propelled the Taliban to power,
because they offered the people protection if they let them come in to govern.

[hlthe2b]

22. ok...

you convinced me. ;)

(and how often do you hear that on DU...LOL)

[jtuck004]

23. Now I have to wipe the coffee off

my keyboard. From my jaw dropping open. ;)

I do see your point. What I think, however, and just imho, is that the gangs have, kinda like investment gangsters on wall street, moved beyond just the criminal aspect into positions in the government, and bought others, probably on both sides of the border. That gives them a huge amount of insulation any force that have more than a cosmetic affect on their operations.

While a more para-military approach might make some headway, I am afraid it would turn into the same situation we see in Afghanistan. The upside (?) is that the drug gangs appear to be scaring the crap out of the citizenry, so instead of joining with them and turning on the aggressor, as in Afghanistan, they might turn against the gangs.

But that just leaves us with military occupation. The drug problem, and the huge profits it generates, still remains. Kind of like Government Sachs, they haven't really stopped doing the things that damaged the world economic system, just changed some names and procedures to work around the water-down regulations we passed. It is just a matter of time until the whole thing rears it's ugly head again, and the gangs in Mexico could well re-emerge in another form as well.

[emilyg]

2. Jesus H -

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. I loathe the idea of agreement with Rick Perry on anything, but.....

I increasingly fear/suspect that Mexico is going to be our next area of military involvement.

[molly77]

10. I have read that Mexico's elections were interfered

with just like ours. The Mexicans demonstrated over it for months. The man who was supposed to have really won was for a decent wage and retirement for older people. It would not surprise me if the same people who interfere with fair elections in the US did not do it in Mexico.

It seems that the US does not want leaders any where in the world who help people and not corporations.

[phasma ex machina]

5. Some theorize that America's war on drugs in Columbia caused drug lords to relocated to Mexico. nt

[COLGATE4]

9. No, the drug lords in Colombia are still in Colombia, selling to

the drug lords in Mexico. Mexico has quite a large crop of its own talent.

[apocalypsehow]

6. End the drug war, and you'll end the cartels. And horrific stories such as this. n/t.

[Botany]

7. I was 20 and used to cross the border to T.J. all the time ....

a little dope, some beer & tequila, along w/ walking around w/ some
friends who were of Mexican Families and lived in San Diego ...... sure there was
poverty and crime but nothing like the stuff of the past 10 years but nothing like
the past few years.

[DeSwiss]

8. K&R

[cbgb2112]

11. These things

could turn the most liberal into a boarder militia member. I live in San Diego and we all wonder at what point it moves in. My son has a friend whose dad was killed recently down there. Albeit, a number of people are not doing the right thing when they are killed; I wonder how many had a choice.

[somone]

12. Half of doctors in Ciudad Juárez have fled the city because they're targeted for kidnappings

and murders:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-01-03-fleeingdoctors03_ST_N.htm

[sweetloukillbot]

13. A mariachi musician from my church was assassinated in Sinaloa last week

He was stopped at a taco stand on his way back to the states and someone just came up and gunned him down. Mexico terrifies me right now - yet my sister and her family go to Rocky Point every other month...

[trud]

15. If drugs were legal

would this stuff all vanish? I am thinking, yes. Why is this country stupid about drugs when it saw the light about prohibition? Can someone answer me that?

[Ex Lurker]

16. the Mafia didn't go away when prohibition ended

but I think it would reduce the crime to a manageable level. When the narcoterrorists became an existential threat to Colombia, the government acted. We can question what they did and how they went about it, but the cartels no longer pose that kind of threat to the Colombian state. One wonders when Mexico will act, or if it's too late for that now.

[IScreamSundays]

17. I have a lot of personal experience in Tijuana...

I live in San Diego County. Back in the day; I have seen their doctors, their dentists, and their surgeons. I have parked my motor home on the beaches in Baja for years at a time, visiting on the weekends to enjoy the beautiful beaches. What is happening in Mexico right now is a, if you will, changing of the guard. It is a war over territory. And our CIA is leading the fight. It is a messed up situation with so many victims. It is a drug lord war. Not much different than the 80's in Central America. It is just closer now.