CGP
04-04-2009, 03:43 PM
Full Report @ Athens Banner Herald (http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/040409/opi_425595831.shtml)
Hillary Clinton is right. Right on target. Dead right, if you will.
Before some of you Hillary haters begin convulsing, hear me out.
After hearing our new secretary of state's recent comments in Mexico, I thought perhaps she had overheard a telephone conversation I had a couple of weeks ago with an obviously upset man. The tone of his voice - the tremor of each word - was one of hurt and anger. The caller was a Hispanic with a deep love for Mexico.
After hearing broadcast reports about the drug cartels in Mexico and the violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, the man was upset by a recurring theme in comments from some U.S. government officials.
Some of those officials - and some media commentators - were referring to Mexico as a "failed state" or on the verge of becoming such.
He had a question: If Mexico is a "failed state" because so much drug traffic is coming from there, then are Americans a "failed people" because they are consuming those drugs?
That brings me back to our secretary of state, who visited Mexico as our country was committing more resources to the border and desperately trying to figure out what else could be done to stop the drug trafficking and the increase in related violence.
Clinton said our two countries have a "shared responsibility" in this devastating crisis, and she concluded that Americans' drug habits and our failed government policies contribute to the problem we claim to vehemently despise.
"How could anybody conclude any differently?" McClatchy Newspapers quoted Clinton as saying. "Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians."
She is right.
Article continues at the link...
Hillary Clinton is right. Right on target. Dead right, if you will.
Before some of you Hillary haters begin convulsing, hear me out.
After hearing our new secretary of state's recent comments in Mexico, I thought perhaps she had overheard a telephone conversation I had a couple of weeks ago with an obviously upset man. The tone of his voice - the tremor of each word - was one of hurt and anger. The caller was a Hispanic with a deep love for Mexico.
After hearing broadcast reports about the drug cartels in Mexico and the violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, the man was upset by a recurring theme in comments from some U.S. government officials.
Some of those officials - and some media commentators - were referring to Mexico as a "failed state" or on the verge of becoming such.
He had a question: If Mexico is a "failed state" because so much drug traffic is coming from there, then are Americans a "failed people" because they are consuming those drugs?
That brings me back to our secretary of state, who visited Mexico as our country was committing more resources to the border and desperately trying to figure out what else could be done to stop the drug trafficking and the increase in related violence.
Clinton said our two countries have a "shared responsibility" in this devastating crisis, and she concluded that Americans' drug habits and our failed government policies contribute to the problem we claim to vehemently despise.
"How could anybody conclude any differently?" McClatchy Newspapers quoted Clinton as saying. "Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians."
She is right.
Article continues at the link...