'El Monstruo': The cartels have a tank

Posted By Joshua Keating Tuesday, May 10, 2011 - 3:17 PM Share

This item from Jalopnik on the Mexican drug cartels' latest hardware achievement should add some fuel to the debate over whether Mexico's drug war is, in fact, an actual war:

The Blog Del Narco reports that the tank was captured two weeks ago after a firefight outside Ciudad Mier in northern Mexico. The vehicle had a top speed of 68 mph, and could carry 12 people — but had no side shielding for its tires, which ultimately led to its end.

It's not the first time the drug cartels have turned to armored vehicles to augment their forces; this heavy-duty armored truck was captured last year. And Mexican officials have said they expect similar monsters are already lurking in the countryside.

Between the Mexican cartels' building tanks, Colombian drug smugglers making homemade submarines, and the gonzo mechanic genius of Libya's rebels, is it possible that the world predicted in Mad Max has actually come to pass and no one noticed?

 

JOEYFOTO.FR

10:58 AM ET

May 11, 2011

Mexico — the battleground for America's drug war...jt

One tank does not an army make.

The fact remains that this is the logical and predictable consequence of America's cowardly drug policy. By refusing to take responsibility for domestic consumption but conveniently blaming the economic opportunity handed to poor people, America keeps the moral high-ground among the unobservant.

Bad policy brings about bad outcomes. No surprise there.

Sadly, as usual, it is innocents who die for America's pernicious imbecility.

America, Land of the Free Home of the brave.
You are: The most imprisoned nation on earth.
Your pretense to liberty is a pathetic joke.
Americans have lost the capacity to be ashamed
of what is done in your name.

 

RAMBLINGMAN

1:44 PM ET

May 11, 2011

Sooo ...

You're solution is what exactly? You think that the authorities are not doing their utmost to curb the sale, distribution, and use of drugs? You think the vast majority of parents are not trying to keep their children away from them? Drug use is a problem world-wide and I know of no government, however draconian, or populace, however moderate, that has found a solution to it. To single out the US in this mess is juvenile at best. Should US drug users think about the repercussions their habit engenders? You betcha! But the girl doing cocaine in Rome is as guilty as the boy smoking reefer in Chicago. And although of course the demand drives the production those doing the growing, refining, smuggling, and killing share a part of the blame, wouldn't you say?

 

SQUEEDLE

6:22 PM ET

May 11, 2011

Had a couple of good points, then lost me w/ insulting hyperbole

Sweeping generalizations much? What was your goal here, did you expect Americans to read your comment and start crying or something? Or was this ranting just to make you feel superior? Did it work? Do you really think all Americans think alike? If so not only do you misunderstand human nature but haven't been paying any real attention to American politics. Just because you say things on the internet doesn't make them true.

I reject the adjective "cowardly" when applied to US drug policy. Stubborn, shortsighted, ill-informed, moralistic, and upheld by greedy people with a financial stake in the drug war. But not cowardly. I think you must have picked insulting adjectives out of a jar when you wrote this one.

 

MARTEILLE

8:07 PM ET

May 11, 2011

Well Said Joey

Well Said

 

Passport, FP’s flagship blog, brings you news and hidden angles on the biggest stories of the day, as well as insights and under-the-radar gems from around the world.

Read More