Drug War Strategy: The Nontraditional, Traditional Drug Threat and Drug War

Border Lines: "The commander of the U.S. Southern Command warns that the U.S. is facing a “nontraditional threat” from the south in the form of “transnational organized crime.” Commander Douglas Fraser joined the chorus of military and administration officials warning of the new threat of transnational criminal organizations, and declared: “We’re trying to move our defense further and further from our border.”

Southcom’s relationship with nations in its region, the general added, “provides us with stability and security on our southern flank and that’s in our interest, [and] it improves the economic vitality of the region and our ability to trade with one another.”

It is not at all clear, however, that the U.S.-led drug war that Southcom has supported over the past four decades has been in the best interests of the region.

... There’s bipartisan support for escalating the drug war in the form of a new bill titled “Targeting Transnational Drug Traffic king Act of 2011” that expands the reach of the Justice Department in pursuing individuals who directly or indirectly involved in operations that export illegal drugs into the United States." read more