Stratfor memos reveal U.S. plan to assassinate Mexican "narcoterrorist" El Chapo -
Here’s a powerful example of how the 9/11 tragedy opened a Pandora’s Box of dicey military adventures for government operatives of all kinds:
WhoWhatWhy has learned that the White House nearly okayed putting the Special Operations Division of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Pentagon’s gonzo Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the business of killing Mexican drug lords.
This step would have extended assassination policy far beyond the war on terror to a different kind of war: that against drugs and drug traffickers.
As best as we can determine, no decision to unleash this operation has thus far been approved. But, as history tells us, when ideas receive strong support at high levels, they should never be counted out. Because such ideas have far-reaching consequences, they merit close examination.
Private Memos, Public Interest
Although government initiatives—like private ones—often never move beyond the memo pads of mid-level bureaucrats, this one became “real” in the summer of 2010. That’s when the DEA asked the White House for permission to kill El Chapo, boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Indeed, it was so close to fruition that in the spring of 2011, none less than President Obama himself weighed in on the possibility of killing the ”narco” in a covert action.
These high-level discussions are revealed in confidential memos of Stratfor, an Austin-based private intelligence firm. Stratfor’s perspective on US intervention in the Mexican drug war was developed over several years, apparently with the help of a DEA supervisor who gave Stratfor information from a top-secret intelligence network. The firm’s reason for gathering information on drug cartels and US intervention in Mexico was to advise international corporations on the risks of conducting business in the country.
Notwithstanding their “private purpose,” such documents are crucial for public understanding of a government that becomes more opaque every year, especially as more and more of its intelligence work is being handed to private contractors such as Stratfor.
The Stratfor memos were obtained by WikiLeaks and researched by WhoWhatWhy in an ongoing investigative partnership. Some of the memos are being published by WikiLeaks for the first time in conjunction with this article.
Read more -
Here’s a powerful example of how the 9/11 tragedy opened a Pandora’s Box of dicey military adventures for government operatives of all kinds:
WhoWhatWhy has learned that the White House nearly okayed putting the Special Operations Division of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Pentagon’s gonzo Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the business of killing Mexican drug lords.
This step would have extended assassination policy far beyond the war on terror to a different kind of war: that against drugs and drug traffickers.
As best as we can determine, no decision to unleash this operation has thus far been approved. But, as history tells us, when ideas receive strong support at high levels, they should never be counted out. Because such ideas have far-reaching consequences, they merit close examination.
Private Memos, Public Interest
Although government initiatives—like private ones—often never move beyond the memo pads of mid-level bureaucrats, this one became “real” in the summer of 2010. That’s when the DEA asked the White House for permission to kill El Chapo, boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Indeed, it was so close to fruition that in the spring of 2011, none less than President Obama himself weighed in on the possibility of killing the ”narco” in a covert action.
These high-level discussions are revealed in confidential memos of Stratfor, an Austin-based private intelligence firm. Stratfor’s perspective on US intervention in the Mexican drug war was developed over several years, apparently with the help of a DEA supervisor who gave Stratfor information from a top-secret intelligence network. The firm’s reason for gathering information on drug cartels and US intervention in Mexico was to advise international corporations on the risks of conducting business in the country.
Notwithstanding their “private purpose,” such documents are crucial for public understanding of a government that becomes more opaque every year, especially as more and more of its intelligence work is being handed to private contractors such as Stratfor.
The Stratfor memos were obtained by WikiLeaks and researched by WhoWhatWhy in an ongoing investigative partnership. Some of the memos are being published by WikiLeaks for the first time in conjunction with this article.
Read more -
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