WT: Obama blames U.S. guns in Mexico

[GoSkins561]

Obama blames U.S. guns in Mexico

Seeks treaty to fight drug violence

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/17/obama-blames-us-guns-in-mexico/

MEXICO CITY | Meeting face-to-face with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, President Obama on Thursday said the U.S. is to blame for much of Mexico's drug violence, and he set up a major congressional gun-control battle by calling on the Senate to ratify a treaty designed to track and cut the flow of guns to other countries.

Mr. Obama said he wants to renew a ban on some semiautomatic weapons but that it is not likely to pass Congress. Instead, he called for the Senate to ratify a decade-old hemispherewide treaty that would require nations to mark all weapons produced in the country and track them to make sure no weapons were exported to countries where they were banned.

"I will not pretend that this is Mexico's responsibility alone. The demand for these drugs in the United States is what's helping keep these cartels in business," Mr. Obama said at a joint news conference with Mr. Calderon. "This war is being waged with guns purchased not here, but in the United States. More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States, many from gun shops that line our shared border."

But the treaty is likely to run into opposition from gun rights backers, and the Senate's top Democrat was noncommittal Thursday about the measure.

Mr. Calderon urged the U.S. to consider a gun registry and a prohibition on bulk sales of firearms.

On other issues, Mr. Calderon pushed Mr. Obama to develop an immigration policy that would legalize illegal Mexican immigrants and establish a future flow of workers. The Mexican president also said he had presented Mr. Obama with proposals for a bilateral carbon-dioxide emissions trading scheme to combat climate change, and with a plan for infrastructure projects on the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to boost jobs and cooperation.

The two also found areas of disagreement. On Cuba, Mexico would like the U.S. to lift its trade embargo entirely while Mr. Obama has taken an incremental approach. They also disagreed on a program allowing some Mexican trucks to operate far into the U.S.

Mexico says it is entitled to operate trucks in the U.S. under a free-trade agreement, but Congress and Mr. Obama ended the program earlier this year.

Mr. Obama is making a one-day visit to Mexico before flying Friday to Trinidad, where he will attend the Summit of the Americas with leaders of 33 other Western Hemisphere nations.

How about this Felipe, keep your mouth shut, and worry about your own third world disaster of a country because we are sick of giving your people free health care and education. Gotta love it, we give them money and they tell us how to run our country.

[ACW]

Well of COURSE it's our fault. We're prosecuting this "war" on drugs.

[GoSkins561]

This whole line of B.S. about 90 percent of the guns come from the US is exactly that. The truth is, 90 percent of the guns that can be traced come from the US which makes the actual number of guns that come from the US a small fraction of the actual guns that are in Mexico.

Obama lying through his teeth again.

"This war is being waged with guns purchased not here, but in the United States. More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States, many from gun shops that line our shared border."

[GoSkins561]

Way to twist the numbers Obama.

The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S.

While 90 percent of the guns traced to the U.S. actually originated in the United States, the percent traced to the U.S. is only about 17 percent of the total number of guns reaching Mexico.

click link for the rest of the article

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/04/02/myth-percent-guns-mexico-fraction-number-claimed/

A Look at the Numbers

In 2007-2008, according to ATF Special Agent William Newell, Mexico submitted 11,000 guns to the ATF for tracing. Close to 6,000 were successfully traced -- and of those, 90 percent -- 5,114 to be exact, according to testimony in Congress by William Hoover -- were found to have come from the U.S.

But in those same two years, according to the Mexican government, 29,000 guns were recovered at crime scenes.

In other words, 68 percent of the guns that were recovered were never submitted for tracing. And when you weed out the roughly 6,000 guns that could not be traced from the remaining 32 percent, it means 83 percent of the guns found at crime scenes in Mexico could not be traced to the U.S.

So, if not from the U.S., where do they come from? There are a variety of sources:

-- The Black Market. Mexico is a virtual arms bazaar, with fragmentation grenades from South Korea, AK-47s from China, and shoulder-fired rocket launchers from Spain, Israel and former Soviet bloc manufacturers.

-- Russian crime organizations. Interpol says Russian Mafia groups such as Poldolskaya and Moscow-based Solntsevskaya are actively trafficking drugs and arms in Mexico.

- South America. During the late 1990s, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) established a clandestine arms smuggling and drug trafficking partnership with the Tijuana cartel, according to the Federal Research Division report from the Library of Congress.

-- Asia. According to a 2006 Amnesty International Report, China has provided arms to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Chinese assault weapons and Korean explosives have been recovered in Mexico.

-- The Mexican Army. More than 150,000 soldiers deserted in the last six years, according to Mexican Congressman Robert Badillo. Many took their weapons with them, including the standard issue M-16 assault rifle made in Belgium.

-- Guatemala. U.S. intelligence agencies say traffickers move immigrants, stolen cars, guns and drugs, including most of America's cocaine, along the porous Mexican-Guatemalan border. On March 27, La Hora, a Guatemalan newspaper, reported that police seized 500 grenades and a load of AK-47s on the border. Police say the cache was transported by a Mexican drug cartel operating out of Ixcan, a border town.

[GoSkins561]

Well of COURSE it's our fault. We're prosecuting this "war" on drugs.

Obama should have checked his facts instead of lying on the International stage. I don't want to turn this into a legalize drug conversation because it has nothing to do with it, but how is it our fault that Mexico sucks as a country?

[armstrong001]

Way to twist the numbers Obama.

Nope, doesn't count. You used Fox News.

[DirtyBird]

Last time I checked I couldn't walk into a gun store in the US and buy M-16s and Automatic AK-47s and Grenades legally. So what exactly will more laws do to stop, what are already illegal for private sale or heavily restricted, firearms and explosives from getting into Mexico. What is being done now is already illegal! Enforce the damn laws and stop making new ones!

[ACW]

Obama should have checked his facts instead of lying on the International stage. I don't want to turn this into a legalize drug conversation because it has nothing to do with it, but how is it our fault that Mexico sucks as a country?

:secret: It's about Mexico drug gangs. Drugs DO have something to do with this.

[GoSkins561]

:secret: It's about Mexico drug gangs. Drugs DO have something to do with this.

Its about our President lying to push his agenda in the United States.

[GoSkins561]

Nope, doesn't count. You used Fox News.

I checked that, it's a good thing the numbers are from the ATF and the Mexican Government.

[ACW]

Its about our President lying to push his agenda in the United States.

Funny, you didn't seem to get worked up over Bush lying

[armstrong001]

I checked that, it's a good thing the numbers are from the ATF and the Mexican Government.

Doesn't matter. Until it is verified by an unbiased source like CNN, MSNBC, or NPR it's not true;)

[Duckus]

I agree with the portion that says the US is partly responsible for the violence in Mexico. It is our demand for drugs that drives all of this.

Don’t see what the big deal at all about tracking guns after they are produced to make sure they are not exported to countries illegally. Sounds reasonable – no? Has nothing to do with guns rights in this country.

But the treaty is likely to run into opposition from gun rights backers

What does tracking of illegally deported guns to other countries have to do with gun rights?

[GoSkins561]

Funny, you didn't seem to get worked up over Bush lying

Because Bush didn't have an agenda to take my guns away and this is about exactly that. I must say this is a nice effort on your part trying to knock the thread off track.

[TheGoodBits]

Funny, you didn't seem to get worked up over Bush lying

No no that's ok. When Bush lied it only cost us a few trillion dollars and thousands of American lives. But Obama wants to take away our guns!:mad:

[GoSkins561]

I agree with the portion that says the US is partly responsible for the violence in Mexico. It is our demand for drugs that drives all of this.

Don’t see what the big deal at all about tracking guns after they are produced to make sure they are not exported to countries illegally. Sounds reasonable – no? Has nothing to do with guns rights in this country.

What does tracking of illegally deported guns to other countries have to do with gun rights?

Obviously they already have the ability to trace them back, otherwise they wouldn't have known that only 17 percent of the guns confiscated in Mexico were traced back to the US.

Just thought I would highlight that for Obama just in case he starts reading ES.

[armstrong001]

No no that's ok. When Bush lied it only cost us a few trillion dollars and thousands of American lives. But Obama wants to take away our guns!:mad:

Well, shoot. Give Obama time. He's got (hopefully) three and a half years to catch up. Of course, spending wise he's well on his way.

[TheGoodBits]

Well, shoot. Give Obama time. He's got (hopefully) three and a half years to catch up. Of course, spending wise he's well on his way.

Come on Obama! You can do it!

[GoSkins561]

No no that's ok. When Bush lied it only cost us a few trillion dollars and thousands of American lives. But Obama wants to take away our guns!:mad:

Will you guys stop whinging about what Bush did, lets focus on Obama and how he is currently lying through his teeth.

Where were the Bush supporters when this happened, blah blah blah blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,take it to one of the I blame Bush threads because this is an I blame Obama thread for 1. not knowing the facts (shame on him) or 2. lying on the international stage, you guys pick one or both.

[TheGoodBits]

Will you guys stop whinging about what Bush did, lets focus on Obama and how he is currently lying through his teeth.

Where were the Bush supporters when this happened, blah blah blah blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,take it to one of the I blame Bush threads because this is an I blame Obama thread for 1. not knowing the facts (shame on him) or 2. lying on the international stage, you guys pick one or both.

wtf, I was agreeing with you.

[Midnight Judges]

Doesn't matter. Until it is verified by an unbiased source like CNN, MSNBC, or NPR it's not true;)

That article is completely full of holes. FOX has more than earned their reputation. Case in point.

[GoSkins561]

No no that's ok. When Bush lied it only cost us a few trillion dollars and thousands of American lives. But Obama wants to take away our guns!:mad:

wtf, I was agreeing with you.

Would you like an application to join the NRA?

[ntotoro]

Has Obama found a country yet where he's not willing to travel and throw the US under the proverbial bus... ?

It didn't work in Europe and in the Near-East, it won't work in Mexico.

[GoSkins561]

That article is completely full of holes. FOX has more than earned their reputation. Case in point.

Start shooting your holes, I would love to see how Obama got to 90 percent.

[Midnight Judges]

Obviously they already have the ability to trace them back, otherwise they wouldn't have known that only 17 percent of the guns confiscated in Mexico were traced back to the US.

Just thought I would highlight that for Obama just in case he starts reading ES.

Republicans + math = fail.

What percentage did they even try to trace?

Full disclosure: I know the answer, just curious if you are capable of 4th grade math.