EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — After four Americans were kidnapped and two of them killed in Matamoros Mexico, some lawmakers are calling for the United States to take action.
In a news conference Wednesday Senator Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina called specifically for military force to be used stating America is not going to sit on the sidelines.
“If Americans don’t see the need to use military force to stop the flow of fentanyl, I would be shocked. We need to unleash the fury of the United States on these narco terrorists,” said Graham.
Congressman Tony Gonzales, (R) Texas says what happened in Matamoros shouldn’t be brushed under the rug. Gonzales also talked about a bill where he designates cartels as terrorists.
“Hit the cartels where they hurt the most which is in their wallets. We could go after their financials and that would be a game changer, it’s certainly time for us to do something different,” said Gonzales.
However, he says he doesn’t want the U.S. to go to war.
“I spent 20 years in the military, I spent 5 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, I do not want the United States going into war,” said Gonzales.
Senator Joe Manchin, West Virginia (D) states there may be some support from the other side of the isle.
“What other definition would you have of terrorists. We’ve got special ops, we’ve got people that can take care of that, and the Mexican government is going to know if you’re not going to do it, we’re going to do it,” Manchin said during an interview with News Nation.
A UTEP professor specializing in Latin American Studies states the U.S. taking military action in Mexico is a very bad idea.
“It’s a bad thing in terms of geopolitics because we have no right to do that but secondly it wouldn’t work because it would cause essentially the entire country of Mexico to oppose what the U.S. is doing,” said Howard Campbell, professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso.
The President of Mexico spoke on Monday about the U.S. military involvement in Mexico calling it “propaganda”.
“It’s worse that they want to use their military to intervene in the public life of another country, invade another country, with the excuse that they’re pursuing terrorist drug traffickers. It’s all just propaganda,” said Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador the President of Mexico.
He goes on to say, “We have to keep rejecting all of those intentions of intervention into our country.”
The White House has called the designating of cartels as terrorists unnecessary, saying the U.S. is already using powerful sanctions against the cartels.
