Blowback from South of the Border
The concept of “blowback”—originally referring to unburnt gunpowder that can blow back into the face of a shooter after firing a gun—is used by the Central Intelligence Agency as shorthand for the unintended effects of U.S. covert actions. Political scientist Chalmbers Johnson’s book Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire details the best known example of blowback—the US arming of the mujahidin during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan leading to the postwar rise of the Taliban and providing a base of operations for Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda.
This weekend the Dallas Morning News reported that blowback now comes in a Tex-Mex flavor too. During the 1990s, US special forces trained elite cadres of the Mexican military to battle drug lords in Mexico. In 2001, a small group of these elites—now known as the Zetas—broke away from the military to take up more profitable positions with the drug cartels.
The Zetas are suspected of being involved with a shooting last December which the Morning News describes as the result of a long standing feud between rival Mexican drug cartels.
In other news, US training of Iraqi security forces continues.
This weekend the Dallas Morning News reported that blowback now comes in a Tex-Mex flavor too. During the 1990s, US special forces trained elite cadres of the Mexican military to battle drug lords in Mexico. In 2001, a small group of these elites—now known as the Zetas—broke away from the military to take up more profitable positions with the drug cartels.
The Zetas are suspected of being involved with a shooting last December which the Morning News describes as the result of a long standing feud between rival Mexican drug cartels.
In other news, US training of Iraqi security forces continues.
posted by Manhattan Transfer at 12:54 PM
