366.76 (3/17/12)

Succinctly Summing up the Santorum Surge

Like it or Not: IA+NH=Important

Officials in Colombia say the alleged leader of a powerful criminal gang has been killed in a police operation.

Prosecutors accuse Juan de Dios Usuga and his brother Dairo Antonio of jointly leading the Urabenos gang, which controls much of the drug-trafficking in the north of Colombia.

Police say Juan de Dios Usuga, 44, was shot dead as officers tried to arrest him at his ranch in Choco province.

[…]

Los Urabenos is one of the groups the Colombian government calls Bacrim, short for bandas criminales (criminal gangs).

While the era of the big cartels in Colombia is over, at least rhetorically, the drug business does continue at significant levels.

I think that on the one hand it is important to note that Colombia has made substantial progress in regards to violence and criminality,  but that on the other hand, the struggle continues.  I note this, if anything, because often the press (and sometimes representatives of the US government) speaks as if the drug war has been basically won in Colombia and that, therefore, policies used there are directly exportable to Mexico and Afghanistan.  This is problematic because such pronouncements make it sound as if the drug war is working (and is “winnable”) when, in fact, this is not the case.  It is also problematic because the situations in Mexico and Afghanistan are substantially different than that in Colombia once one gets beyond superficial comparisons that include violence and drugs.

All of my posts on this subject, for those who are interested in my reasoning and/or wish to examine the evidence for themselves are as follows (in chronological order):

• Ron Paul’s Newsletter Problem

• More on Paul and the Newsletters

• A Bit More About the Ron Paul Newsletters

• If You Need an Example of the Ron Paul Newsletter

• More Examples of the Ron Paul Newsletters

• Even More Ron Paul Newsletter Scans

• Libertarian History and the Paul Newsletters

• Ron Paul: Not So Much Denial Back in the 1990s (Plus: Newsletters 101)

• Dowd on Gingrich

• MTP Needs a Lesson in Differing Academic Disciplines

• Newt Gingrich, “Academic”
• Santorum on Suffering and Death
• Another Example of Fee-for-Service Fire Department Letting a Home Burn (and its Implications)
• “Obama’s war on religion”?
• Newt Leads Nationally

• Perry and Gay Rights

• Erick Erickson’s Odd (and Telling) Confession

• The Long Knives are out for Newt

• War on Christmas, Korean Style

• Noriega’s World Tour Continues

• Santorum: Get Science out of Politics

• Rick Perry Loves the Constitution