Credit: CNN
Sen. Lindsey Graham warned on Tuesday that America is “under attack” from Mexican drug cartels, and urged fellow lawmakers and the head of Homeland Security that the United States needs to “be at war with them”.
“What are we going to do about the poisoning of America?” Graham said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, which had DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as a witness. “So here’s what I would say: America is under attack. Our nation is being attacked by foreign powers called drug cartels in Mexico.”
Graham noted that around 70,000 Americans die every year due to fentanyl. Fentanyl is produced in Mexico using Chinese precursors and then smuggled across the U.S. land border. Cartels facilitate the production and transportation of fentanyl into the U.S.
“When the Japanese attacked America at Pearl Harbor, they killed about 3,000 Americans; 9/11 when we were attacked, about 3,000. This is the largest attack on American homeland by a foreign power in the history of the nation,” he said.
Fox News reported:
Graham used the hearing to re-up his calls for cartels to be declared foreign terrorist organizations and for the U.S. to use military force to take out cartel labs.
Attorney General Merrick Garland recently told lawmakers Mexico was helping the U.S. with the issue of fentanyl, but could still be doing more. He also said the epidemic is being “unleashed on purpose” by Mexico. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meanwhile, told lawmakers that parts of Mexico are controlled by the cartels.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reacted angrily to the increased rhetoric from Washington and falsely claimed that fentanyl is not produced in Mexico as he attempted to shift the blame onto the U.S.
“Here, we do not produce fentanyl, and we do not have consumption of fentanyl,” López Obrador said. “Why don’t they [the United States] take care of their problem of social decay?”
He also threatened to interfere in U.S. elections by launching an “information campaign” against Republicans.
Attorney General Merrick Garland recently told lawmakers Mexico was helping the U.S. with the issue of fentanyl, but could still be doing more. He also said the epidemic is being “unleashed on purpose” by Mexico. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meanwhile, told lawmakers that parts of Mexico are controlled by the cartels.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reacted angrily to the increased rhetoric from Washington and falsely claimed that fentanyl is not produced in Mexico as he attempted to shift the blame onto the U.S.
“Here, we do not produce fentanyl, and we do not have consumption of fentanyl,” López Obrador said. “Why don’t they [the United States] take care of their problem of social decay?”
He also threatened to interfere in U.S. elections by launching an “information campaign” against Republicans.