Do you think it's a bad idea for the US military, to bomb cartel run sites with missiles, as if they were terrorist cells?
Gangs would have little reason to exist in many countries if we rob them of their lifeblood.
It would improve the lives of thousands of asylum seekers.
We've tried those types of interventions before, they haven't worked.
Either new cartels pop up in their place.
Or we end up destroying regional economies in the process because the part that people often forget/overlook is that, even though, in the US, their organizations aren't considered "legitimate", the people in those organizations are still making money and spending money.
Meaning, if you're a local restauranteur in one of those areas, you like the fact that people in your area have some money to spend on dining. Same is true of many other types of businesses. If you wanted to start an electronics store that was like a Best Buy...do you want everyone in your region to be broke, or do you want there to be some people who've got money to spend?
It also ignores the fact that people joined those organizations in the first place, because their wasn't a lot of other opportunities that paid well. I highly doubt there's young kids in their room at night thinking "I want to join a drug cartel when I grow up!".
The lack of opportunities that existed before the cartels formed, will still be there after cartel sites are "bombed" if we went with that plan...then what?
It's not as if getting rid of the cartels will magically make any of those countries booming economies.
In fact, the evidence shows quite the contrary...in areas where they're operating, the local economies are actually better (because there's more people with more money to spend).
That was even true here in the US. During a time when there was a major recession happening in the mid 70's to early 80's, Miami had somewhat of a "recession-proof" economy.
Medellín experienced an economic boom during the height of Escobar's reign, and then plummeted after he was taken out.
Taking a reliable source of revenue out of a region actually hurts the economy for the region, even for people who aren't directly involved within "the business".
If the US really wanted to intervene in a way that would be meaningful, it wouldn't be to bomb cartel sites, it'd be to encourage our domestic companies to open facilities (IE: creating jobs) that paid well in those regions so that people had options other than "be broke" or "work for the cartel".
