Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called on the Biden administration and Congress to “unleash” the U.S. military against Mexican cartels following the kidnappings and killings of U.S. citizens in Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
“It’s time now to get serious and use all the tools in our toolbox, not just in the prosecution way, not just in the law enforcement lane, but in the military lane as well,” Graham said during a press conference in Washington on Wednesday afternoon.
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“We’re going to terrorize the terrorists,” Graham said. “I’ll tell you what it’s like to be a terrorist when the U.S. military is on your a**. You don’t sleep well at night. You know, the terrorists live in caves. They’re committed to their calls. The narco-terrorists live in mansions out in the open, buying fancy cars. We know where you live, and we know how you make your money.”
On Tuesday, the FBI announced two of the four Americans taken hostage at gunpoint after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border from Brownsville, Texas, on March 3 had died. The two others were rescued and brought back to the United States.
Graham, one of many Republican lawmakers who erupted at news of the incident Monday, called on President Joe Biden’s White House and lawmakers to declare Mexican cartels to be “Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” a label that comes with the ability for federal prosecutors to charge cartel members with material support for a terrorist organization.
It would also allow the U.S. to go after Chinese chemical companies that manufacture the ingredients for fentanyl, which are shipped to drug cartels in Mexico who make the final product and move it into the U.S.
“We could do this without a bill,” Graham said. “The State Department could do this tonight.”
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After declaring the cartels terrorists, the U.S. should go on the offensive and authorize the use of military force so that the military can take action against Mexico from the U.S. side or enter Mexico, Graham added.
“Hopefully, this will change behavior of the Mexican government,” Graham said. “Nothing would please me more than having meaningful partnership and take these drug cartels down and stop killing Americans, but if Mexico will not cooperate, we’re going to have to do what’s in our national security interest.”
