US Loses base in ongoing drug war

[soulfly22583]

Saw this and felt like sharing

From Mike Mount
CNN Pentagon Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is losing access to one of its three counternarcotics bases in Latin America, U.S. military officials said Wednesday.

The Ecuadorian government has told the Bush administration it will not renew a 10-year agreement letting U.S. troops conduct anti-drug operations from Manta Air Base, an Ecuadorian Air Force installation, military officials said.

The United States has used Manta Air Base since 1999 to run aerial surveillance of the eastern Pacific Ocean, looking for drug runners on the high seas as well as illicit flights.

Ecuador notified the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday that it will not renew the agreement after it expires in November 2009, the U.S. military officials said.

"The Ecuadorian people do not want foreign troops on our soil, and the government has to follow the mandate of its people," Luis Gallegos, Ecuador's ambassador to the United States, said Wednesday.
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"We have spent more than $150 million on troops to monitor the border with Colombia and will continue to support anti-narcotics operations in our country," Gallegos said.

The U.S. State Department's reaction to the announcement was mixed.

"The operations there are critical to our overall counternarcotics strategy, but Ecuador has promised continued close cooperation to confront the threat of drug smuggling," said Heidi Bronke, a spokeswoman for the department.

State Department chief spokesman Sean McCormack said the decision was Ecuador's to make.

"We note, however, that the closure will leave a serious gap in efforts by the United States and our partners to confront illegal drug trafficking throughout the region," he added.

Up to eight planes fly missions from Manta. About 250 U.S. military personnel and civilians work there.

Since the start of U.S. operations there, about 60 percent of the drug interdictions in the eastern Pacific have involved the planes based out of Manta, including the capture of more than 200 metric tons of drugs in 2007, according to U.S. military officials.

State Department officials said they could not talk about plans to move the mission to another country.

Manta is the only U.S. base in South America. The U.S. military operates two other counternarcotics bases in the region: a naval operation in El Salvador and an air operation in Curacao in the Caribbean.

 

[SomeGuy]

God forbid they should have to protect our own borders where the actual threat is.

 

[thekingofNY]

What threat is that exactly? Those scary terrirsts?

 

[master shake]

"...the government has to follow the mandate of its people"

what a great idea, too bad our govt can't adopt that policy.

 

[SomeGuy]

What threat is that exactly? Those scary terrirsts?

Its turrurists.
I think as a sovereign nation we have a right to say who comes in. People want to come here and work that's great, I'll even give em a job and pay a good wage, but they need to contribute back, just like you and me.

 

[EatShitake]

I always thought it was "terra-ists" but that's just me.

I'm sure there will be some sort of overwhelming, evil backroom threat made, and-magically-the Ecuadoreans "come around" to the benefits of US involvement. Some SERIOUS shady sh!t "we" pull on them. After all, the man will not be denied...

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

What threat is that exactly? Those scary terrirsts?

LOL!!!

"...the government has to follow the mandate of its people"

what a great idea, too bad our govt can't adopt that policy.

oh man!! you people and your comedy! make my tummy hurt...
good article though, really.

 

[ConceptOfSleep]

Thanks for sharing SoulFly!

damn interesting article....

 

[EasyBakeIndica]

What threat is that exactly? Those scary terrirsts?

Regardless of how you feel about Mexicans, Canadians, or terrorists, we have a responsibility to secure our borders. Without border security, we aren't a sovereign nation.

The reason why we never had to secure every inch of our border, in the past, is due to the fact that there weren't many means of crossing our border without using highways. Modern day off-road transportation and aircraft have made border security more tedious, but it's still as important as it was in 1776.

1776 to 2008

 

[master shake]

LOL!!!

oh man!! you people and your comedy! make my tummy hurt...
good article though, really.

what's that supposed to mean? Please, tell us how you really feel...