"Gun flow south is a crisis for two nations."

Here is an excerpt from Josh Meyer's article in The Los Angeles Times:

"The United States lacks a coordinated strategy to stem the flow of weapons smuggled across its southern border, a failure that has fueled the rise of powerful criminal cartels and violence in Mexico, a government watchdog agency report has found. The report by the congressional Government Accountability Office, the first federal assessment of the issue, offered blistering conclusions that will probably influence the debate over the role of U.S.-made weaponry as violence threatens to spill across the Mexico border. According to a draft copy of the report, which will be released today, the growing number of weapons being smuggled into Mexico comprise more than 90% of the seized firearms that can be traced by authorities there. The document also cited recent U.S. intelligence indicating that most weapons were being smuggled in specifically for the syndicates -- and being used not only against the Mexican government but also to expand their drug trafficking operation in the United States." Link to Full Article

Analysis: As of 9:15 am Pacific time, the GAO report hadn't been posted on the agency's website, so I have to go off of what the LA Times article says about it. I'm not surprised at all the the GAO report really laid into the Obama administration and DHS component agencies. Mind you, this is a problem that goes back several years, so there is plenty of blame to go around for several administrations and agencies on both sides of the border.

There are a few issues the article mentions that I want to point out, and I look forward to reading more about them in the draft GAO report when it's published. First, the GAO report continues to use the figure of 90% when it comes to weapons traced in Mexico; it actually says more than 90%. Again, we'll never know the actual number of weapons purchased here, and we can only rely on the weapons that ARE submitted by the Mexican government for tracing. Regardless of the actual percentage, we have a serious southbound weapons trafficking problem, and quibbling over the percentage just detracts from it. Second, the report mentions the lack of a national strategy, and lack of interagency cooperation and communication. I see and deal with this almost on a daily basis, and it's extremely frustrating for everyone involved. Keep in mind, it's not like this just became a problem; interagency battles and roadblocks have been going on since agencies were created. DHS and its component agencies have been a mess for years, so I'm curious to see what the Obama administration and Napolitano have in mind to accomplish what so many people before them failed to do - get federal agencies to play nice.

Third, the report talks about obstacles caused by legal issues. I'm particularly happy that this issue was brought up because most people don't know what those legal obstacles are. I posted about the Tiahrt Amendment and the problems it poses for information sharing, but that is only one of several laws that prevent effective cooperation. It's completely true that good analysis and reporting isn't happening because some agencies don't have the resources to do that, and other agencies can't legally do that. 

On top of our own issues, the Mexican government has more than enough to go around. Not only are we dealing with our own governmental and agency flaws; the Mexican government has to deal with an insane amount of corruption, sovereignty issues that have made it very resistant in the past to cooperation with the US, and an economy that's hurting way more than ours, which significantly limits their resources. We've seen some positive changes in all regards, and at least Calderon realizes that these problems will require an unprecedented level of cross-border communication and cooperation if they're ever going to approach being solved. 

Bottom line, this GAO report was needed by everyone - our government, federal and state agencies, the general public, and the Mexican government. There's nothing to put things in motion like a good, swift, public kick in the you-know-what, and that's what this GAO report is attempting to provide. Now, we wait and see what the response will be.