Former Attorney General Bill Barr told Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren in an interview this week that the federal government needs to begin treating Mexican cartels "more like ISIS and less like the mafia."
During an interview on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," the top prosecutor under former President Donald Trump said that "Mexico is well on its way to being a failed narco-state" and that the U.S. should adjust its approach to the cartels accordingly.
"The United States [has been] relegated to working through Mexico to try to deal with the cartels, and I think that's a losing proposition," Barr stated, adding that he doesn't believe the Mexican government is "serious enough" in tackling the drug crisis.
"I think they have to be forced and pushed into action with us," he continued. "We have to be more active against the cartels. In my mind, we have to approach the cartels more like ISIS and less like the mafia."
Barr compared the current policy of attempting to prosecute Mexican drug gangs and affiliated organizations as about as ridiculous as "going after ISIS in Syria on the same basis."
"They are effectively terrorist organizations. They are increasingly building their connections with terrorists. Their paramilitary can take on the Mexican military, and they have so much money they can corrupt any system," the former attorney general explained.
He further emphasized that with the ongoing fentanyl and migrant crisis, "the United States cannot have these cartels operating on our border, poisoning our country — over 100,000" deaths.
Barr condemned the Biden administration's response to the cartels, proclaiming they "have essentially abandoned the border to them."
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