Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for military strikes on Mexico — even after her border bomb hoax is debunked

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is calling for targeted military strikes on Mexico to go after the drug cartels — even as her claim that border agents found an explosive device on the border turned out to be wrong, The Daily Beast reported on Friday.

Greene's comments came on Wednesday, noted the report. “Explosive found by Border Patrol Agents Jan 17th,” she tweeted, showing a picture of an object wrapped in duct tape. “Agents have surveillance of who brought it in and when and confirmed it was the Cartel. This changes everything. Not only are the Cartels murdering Americans everyday through drugs and crime, but now they are planting bombs on our land in our country. Our US military needs to take action against the Mexican Cartels. End this Cartel led war against America!” In fact, the spherical duct-taped object was just full of sand.

"That hasn’t stopped Greene from calling for military force against Mexicans. She and a growing Republican coalition have spent this month agitating for armed action against Mexican cartels, including international military operations and drone strikes on Mexican soil," reported Kelly Weill. "Greene’s duct tape scare came one day after she announced support for a bill by fellow Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw. The bill would authorize the use of U.S. military force in Mexico against cartels. Last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham held a press conference promising similar legislation in the Senate."

"The second step that we will be engaging in is give the military the authority to go after these organizations wherever they exist," said Graham in explanation of his bill. "Not to invade Mexico. Not to shoot Mexican airplanes down. But to destroy drug labs that are poisoning Americans."

The idea to conduct military strikes on the drug cartels, who effectively act like a shadow military force, is nothing new. Former President Donald Trump toyed with the idea of designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move that could have cleared the way for military operations across the border. But some experts have warned that on top of eroding Mexico's sovereignty, such an operation would risk becoming an open-ended quagmire like recent Middle East engagements.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has made clear he opposes U.S. military action within his country, noted the report. “We are not going to allow any foreign government to intervene and much less foreign armed forces to intervene in our territory,” he said in a speech this month.

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