I'm certainly not "into" firearms at all (in fact, I haven't touched a
gun since my short Armed Forces career many years ago) but this looks like
a d*mn good time to think about stocking-up on self/family-defense tools
for what's coming.

An aside that seems apropos right now: One day while browsing the shelves
of a local library shortly after moving to California (this was right
before the Internet really took-off) I chanced upon a book about the 1965
riots in Los Angeles. I clearly recall thinking to myself how
unimaginable,
unlikely and far-fetched another such situation of full-scale homicidal
rioting, looting and violent mayhem in the streets of the nation's
second-biggest city seemed to be.

The devastating "Rodney King riots" exploded in Los Angeles about two
years later. I couldn't go to work and police in my L.A. suburb "rode
shotgun" as the riots actually creeped (and many probably are unaware of
this) well into L.A.'s suburbs.

And GUESS who was actually doing MOST of the rioting? I know, I know, the
electronic media kept replaying the horrific video clip of white trucker
Reginald Denny's near-fatal attack by blacks. However, the FACT is that
MOST of the rioting and looting was in fact being done by illegal aliens.

And guess what else? As per the LAPD as reported in a lengthy Los Angeles
Times series a few years ago, it was during the 1992 "Rodney King riots"
that the illegal alien street gang discussed below really came into its
own.

Even as I write this, one state senator who researched the matter has
found that at least 25 Americans are *already* being killed by illegal
aliens every single day in the USA. When the SHTF -- and do you know
anyone
who's been paying attention who DOESN'T think it's eventually going to? --
that figure may very well wind up being a drop in the bucket compared to
what's coming.

If you think this post makes sense please consider forwarding it to other
Americans you care about.

-- GWA
--------------------------------------
MS-13 gang seeks to unite nationwide

By Sara A. Carter
July 25, 2007

The international street gang MS-13 is unifying its violent members
across the U.S., including the D.C. area, attempting to strengthen its
criminal operation by creating a single organization.

"Traditionally, the gang consisted of loosely affiliated groups known as
cliques; however, law enforcement officials have reported increased
coordination of criminal activity among Mara Salvatrucha cliques in the
Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York metropolitan
areas," states a confidential letter sent out earlier this month from the
U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Illinois.

"MS-13 is attempting to become a unified criminal enterprise operating
under one leadership."

The Washington Times has obtained a copy of the letter and an Army
intelligence presentation on the growth of MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha.

Federal law-enforcement agents say the gang is adopting tactics used by
major Mexican and Colombian drug-trafficking groups and has become a
gun-for-hire for many major Central and South American drug-trafficking
cartels.

"Indications that previously independent cliques are forming alliances
with other MS-13 cliques, as well as with other gangs to facilitate
criminal activity, further heighten the threat," the letter continued. "It
would be dangerous to look at MS-13 as just another street gang."

Agents for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) say that the gangs'
tactics are terroristic but question whether the small groups can unify
under one leader.

"These gang members are some of the most brutal people we have ever
encountered," said a DEA intelligence officer on the condition of
anonymity. "Whether they are unifying, well that's more difficult to tell.
In some cases yes and in other cases no.

"But a unified criminal enterprise between all groups ¡X it could happen.
We'll have to wait and see. What we know is that they're getting
stronger."

According to the DEA, the gangs' major source of income is narcotics and
arms trafficking. Human trafficking and extortion also are becoming
lucrative enterprises for them, the DEA agent said.

MS-13, which began as a Los Angeles street gang, is responsible for
thousands of killings and mutilations in the United States, Mexico and
Central America. MS-13 rival gang Mara 18, based in El Salvador, is just
as
violent and recruited more members internationally, said detective Patrick
Word of Gaithersburg, president of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Gang
Investigators Network.

"While showing some regional alignment between cliques," Mr. Word said.
"MS-13 is still showing no signs that it is unifying nationally or
transnationally ... There is just no one leader or even a group of
leaders."

But others on the federal level disagree. The letter and presentation
suggest that MS-13 has an estimated 96,000 members internationally.

"Mara Salvatrucha members typically are Salvadoran nationals or
first-generation Salvadoran-Americans; however, many cliques in the United
States now accept members from Belize, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua and Mexico," the letter stated.

There are an estimated 20,000 members associated with 125 cliques in the
U.S. alone. As of 2003, DEA and FBI officials have located groups in 30
states, plus the District.

Although the group began as a small street gang in Los Angeles, it spread
quickly to El Salvador as many illegal alien members were deported from
the
U.S. for criminal activity. Many of those deported began to recruit new
members throughout Central America.

The viciousness of the gang killings is displayed in a U.S. Army
intelligence presentation which included graphic photos. One photograph
shows the Roman numerals for 18 carved into, and then slashed over, the
severed head of a Salvadoran woman suspected of Mara 18 ties. A second
photo shows a dismembered baby lying in brush.

"They can function as networks, with extensive transnational linkages,"
the Army presentation stated. "Their internal functions include
recruiting,
logistics, attacks, intelligence [collecting and propaganda], and
activities including murders, drugs, extortion and others."

The Salvadoran Policia National Civil recognize MS-13 as "organized
crime" and they leave death in their wake with hundreds, if not thousands,
of killings from El Salvador to the U.S. annually.

On Monday, Oscar Ramos Velasquez of Baltimore, an MS-13 gang member, was
sentenced to 37 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised
release for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy
to participate in a racketeering enterprise, and conspiracy to commit
assaults with a deadly weapon.

"This sentence should serve as a warning to young people who are tempted
to join gangs like MS-13, that you may pay for that decision for the rest
of your life," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. "Federal, state and
local authorities will continue to work together to combat violent gangs
in
Maryland."

Velasquez is one of 14 MS-13 members who have been convicted in this
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act conspiracy case.

MS-13 is also the largest gang in Northern Virginia and groups associated
with the gang are growing in Montgomery County, Md., as well, said
Virginia
state Sen. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, Fairfax County Republican.

"At my level of government, what frustrates me the most is that so many
people stand in the way of tough policies against illegal immigration,"
Mr.
Cuccinelli said. "They either ignore it or don't understand the connection
to public safety, security and the community's well-being."

If you think this post makes sense please consider forwarding it to other
Americans you care about.