00:00While the government hails its alliance with the United States as the key to solving crime in TNT,
00:06one national security expert is of the opinion that the counter-cartel coalition will not solve TNT's problems.
00:14There is no need for a military alliance to combat cartels.
00:18The reality is Trinidad and Tobago does not have significant drug cartels like other countries in the region.
00:24So the focus should be on strengthening law enforcement, evidence gathering and prosecution
00:30to tackle local issues like murders, extortion, human trafficking, illegal mining and gang violence.
00:37The country has been under consecutive states of emergencies over the last several months,
00:43during which time murders were suppressed.
00:46Following the lifting of the last SOE, however, murders spiked once more,
00:51prompting another nationwide lockdown.
00:54However, Prime Minister Kamala Poussard-Bissessa had credited the decrease in murders,
00:59in large part to the U.S. bombing of alleged drug boats.
01:03You cannot shoot and bomb organized crime out of existence.
01:07Even if you capture or kill the big fish, disrupt activities and supply chains,
01:12destroy drug labs and kill drug mules and smugglers,
01:15any thoughtful military officer or intelligent analyst can tell you that it achieves truly little
01:22towards the larger goal of eliminating organized crime and criminality.
01:27In fact, Dindal suggests that to truly eliminate crime, governments must look within.
01:33The enemy in Trinidad and Tobago is interwoven in the government at all levels,
01:38the justice system and the legal economy.
01:41Undoing these relationships is not the job of the military.
01:46All things considered, former Lieutenant Commander Dindal believes the coalition
01:50does not align with TNT's interests.
01:53One of the more troubling statements coming out of the coalition
01:57is President Trump's proclamation on March 7th and Article 4,
02:01where it states that the United States and its allies should keep external threats at bay,
02:07including malign foreign influences from outside the western Hennib sphere.
02:14This move continues to compromise Trinidad and Tobago's sovereignty
02:19and undermines regional unity.
02:21Renasa Cutting, TV6 News.
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