Stretching the Truth

The more you read quotes from DEA officials, the more you wonder whether hyperbole is a dialect that is taught at the academy, or if they really have zero judgment. Take this quote, from a recent article at The New Republic.

Countries are particularly determined to prevent the importation of illegal narcotics across their borders, whether by organized criminal networks, terrorists groups, or the hybrid narco-terrorist networks that DEA officials describe as "meaner and uglier than anything law enforcement or militaries have ever faced." [Emphasis mine.]

Relative to what? "Militaries" have faced the Nazis, the Red Army, Mao's hordes, Pol Pot's henchmen, Rwanda's Interhamwe, and sundry other villains. So Hezbollah's hashish-dealing wing is worse than any of them?

Otherwise, the article's quite good.