Cartel wins, but Greenlighting a Fed?
Vincent murdered all of the witnesses, but why would a cartel openly antagonize and go to war with the US federal government?
shareCan you elaborate a bit. I'm not sure what you're specifically referring to. Maybe it's been too long since I've watched this film, maybe I'm just slow right now, but I need more to go on with what you mean.
shareSure. Killing witnesses, especially rats, is a given in the criminal underworld. You had El Gordo, the criminal lawyer turned lawyer criminal, and the nightclub owners. None of them are good people. But Annie was a federal prosecutor. The cartels are not supposed to kill American law enforcement or lawyers (or civilians for that matter), much less target them for a hit. A month or two ago, some guys working for a cartel kidnapped and killed American tourists. The bosses handed over their dumbfuck employees and apologized.
shareI agree. Assassinating an AUSA (in her own office, no less!) would be suicide. I cannot imagine the hellfire that would have been unleashed against those responsible. It would have made "Man on Fire" look like a Disney movie.
shareGot it. I see what you mean now. I was pretty sure you meant Annie, but you might also have been talking about something else.
There are, I think, two reasons that they'd think this could work. The first is if they just got big enough that they felt they could take them. They had a bunch of high-level judges in their pockets or senators or something, and they felt like they could do that. Not terribly convincing, but this is basically what goes on (or went on) in Mexico with the cartels. They're strong enough that they just have no problem going to war with the Federales. I know it's different in the US.
I don't think that's the reason. I think the reason is because of Vincent's MO. In previous engagements, Vincent has managed to wipe out multiple targets (presumably for these guys or their buddies) and dispelled all suspicion to the point that Fanning has trouble talking other cops into buying that this is a pattern. I'm guessing that, after using Vincent for several missions, these guys just figured that he'd pull off another "crazy cab driver did it" story (one which would be accidentally bolstered by Max having driven Annie around earlier, although that's neither here nor there). In other words: the Feds wouldn't have any leads and couldn't act even if they wanted to.