It is obvious that the US needs to completely redesign its strategies to fight the Mexican drug war without getting into confrontation with the Mexican Government, as of course more than a drug war, there is also a very unstable Government in Mexico to effectively sort out the drug war. Maybe there can be a quid per pro deal with economic aid for specific projects in exchange for tougher action from the Mexican Government to take charge of the drug wars. Or offer of military assistance? Although I can imagine the latter will be very much resisted, given the US history of Iraq. All I can think is that the US will only be able to get real results with active cooperation of the Mexican Government. If the US Government can have a stronger influence on the Mexican Government and Military, than the drug lords have, then it may be in a stronger position to prevent the drug wars from spilling over into the United States. Trying to do border control I think is not enough. Doing border control is almost the equivalent of what had been done before Sept11 to avoid terrorism, i.e. only checking immigration to identify terrorists. Since then the US has completely revamped its strategy by tackling terrorists at their roots in their camps. In the process it has completely revamped its military strategies by creating much smaller, more mobile and better trained units representing a major shift in its warfare on terrorists. I imagine something similar is needed for the Mexican drug war spill-over in that the solution lies in Mexico, not outside Mexico.
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The Mexican government just isn't strong enough to deal with these drug cartels at this time, but we really can't afford to help them right now either. Protecting the borders would be in the best interest of America and it is not the same thing as what was done prior to 9-11. Do you seriously think that the war in Iraq and this hunt for terrorists is really practical? It does not work. The war in Afghanistan was justified because we were doing it as a response to 9-11, but simply going out there and starting wars with countries who we see as possible threats just doesn't work. Look at the way Iraq has turned out.
Our best strategy would be in controlling our own borders and trying to gather intelligence of possible attacks before they happen, not bombing countries half way across the world and killing innocent people in the process.
Our best strategy would be in controlling our own borders and trying to gather intelligence of possible attacks before they happen, not bombing countries half way across the world and killing innocent people in the process.
I'm actually in Mexico now, and have been for several months. The drug wars are a result of the Mexican government cracking down on the drug traffickers. The violence is escalating because the cartels believe that if they make it bloody enough, the government will back off. So far they haven't.
I used to have a sort of laissez faire attitude about casual drug use. But knowing how incredibly bloody this is getting, I now think that it is immoral, not because of the drugs, but because the money goes to these animals.
I used to have a sort of laissez faire attitude about casual drug use. But knowing how incredibly bloody this is getting, I now think that it is immoral, not because of the drugs, but because the money goes to these animals.
Great to have someone in Mexico right where the action is. Good to hear that the Mexican Government is cracking down on the drug people, and can imagine that the US Government must be in the picture somewhere as well. Do you feel safe where you are in Mexico, or are the wars localized in specific areas?
Perhaps I put things differently than what I had intended. Like you, I do not agree with the war in Iraq, which had served no purpose at all and had come at a great cost to the US not only in terms of money and lives lost, but also US reputation tarnished in the Middle East, not to mention irreparable damage to Iraq. Afghanistan is different, and possibly the US had learned some lessons in Iraq and is doing things better in Afghanistan. Back to the topic of the thread, I believe it would be better for the US to be in active liaison with the Mexican Government to support it in its endeavours to sort out its drug wars, to continue with his border vigilance, however not to the point of harassing all people that look like Mexicans on the US border states close to Mexico. I think the US should continue its support of the Mexican Government to keep it strong and to provide counsel, where counsel is asked for. I can imagine all of that is in place already anyway. Just learned from Curious that the Mexican Government has been aggressively pursuing the drug cartelles, so possibly I had the wrong impression initially as well. I had though that they had been out of control. So good news from Curious.
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