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DRUG WAR

Battle For A Civil Society On Mexican Border

Recent killings on the U.S.-Mexico border show drug gangs act with impunity despite Mexican authorities' attempts to enforce law and order.

On Friday, gunmen in Ciudad Juarez killed a police officer and a jail guard.  The killers left signs on the bodies promising to kill at least one officer every 48 hours until the city's police chief resigns.

Ciudad Juarez is a city of 1.3 million people across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.  The slaying of Cesar Portillo marked the fifth officer killed in a week.  Analysts say the violence signifies drug gangs' resolve to control the police force of the largest Mexican city on the border.

The criminals have posted signs throughout the city warning that officers would be killed if police chief Roberto Orduna does not resign.  But Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz was defiant Friday, saying, "We will not allow the control of the police force to fall in the hands of criminal gangs."

Mexico has endured 6,000 drug slayings this year alone, with one-third of the killings occurring in Ciudad Juarez.  Police officers account for more than 50 of the slain.

This is a dire and dangerous situation occurring just a few miles from U.S.  soil.  The Mexican army has been deployed in Mexico's nationwide struggle with drug criminals.  For Mexico to have a future, the forces of law and order must win this fight.