Pubdate: Mon, 02 Mar 2009 Source: Investor's Business Daily (US) Copyright: 2009 Investor's Business Daily, Inc Contact: http://www.investors.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/682 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mexico MAKE MEXICO'S WAR A HIGHER PRIORITY Border: Now that Phoenix has become a kidnap capital, it's official: Mexico's drug war is spilling over into the U.S. The administration vows a strong response, but so far seems to be putting special interests first. Trouble from Mexico is cropping up in the usual place: the border, a nexus of illegal immigration, human smuggling and drug trafficking, all of it interlinked. It's all about illegal routes into the states. As they grow scarcer, traffickers' war on the Mexican state intensifies. It might be easy to view this as a distant problem, but police say Phoenix is the second worst place for kidnapping on earth, after Mexico City; 359 people were kidnapped there last year, all of them with links to trafficking. But it's getting worse all over. In New Mexico last week, police unearthed a mass grave of 13 bodies, reminiscent of 1990 Medellin. Other cartel-linked crime has been carried out in San Antonio, Anchorage, Atlanta, Las Vegas, San Diego and Tucson, with huge rings operating. Also last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration busted 52 people linked to the Sinaloa cartel, bringing the total for its probe to 755. The U.S. seems to recognize the gravity of the problem , or is at least paying it lip service. A recent Pentagon report cited a risk of a sudden collapse in Mexico if cartels win. A Homeland Security report vows to ready a response if Mexico's war spreads here. Last Friday, the State Department's global counternarcotics report called the cartels "a significant threat." But for a threat this grave, the Obama administration places it below other priorities. Yes, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano calls the violence "a top priority." But how does that jibe with her response to the Texas governor's request for more border troops? "We do not want to militarize the border," she said. Is she not aware that El Paso borders Juarez, which on Friday was sent 6,000 troops after 1,600 people were gunned down, burned in their cars, dissolved in acid and otherwise slaughtered? Not wanting to militarize the border when there's a real war on sounds nice to the pacifist left, but doesn't sound like an emergency. Secretary Napolitano also second-guessed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on a human smuggling ring in Washington state last week that yielded 28 arrests. Activist groups complained, prompting her to call for a review of the action as if it were something to be ashamed of. She said ICE should go after businesses that hire illegal immigrants instead of applying pressure across the spectrum. Score one for the illegal immigrant lobby. Then there's the gun issue. Mexico blames much of the traffickers' firepower on border smuggling from the U.S. Instead of speeding border-fence construction , a surefire solution , the administration explores the reinstatement of a semiautomatic "assault" weapon sales ban for Americans and non-Americans alike. Anti-gun lobbyists are happy, of course, but the move will accomplish nothing. Fact is, Mexican drug lords don't buy normal weapons used by Americans for mere self-defense. When they aren't stealing them, traffickers prefer to buy rarified war weapons unavailable to ordinary Americans on black markets here. Gun-grabbing won't solve this. Score another for special interests. Other Obama officials also send mixed messages. The new drug czar, former Seattle police chief Gil Kerlikowske, stresses "harm reduction" instead of tough action. Sounds humane, but it essentially expands cartel market bases by enabling users and expanding the buyer base for the cartels. "Harm reduction" distributes new needles, legalizes medical marijuana and puts pot at the bottom of enforcement priorities. Legalization lobbies are happy. But cartels have one more reason to smuggle. Congress also leaves much to be desired. Its Merida Initiative offered Mexico only $465 million in aid. It delayed the cash and instituted human rights benchmarks, as if these were more important than putting out a fire in a neighbor's house that threatens ours as well. Mexico's cost of fighting this war is now $7 billion. If we don't get help to Mexico fast, the cartels will only get stronger and the problem worse. Is it too much to ask the administration to put achieving victory ahead of satisfying special-interest groups? - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin