Pubdate: Sat, 07 Mar 2009
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Pubdate: Sat, 07 Mar 2009
Copyright: 2009 The Oregonian
Contact:  http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324

GROWING FEARS ON THE SOUTHERN BORDER

America is casting a wary eye on Mexico, not because of the toxic 
national debate over immigration or about trade policy, but because 
of crime. Fears about narcotics-related violence have begun to tilt 
American policy in a way that the other debates haven't.

Mexico is plagued by drug-fueled warfare, as Mexican government 
officials admit. President Felipe Calderon says 6,000 people died in 
drug violence in Mexico last year -- 1,600 of them in Ciudad Juarez, 
across the border from El Paso, Texas. Another 1,000 people have been 
killed in drug violence so far this year.

Yet this is not an exclusively Mexican problem. The drugs may be 
found in Mexico, but most of the weapons come from the United States. 
So does much of the cash. And the violence threatens citizens of both 
countries.

The State Department issued a travelers' alert last month warning 
visitors of a spike in carjackings, robberies, assaults and murders, 
including full-scale, daylight gunbattles. The rise in violence has 
led the U.S. Mission in Mexico to forbid non-essential travel in the 
regions of Durango and Coahuila.

Much of the increased violence is the result of Calderon's crackdown 
on drug cartels. He has sent Mexican troops into some hot spots in an 
effort to root out the most dangerous traffickers. This has spawned 
fights between government troops and drug lords, but also among drug 
lords themselves as they compete for control of lucrative routes.

For taking on the drug trade, Calderon has won the praise and 
promises of support of U.S. officials from President Barack Obama to 
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

On NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said 
the United States has begun to set aside its long-standing "biases 
against cooperation" with Mexico because of the seriousness of the 
problem. He said the U.S. military may be in a position to provide 
some help with intelligence and other resources.

The United States recognizes that the violence not only poses an 
immediate danger, but threatens future security as well. U.S. Marine 
Corps officers at The Basic School in Quantico, Va., show visitors a 
pair of slides that show Mexico colored amber, meaning they see it as 
a source of potential instability and conflict, based on the 
escalation of drug-based violence. Much of this is because the 
country could become a corridor for Latin American drug crime and unrest.

The problem demonstrates, as Obama said recently, that homeland 
security is indistinguishable from national security. The governments 
of the United States and Mexico must cooperate to subdue the drug 
trade, even militarily.

Suppressing the flow of drugs, after all, is one of the central 
missions of the U.S. military in Afghanistan -- a nation on the other 
side of the world. How much more important is it when the nation is 
right next door?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom