Pubdate: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Copyright: 2010 Chicago Tribune Company Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/IuiAC7IZ Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) MOTIVATING MEXICO Jack Riley left El Paso, Texas, to become the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's top man in Chicago. Even though he's 1,500 miles from the border now, Mexico's war against drug cartels still matters to him. It should matter to all of us. More than 90 percent of the marijuana, cocaine and heroin in the Chicago area enters the U.S. from Mexico. Drug rings are expanding into the Midwest to control distribution with violence a good bet to follow. "If we're going to be successful, Mexico needs to be successful," Riley says. "We can't do it without them." Sadly, Mexico is falling short. Mexico's occasional triumphs are starting to seem more and more hollow as the death toll of the 4-year-long drug war tops ... 30,000. Every day seems to bring another horrific tale -- most recently, cameras rolled while masked gunmen mowed down anti-crime activist Marisela Escobedo as she held vigil at the doorstep of the Chihuahua governor's palace. If the mayhem continues unabated, we worry that Congress will lose the will to renew the $1.4 billion Merida Initiative -- an infusion of U.S. equipment and training to combat international drug trafficking and other organized crime -- when it expires in about a year. Now is the time to demand results from Mexico that have nothing to do with body counts. Mexican President Felipe Calderon must take on the hard-headed nationalism of many Mexicans and speed up the integration of his law enforcement with ours. The Washington Post reported that Mexican authorities have benefited from DEA intelligence along the border. Mexico also must fumigate corrupt local, state and federal law enforcement and start revamping a dysfunctional judicial system. U.S. officials estimate that only about 2 percent of those detained for offenses related to organized crime are even brought to trial. This will all take time, of course, but Mexico's lack of urgency is distressing. This month, Mexico's Congress blocked an anti-crime package that would have cleaned up local police departments and strengthened penalties against the money laundering that feeds the drug rings. Score one for politics over security. Meanwhile, the leaked State Department cables offer a scathing U.S. assessment that much of Mexico's military and law-enforcement agencies remains an inefficient, petty, corrupt mess. Some in Congress have had enough. This month, a bipartisan team of three senators proposed an independent commission to re-evaluate the U.S. approach to illegal narcotics in the Americas. As it is, Republicans are already skeptical of foreign aid while Democrats worry about militarizing drug enforcement in our hemisphere. With much fanfare, the U.S. recently delivered three Black Hawk helicopters to Mexico. They made for a great photo op. But the vehicles and equipment are only as effective as the men and women on the front lines and in the halls of power. They need to do better, especially if we are counting on them as our first line of defense. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake