o'amnesty - border war: Do Mexican Drug Cartels Pose A Bigger Threat Than The Taliban?

From: baja  Sent: Monday, October 11, 2010 Subject: Do Mexican Drug Cartels Pose A Bigger Threat Than The Taliban?

Do Mexican Drug Cartels Pose A Bigger Threat Than The Taliban? Posted: 11 Oct 2010 02:00 AM PDT      Mexican drug cartels are like a malignant cancer that keeps on spreading.  Mexico has spent billions of dollars on its drug war to combat the power and influence of the cartels, but when you look at the statistics it seems as if little progress has been made.  Considering the dramatic impact cartels have on the United Sates, America should consider if securing our border is as important to our national security as is the war we are fighting in Afghanistan.      Mexico's war on drugs has been ongoing since 2006, but the problem keeps getting bigger each year.  So does the body count!  Since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched his campaign to crackdown on the drug cartels, nearly 28,000 people have been killed.  Here is the breakdown according to Wikipedia sources: -          62 killed in 2006 -          2837 killed in 2007 -          6844 killed in 2008 -          9635 killed in 2009 -          8152 killed in 2010 -          Total killed: 27,530 (December 2006�September 2010)      That is a staggering number, yet it has received very little mainstream media attention.  Compare that to the war in Afghanistan which has cost a little over 1100 American lives (and 4400 lives in the Iraq war).  To make matters more concerning, Mexico's Intelligence agency director, Guillermo Valdes, claims that some 84,000 weapons and $411 million U.S. dollars have been confiscated in the same time frame.      Most of the casualties in the drug war have been cartel members.  In an effort to expand their influence and trade routes, they are constantly battling each other over territory.  However, with their ample supply of money and a deadly cache of weapons, targeting outsiders to flex their muscles is hardly a concern.  Here are just a few examples: -          The Los Zetas cartel is responsible for murdering 72 unarmed immigrants from Central America when they refused to go along with the gang's extortion scheme. -          An 18 year old University of Texas student was killed when the bus he was on was hijacked by cartel members. -          Mayor Gustavo Sanchez was the cartel's most recently government official victim, making the fifth mayor to be murdered. -          Two journalists were gunned down, sparking the newspaper to plea for a compromise in coverage for a truce.      Is that a problem America wants to see worsen in our neighboring country?    Cartels may not be aggressively targeting Americans, but states that border Mexico like Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas are absolutely feeling the spillover effects of this out of control problem.  That is not hard to understand when you look at the Mexican states with the most violence (most severe in red):      The cartel problem in Mexico is primarily Mexico's fault.  They refuse American help and allow cartels to run freely on their side of the border.  As Bill O'Reilly suggested, perhaps they believe a death toll of 28000 people is acceptable, but in America that is intolerable!       America must do everything it can to prevent this cancer from continuing to spread on our side of the border while it is still containable.      The United States is spending nearly $6 billion per month on the Afghanistan war effort, which seems to be falling further and further from something that Americans can considerer victory.  I certainly am not advocating a pullout in Afghanistan.  That would cause a substantial power void leaving our enemies emboldened and the opportunity to rearm.  But if a distant war against an enemy bent on our destruction is important enough to spend billions of dollars to fight, is securing our southern border and fighting the deadly organizations that operate openly on both sides not equally as important?       Which of these enemies impose a more immediate threat to America?      Those questions are the questions Washington refuses to take seriously.  Whenever solutions are presented to secure the border, it is always wrapped in a political cloud.  While Washington plays political games with a serious problem, America becomes increasingly less safe.  God help us if they wait until a terrorist takes advantage of our weakness while our country's leaders squabble over trivial matters.  The blood may be on their hands, but whose blood will it be that is spilt?