This weekend The Wall Street Journal has a long story on the drug war in Mexico (see here). Murder, torture (some gruesome cases are mentioned), turf battles, extortion, kidnappings, and corruption are up, and in some areas civil society is on the verge of collapse. The number of people killed in drug-related violence in 2008 was more than double the 2007 figure. One Monterey police official admits, “The gangs have taken over the border, our highways, and our cops.”
The Journal lists several reasons for the increases.
One, when in 2000 voters ousted the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which had dominated for 71 years, longstanding policies and “alliances” that “kept a check on drug-related violence” disappeared.
Two, tighter border security after 9/11 made Mexcian gangs look for more markets inside Mexico, not in the U.S. (many Mexican officials looked the other way if the drugs were distributed outside their jurisdiction).
Three, a fierce gang war in Nuevo Laredo broke out, and it spread to other cities.
And four, the Mexican government has initiated a crackdown on the trade, which has led to mass protests organized by drug leaders that strive to “generate antipathy” for the government.
Only at the very end of the essay do we get the plain and simple fact at the root of it all: ““Demand in the U.S., of course, is the motor for the drugs trade.”
But do the U.S. officials quoted in the article recognize that fact? Never. Here is what the article says about U.S. response to the crackdown:
“The U.S., which is providing Mexico with some $400-million [!] a year for equipment and training to combat drug traffickers, backs Mexico’s stand. U.S. law enforcement officials are ecstatic about Mr. Calderon’s get-tough approach.”
Nice to see that U.S. officials are happy, and the taxpayers pump $400-million annually into the policy.
And what do the U.S. officials say about the violence?
“A U.S. law enforcement official says the Mexican military is trying to break down powerful drug cartels into smaller and more manageable drug gangs, like ‘breaking down boulders into pebbles.’ He adds: ‘It might be bloody, it might be ugly, but it has to be done.’”
So there you are, brilliant and firm — a rock-crushing strategy with lots of blood and guts, but we gotta do it. We just gotta.
