Pubdate: Wed, 2 Apr 2008
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2008 The Dallas Morning News
Contact:  http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Merida+Initiative
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/area/Mexico (Mexico)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?203 (Terrorism)

TERROR THREAT NEXT DOOR

We Can't Ignore Drug Violence Just Across Border

If al-Qaeda were at the U.S. border kidnapping and decapitating 
people while circulating videos of its exploits, Americans would be 
apoplectic. It would mean that terrorists were no longer "over there" 
in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, but instead right at our doorstep.

For some reason, though, this country doesn't seem terribly alarmed 
that Mexican drug cartels are kidnapping, torturing and even 
beheading their victims - and posting videos of it on the Internet. 
They've established border-area training camps and amassed arsenals 
of assault rifles, grenades and armor-piercing ammunition.

Mexico has deployed about 22,000 troops and federal agents to major 
border and coastal zones in the past 15 months, including 2,500 
troops and federal agents sent last week to Ciudad Juarez.

That far exceeds the U.S. troop commitment in Afghanistan after the 
9/11 attacks. But since this is the war on drugs, our nation seems 
not to be terribly concerned. We should be. It's time for a change in 
psychology because this threat is real, it's imminent, and it's 
happening right next door.

Nearly 200 people have died in Ciudad Juarez this year in a 
mafia-style turf battle between rival cartels.

After listing several high-profile assassinations of Mexican 
officials as well as U.S. citizens caught up in the violence, Thomas 
A. Shannon, an assistant secretary of state, told a congressional 
panel in February, "We can no longer just warn of this violence 
spilling over into the United States; we must acknowledge that it has."

For our side of the border, this remains strictly a law enforcement 
problem and does not require a military response. But we do believe 
Congress needs to act quickly on President Bush's Merida Initiative 
request of $1.4 billion to help Mexico and Central America train 
police and coordinate programs to fight the cartels. And this country 
must stop handicapping our neighbors by failing to halt the flow of 
U.S. weapons and laundered money that fuels these gangs.

Let's face it: Drug gangsters are drawing straight from al-Qaeda's 
playbook to terrorize the Mexican public. If it's unacceptable 
overseas, we certainly shouldn't tolerate it next door. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake