Pubdate: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) Copyright: 2009 The News and Observer Publishing Company Contact: http://www.newsobserver.com/484/story/433256.html Website: http://www.newsobserver.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304 Author: Rick Martinez Note: Contributing columnist Rick Martinez is director of news and programming at WPTF-AM. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/area/Mexico (Mexico) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) FOR OUR NO 1 THREAT, LOOK SOUTH Now that the war in Iraq is won, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton need to turn to the most significant terrorist threat facing the United States. And it's not Afghanistan. It's Mexico. Mexico is creeping closer to becoming a narco-state. President Felipe Calderon is the latest in a series of Mexican chief executives to take on the country's five major drug criminal syndicates. Two years into his campaign, he's been extraordinarily effective. Yet his success against the Gulf cartel, one of the most powerful, has contributed to Mexico's instability. Why? Other drug cartels have started a war among themselves over the spoils that have resulted from a weakened and less capable Gulf organization. They've also escalated their war against the government. This escalation of violence is what is destabilizing Mexican security and threatening to bleed across the border into the United States. In 2007, approximately 2,400 people died in drug-related violence in Mexico. For 2008, I've seen estimates from ranging from 5,200 to 6,600. These deaths have come with an escalation in terrorist tactics that include physical and mental intimidation, torture, dismemberment and beheadings. Severed body parts are often put on public display. Beheadings that were once inflicted after death are now occurring while the victim is alive, according to Mexican officials. The level of violence is so high, Mexico's Congress is considering whether to reinstate the death penalty -- recent surveys report that 70 percent of citizens favor its return. The country abolished capital punishment in 2005, but that only formalized reality. Mexico hadn't executed a criminal since 1961. The current reign of terror, coupled with good old-fashioned bribes, has rendered local state police forces practically useless against the cartels. Calderon has relied almost exclusively on the army and navy. The wear and tear is beginning to show. Mexico's 225,000-man army is stretched to its limit, with soldiers experiencing multiple deployments within their own country. In a "surge" tactic of his own, Calderon has dispatched troops to every Mexican state to provide security for a portion of the populace. In some cases, these troops are fighting former comrades. During the past six years, a reported 125,000 Mexican soldiers have deserted. Many have defected to the drug lord side, having been recruited with better food and accommodations, pay and munitions. Most of their arms come from the United States, according to retired U.S. Gen. Barry McCaffrey, now an adjunct professor of international affairs at West Point. He visited Mexico last month and issued an alarming report. It urged the Obama administration to begin to address a plethora of Mexican problems that could directly affect our national interests. High on that list is for the United States to stop the flow of guns from this country into the arsenals of the drug cartels. According to McCaffrey, the drug lords are importing automatic weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. McCaffrey doesn't mince words with his indictment of U.S. officials over their incompetence and indifference toward Mexican pleas for help in stopping the flow of weapons from the north. He writes: "We would consider it an act of warfare from a sanctuary state if we were the victim. The bottom line -- the U.S. is ineffective and unresponsive to Mexican concerns about weapons, bulk cash, and precursor chemicals flowing south into Mexico." Combating weapons smuggling is just the start for a lasting solution. Mexico needs economic aid to reduce a 25 percent unemployment rate. And Mexico's corruption is legendary. Why should we care? Despite the attention Washington showers on every other part of the globe, Mexico is arguably our most important partner. Beyond a shared border, Mexico provides us with much of our imported oil. Fifty percent of its goods are made or grown here. Fixing Mexico won't be easy. It will take multilateral efforts that include Central American countries. The worst thing the Obama administration can do for Mexico is to continue doing what we have done in the past -- next to nothing. - --- MAP posted-by: Doug