Pubdate: Thu, 26 Mar 2009
Source: Emory Wheel, The (Emory U, GA Edu)
Copyright: 2009 The Emory Wheel
Contact:  http://www.emorywheel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2781
Author: Benjamin van der Horst
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/mexico

MEXICO'S DRUG WAR HITS HOME

Oscar Reynoso was $300,000 in debt to the drug smugglers he worked
with. Gunmen kidnapped Reynoso and locked him in a sweltering basement
without food or water for nearly a week demanding payment. Where do
you think this took place? Somewhere in Mexico? Wrong. This took place
recently in Gwinnett County, 20 minutes from Emory.

Drug violence from Mexican cartels has infiltrated the United States
and expanded beyond cities like El Paso and Phoenix to Atlanta. Not
only are the major drug cartels fighting each other over territory,
but they also are battling the Mexican government, which under
President Felipe Calderon has waged war on the cartels. More than
9,000 people have died in Mexico from these drug wars since December
2006.

The United States didn't really take much of an interest in Calderon's
war until the violence started spilling over into the United States.
And recently, Atlanta is finding itself in the center of this violence
and increased drug activity. More than $30 million has been seized in
drug money in Atlanta this fiscal year, more than any other city in
the county. The Mexican cartels are using stash houses around Atlanta
for their drugs before they are moved up the East Coast. Taking
advantage of Gwinnett's large Hispanic community, the cartels manage
to blend in, making cracking down on them tough.

Because of the increased drug activity and violence in Atlanta and
countless other cities closer to the U.S.-Mexican border, the Obama
administration announced a new plan this week to combat the drug
violence. The main emphasis will be an increase in technological
surveillance of the border, but with only about 350 additional
security personnel sent to the border. This simply is not acceptable.
For eight years, President George W. Bush did a poor job securing our
southern border, and it's unfortunate that it seems like President
Obama won't be much of an improvement.

Technology is a poor substitute for bodies on the ground and a border
fence that would make it more difficult for smugglers to get across.
The United States needs a massive increase in the size of the Border
Patrol. That would take time, so in the interim we need to dispatch
the National Guard to the border. Having troops on the border would
greatly increase the difficulty faced by the drug cartels trying to
bring their drugs and turf battles to El Paso, Dallas and Atlanta.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has requested 1,000 National Guard troops to
defend Texas' long border with Mexico. The Obama administration has so
far refused to do this. One of the reasons that both Bush and Obama
have refused to send troops to protect the United States border is
that Mexico is greatly opposed to having troops there.

Who cares what Mexico thinks? It was unable to fix its economy under
former President Vicente Fox, who just happens to be Emory's
commencement speaker, so it pushed its problem to the United States,
encouraging people to illegally come to the United States to work. Now
Mexico is woefully unable to beat the drug cartels, so again the
problem is exported to America. The United States government needs to
care about protecting its citizens, not pleasing the Mexican government.

Unfortunately, this is unlikely. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
went to Mexico this week and took partial responsibility for the drug
violence in Mexico, saying: "Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs
fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being
illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the
death of police officers, soldiers and civilians."

Instead of blaming Mexico for its inability to control its country,
the Obama administration is giving Mexico a free pass - essentially
saying that it's our fault. But it is Mexico's responsibility to
prevent guns from being smuggled into the country just as it is our
responsibility to prevent drugs from being smuggled into the United
States. Currently, Team Obama seems to miss both of these points. Most
importantly, the administration needs to keep Mexico's drug wars in
Mexico, not Atlanta.

Benjamin van der Horst is a College senior from Cincinnati.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin