Weak Links in the War on the Drug Cartels

The U. S. press has clearly identified why the war on the drug cartels will not be easy. The weak links are the Mexicans -- the corrupt police and army, customs and the judiciary, the politicians on the take, the prison recruiting grounds for cartel foot soldiers, and the like. Now it directs a little attention to the weak links on the U.S. side of the border -- the gun smugglers and dealers, corrupt border patrol agents and local police, drug users and the like. A few are beginning to ask whether the new Obama administration has a correct strategy. Critics claim it's a make-over of the Columbia strategy and does not sufficiently address the Mexican reality. Others question President Felipe Calderon's whole approach to the war as deflecting from the poor economy. Some see the cartels caught in its death throes in the level of violence. Many think there is not solution. What is clear the migrants crossing the border are being caught in the fighting and are likely to be dragged deeper. (See New Times article.)