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 Editorials | January 2008 
Mexico's War
 Houston Chronicle
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 |  | President Calderon deserves credit for getting serious in the battle against bloody drug cartels. |  | | | |
After years of regarding narco-trafficking as an essentially U.S. problem caused by America's demand for drugs, Mexico's government is fighting back. The cost has been high. More than 160 police officers, soldiers and federal agents were slain last year, and the bloodshed continues apace.
Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, has made a crackdown on criminal gangs the centerpiece of his 13-month-old administration. Thousands of retrained police and troops have been deployed against the gunmen who last year killed 2,500 people in underworld violence.
Last week federal troops raided two houses in wealthy neighborhoods in Mexico City, arresting 11 suspected gunmen and seizing an arsenal of automatic weapons, grenade launchers and body armor. Later, troops raided five border town police stations and inspected them for evidence of collusion with the dangerous Gulf Cartel. Four officers in Nuevo Laredo recently were arrested and charged with spying on federal police for the cartel.
The uncontrolled violence plaguing Mexico is seeping across to the U.S. side of the border. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said U.S. Border Patrol agents were under siege by smugglers retaliating against stricter border controls. The department reports assaults against its agents rose 44 percent in the last quarter of 2007. This month a Border Patrol agent in California was deliberately run down and killed.
In Houston last year, drug smugglers, human traffickers and their suppliers stole 1,245 heavy-duty Ford pickups able to carry heavy cargo swiftly across desert and ranchland.
Mexico has long suffered from corruption that crippled its government, economy and society. But the violence and lawlessness of the drug cartels now threatens national security. President Calderon, honest federal police and soldiers, and those who support them deserve America's appreciation for their willingness engage in the battle. |
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